I was invited back again this year as a pace group leader for the 3:40 Marathon group at the Cowtown Marathon in Ft Worth. Last year, in blustery conditions (30's, 25+ MPH winds) I managed a 3:39:43 (17 seconds too fast). This year, I felt better trained, with more miles run and in overall better condition than last year -- that is until 2 weeks ago, when I finally got the bronchitis that was going around my family. Went to the dr and got antibiotics and was almost free of the nasty cough...but not quite (I was a little concerned about the gurling sounds I would hear when I would take a very deep breath). I was stressing about it all week. Not knowing if I would be able to finish a marathon..let alone an evenly paced one, but I was commited. So, I prepared as normally -- carbo loading, hydrating, and getting good sleep in the days leading up to the race...
Saturday morning's weather was nearly perfect. In the upper 30s to start -- I decided to go with a long-sleeved shirt, my optic green windbreaker vest, shorts, ear warmer, and knit gloves. The pacers were also given bright orange safety vests to wear over their clothes.
My corral crossed the starting line at about 7:40 AM...we were off. I believe there were well over 3000 runners in the 1/2, full, and 50K ultra...all starting at the same location (spacing corral starts by about 5 minutes..I think this was to give the aid station workers in the early miles a little needed restock time between waves. It was a very good change for this year to have the corrals_. From the beginning, I never quite felt comfortable. I kept wondering if I was healthy enough to be running...would I finish, how would I quit? Could I handoff my pacing duties to one of the group? I really need to work on the mental part of my running...am I the only one who thinks about the tragedies of past marathons? (i.e. Ryan Shay at 5.5 miles into the 2008 Olympic Qualifier, etc..)
It was like being strapped into a roller coaster ride...no getting out of it once the gun went off. :)
Ran the first 8 miles with the 1:50 Half Marathon group, until they split off and headed back to the finish. We were a little behind schedule around mile 8, so we picked it up a little on the downhills. I really felt bad pushing the pace to close to about an 8:00 pace for a mile or so. I know that people who are running with pace groups are usually pushing the boundaries of their abilities, and I didn't want to be responsible for anyone's BQ chances going down the drain.
I believe we hit the 13.1 right on schedule -- about 1:49:00. This would allow us to run 1:51:00 on the second half and still make our goal. (Last year I had us about :30 seconds quicker at the half, due to the stronger headwinds we had heading back to the finish). The wind this year was mayb 10 MPH at most -- and actually felt good as things warmed up through the 40's and 50's.
There was a group of about 8 or 10 of us at the 13.1 mile mark. Mentally, I was doing a little better at this point. My toes were hurting (I decided to run in my Addidas Supernova's -- as they seem to have helped with my calf issues, BUT they are notorious for smashing my second toes on both feet. Today it was more of the same). Blisters and pain during a marathon seem to come with the territory for me. My breathing was fine, and I never felt like my muscles were ever starving for oxygen.
The next 12 miles were fairly uneventful. Meandering through the neighborhoods around the Colonial Golf Course and TCU. As we hit the 20 mile mark, I was relieved that we only had 10K to go (I always think of a marathon as 10 miles + 10 Miles + 10K, where the last 10K is about 1/3 of the effort. With 3 miles to go, we were right on track to finish at 3:40 -- I think my Garmin showed AVG PACE of 8:21 (we needed 8:23). I did the math and figured we could run about 8:40s for the last 3 miles and still make it.
The last 2 miles at Cowtown start with about a 1.4 mile gradual, fairly steep incline into downtown..then level off for the last 1/2 mile. With 2 miles to go, I told the remaining two guys still in the group to "Finish strong. Kick it in if you got it." So they gradually picked up the pace, as I started to fade a little I was relieved that they still had something left in the tank...but my tank was on fumes.
I crossed the line in 3:40:33. Only 33 seconds off the target (less than 2 seconds per mile). I was very relieved to be done, and only a little disappointed that I didn't have enough gas to hit it right on the nose!
I collected my finisher's medal -- the 2nd point of a 5 point series (you can put 5 medals together in the 1/2, full, or ultra to make a complete star). I have to admit that whoever thought of this was a genius. I have a friend who collected the first medal last year, but due to a conflict he would not be in town for this year's race, so he got his wife (who would never even think of entering any race) to walk the half marathon--mainly to get the 2nd in the series. They are even planning to sell points of the star for charity donations of $100 to fill in any gaps that you may have missed. This year's race had record-setting attendance, and I'm sure it was partly due to the medal series (I know of at least 3 friends who ran it again this year, just to get the medal). Pure genius!
Anyways, 1 day later, I'm feeling fine physically -- besides the sore toes. My cough is much better (no more gurgling sounds when I take a deep breath). I'm satisfied to have finished, and glad that I was able to help a few people meet their time goals. (a couple guys found me afterward to thank me...that gave me a warm fuzzy)
I was also happy to see 4 friends of mine finish their first marathon -- with an abbreviated training schedule. They all ran their first 1/2 marathons at White Rock in December, and ramped up their miles quickly. Keith, who had a long run of 16 miles, finished first of the 4 in 5:03 -- I can only imagine how he would have done had he trained a little harder. Congrats to Keith, Corey, Rick, and Don on their first marathons!
Will I be back for more pacing duties next year if they ask me back? Probably. I've got some time to think about it... for now though, I think I'll take a little break from the long distances and maybe run a few fun 5 and 10Ks. | 