Rehoboth Beach Marathon - Dec 2010

Yesterday morning I competed in the Rehoboth Beach Marathon in Rehoboth beach Delaware. The decision to run this race goes back to my first marathon last month at Richmond. If you read my Richmond RR I said I was very proud of this personal accomplishment. I was and am. Entering and completing a marathon was something I once thought only crazy people did. (Of course, I was right . . runners rally aren’t playing with a ful deck.) I had entered Richmond full of piss and vinegar SURE that I could go and bang out a 3:30 marathon or better in my first attempt. I had trained hard and, arrogantly, felt I could do that. Long story short I crashed and burned. By all appearances, I finished with a decent time for a first time marathon. I’ve had many people tell me tons of folks would KILL for a sub-4:00 marathon. But even that night after finishing the race as the euphoria wore off and the excitement of the Runner’s World Challenge wound down I found myself unfulfilled and disappointed. Not that I’d finished worse then I expected but by the thought that I’d let myself down. The second half of the race had been a disaster that concluded with me trudging across the line. I had trained hard. I was physically strong. But I was weak mentally and felt that I had betrayed my training. No matter, I was going to try again in the spring at Shamrock. But that was 4 months away. That was 4 long months with every opportunity for injury, illness, or for life to get in the way of training. I was ready NOW! I couldn’t let that dissatisfied feeling smolder and fester all winter. So after a couple of private messages to trusted sources with much experience going back-to-back in big races, I perused the internet and found Rehoboth Beach. A few clicks later, I was signed up.

I mentioned nothing to anyone. I had arrogantly proclaimed my goals for Richmond and felt they were a foregone conclusion. I didn’t even tell my wife. She thought I was traveling to Delaware on business. (Not uncommon.) I had already decided I didn’t want to be set up for failure so if the weather was extreme I was going to skip it altogether. But I didn’t want anyone but me focusing on my performance or my finish. I didn’t want to have that self-induced pressure to perform. I needed to run my own race. My race goal was just to race smart, and strong and not betray my training with arrogance again. I was hoping time-wise for something under 3:40. If I got that then fine . . that would affirm my training. If my time was closer to Richmond then I would feel better about Richmond and affirm that finish as well.

I drove to Rehoboth Beach Friday evening. It was an uneventful drive. This is a small race. 1400 competitors or so for both the ½ and full events. There were several sponsors but the main one was the Rehoboth Beach Running Company. This is a small store right on Rehoboth Avenue. Packet pick-up and race festivities would occur here. They had a tent setup next door to accommodate things. I quickly got my bib, shirt, and a course map and walked down the road to see where the start was. Then it was off to dinner by myself at Applebees (3 cheese Chicken Penne is a great pre-marathon meal). I stayed at the Comfort Inn no more then 10 minutes from the start. Based on the predicted weather I decided to go with my most comfortable tights and Nike Dri-Fit shirt. It is long-sleeved but never feels hot. After pinning on my bib and laying stuff out I went to bed. I also had no less then 4 gels stashed in my running clothes. This was my biggest factor for poor performance at Richmond (lack of fuel) and it wasn’t going to happen again.

Race day was near perfect. Perhaps a bit cold but considering the time of year it could have been terrible. It was around 30 degrees at race start warming to the low 40s by 9:00am or so. I couldn’t tell this the night before but the start at the Rehoboth Avenue Band Shell was right on the water. With a 7:00am start we got to see the beginnings of a pink & salmon ocean sunrise before the gun. Both races went off together with the half-turning around much sooner on the more-or-less out and back course. One of the lessons I learned at Richmond was, for me, a pace group was a bad idea. No problem applying that lesson here . . there were no pace groups. The gun went off in a timely fashion at 7 and we were underway. We all shuffled/walked/ran/stopped/shuffled to the start line and then got up to speed. My plan was to pace around 8:10-8:15 for the first half and then try for a negative split on the second half. I carefully monitored this over the first few miles when one wants to go charging along on a cool morning. I think I verbally admonished myself on several occasions to slow down.

The course was actually quite pretty. A mix of the towns of Rehoboth Beach and Lewes, 2 Delaware State Parks, a nice trail system, and rural Delaware. From miles 4 through about 8 I got talking to a nice young lady from Albany, NY. She was doing 3 marathons in 90 days in order to join a local club. She had qualified for Boston in an earlier race. I gave her a congratulatory high five. At mile 7.22 the leader of the half went back the other way and he was positively FLYING. The guy on the bicycle escorting him could barely keep up. About that time I realized while talking to my fellow runner was fun I was violating another lesson from Richmond. Don’t get so caught up being social that you don’t run your own race. In Richmond I had run too fast because of this. Now I realized I was running too slow. So after the mile 8 water stop I picked it up and we parted ways.

The turnaround for the half was near mile 10. (Not the exact path back). After this there were a lot less runners. Even before then, the water stops here were much easier compared to Richmond just because of the much smaller number of runners. I can’t imagine what NYC or Marine Corp must be like.  I was never lonely. There were always plenty of other runners in sight and groups of 2 and 3 here and there. But my pacing stayed consistent. Before entering Cape Henlopen State Park we hit the ½.  Time to step it up a bit. I popped my new iPod Shuffle in and hit play. I did not drop the pace significantly but definitely picked it up a bit for a strong second half. After looping through the park we began the trek back toward Rehoboth Beach. In Richmond I crashed right before mile 18 and remember gloomily staring at the 18 mile marker for a long time as I walked toward it. As I briskly ran toward 18 now, I looked around and saw nobody was looking and gave it a one-finger salute as I ran by.

The miles began chipping away . . 19, 20, 21. Around then there was a small semblance of a wall. That nagging doubt “Just wak”. But I didn’t listen. The wall was small and I jumped over it and kept going. Fueling was a gel ever 6 miles followed by water at the next two stations, then some Gatorade. At mile 22 they had bananas and M&Ms. I ate half a banana. It tasted like manna from Heaven!

At mile 25 I was really excited and focused on the finish. I looked at my watch and realized I would easily beat my 3:40 goal. There was another water stop at 26 but I’m not sure who in their right mind would stop for water with .2 miles to go. Certainly not me!!! I cranked on by there and crossed the line with 3:37 something on the clock. It had taken a good 30-40 seconds to cross the line and I didn’t remember to stop my Garmin until I had gotten my medal, water, and space blanket. At that point it said 3:36:50 so I’m pretty sure once official chip-time results are posted it will be 3:36 something. This is approximately a 17 minute PR over Richmond. Not too surprising considering the second half there.

A couple of notes on the race itself. This was a smaller event but very well run. There was plenty of bathroom facilities at the start and plenty of water and Gatorade stops. (More-or-less every 2 miles.) There weren’t tons of people out cheering along the course. A few now and again and a bunch at the finish. The post-race food was adequate but I wouldn’t pay the extra money to buy a guest wrist-band if you had someone with you. There are a BUNCH of restaurants around the finish. If you have guests and friends just go to one of those. The shirts and finishers medals are very nice. If you are local and want a great late-season race on a VERY flat course this would be a good one. Note that if it were windy it would probably be miserable. We didn’t have a breath of air. It is also worth mentioning that there were runners from 40 States in attendance. I don’t think Delaware has a lot of marathons so for those looking to do 50 States it is one of the only opportunities.

Well . . I apologize that this was so long winded. If you stuck with me . . thanks! I hope you enjoyed the read.

Splits were:

1   8:17    14 8:07

2   8:02    15 7:56

3   8:02    16 8:03

4   8:15    17 7:59

5   8:07    18 8:11

6   8:23    19 7:54

7   8:18    20 8:12

8   8:16    21 8:03

9   8:02    22 8:33*

10 8:05    23 9:25*

11 8:01    24 8:43**

12 8:07    25 9:36**

13 8:03    26 8:14

                .2 - ? (TBD)

* This is where I found the little wall (and stopping to eat the banana)

** I think just running out of gas. These were tough miles. 

Richmond Marathon - First Marathon

26.2 is HARRRDDDD!!!!!

I can officially now say that. I can also officially now say that, unbelievably, I am a marathoner. It has been a long time since I have been proud of a personal accomplishment but I am indeed quite proud and happy about this. 

But first . . the race. We arrived in Richmond after a beautiful drive down, of all places I-95. The Maryland and Virginia foliage was a couple weeks behind Pennsylvania and quite peaked on our way here. The weather was perfect and remained perfect throughout the weekend. We drove to the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sport Complex and to the expo. I picked up my bib and packet from the Runner’s World Challenge booth where I met Jen Van Allen (who is now probably one of my favorite people ever) and several other contributors to RW. I arrogantly believed I could make a 3:30 in my first marathon and hit the Customer Service desk to move my Corral from 2 to 1. That was easy enough. Then I did some shopping including picking up a signed copy of “My Life on the Run” from Bart Yasso and spending a few minutes talking to him.

Then it was on to the Omni Hotel for check-in. I was surprised how far the hotel was from the expo. At 4:00pm, the RW Challengers got a two hour strategy session/entertainment from the RW crew including some stories from Bart about Comrades. Certainly something I am even more in amazement of now. After the strategy session, a bunch of RW Challengers headed off for our pre-race dinner at a local eatery.

Race day dawned cool and beautiful. 36 degrees. A little too cool to stand around outside but this is where the RW Challenge REALLY paid dividends. They had rented the National Theatre right by the start. (Literally.) We had warmth, food, coffee, and bathrooms! It was awesome. We sat and ate, and talked and saw the half-marathoners off. Then we got a picture of the first-time marathoners (including me). Gotta see if I can get a copy of that. After another pep talk from Jen and Bart we all headed for the corrals. I shuffled my way, confidently, to corral 1 and the 3:30 pace group. I hooked up with a couple guys I would run most of the first half with just by dumb luck.

At the start I was supremely confident and excited. I KNEW I could do 3:30. Our pacer did a great job for the first 6 miles staying in the range of 7:57 to 8:02. Perfect. 10K split was 50 minutes.  I had not had a chance (due to my own stupidity) to fool with the regular powerade they had on the course. All of my long runs had been done with Gels & water so that is what my fueling plan was. I took one gel to consume at mile 7 and then there were gels on the course at mile 14, and 21. Beginning mile 7, our pacer started getting a bit fast. 7:31. Hmmm. Mile 8, low 7:40s. Okay maybe my pace just seemed fast because I’d play catch-up after the water stop. But the paces remained 20-30 seconds fast through my 14. (Revised: After checking splits the pacer was pretty darn close to perfect. Must have just been me).

But at mile 14 disaster started. I don’t know how, but I MISSED the gels. I expected them to be on or near the tables. Later I learned they were being handed out before the water stops (a hundred feet or so). In the chaos of the water stop I had missed them. That can’t be good.

On we went. Mile 16 was the famous Lee bridge that is supposed to be the beginning of the Wall for most. It isn’t steep (actually completely flat) but is supposed to be windy. It was not all that bad though I did note the name of the last road we passed before heading on to the bridge was “Stonewall Avenue”. Throughout the course, there were members of “The Marathon Training Team”. They were simply there to help out the runners. I was planning on grabbing Powerade at mile 18 but at 17 I was already beginning to feel the lack of fuel. This was bad. Effectively, I was 17 miles in on one gel and water. Thankfully, one of the Training Team members had gels and I grabbed one. . . but it was too late. The wheels were coming off. Between getting behind in electrolytes and fuel I started getting a bit light-headed and crampy and had to walk a good portion of mile 18. This part of the course is the most desolate. A few people were out but not like the warmer confines of the city or the scenic beauty of the river. It was demoralizing to say the least to know I had been reduced to a walk and for the first time EVER as a runner was having to deal with cramps. Thoughts of just quitting were rampant. I had hit the wall and the wall had fallen on top of me. 

Then I saw mile 19. And I got another gel from another training team member. I started running again a little at a time. Starting mile 20 there were aid stations every mile. At each one I grabbed water and powerade and more gels. I stopped once or twice to stretch.

The walk breaks became shorter. I didn’t like them but it was either that or don’t finish. And I WAS GOING to finish. The 3:45 group passed. But I saw several other runners from the 3:30 pace group floundering as well. By mile 23 I was beginning to feel like the fueling was catching up. I was pumping in water & powerade and gels at each opportunity. Part way through mile 23 I began running for good again. I knew I really only had to make 25.7 and then it was a LONG downhill. I realized I could still break 4 hours and, you know, that isn’t that bad. At mile 24 I knew I’d be fine. That last 2.2 HURT. But the cramps were at bay, I was passing people again and cruising along around 8:45. Then I crested the hill on Cary St. and saw the finish line and the long lines of cheering fans and Bart Yasso jumping around like a madman just across the line. What a feeling! I crossed the line in 3:53:14. I was a very happy person as I was handed my finishers medal. 

Then it was off to the Omni for our special RW Challenge post-race reception with massage, food, etc. In the lobby there was a RW Challenge volunteer by the RW Challenge flag. She said, just go up to the second floor and pointed toward the steps. I said “We’ll take the elevator”. I no sooner hit the massage table then my calves locked up painfully tight. But Elaine kneaded them out and I enjoyed great food, and the fellowship of the marathon.

Later, after a shower, we all enjoyed an after party at the Bank and Vault right around the corner from the hotel courtesy of Saucony. I can say if you get a chance to do a RW Challenge event DO IT! I am so glad I did for my first marathon. I’ll do one again if given the chance.

But for now, it is lessons learned about fueling, and the doule-edged sword that is pace groups. Finally I just want to thank EVERYONE on the Runners World Masters forum and RW Challenge forum for your encouragement and support over the last year+ as I learned about running, and distance running. I could not have accomplished a marathon otherwise. 

Addendum

The Omni had a Starbucks in the lobby. That was the only place to get coffee. Sunday morning, the day after the race, I went down at 6:30 to get coffee. It turns out they don’t open until 7:00 on Sunday. When I got to the door, Bart Yasso was standing there looking in also wishing they were open. So having a half-hour we sat down in the lobby and fired up our laptops. For 30 minutes I sat surfing the web and talking running with Bart Yasso! How cool is that? Someone made the joke later that he’ll probably tell his kids about sitting and talking with me. But I think he might! You would think that after all the races he has done and runners he has met that they would all blend together but he seems to remember them all. What a great guy! (And Bart, I’m not saying that just ‘cuz you bought the coffee when Starbucks opened)!