Marathon #7 completed

Every marathon has been a challenge. It is not easy to cover 26.2 miles on nothing but your feet. I think this is the first time I've seriously thought "this may be the last one" though. 

Sunday I completed the Fort Wayne Marathon (Ruble Racing). I can't say it was "lucky number 7," but it was the 7th I've attempted and completed. While I doubt I ever really thought I wouldn't finish (because it was the only way back to my car), I wasn't sure I would make it in under the minimum 6 hour time limit. I did... but this was my slowest - at 4 hours 56 minutes (the official time was 4:59 but the race director admitted to some "technical issues" and said my 4:56 was likely more accurate). I'm not going to quibble, especially since I took a wrong turn during mile 14 and added a quarter mile. It is what it is and I was glad to survive. 

THE GOOD

Certainly there is much to celebrate (especially two days removed from the horror event). A few months shy of my 62nd birthday and I feel completely blessed with the privilege of time, energy, and good health to be able do put in the necessary training. This is not work. I try to remind myself and be grateful on every run I do. Many people can only dream of such luxury.

Jane did the half marathon, and not only did both events cover the same 13 miles, they also started at the same time (8am). That doesn't often happen, and I was glad we got to run together for a couple hours anyway. I believe it was somewhere around mile 11 when she finally told me to go on ahead. She ended up getting 2nd in her age group. 

Our daughter and her daughter volunteered at a water station somewhere around mile 9-10 or thereabouts. It was nice seeing some familiar faces. They also both joined Jane at the finish line to wait for me to come in almost 2 1/2 hours later. 

While I was plenty sore, I did not suffer any injuries, dehydration, heart/breathing issues, blisters, or chaffing of any kind. That is always a plus, especially on a day where it rained and was hot and humid. So, after stretching on the Monday after, I was able to walk down the basement steps carrying a laundry basket without needing to hug the railing! It's almost like it never even happened. Lol.

Even though this was in our hometown, it was an entirely new course for me. And I liked it! It started at the Coliseum and was on city streets for the first 4 miles or so to downtown, then we were able to utilize paved trails the rest of the way. I had never been on the trail system through Swinney Park, Shoaff Park, PFW, the Pufferbelly, and probably several others as we headed north by The Plex, Concordia Seminary, and up to almost where Clinton meets Dupont Road. There was some beautiful scenery and I discovered some cool new places. Plus none of these trails were flooded like the ones on our side of town are (south).

This was a really really small event. I think 65 did the half and maybe 33 did the full. Still, I probably talked to as many or more other runners along the way than I usually do. There seemed a fairly good vibe of camaraderie. 

It's been awhile since I've won my age group, but I managed to beat the only other person in the 60-69 year range. :)

THE BAD

It was brutal. In so many ways...

For starters, it just poured rain Saturday night into Sunday. And, while it wasn't raining when we arrived, it started just before the start of the race. At least it never rained hard, and only lasted maybe the first few miles, then let up, then sprinkled some more later on... but then it got HOT and HUMID. Considering most of my training was in 20-50F temps, a sticky near-80 degree day was a bit of a shock to the system. This was the hottest, muggiest day we've had all year, and it came on all of a sudden. Fortunately the sun didn't shine too much, and there was a fair supply of cold towels for the marathoners on the second half of the course (which I utilized several times). 

The signage was "okay," but apparently they had used a lot of tape to mark the path... and the rain washed most of it away the night before. I got confused at a turn right before crossing Coliseum Blvd and went south toward Concordia High School. Pretty soon I didn't seen any other runners or signs and I kind of just stopped for a bit hoping maybe someone would come up behind me. Finally I walked back to the last sign I remembered and discovered the correct route under the bridge. There was also a spot after crossing the PFW bridge where the sidewalk split 4 or 5 ways and none of them were marked. I finally saw some spectators I recognized from the start line and they pointed me in the right direction.  Then there were several spots where they had return signs but not forward signs, so with a somewhat fried out brain I had to try to make backward sense on the fly. Ugh.

As is the case it seems with every marathon I've run, the water stations were great through the first half of the course, but not so much on the second (you know, where you really need it!). It wasn't terrible, but the last one - at mile 25 - had been abandoned when I got there and there were just some glasses of water, gatorade and coke, and who knows how long they'd been sitting out in the sun. 

I'm not sure when I started walking a bit of each mile. It was somewhere between 16 and 20 (I think). At first I walked a tenth of each mile, then two tenths, and so on. When I got to the last water station I figured I had 14 minutes to cover the last 1.2 miles, so I jogged that in without stopping in order to make it under 5 hours.

The finish line was... a little underwhelming. There were orange cones all over the parking lot and I had no idea where to go. There was also no clock at the finish... and no-body! I mean, a few people were milling about, but you basically just crossed the line and there was a table with medals on it and I guess you we were just supposed to grab one. There was no water, no food, no one to congratulate you... You just stopped, and that was that.

I don't think the mileage was right. Like I said, I'd went out of my way about a quarter of a mile and was that far off at every mile marker, but when I crossed the finish line my watch said 26.23 miles. Somewhere there was a discrepancy. The person who finished after me had to run around the parking lot awhile in order to get the full 26.2. And this was supposed to be a sanctioned race (meaning it needed to be at least 26.2 miles at the the minimum).

THE UGLY

The worst part to me was, as usual, my reaction to all the above. Rather than coming down the final stretch full of joy at accomplishing yet another feat... I was irritated. I don't even remember now what I may have said (or at least said out loud), but it was likely something about this being a terribly run event, and I was never doing it again, and everything was stupid! You know how I can get. And I regretted it soon after. I hate when I behave like a jerk, and I did.

Even though I am not really competing for a certain time, I was still a bit disappointed. I thought I would do better since I'd quit drinking, I'd been lifting weights, and my weight was down (152 lbs.). I suppose, though, considering I was in the hospital with AFib in November, and just had an ablation and had to take a week off a mere 7 weeks ago... I should feel pretty good. And I do. But.... you know.

MISCELLANEOUS

I know these events take A TON of work to put on, and I am grateful for the guy who apparently almost single-handedly does this. He should just advertise it as an outright no-frills marathon/half-marathon. I could get behind that. The fact that it's small doesn't matter. Embrace it. Although, if I had one suggestion (other than a little better course-markings), it might be to find someone to do his advertising/communication for him, and maybe a "cheerleader" of sorts. I take it he's just not a people-person and I think it would go a long way to have a little help. Still, I'm glad he does what he does.

As for specifics:

• I think there were 65 half-marathoners, and Jane was 46th(?) and 2nd in her 60-69 age group.
• There were like 33 marathoners, and I was 21st(?), and 1st in the 60-69 age group.
• I wore my cut-off dark blue tank top, dark blue shorts (from Dicks), original Injinji toe socks, Brooks Glycerin 20 shoes (8.5), light gray Mission hat, Garmin Forerunner 45 watch, and carried the 21 oz Nathan water bottle.
• For fuel I used four Tailwind Endurance Fuel packets in my water bottle (I started with one and refilled about every hour); I ate a GU gel at mile 25; and took plain water at several stops.
• Pre-race I used 2Toms Sport Shield on my nipples, crotch, and privates; Desitin diaper rash cream on my butt, and taped the ball of both feet (a bandaid and two pieces of tape on the right; one piece of tape on the left).
• I had to stop and pee twice (which is probably good, but I don't usually go at all). 
  
• I got up at 4:30am, had some coffee and chilled on the couch, ate a breakfast of peanut butter & jelly on toast around 6, and we left the house just after 7am. I took a cup of coffee with me in the car and drank that up until the race start at 8am.

And... that's about all I can think of. It's probably way more than you wanted to know (assuming you're still reading)... but now you know (and so will I).

I'm still a bit undecided on the future. I took yesterday off entirely (other than mowing the lawn), and just lifted weights at the Y this morning. I will likely take a walk later today, and jog a few miles tomorrow and Thursday. There's a chance I may continue with the Hal Higdon "Senior" marathon plan, or just take a few weeks to simply do some light jogging and/or walking. Whether I do another marathon later this year remains to be seen. It's a delicate balance to appreciate where I am physically and mentally... but also try to keep in mind just how brutal this last race was.     We'll see.

Another marathon (and half) done.