timmac
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2007
- Messages
- 1,872
Ok, so, here goes the report.
Weather was great, mid 30s, wind was mild. Excellent racing weather.
Based upon a lot of my training runs, I figured I could comfortably push myself to successfully keeping a 10:00 pace through the race. Fortunately, the race had pace runners. In a scramble with 1000 people behind the starting line, I did manage to find the 10:00 pacer. While waiting in line for the port a potty, I had made friends with someone else who was hoping to run at about the same pace, so he joined me there.
All was well at the start. Passing by mile 1, I noticed a hotel called the OC Studio Suites, and thought to myself, wow, on the way back that will mean I have just over a mile to go, so that'll be a nice site. We raced through the town of hampton, and every so often an individual or family would be outside cherring us on, a few people even pumped up their car stereos, which was very motivating. Passed through the first aid station at mile 3, drank a glass of water, and was with the pace group no problem. The first photographer was shortly after that. I was basically smiling and happy by that point.
By mile 4 and 5, I could definitely feel that I was working my muscles hard. This was the point in the race (and I have this happen every race, make no
mistake) where I basically cursed myself with having the stupid idea to run the race. That said, I was still enjoying myself, and glad to be there, and I knew that it was going to be hard, but that's the point of race day, right?
We go through the mile 6 aid station, and I can start to feel a bit of a twinge of something in my upper thighs. Wasn't pain yet, but I could tell that I was on the brink of getting into a very painful situation. Rather than risk injury or complete burnout, I dropped back a bit from the pace group between there and mile 7. My "running mate" had done the same... pre-race he had mentioned to me he hadn't been feeling well, and was a bit off his training in the past week or two. We didn't have any energy for words, but a quick glance and we both knew we were in the same boat.
Passing mile 7, I could feel my energy draining, the fact that I'd not been able to keep the pace I wanted was wearing on my mind a bit too. Started chewing a few of my jelly beans just to get back a little energy and divert my thoughts a bit. Unfortunately, I tend to get allergies and stuffy nose, and do the majority of my breathing through my mouth. This makes it hard to eat (though I can sort of manage), and I was hurting for the moment. At mile 8, I took a walk break for a few hundred feet, just to let my legs recover a bit, and to have a moment to regather my thoughts a bit, and get myself back in the zone. I thought about my wife and kids at home, who were pulling for me, and knew I could do it. I thought about my coworker who was a big part of the reason I got into running to begin with, how she'd been "sending me mojo" on facebook for the past several days. I thought about the 11+ mile training runs, and knew I could go further. I thought about all the other runners around me, and something I once heard described by an OT qualifiers hopeful: Everyone else around me is feeling exactly like I am; otherwise, they'd be ahead of me by now.
I picked back up my pace, running again, not nearly the 10:00 pace I had originally hoped for, but a good pace to get me going again. I remembered some other words from my coworker, who nicknamed herself "the Brick"... just have fun out there and don't stress over the time, and you'll do fine. And I was doing fine, and my mojo was back. I could see the next block over, the runners who had passed mile 9, and were running the final four miles along the coastline, and I got my first glimpse of the ocean. What a sight, just what I needed. As I passed through the the mile 8.5 aid station, I shoved down a Gu, and drank a water. I have a new theory on Gu, beans, and whatever else. It's not about the energy. It's about something to do. It gives your mind something to concentrate on besdies the aching and exhaustion in the legs. And it helped at that.
At mile 9 I was feeling back in the groove, and just going to cruise for the last four miles. Although, I don't think I looked nearly so good for that photographer. I wasn't worried about time anymore, just about getting to the finish. The view was mine to enjoy, and it was my time to love running as I do. Soon enough I passed mile 10, and found myself at the mile 11 aid station, the final one of the course. I didn't even walk through this one, I kept my run right through, grabbing a water and downing it as best I could while running. I wasn't stopping now. My pace was nothing special anymore, but it didn't matter, I was heading to the finish.
The 10:30 pace group passed me, but that was ok by me. In hindsight, had I just started at 10:30 pace, I'd probably have gone the distance at that pace, but no matter, no sense worrying. I saw a child's binky (pacifier) on the ground as I ran, and was reminded of my youngest son at home. It's amazing the strange little things that caught my attention and the mental tricks I played on myself by this point. I took another Gu from my pocket, and it briefly distracted me again, but my legs were definitely tired.
Most of us were running in the road still, a few on the sidewalk. For whatever reason, the sidewalk is lined by a 4 foot high cement wall towards the ocean side, and the sidewalk stood about a foot and a half above the roadway at that point. So, I lost my view of the ocean. I needed to go on the sidewalk if I wanted the view. But that foot and a half may as well have been mount Everest at that point, I wasn't even going to try it. To my right, I caught the site of the OC suites. I was glad I had taken mental note of that on the way out. I knew I only had 1.5 miles or so.
I started to munch a few more jelly beans, but honestly, they just weren't helping anymore. The last mile+ was just going to be a mental fight, so be it. At mile 12 I got a nice mental boost, and started looking for landmarks of where the finish was. I noticed that my eyes were awfully watery (from the sweat, fatigue, or both?) and my vision especially in the distance was very blurry. It was a hard mile. At mile 13, I started looking more, and still couldn't find the hotel where we started. Just then out of nowhere I caught a glimspe of the finish arch. What a beautiful site. As often happens, in spite of the exhaustion, I got a sudden burst of my last available energy, and started running in fast, long, beautiful strides, passing a half dozen people, heading strong towards the finish. (Where was all this form five miles ago?) Then it beeped as I passed under the arch. That was it, the fight was over. I had a medal in one hand, and a bottled water in the other. The clock read 2:24:46.
That was it, I had done it. I had run a half marathon. Still exhausted, but totally excited. I found my running mate, and learned he had finished only a short bit before me. His wife and kids met him at the finish, and I was introduced. Many congratulations were exchanged.
So I look back now, and think, was it a good race? Well, there's definitely a lot of mistakes I made. I didn't pace myself well, I started too strong and tried to push too hard, and in the end it probably cost me several minutes. That said, I also learned a lot, and have new confidence in what I can do.
Looking at it from what I'd consider a true WISH perspective, though... when I first started this whole running thing, it was almost a joke. My coworker had mentioned races, and it sounded interesting. Hearing stories about the Disney Marathon training (especially from people like Jonathan Dichter) piqued my curiousity too. One day, I was joking with my wife. We'd say funny things like "What if I ran off and joined the circus?" And we usually had a good laugh.
Then I asked, "What if I decided to run a marathon?" And there was no laughter. Instead, DW said, "I'd be really proud of you, even if you came in dead last." And that was it. The next day I bought some shoes, and decided to start. I should add that, at the time, I was 5'7" 225lbs. Granted, I've only lost about 15 pounds since then, but it wasn't as much about weight loss, at least that wasn't the primary goal.
What, then, was it about? Originally, I could barely run two minutes without being completely exhausted and panting for breath. And now, only six months later? I just did it for over 2 HOURS. I'd say that's a win. I did something that, just a short while ago, I'd have called impossible.
My body is wrecked right now, that's for sure. I assured my wife, it's perfectly normal, espeically for a first effort. The fact that I cringe tonight at having to go upstairs is perfectly normal, and it will get better.
But it doesn't end there. Soon enough, I'll be back on the road, and back in the gym. Fourteen weeks from today, I've got 26.2 miles to run. And it won't end there either... it's less than 11 months before I'm going to be wearing a Goofy medal.
Weather was great, mid 30s, wind was mild. Excellent racing weather.
Based upon a lot of my training runs, I figured I could comfortably push myself to successfully keeping a 10:00 pace through the race. Fortunately, the race had pace runners. In a scramble with 1000 people behind the starting line, I did manage to find the 10:00 pacer. While waiting in line for the port a potty, I had made friends with someone else who was hoping to run at about the same pace, so he joined me there.
All was well at the start. Passing by mile 1, I noticed a hotel called the OC Studio Suites, and thought to myself, wow, on the way back that will mean I have just over a mile to go, so that'll be a nice site. We raced through the town of hampton, and every so often an individual or family would be outside cherring us on, a few people even pumped up their car stereos, which was very motivating. Passed through the first aid station at mile 3, drank a glass of water, and was with the pace group no problem. The first photographer was shortly after that. I was basically smiling and happy by that point.
By mile 4 and 5, I could definitely feel that I was working my muscles hard. This was the point in the race (and I have this happen every race, make no
mistake) where I basically cursed myself with having the stupid idea to run the race. That said, I was still enjoying myself, and glad to be there, and I knew that it was going to be hard, but that's the point of race day, right?
We go through the mile 6 aid station, and I can start to feel a bit of a twinge of something in my upper thighs. Wasn't pain yet, but I could tell that I was on the brink of getting into a very painful situation. Rather than risk injury or complete burnout, I dropped back a bit from the pace group between there and mile 7. My "running mate" had done the same... pre-race he had mentioned to me he hadn't been feeling well, and was a bit off his training in the past week or two. We didn't have any energy for words, but a quick glance and we both knew we were in the same boat.
Passing mile 7, I could feel my energy draining, the fact that I'd not been able to keep the pace I wanted was wearing on my mind a bit too. Started chewing a few of my jelly beans just to get back a little energy and divert my thoughts a bit. Unfortunately, I tend to get allergies and stuffy nose, and do the majority of my breathing through my mouth. This makes it hard to eat (though I can sort of manage), and I was hurting for the moment. At mile 8, I took a walk break for a few hundred feet, just to let my legs recover a bit, and to have a moment to regather my thoughts a bit, and get myself back in the zone. I thought about my wife and kids at home, who were pulling for me, and knew I could do it. I thought about my coworker who was a big part of the reason I got into running to begin with, how she'd been "sending me mojo" on facebook for the past several days. I thought about the 11+ mile training runs, and knew I could go further. I thought about all the other runners around me, and something I once heard described by an OT qualifiers hopeful: Everyone else around me is feeling exactly like I am; otherwise, they'd be ahead of me by now.
I picked back up my pace, running again, not nearly the 10:00 pace I had originally hoped for, but a good pace to get me going again. I remembered some other words from my coworker, who nicknamed herself "the Brick"... just have fun out there and don't stress over the time, and you'll do fine. And I was doing fine, and my mojo was back. I could see the next block over, the runners who had passed mile 9, and were running the final four miles along the coastline, and I got my first glimpse of the ocean. What a sight, just what I needed. As I passed through the the mile 8.5 aid station, I shoved down a Gu, and drank a water. I have a new theory on Gu, beans, and whatever else. It's not about the energy. It's about something to do. It gives your mind something to concentrate on besdies the aching and exhaustion in the legs. And it helped at that.
At mile 9 I was feeling back in the groove, and just going to cruise for the last four miles. Although, I don't think I looked nearly so good for that photographer. I wasn't worried about time anymore, just about getting to the finish. The view was mine to enjoy, and it was my time to love running as I do. Soon enough I passed mile 10, and found myself at the mile 11 aid station, the final one of the course. I didn't even walk through this one, I kept my run right through, grabbing a water and downing it as best I could while running. I wasn't stopping now. My pace was nothing special anymore, but it didn't matter, I was heading to the finish.
The 10:30 pace group passed me, but that was ok by me. In hindsight, had I just started at 10:30 pace, I'd probably have gone the distance at that pace, but no matter, no sense worrying. I saw a child's binky (pacifier) on the ground as I ran, and was reminded of my youngest son at home. It's amazing the strange little things that caught my attention and the mental tricks I played on myself by this point. I took another Gu from my pocket, and it briefly distracted me again, but my legs were definitely tired.
Most of us were running in the road still, a few on the sidewalk. For whatever reason, the sidewalk is lined by a 4 foot high cement wall towards the ocean side, and the sidewalk stood about a foot and a half above the roadway at that point. So, I lost my view of the ocean. I needed to go on the sidewalk if I wanted the view. But that foot and a half may as well have been mount Everest at that point, I wasn't even going to try it. To my right, I caught the site of the OC suites. I was glad I had taken mental note of that on the way out. I knew I only had 1.5 miles or so.
I started to munch a few more jelly beans, but honestly, they just weren't helping anymore. The last mile+ was just going to be a mental fight, so be it. At mile 12 I got a nice mental boost, and started looking for landmarks of where the finish was. I noticed that my eyes were awfully watery (from the sweat, fatigue, or both?) and my vision especially in the distance was very blurry. It was a hard mile. At mile 13, I started looking more, and still couldn't find the hotel where we started. Just then out of nowhere I caught a glimspe of the finish arch. What a beautiful site. As often happens, in spite of the exhaustion, I got a sudden burst of my last available energy, and started running in fast, long, beautiful strides, passing a half dozen people, heading strong towards the finish. (Where was all this form five miles ago?) Then it beeped as I passed under the arch. That was it, the fight was over. I had a medal in one hand, and a bottled water in the other. The clock read 2:24:46.
That was it, I had done it. I had run a half marathon. Still exhausted, but totally excited. I found my running mate, and learned he had finished only a short bit before me. His wife and kids met him at the finish, and I was introduced. Many congratulations were exchanged.
So I look back now, and think, was it a good race? Well, there's definitely a lot of mistakes I made. I didn't pace myself well, I started too strong and tried to push too hard, and in the end it probably cost me several minutes. That said, I also learned a lot, and have new confidence in what I can do.
Looking at it from what I'd consider a true WISH perspective, though... when I first started this whole running thing, it was almost a joke. My coworker had mentioned races, and it sounded interesting. Hearing stories about the Disney Marathon training (especially from people like Jonathan Dichter) piqued my curiousity too. One day, I was joking with my wife. We'd say funny things like "What if I ran off and joined the circus?" And we usually had a good laugh.
Then I asked, "What if I decided to run a marathon?" And there was no laughter. Instead, DW said, "I'd be really proud of you, even if you came in dead last." And that was it. The next day I bought some shoes, and decided to start. I should add that, at the time, I was 5'7" 225lbs. Granted, I've only lost about 15 pounds since then, but it wasn't as much about weight loss, at least that wasn't the primary goal.
What, then, was it about? Originally, I could barely run two minutes without being completely exhausted and panting for breath. And now, only six months later? I just did it for over 2 HOURS. I'd say that's a win. I did something that, just a short while ago, I'd have called impossible.
My body is wrecked right now, that's for sure. I assured my wife, it's perfectly normal, espeically for a first effort. The fact that I cringe tonight at having to go upstairs is perfectly normal, and it will get better.
But it doesn't end there. Soon enough, I'll be back on the road, and back in the gym. Fourteen weeks from today, I've got 26.2 miles to run. And it won't end there either... it's less than 11 months before I'm going to be wearing a Goofy medal.
What a fabulous race report - CONGRATS!!!! 
for even attempting a race in NH in February! 
