2010 Seattle Marathon race report

Some pics from the last post.......on our way to Seattle

On our way to Seattle with snow covered roads

 But not before stopping at Starbucks at 5:30 AM

 My daddy's going to run a marathon! YAY!

 Summit of Snoqualmie Pass

 Columbia River at Vantage

Oh marathon, how I've missed you!

Well my second marathon is in the books. This race was a little different for me as I really changed everything up a bit and didn't really do any of my normal in the past race routines.

Saturday night Jeff flew in to Seattle (so he didn't have to deal with all that driving in the snow to get to the west side of the state) but unfortunately I didn't get to see him at all as I was not getting any texts because my memory was full and my phone neglected to inform me of that, therefore I missed about 8 texts from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning! Sheesh

Race morning came quickly but I got a good seven hours of sleep or so but still seemed to awake before the alarm, which was nice as I could really take it nice and slow to get everything together and not be rushed.

I gave Jeff a call to see if he was ready to get his goody bag from me and have some breakfast downstairs so we headed down. Now I have never ever wanted to eat anything before racing or even just running for that matter before I started training for this marathon but now it seems I need the food before long runs. So I indulged in a bagel with cream cheese.

We were checking out Sunday and Jeff was staying another night so we headed back up and moved all our stuff from our room to his so we had somewhere to shower after the race (Thanks Jeff!!!!!) It was starting to get close to start time so we all headed down toward the start.

It had rained during the night and the ground was still wet and it was about 40 degrees out with just a very slight wind but it was basically perfect conditions for a marathon. We got down to 5th Ave and the race was just about to start so we posed for this pic and got out good lucks from our good lookers (bosses or wives) and jogged down the street 3 or 4 blocks to get to the back of the pack. On the way we got to see my parents and brother as well and got some more luck thrown our way......Hey I'll take all I can get.

We probably had only about a 2 minute wait til the gun went off. There were only about 1500 to 2000 people that were doing the full marathon so it wasn't that bad of a crowd. The start for me was just a blur. I was trying to soak it all in, but I am the coach at this race and there was no way in hell I was going to go out to fast and kill both of us, So I was very focused on pace (even though my Garmin didn't get a signal til about a mile in).

The fist part of the Seattle marathon is my favorite. You start right at the Seattle Center (Space Needle for you out of towners(and no that is not a movie as one of my best friends asked me just after he moved here from California)) You follow the Monorail tracks for a mile from the Center to Westlake Center, where they have all the trees along the street lit up with Christmas lights for the holiday season. This actually is 10 times better if you are running the half as it is darker in the morning and it is just intensified.

Sadly Superman kicked our asses

Now by this point we had missed our first walk break(due to lack of room) and were almost to our second. This is where you hit the first hill, which is just a small incline. At the top you can see a long gradual downhill all the way to the stadiums and where you will be getting on to the I-90 express lanes. When you get to this entrance it is a long fairly steep uphill over I-5 and to the top of the ridge east of downtown.

At this point we were feeling very very good. We were keeping a slower than normal or planned pace but we were still in good shape. I was keeping my eyes on the 4:45 pacer as I knew we would be somewhere right around the 5 hour mark. This stretch of the race is both good and bad, you get pumped that you get to run on the freeway and get to run through the long tunnels as well as the floating bridge but there are also no spectators on this part of the course from mile 2.5 to mile 8. Jeff really enjoyed running in the tunnel and I had forgotten all the hooting and hollering that goes on in there. As we were coming out of the tunnel and on to  the floating bridge there was one spot where some spectators had come up the hill and could cheer. One guy was waiving to them and totally took himself out on a traffic cone. I tried really hard not to laugh but I couldn't. As Jeff said anyway "Hey he was laughing himself all the way to the ground!" Smiles at mile 5 are great anyway!

Jeff and I took the bridge hard, we were averaging about 9:30 mile pace which was about 30 seconds faster than anticipated but we had been around 11 earlier so we were making up a little time. At mile 6 we caught up with a guy we had been joking with  in the first mile about walk breaks. This was his first marathon and he was using the same walk ratio and training program as us. I love chatting with people during runs, it just gets me all pumped up that everyone has a story. I was keeping myself so hydrated that I had to stop at the turnaround and go. We had been about 3/4 back in the pack but has plenty of people around. When we got out we were almost at the back. We kept up our pace and caught up a little, hit the end of the bridge and headed down to Lake Washington Dr.

Trying to find us, but only porta potties on the bridge


Down on the drive there were so many people cheering it just sends a tingle down your spine and gets your adrenaline going. There was another turn around up ahead so we got to see the leaders go by which I have never gotten to see before and I really enjoyed that. I also enjoyed when the third place guy acknowledged me when I told him great job (I really liked that later I found out he was from the city I grew up in, Olympia)

We were still feeling great but starting to get a little tires at about mile 9 or 10. We were also waiting to see where our crew was going to show up where we had some foods and gels ready for us. We hit Seward Park and I knew we would not see our crew til we were out of there at least as there is no access for them. But this would be the part where we would hit the halfway point in the race. This is also the part I noticed that my strap from my chip was starting to dig in to my leg, another first for me. Jeff was fighting fatigue at this point as well. We took another potty break at the entrance to the park and that was the end of that.......we were at the BACK of the pack. Nothing but sparse runners from here on out. That took a bit of wind out of my sails.

We were doing very well at the halfway point. We hit it at about 2:24. Almost 13 minutes under the 5 hour mark. At mile 14 Jeff was fading fast and took on of my GU's which he can't stand but he got it down and it helped. I had to get some Vasoline on both my chip strap and nipples as both were getting raw.

A few miles down the road at mile 16 we hit up our crew!!!!!!! I have to tell you it was great seeing them and boosted us up a bit. I also never knew a PowerBar could taste so so good! Jeff and I grinded out the next few miles. I knew he was hurting but he was also pushing hard too! We saw our guys out there again at 17.

The 20 mile mark was where the hurting started. Now I have never been this far back in a race before. It was a great perspective, I loved it, you hear stories from people you get a little more motivation from people out there watching, albeit there aren't as many people out there cheering you on. Jeff told me many times he felt he was holding me back during training, but my objective here was to coach him to his first marathon finish. This is why this race felt so different to me, I was not competing, I was coaching. I saw so much in Jeff that I saw in my first marathon, the pain, the mental anguish, and the best thing.....the will to finish no matter what!  So when at 21 he asked if I wanted to go ahead I told him to piss off.

The hills at 21 and 22 were, how can I put this lightly, a bitchy whore. At 21 Jeff got a cramp in his calf and had to walk just about every uphill to prevent it from locking up. This made the next few miles slow as there are so many hills. We got to see our crew for the last time at mile 22 before they headed to the finish line, and we made our way to the arboretum.

This is the point we noticed that it was getting colder out. If I am not mistaken the temp dropped from the time of the start to this point. We were getting cold. I made another potty trip at 23 and let Jeff go ahead. I got out and took off to stretch my legs a little. I was somewhere around a 8:15 pace. People were looking at me like holy shit did this guy just start the race late and he's now catching up. It made me chuckle. But was was really great was Jeff was no where to be found. That SOB took off. he wanted to make the most of a hill that we had come up on and was making great time! We also passed a radio station blaring music (one of only two...what a crock!) and that got him pumped up and we were at mile 23. I got Jeff to keep trying our 3:1 walk ratio and he started playing a game of catch this person then walk. This got us to mile 24 easily and then we had a small uphill to conquer.

Once we hit the top of that hill you could see all off DT and knew the finish was at the needle. We headed down a hill where I could totally feel my quads at this point and there was 25. I did bless the queen and as an extra bonus gave her the finger. Bitch.

From here you can just about see the finish line. but you have a steep downhill, slight uphill, then a underpass to go. I was trying to pump Jeff up at this point but he was spent and he just wanted that finish line ASAP. At this point I was pretty sure he was going to murder me with an ax at some point later in the day.

At 26 and I mean AT 26, at the turn, the last turn the entrance to the stadium, the end, the finale, the finish, the end, Jeff got a cramp that almost took him to his knees. He stretched it and decided to just continue on. Hobbling he turned the corner and entered the stadium. I first saw my dad cheering us on, then heard my brother above and behind me yelling "Your my boy Blue", saw my mom trying to get a pic and lastly my wife halfway down the field to the finish. I heard our names get called out and where we were from and saw the finish ahead. I let Jeff ahead so he could have the view all to himself. I remember feeling no pain at the finish, that's my favorite part, that last 25 yards, no pain, all accomplishment, pure victory. I hope Jeff felt this way at the end. He EARNED it. He PUSHED, FOUGHT, STRUGGLED, and SUCCEEDED. Our finishing time was 5:25:52

High five for daddy!

 

Now after all those hills guess what you have to go up to get your food and things. A ramp. An F'ing ramp. There must be some asshole here running the show. At least there was food left. Chicken noodle soup NEVER tasted so good! We did run in to that guy we were talking to on the bridge, he finished he was very very close to his goal of 5 hours. I was pleased. I should have gotten his contact info. He was a good guy! Maybe he'll find me here someday! Hit us up buddy if you do, come do Bloomsday with us!

We headed back to the hotel cleaned up and decided to hit Julian's for some beers and food before we headed back to Spokane. Jeff told me he has never known there was pain like he was feeling, he also said "never again" to another marathon. That's ok though, he's finished one and knows what it takes and how it's done. Good job Jeff. By the way as of Tuesday Jeff was looking up other marathons. I told him all it takes is one and your addicted!

But I really think this pic really just says it all best!