All I could think about
was the weather. It's funny now that I look back on the week prior to the
Rocket City Marathon. The forecast of 35 degrees and rain was all I could think
about and spent a significant amount of time researching how I could mitigate
the weather. I was consumed by thoughts of gloves and raincoats as I prepared
for the event.
I had decided to run the
RCM about a week prior to the event. I had a few friends running it and
thought, "why not?" I had built up a solid foundation in my years of
training for obstacle course races. The only thing I lacked was really long
runs. I decided the Saturday before the race to go on a long run to see how my
body reacted.
See, I had run two
marathons in the early 90s, each around 4 hours. In both I had run 26 miles per
week for six months in preparation. On race day I took off at about 6.5 minute
per mile pace and made it to about 15 miles and then burned out and limped the
rest of the way. I took in no nutrition and little water and ran by brute
strength.
Part of my decision to run
a marathon again is that I had been logging around 40 miles per week from
June until I hurt my back in August and then back on in late august with the
mileage. This was a significant increase from a stable 25 miles per week. The
incredible fact I discovered about myself is that distance running was mental
for me. I had knocked out many half-marathons in training that I had run at 7
and 8 minute miles and as soon as I hit my goal of 13 or 14 miles, my body
quit. So I decided that must just be a metal condition.
I also took advantage of
running tips from some of my more able running partners and running sights on
the internet. One of the tips was proper nutrition during the event. So I
copied their recommendation of a GU packet every hour, a Salt Stick Electrolyte Plus tab every hour and water and
Gatorade at every stop. This took a lot of discipline and patience.
The week prior to the RCM
I decided to run 18 miles to test my theory. Since I was worried about the
weather, I wore an Outdoor Research Men’s
Helium II water proof jacket and gloves to test for the event. Equipped and
ready, I established in my mind that I would run for 18 miles and brought GU and water to practice fueling. The 18 miles
happened easily and I had more confidence in my ability to finish a marathon.
I tapered that week and
increased my carb intake. I didn't eat more food, but substituted other food
choices with carbs. My plan was to run 14 miles throughout the week and finish
the week with a marathon distance giving me a total of the usual 40 miles. I
did not run more than 3 miles in a day and rested two days before the race.
I set my alarm to awaken
at 4 am on race day. The run started at 7 and I wanted to eat my breakfast
three hours early. I ate a jelly sandwich and went back to bed. I got up again
at 5:15, got dressed and headed to the race. It was cold and rainy and that fact
continued to haunt me; talk about mental obstacles.
The RCM start venue was at
the Von Braun Civic Center which kept us warm and dry. I walked around,
stretched, warmed up and talked to friends until we were called to the start.
We only had to spend 10-15 minutes at the start line in the rain and cold.
What I didn’t know was
that there were runners from Fleet Feet volunteering their services as “pacers”.
The pacers ran with yellow signs displaying their intended pace. All runners
had to do was “fall in” and they would run the displayed pace; how awesome is
that. My faster friends reported to the 3:25 pace and I went to the 3:50 pace.
Once we started running, I
was immediately thankful for my rain jacket and gloves. My jacket kept me warm
and provided relief from the rain and the gloves kept me warm until they became
waterlogged. I finally ditched them halfway through and tucked my hands into my
jacket sleeves.
Every hour I took in a GU packet (it took about a half mile to finish
one), a salt tab, and hydrated at every stop. The run took us through downtown
Huntsville, west through the Botanical Gardens and the Space and Rocket Center,
then back into town. I struck up a conversation with a fellow runner completing
his 111th marathon. I thought that was impressive. I told him that
this was my first since 1992. He said, “… and you picked this one for your
first”? Implying it was difficult. I just thought to myself that I thought ANY
marathon would be difficult, lol.
Cold weather mental block:
In recollection I remember
almost every mile, and the excellent Huntsville, Alabama scenery and tourist
attractions but can’t remember the weather. I had let that idea of cold and wet
get into my head and it turned out to be not much of a huge factor.
Distance mental block:
I had a good distance
foundation for running a marathon, so the mental obstacle that hit me at 13.1
miles in training was just a lie that I had to told myself. The reality is you
can run further and faster than your mind allows you to imagine. I could only
run 14, because my goal was 13. I ran 26.2, because that was my goal. My next
goal is a 50k next month and I’ll test that theory as well.
So here is what I wore and
can’t complain about any of it. I wore Nike
9” Men’s Flex shorts with the GU packets pinned to the inner waist band. The shorts
were tough and very light weight and seemingly unbothered by the rain. I wore
my Mission Driven Research sponsor shirt. The Outdoor
Research Men’s Helium II jacket was so lightweight and functional that I’d have to
recommend it to everyone. The material repelled water and I stayed warm without
overheating. The Nike Zoom Pegasus 35 shoes were light on my feet and
provided excellent cushion.
