Who: Jack and Doris Klompus

What: Clif Bar Mountains 2 Beach Marathon - my third and Mrs. K's first

Why: Mrs. K got the marathon bug and wanted to do it.

Where: Ojai (hometown of the Bionic Woman, Jamie Summer) to Ventura, CA.

When: 25 May, 2014.

Goals: DW 1) sub 4:00 2) BQ of 3:55

Background: DW started running about the same time I did, about two years ago. The difference is that she doesn't do it consistently. She gets bored with it, gets busy, whatever. It's all good. The point is she never dropped it completely. She might do five miles a week or she might do 35. She also plays indoor soccer once a week and that helps keep up her fitness.  We have run many races together including two HMs, but never a marathon. After I ran a BQ back in December, she saw how excited I was and I think that made her get the bug.

Training: I had used the Pfitz 18/55 plan and she saw how it beat me up. Now, as some of you know, Mrs. K and I are busy people. We have two active kids at home (and one at uni) who go to swim practice, swim meets, running practice, track meets, XC meets, etc... so it is hard to find time to train for a marathon. That being said, she wanted nothing to do with the Pfitz plan. Instead, she found a canned "4 Hour Marathon" plan that was designed to do just that; get you a 4 hour marathon. The plan consisted of four days a week, it peaked 42 mpw, and only had one 20 mile run. Naturally, was skeptical, but it was a 4 hour plan, NOT a BQ plan, or whatever. Training lasted 16 weeks and had about 65 runs. DW was very dedicated and only missed two of those.  Again, because of swim meets, we had to get up at 4:00am on more than one occasion to get our run in.  I "kind of" followed the plan with her but I added a day and miles each week. Also, I ran the L.A. Marathon in March and got injured so then I had to take a week off.  DW killed it during training and my training was only so-so. Actually, I was not happy with it at all, but as I am wont to say, "It is what it is."  The taper concerned me because my legs were SO tired and I never felt fully recovered, not even a little fresh. DW went through the typical madness and we even had a small argument about it. She wanted to run more because she felt like she was losing fitness and I told her "No, no, no!"

Pre-race:  Ventura is only two hours from home so DW and I wanted to make a long weekend out of it and we got a hotel for two nights. It doesn't hurt that I have totally cool parents who are always willing to take the kids when we want to getaway. My dad even took DD to a swim meet while we were gone.

The packet pickup was uneventful, as they usually are. We got our shirts, bibs and some free Clif bars and left. We did, however, get one bit of disheartening news. We found out that our shuttle to the start was leaving at 4:00am so we had to get up at 3:00 to dress, eat, and drive to the shuttle. Ugh...  Fortunately, we got some decent sleep the night before. DW was getting nervous but still slept fairly well.

At the packet pick up...

Race day: 

Miles 1-22 We got up fairly quickly and I was a bit crabby. We had a breakfast of a banana, granola bars, and Gatorade. DW was bouncing off the walls and was as giddy as a schoolgirl. I could tell she had a lot of energy and was ready to go.  We made the shuttle on time and got to the start at about 4:45 so we still had over an hour until the start. The temperature was nice, about 62 with overcast skies.  We had agreed to keep the pace between 8:50 and 9:05. It was a downhill course so I knew it would be difficult at times because gravity just takes over. That, combined with race day adrenaline, can be a very bad thing.

Right off the go, DW was too fast. The first bit was a slight uphill, but she wanted to run. She was like a greyhound chasing the rabbit around the track. "Dammit, slow down!" I told her. "I've got to work out the kinks," she told me. You get the idea. She wanted to run. Now, I am certainly no expert on running, but if there is one thing I am pretty good at doing is getting dialed in on a pace. I was trying to do that now, but she was making it hard. Oh, here is the course profile.

See that hill at mile 5? That is where we finally got settled in. I forget the splits but our run felt comfortable and consistent from here until mile 22 or 23.  DW is normally a very social runner and me, not so much. Don't get me wrong, I like to chat on a LR but I also like to let my mind go and think about NOTHING. I want to set my pace and stay there. Today, DW was like a Chatty Cathy! Blah, blah, blah... I was like "Yeah." "I know." "Uh-huh." "We have a long way to go."  She told me later that night that her ankle was bothering her after 8 miles and all the yapping was her way of keeping her mind off of it. Makes sense now.

So we are cruising along, taking Honey Stingers every 50-60 minutes, stopping for water when we needed, no real concerns. DW also carried a hydration belt that she borrowed from a friend and she took sips whenever she wanted. At the halfway point I think we were at 1:57 which was good if she was going to make her BQ.  The big downhill you can see on the profile was pretty gradual and not as steep as it looks. Most of it was on a paved bike path from Ojai to Ventura. Oh, the first 9 or 10 miles was  a big loop around the city of Ojai, then we got on that path and headed to Ventura.

Miles 22-26.2: Things were going ok up to this point. For the first 22 miles DW was either slightly behind me or we were side by side. There were also quite a few times when I had to tell her to slow down, especially on the long downhill. At mile 23, things changed. DW was now ten feet behind me, then twenty feet, soon it was fifty feet. Look at this piece of the map. Do you see what might be a problem?

If you said, "Just after mile 23 the course goes right by the finish and out for another mile and a half before it turns around to the finish!" you would be absolutely correct!  Yes, marathons can be cruel. DW's spirit was slightly crushed running by that inflatable arch at the finish and I will tell you, that mile and a half out to the turn around felt like ten miles. DW was well behind me now at mile 24 and I remember thinking "Where is the effing turn around?!"  (only I said the real word).  Also, we saw several people who were getting aid from the paramedics. By now the sun had come out and it was heating up quickly. DW later told me this didn't help because she imagined herself down there. I knew we were losing time. I looked back and DW was pushing on, the trooper that she is. She is tough! Somewhere just before mile 26 I stopped and waited for her because there was no way I wanted to finish before her. We had gone the entire way together and we would finish together.  Oh man, I knew it would be close! I was imploring her. "Come on!! DIG! You HAVE to do it! PUSH! PUSH!"  Ironically, I think I said those same words to her in the delivery room many years ago.  She was in distress big time, and people along the finish noticed.  Here is something cool: We both were wearing bright green shirts. There was a group of people who saw our shirts, her distress, and me encouraging her and THEY started yelling for her. They called us the Green Machine and were chanting that. "GREEN Machine! GREEN machine! GREEN machine!" Wow, that was so cool! It reminded me of the old movie "The Longest Yard" where the convicts were chanting "Mean Machine" during the football game. Man, that was emotional (the people yelling for us, not the movie).   We crossed the line together and I stopped the Garmin... 3:55:32!!  DW almost collapsed and was pretty much out of it. I got her to the food area and helped her walk circles and drink for about 20 minutes. The time I was concerned was when she told me she could not see even though her eyes were open. Without all the details, she recovered and was fine, it just took about 30 minutes. She drank a bunch of Gatorade and water, ate some banana and Clif bar and was ok. While she was going through all that, she told me to drink because I hadn't had anything right after the race. That's just the kind of person she is. What can I say? I'm a lucky guy.

Here are the splits. You can see the implosion in the last three miles.

Post race:  Some friends were there and we went out for a nice lunch after all that.  DW and I both got a massive hamburger and a beer and that beef tasted GOOD!  We went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and took a good nap. Surprisingly, we woke up starving and went to eat. We found a good Mexican place in the harbor and each got a massive chicken burrito. I tell you, I have NEVER seen DW eat so much in my life but then, of course, she had just run twenty-six point two freakin' miles!

Epilogue: It goes without saying that I am super proud of DW. Not only is she the best wife and better mom, she is also a marathon runner! Running wives are HOT!  She is very sore today and we are laughing as she tries to get out of the chair and walk. Hey, we've all been there. At this point, she doesn't know if she wants to do another marathon, but I am guessing she will. She already regrets that last mile. I hope she does because that would be pretty cool if we were able to run Boston together someday.  As for me, I am done with marathons for now. I am tired of being tired, I am tired of long runs, and I want to run fast (fast being a relative term, of course). I want to PR in the other distances before I run another marathon. I figure I am good for one hard cycle a year and if I get into Boston 2015 I will train my butt off for that and race it. If I don't get in I would like to target the Avenue of the Giants and try for a better BQ.  If DW wants to run another one, I suppose I will do that with her. Marathons are torture, but in hindsight, they are fun.

Thanks to all the Dailies and Penguins for the support. You all are the coolest.

Thanks for reading and I will try to get some race pics up at some point.  Sorry for the huge picture. I can never get it right with tinypic.

That is a really nice accounting of what went down and how.  I guess at the end of the day she just didn't have it that last mile and any of us who have struggled during a race can appreciate that.

Kudos to her for running what is really a good time for a first time marathoner who was a part-time runner!

Has she stopped eating yet?  lol

You both did great!  Love the Green Machine!

Nice pic, love your shirt!  lol

Awesome job to both of you, very exciting report and very exciting time for both of you!

I too, hate it when nearing the end of a long race and the course makes it look like you headed to the finish but then makes a turn and takes you away or around it, it can really be a slap to my already zapped spirit.

Awesome job again!

Congrats to both of you, especially Mrs K on such a great marathon debut!

My hubby started the same way, saw me race a half in 2003, got the bug and we have been a

racing/training couple since.  I see many more and much faster races in her/your future!!

Congratulations on a great day and great performances from both of you! What a great couple you two make. Love the picture and loved the RR as well. I doubt I will ever do a marathon with my SO, but we'll be doing a 5k together with our 16 year old son, on July 1st. I'm looking forward to it, even though it won't be as exciting as what you and Mrs K did. I bet you will remember this day for years to come. And I gotta say this: I'm insanely envious of those nicely even splits.  Well done!

Lots and lots of talent in the Klompus household, but you guys already knew that.

Green machine!