Tucson 2007 RR (Read 643 times)

I planned on this race as a Boston qualifier all year and had three goals: 1. 3:30:59 Boston 2008 qualifier 2. 3:35:59 Boston 2009 qualifier (I'll be half a century old by then) 3. 3:39:13 PR and I can still declare victory, kind of like we did in Vietnam. The expo was small but efficient, and the highlight was when I noticed that the woman Mary Ann was buying a race logo fleece top from looked familiar, and it turned out that she was Lisa Smith-Batchen. Cool! Now MA wants to watch "Running on the Sun". Overall the race is just right, well-organized with my only gripe being the traditional cheap white T-shirt, same as last year. The race started out with a steep, fast 1.5 mile descent followed by a few hard climbs and descents over rolling hills. This is not a good way to start a marathon. The descents were hard on the quads and the climbs brought my heart rate up to 170, which was a really stupid error on my part. I would pay for it later. Miles 4 to 10 were a nice, gradual descent along nice paved highway. I got into a nice groove here, clicking off the miles at 7:50 pace and felt like I could sustain it for a long run. Then I hit the Biosphere turnaround, an out-and-back section that is new to the course this year. It is 4 miles of Flying Monkey-esqe hills and here I first started to have trouble. It took a lot of effort to keep up a good pace in this section. I tried to average 8's, but the climbs were more like 10's and there's no way I can run 6's to make it up, even downhill. The climbs once again pushed me to a 170 heart rate, and those downhills just meant more quad abuse. Once I resumed the long, straight highway section at mile 14 I felt better but could only run 8:15's and my quads were starting to feel just a little tired. Just past halfway and quads are tired, that's not a good thing. I had a two-minute cushion at mile 10 which gradually disappeared along this section and it became obvious that 3:30 was not going to happen. So I focused on keeping up 8:15's, which would get me to my number 2 goal, 3:35:59. All along the way my right foot was doing its usual thing. For 5 months now I've had a problem where my right big toe dorsaflexes (pulls up) on each step. Walking, running, it doesn't matter, the toe is pulling up every single step, it's like a reflex that I can't suppress. I've had this problem every step for the last 700 miles of training and racing. It's been very annoying but so far hasn't stopped my running, although it's becoming a factor, as it causes a change in my stride, puts pressure on my achilles tendon and at this point was causing a blister to form on the bottom of the big toe. I really don't think that it slowed me down, but it is extremely annoying, both in training and racing. By mile 19, where the course turns south and flattens out somewhat, I was not enjoying my day. The race elevation profile indicates that the course continues to descend, but it didn't feel like it at the time. It seemed flat, with some climbs. By that point it took a real effort to keep up a 8:15 pace, my quads were really feeling fatigued, and I gradually slowed to 8:30's. Worse yet, I stopped drinking my sports drink as my stomach didn't feel receptive and that just added to my problems. Another mistake. I hated this section of the race last year and it was just as bad this time. Long, tough, and boring. This is where I normally have a "low" point in a marathon, and I usually take some carbs, perhaps plug in my iPod, and get a second wind. This time, however, I did NOT want carbs, I did NOT want tunes, all I wanted was to STOP RUNNING! The only thing that kept me going was the chance that 3:35:59 was still possible. Finally, I passed mile 24 at 3:18, and I knew that it I would have to run the last 2.2 miles at 8-minute pace. As I hit several tough climbs in the last miles, quads thoroughly trashed, I tried to speed up but just didn't have anything left. I knew it was not going to happen, but kept going because I could still get a PR and the day would not be a total loss. I thought I saw a few "HTFU" signs but as I got closer I realized that they said something else. Still, the mental image of "HTFU" helped. As I passed the "26" sign and finished the last 385 yards, a young guy raced past, which was fine with me, he had paced himself well, good for him, I thought. But some clueless spectator started yelling at me, "come on, catch him, you can take him!". I was thinking, "ShutTFU"! and just wanted to turn around and smack him, but struggled through to the finish, less than two minutes past my BQ goal, but still a PR, at 3:37:38. I can't remember when I was so wasted after a race. I gave it everything I had. NO BOSTON FOR YOU! I made some stupid mistakes in this race and it cost me. After two dozen marathons you would think I would have known better, but I didn't. I still think that this is a beautiful and fast course. However, as I have said elsewhere, fast does not necessarily mean easy. The Biosphere turnaround and the last two uphill miles make this race a real challenge.

Perfessor, congrats on the PR. It sounds like you really gave it your all and you should be really proud of that. I love that you saw mirages of HTFU signs at the end I didn't know that you can run a qualifier for boston for the next year if you age up into a new bracket. Cool.

Great race report, Perfessor! You described the course really well. So many people have told me they have mixed feelings about Tucson because of the downhills. My quads are still aching today and walking down stairs backwards in front of other people when they don't know what the heck you are doing is always fun, eh? I think it's amazing how you stuck with it and still got a PR! That's fantastic! There's so much to be said about having a not so good race and still getting a PR and being able to declare victory!!! On another topic, what is HTFU? I see everyone here posting that acronym and I think I got the TFU part, but not the H. Also, that is WAY cool that you saw Lisa Smith-Batchen! I didn't know she was there. I wondered about that when I got a race confirmation email from "batchen..." Oh, and I just peeked at your running log. You just ran a race 3 weeks ago? WOW! Now I REALLY am impressed with how well you did! I ran 3 marathons in 3 months a couple of years ago and I got significantly worse with each one. You did just the opposite! Amazing!!!!!

The qualification window for the 2009 race opened on September 27, 2007 so if you run a qualifying time after that date you can use it for either the 2008 or 2009 races. Also, the times apply to your age ON RACE DAY so, in my case, I'd need a 3:30:59 for 2008 (age 49) or a 3:35:59 for 2009 (age 50). Not that it matters to me at this point

On another topic, what is HTFU?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EY7lYRneHc

You are fast. Best on qualifying for Boston next time. Wonder if I'll ever be able to match your performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EY7lYRneHc

LOL! I'd say you DEFINITELY HTFU'd in this race!

LOL! I'd say you DEFINITELY HTFU'd in this race!

Here's an item we can use: Wristband

Congratulations on the PR Perfesser! Sorry you didn't hit your BQ goal. Great race though and you did HTFU!