National Marathon Race Report (Late but very long) (Read 577 times)

***Warning, what follows is a very long winded report. It is a safe, non-habit forming way to get to sleep, however.*** Race morning. 7:00am Washington, DC It was a bit chilly at the start. The temperature was about 30°F, but the sky was very clear and once the sun came up, it felt pretty comfortable. The start went pretty well. Everyone around me was moving at more or less the same speed I was. Overall, things flowed very smoothly. There were about 6000 total participants (4000 for the half, 2000 for the full) and the course was able to comfortably accommodate everyone with little crowding. We started off going west down East Capitol Street and I was a little disappointed to see that the cherry blossoms had not yet started to bloom. They had started blooming when I ran the half last year. Capitol Street is lined with them and when they’re in bloom, they make a really pretty picture lining the street with the Capitol Dome off in the distance. The first three miles went by easily. Just after the 3 mile mark, I saw support crew (wife and sister who was visiting for the weekend) and handed off my sweats as I was pretty warmed up by then. They were nice enough to lug them around for the rest of the day for me. I’d been checking my watch at every mile marker for my unofficial splits and I found that I had been running pretty consistent 10 minute miles. If I picked up a few seconds in one mile, I’d drop them over the next. This seemed like a good plan, so I decided that I’d just try to split 10 minutes/mile as evenly as I possibly could until at least mile 20. If I still wanted to pick up the pace after that, then I’d go for it. At the 4 mile mark, the course moves away from the mall and goes north on 18th Street toward Connecticut Ave. The 4 mile mark also marks the beginning of some hills. The next four miles aren’t too bad, but they’re not flat either. I still wanted even splits, so I increased the effort a bit here. At the 10K mark, I got my first official split. 10K split: 1:02:35 Pace: 10:05 m/m I took my first Gu just before mile 7. I was planning on taking a total of 3 at a rate of 1 per 7-8 miles. Continuing on, we passed by Howard University and headed south on N. Capitol St. back toward RFK stadium. After mile 8, it was either flat or downhill so I was able to ease back on the effort while keeping a 10 minute pace. Just after mile 10 I got to see my crew again. The timing worked very well as I’m told that they arrived only a couple of minutes before I passed by. During this leg, I also saw a race-first: an aid station that had run out of cups. How do you run out of cups?! Of all things! I had my bottle of water with me, but I did see some people taking gallon jugs from volunteers and drinking from them straight. Ewwww! No thanks, I’m fine. The course takes us back to RFK stadium and the halfers peel off to the finish and those doing the full continue on around the stadium. Here’s where I hit official split number two. Half split: 2:10:59 Pace: 10:00 m/m I was really happy to see that. I was keeping a steady pace and I wasn’t speeding up near the middle like I did at Marine Corps last October. I felt like I could go faster, but I knew that would be a terrible idea that I’d have to pay for later on. So, we loop around RFK and the Armory, get back on to E. Capitol St., and basically repeat the first three miles of the race. I’m a little disappointed to see that even though over two hours have elapsed, the cherry blossoms still have not bloomed. I push through the disappointment by eating a Gu right around mile 15. I’m still on pace at the 16.5 mile point at Constitution Ave and 9th St where I see my crew once again. I take in my cheers and go south on 9th St. which was kind of neat since 9th actually runs underneath the National Mall and I’ve never run any part of a race through a tunnel. After 9th St, we took 295 very briefly to Maine Ave and ran along the Washington Channel. That was very pretty and looking across the water; I could see Potomac Park, which was just about the point at Marine Corps when I started to feel tired. Not this time though, I had already done 18 miles and was feeling good and still keeping a consistent 10 minute pace. So far, so good. We took P St east to S. Capitol St. in order to cross the Anacostia River via the Capitol St. Bridge. I was supposed to see my crew for the last time before the finish, but as it turns out, we just missed each other. Oh well, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. After crossing the bridge, we hit the 20 mile mark and I got the next to last official split. 20 Mile Split: 3:20:38 Pace: 10:02 Ok, so I’ve made it 20 miles. I forced myself to 10 minute miles thus far. Now I can drop the hammer, right? Well, fatigue had begun to set in a bit here and I feared that if I dropped the hammer now, I’d probably have to turn around in a mile or two, come back and pick it up. That would be embarrassing. No, for now, I’ll just try not to go any slower than a 10 minute pace. Maybe I’ll speed up at mile 21, after I’ve taken my Gu. Nope, still not trying to speed up, just hold the pace. In fact, mile 20 through almost mile 23 is run entirely in Anacostia Park along Anacostia Dr. It’s strange though. Anacostia Park isn’t really a park, like you or I might think of a park. There are almost no trees and it consists of the river, a swath of grass about 30 yards wide, Anacostia Dr (which runs more or less parallel to the river), and about 100 more yards of grass until you hit the Anacostia Freeway and the rest of Southeast DC. Point being, it’s kind of rough running a stretch so exposed and rather boring this late in the race. I don’t remember specifics, but my pace started falling off around here. On the bright side though, at least this bit was pretty flat. About mile 23, we came out of Anacostia Park and ran over to Minnesota Ave and took that back to E. Capitol St. This roughly two mile stretch is what you think of when you think of Southeast DC. Very depressed looking. It’s a pretty rough area. On the upside, everyone that was out at that time of the morning seemed very nice and even shouted a few “attaboys!” and “lookin’ goods” On the downside though, there are some noticeable hills on this stretch. Nothing real terrible, but after 23-24 miles, you do feel them. Once you get back onto Capitol Street, it’s pretty much smooth sailing as you pass the 25 mile mark almost immediately. I swear, at the mile 25 aid station, I took some Powerade from a girl who looked just like someone I used to work with when I was in high school. If your name is Grace, you worked the mile 25 aid station on Saturday, and you worked in a Japanese restaurant in the mid 90's, then I thought that was you! If not, well, thanks for the Powerade. The final stretch is flat and I tried to do a little hammer dropping, figuring I only had 1.2 to go. Yeah, I think it was more like a ball-peen hammer I dropped. I picked up the pace for a few minutes, but then settled back down to ensure that I’d have a strong finish. And that’s pretty much what I did. I kept it even until the finish was in sight and I gave a good sprint to the end. Final results Gun time 4:30:58 Net time 4:25:34 Pace 10:08 You’ll note that my pace really did fall off some over the final stretch. My average pace over the last 10K was 10:28 m/m. But, in spite of that I’m still quite happy with the results. It’s a PR of just over 11 minutes and my splits were far more consistent than the ones at Marine Corps. But most surprising is that this was a result of pretty poor training. I’ve not put in many miles over the last four months for a number of reasons. I had intended to spend a lot of time over 50 mpw while in reality, I’ve haven’t been doing much over 40 mpw with any consistency. I suppose I was drawing on the base I established last fall. At any rate, it does make me curious to see how I could do with better training. Right now I’m thinking about the Richmond marathon the first weekend in November. That would give me a solid six months to work with, rather than the four I had for this one. We’ll see.

very nice! congrats on a great race!

Nice job, Ben; I enjoyed reading it. Richmond is a nice race with a similar mid-size feel; you'll like it. Good luck!

You fell off a little in the last 10k, but 10:00->10:28 isn't bad! You did great. Enjoy Richmond... it is a good race. With a frightening downhill finish. Look out below.

Nice work and congrats on the PR. The dude abides.

Good job, Ben. I'll be at Richmond for my marathon debut.

I'm registering for the 10 miler as soon as my new debit card comes but anyways, it will be fun. We should recruit more baltimorans to do it...

Nice report and great race. I wonder if the blossom had come out by the time I finished reading it?