Notes
Pocatello Marathon.
I can truly say that this race will go down as my longest, most painful experience in a marathon. In other races, when things got rough, I would just say screw it and back down, but there was too much at stake at this race to do that. This was my one and only shot at qualifying for the 2014 Boston Marathon.
The day starts early, with a 5am shuttle that takes you to the top of a mountain for the start. With just over 400 entrants, there were enough buses (coaches, not school buses) to take everyone up in one wave. No waiting in line for a bus, just get on one of them. Very nice. There's not much up in these mountains, mostly just ranches. The start was outside of a big old barn with chickens running around. There were port o johns set up, as well as portable floodlights, as sunrise wouldn't occur until a few miles into the race. The race started promptly at 6:15 under beautiful starry skies. The first 3 miles screamed downhill, which was a little tricky because it was still quite dark. Then the grade eased up a bit, and with the brightening sky, you could then start to look around and admire the beauty that you were running in. It was so quiet that you could hear cows and sheep calling out in the distance as you passed by ranches.
The constant downhill continued on mile after mile until mile 14, sometimes steeply, sometimes moderately, but always present. The only respite was on a short out and back detour we took off the main route at mile 6, which took you partially back up the mountain again.
By mile 10, my legs were starting to hurt, and I was looking forward to the relatively flat 2nd half of the race. I hit the halfway point around 1:38 or so, pretty much right where I wanted to be. Energy wise, it was as if I was out for a jog, but I was really worried about how sore I was getting.
Once on the flats after mile 14, The plan was to cruise in at 7:30's to the finish. That plan lasted about 2 miles. Starting at mile 16, the legs really started revolting. The soreness was becoming a hindrance, and now the quads were starting to cramp and seize up. Even though I did my best in training with strength work to try to minimize the damage the downhills would do to me, I just didn't get much actual downhill running in. There is no substitute for that.
The new goal became trying to hold on to 8min miles. That was working for a while, but then eventually that pace started creeping up as trying to go any faster would just lock things up. I was in so much pain at this point that I wanted to cry. This was totally frustrating as the energy banks were still holding strong, but the chassis wasn't.
At mile 22, I had considered dropping out. The legs just couldn't handle any more pounding. But the thought of not going to Boston kept me going. I had to at least try. If I failed, I failed, but didn't quit in the process.
About the only thing I could get to work at this point was to keep the legs almost stiff, and kind of shuffle along looking like the tin man. My pace was now down to the 8:30's and still dropping. The pain was excruciating. The new goal became to finish in 3:25 or better, which would give me a 5 minute cushion over my qualifying time for Boston.
I haven't checked the official time, but I think it was 3:24:45 or so. Whether that will be good enough to get into Boston or not remains to be seen, but with how competitive I think it will be this year, my guess is that it will be very close.
For such a small race, the organization pours an incredible amount of resources into it. Water/fueling stations were well stocked and plentiful, even up in the mountains. The course was well staffed with very enthusiastic volunteers, including a whole crew that was dressed as cows, ringing cowbells and holding up signs such as "Keep Moooooving". The finish line, at a town park, had an amazing spread of food, beer, entertainment and support. You were given access to a nearby aquatic park for dipping in the pool or for taking showers. And the town just opened it's arms to you. You were a rock star if you were there to run the marathon.
Thank you Pocatello for a great race.