Notes
BIB # - 88
Overall a hot day for a Marathon Race. You know it's bad when the spectators are fanning themselves from the heat. The course has many rolling hills with a total of 4 major hill climbs (Mile 3-4, Mile 9-10, Mile 13-14, Mile 19-20). Starting temperature was in the upper 60’s at 7AM and was either in the upper 70’s or low 80’s by the time I finished at around 10:40AM
Met IR Corporate Teammates John and Dave at starting area. Temps are already in the upper 60's which is why I felt very comfortable just standing around (not a good sign). While waiting, we meet Aidan Ryan who just flew in from China. He has a meeting in Minneapolis on Tuesday so he decided to sign-up for the Marathon (what is he, insane). We chat for a while about work and then head to the starting line together. Aidan stays in the back, but I push up ahead to where the 3:20 pacer is at.
Mile 1 - Kept up with the 3:20 Pacer and 1:40 Half Marathon pacer. Pace is ok and heart rate is ok, but I know my heart rate should be lower for a 7:38 min/mile pace than what it is at. There is a slight headwind in our faces. The first mile I knew had a slight uphill as we pass the Hwy 95/36 intersection.
Mile 2 - Still running with the Pacer. At one point, he lets me hold the 3:20 flag for a while. That could be tough holding a flag for 26.2 miles. I happily give it back to him. We continue along South on Hwy 95.
Mile 3 - During this mile, the 12k and 20 Milers split off at Bayport. Still keeping pace and trying to relax.
Mile 4 - First major uphill. Pacers are trying to run even splits, but I feel more comfortable trying to run even effort. My heart rate climbs so I slow down going up the hill and let the pace team push ahead. The sun and the heat is really starting to pick up but the headwind in our faces make it bearable.
Mile 5 – Still running at around 7:38 pace but now the pace team is a couple of hundred feet ahead of me.
Mile 6 – Still pushing along. Pace team still ahead of me. The course turns and we are running back towards Stillwater. The headwind we had now becomes a tailwind. I can really start to feel the heat from the sun especially since we have no breeze in our faces.
Mile 7 – The mile is even to a slight downhill so I pickup the pace slightly and I’m starting to gain ground on the pacers.
Mile 8 - Finally I catch back up with the pacers. Decide that I’m going to at least try to stay with them.
Mile 9 - Still following the pacers. My heart rate is exactly where I normally put it for a Marathon but I’m obviously running much slower than I normally would run.
Mile 10 - Second major hill climb. Again the pacers are running even splits so I slow down to try for even effort. The pace team push further ahead of me now.
Mile 11 - I can see the pace team a few hundred feet ahead of me. Starting to pass the 12k walkers. I keep telling myself to just hold pace.
Mile 12 - I can feel myself slowing down more as the pace team is further increasing their lead against me. I decide to myself that I will not worry about the pace team and just focus on finishing this race for myself. The heat is starting to get to me.
Mile 13 - We are starting to head out of Stillwater and reach the 3rd major hill climb. Again, I slow it down to try and make an even effort going up the hill.
Mile 14 - Reach the top of the hill and then the course rolls back down and back up before we make a right turn off the highway into a residential area. As I make the right turn, I look and notice that the runner ahead looks like Aidan. I push forward to catch up to him.
Mile 15 - The runner was Aidan. He is obvious feeling crappy. I myself am feeling crappy so I decide for myself that I will run with him. We talk about the heat and the rolling hills throughout the course.
Mile 16 - Right after the water stop at Mile 15 (Brows Creek Park), Aidan stops and tries to tell me to go ahead without him. He walks up the short hill insisting that I leave him and continue on myself. I decide that no I’m not going to leave him feeling miserable and 10 miles to the finish. I keep trying to encourage him to just jog slowly up the hill. He walks up the hill and we continue on together. I told him we’ll slow it down. We talk about the last 6.2 miles being downhill and so we’re only roughly 4 miles until we hit that point.
Mile 17 - The course continues on McKusick Rd but before turning on Amundson Dr, they make us do a short out and back on McKusick (obviously to make the course distance correct). At the turn around, there is no timing mat so it’s an honor system for each of the runners to not cheat and cut the course short. Once we make the turn onto Amundson Dr, there is a short hill climb and Aidan again stops and starts to walk up the hill. Once again he tries to tell me to go on ahead without him but I again am very persistent that I was not going to leave him. I tell him I don’t care about the time and that I really wanted to help push him to the finish. I told him we’ll slow it down some more. At the top of the hill, we start running again.
Mile 18 - The course continues on Stonebridge Trail. We’re going along at a much slower pace and I explain to Aidan that there is still one more hill between 19 and 20. He politely tells me that he’s going to be walking up that hill. I keep telling him let’s just try to do a slow jog up the hill. We continue along and try to find shade as much as possible along the course but this section of the course literally had no shade. The 3:30 pace team passes us during this mile.
Mile 19 - We pass Hwy 96 and continue on Stonebridge Trail. I knew this next section would have shade so we take cover as much as possible. I know Aidan is hurting really bad. He again keeps telling me to continue on without him. It’s so bad that we argue a lot about it. I still keep telling him that I’m not going to leave him alone on the course. He tells me he’s hurting real bad and he feels real bad holding me back. I tell him not to worry. At this point, I see the 3:20 pacer who I was following earlier at one of the water stops. He basically DNF the race. Tough Tough race.
Mile 20 - We arrive at the last major hill climb. Aidan was true to his word and proceeds to walk the course. Again I’m encouraging him to just jog slowly. We argue back and forth again and he continues to tell me to go on ahead without him. He tells me he really wants to go alone. At this point, the 3:40 pacer passes us. We argue more about it and although I really want to help him out, I feel as if maybe I am becoming an obstacle.
Mile 21 - I make the decision and decide to leave Aidan. I tell him I’ll be waiting for him at the finish line. Since the 3:40 pacer had just passed us, I push forward to catch up to him. The 3:40 pacer is the same guy that I ran the Stillwater training run back in April. Trying to figure out now why we haven’t reached the downhill section of the course.
Mile 22 - Finally we reach the downhill section and I decide that I will just stick with the 3:40 pacer. We talk about other races we’ve done and continue to pass many people on the downhill section. The course doesn’t off much shade and I can really feel the heat coming off the black asphalt. Pacer tells me we’re on track for what he’s pacing and we’re about 10 seconds ahead.
Mile 23 - Continuing with the 3:40 pacer. I probably could go a little faster but now looking back at my heart rate, probably not. At certain sections we speed up but the pacer tells me he’s got a job to do and slows it back down.
Mile 24 - Continuing the decent to Stillwater. I make sure to just stick with the 3:40 pacer. Again, we’re passing many runners along the way.
Mile 25 - The course practically levels off and I’m really starting to feel like I’m fading. I just want this race to end. I pull ahead of the pacer to where he’s just behind me.
Mile 26 - We enter into downtown Stillwater. I’ve keep the pace constant. I thought the pacer was just behind me, but it turns out to be another runner who we had earlier passed. He’s coming on strong at the finish.
Mile 26.2 - Just after the Mile 26 marker, I basically completely stopped to wait for the pacer to come. I figured that I had just run the last 10k with him so I will finish it up and cross the finish line with him. We run the last 0.15 mile together and the crowds are cheering. I cross the finish line to look at my watch to see 3:39:xx. 3:40 Pacer did pretty darn good at meeting pace time for the race.
After taking about a 15 min break to get some fluids and food, I head back on the course backwards to find Aidan and bring him in. I managed to find Aidan somewhere just after Mile 25. We talk some more and I basically run with him to just before the finish line.