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| Vancouver, USA, the Orignal! |
On Sunday morning I ran the Vancouver USA Marathon, and as the Mayor would tell you , the Original Vancouver not the Canadian copycat. Just like the Phoenix Marathon, I had put in a lot of training and planning, ultimately hoping for a much better experience this time. I felt really good, felt prepared and ready to go. But in the end the results were almost identical, at least on the surface. Looking a little deeper I'll try to explain as to why that despite similar results, I feel much more satisfied.
With Vancouver being a few hours away I left on Saturday morning and arrived about Noon time at Esther Short Park to register, right downtown where the race would both start and finish. They had a full runners expo, like most large scale races, and I checked in and got my shirt, race bib #723 and goody bag, which was only average at best. I then proceeded to go to my hotel to rest up and maybe even try to nap, which I was able to do for about 45 minutes. I had brought my lunch, careful as to what to eat the day before. At 5:00 p.m. I went to mass at St. Joseph's in Vancouver, I mean a few prayers for health couldn't hurt right? After mass I went to eat some buttered noodles, carbs, for dinner and then back to the hotel where I just relaxed and eventually fell asleep. I woke up at 3:00 a.m. Sunday feeling good, the race was at 7:00 and I was about a 5 minute drive from downtown. I drank some coffee, ate a banana and some peanut butter and eventually left around 5:30. Much to my surprise I easily found a place to park right along the park and just proceeded to walk around to stay loose, did some stretching, I felt very comfortable. My mindset was much different this time, I really tried to be much more relaxed about it and so far it seemed as though that was the case. About 6:45 they lined everyone up, the Mayor thanked everyone for coming and then, shockingly, proceeded to say a prayer. I was certainly okay with that, but I was surprised to have it happen in today's world as it seems we always have to be fearful of offending someone. But it was a nice touch. As I was standing in the lineup I said something to the guy next to me, Jim from Pennsylvania, and he said he was going to try and break 3:30 so I thought I'd stick with him so as to not go out to fast, which I think was a problem for me last time. After a nice rendition of the National Anthem, off we went.
Esther Short Park in Downtown Vancouver, WA the start and finish of the race.
The weather was just about perfect, maybe a touch humid for me after living in Arizona which has no humidity, but it was in the low 50's and very cloudy with no wind, so you really couldn't ask for much more than that. The first part of the course takes you west of town about 7 miles before essentially turning around and coming back on the other side of the road. It's more industrial so there weren't many people along the way. Pennsylvania Jim and I had become pretty good running friends by that point as we were running side by side. He was wearing a watch and was keeping us on pace. Turns out he's run over 50 marathons and some ultra's(100 mile races), he was about 50 years old and in town for business, thought the marathon would be fun to do. Runners, we are weird people. But Jim and I were running stride for stride and it really seemed effortless the first ten miles or so, which is exactly what you want. One change I had made this time was to use a fuel belt, which you attach around your waist and it holds water bottles. Having leg issues the last time I was determined to ensure that I was hydrated. I didn't think I would like wearing a fuel belt for a number of reasons, but I had trained with it and it wasn't a big deal, plus it also had a small pouch so I brought my own gel packs and thereby could have the flavors I liked and not have to worry about what they might be handing out. I mention this now because it had a huge impact later on, we'll get to that in a bit.
Fuel Belts, sure they can help, just be careful what you put in them.
As Jim and I were running somewhere around mile 10 or so this guy ran up next to us and I have no idea what he said, but he was upset about something or so it seemed, and then proceeded to run ahead of us. The guy was in his 50's and had longer hair and to me he looked like Gregg Allman. He had a weird running motion, but he obviously was a good runner and when he took off past us I said to Jim, "Was that Gregg Allman?" Keep in mind, I'm really not a fan of Gregg Allman or know his music and not sure why I said that but Jim found that hysterical, so of course I proceeded to milk that over the next few miles saying things like:
"Who knew Gregg Allman was a runner, I mean with all the drugs and booze he's consumed, he's really cleaned up his act."
"Did you see Gregg Allman take that corner up ahead, not only he is a skilled musician, he runs like a Kenyan."
"Do you think Gregg is the fastest Allman brother?"
"Do you think Cher is here to cheer him on? I'm going to keep my eyes peeled."
Gregg Allman, musician and marathoner?
"Nipple chaffing turns me on."
"Run a Personal Record and I'll wash your clothes for you."
and the absolute ultimate sign:
"Even Chuck Norris NEVER ran a marathon!"
Cancer, sure, but what about a marathon Chuck?
Hands down the greatest sign of the day. Right around 15 the hills started to affect me and I could no longer keep pace with Jim, I certainly wouldn't want to slow him down, so he went on ahead. I knew he'd break 3:30, he was just in a zone. I was also starting to really feel nauseous and had for the last few miles. Going back to my fuel belt, the person that recommended it to me is someone who is an elite level marathoner, done well over 50 and in addition to the belt he said that gatorade is more for replenishment, so I should use a GoFuel in the bottles, a powder drink that is like gatorade but has all the things needed for while you are engaged in exercise. I thought that was a great idea, so I had filled my bottles with GoFuel but I also made a classic rookie mistake. I had purchased an orange flavored powder but I never tried it out before that day, I merely mixed it up that morning before I left and filled my bottles. Turns out that was a bad move because it completely disagreed with my body and I could feel it in my gut. At that point I had drank 2 of my 3 bottles full of it and I could feel it sitting in my stomach, painfully and I felt like I was going to throw up at any time. Not a great feeling in general, certainly not while you're running at a decent pace. But I proceed to go on, albeit slower up the hills through the north end of Fort Vancouver on a beautiful tree lined street. The course was really nice at this point, just difficult. After a few more miles and a few moments of dry heaving, while running, I really, really, really had to take a leak. Of all the times I've run, I think that has only happened to me about 3 times, but it did make some sense to me because I had consumed more liquid than usual as I was determined to stay hydrated. So around mile 19 I just couldn't take it anymore, saw some bushes up ahead and ran behind them and took a leak. I really, didn't want to stop, I was worried that if I did that I'd have a really hard time getting going again. But I also didn't want to piss myself. Some people do, but it's not like I was going to win this race or anything and I also half thought that maybe when I stop I'll be able to throw up and get all of the GoFuel out of my body because I could taste it and feel it and knew that as the culprit of my nausea.
At Mile 20, I thought I was dead.
After running behind the bushes, it only took less than a minute, I got back on the road and came to the hardest part of the course. At about 19.5 there is a ridiculously steep hill that goes for over a mile. If this was the first mile of the marathon it would be really tough, but around mile 20, it just seemed unfair. I knew it was coming and thought I would be ready, but at that point, I was really feeling sick and tired of course and it just knocked me on my ass. I was going at a snail's pace and sure I was disappointed that I couldn't attack it, but I just wanted to get up it. I'd been going uphill for the last few miles, with no downhill relief and it was just too much for me. I finally got up the hill and saw that there was some downhill ahead, but unfortunately even though I'd been climbing for roughly 3-4 miles, you go down all of that grade in about 1/4 mile, in other words, it's extremely steep and no relief because you have to watch your footing dramatically or you'll tumble right over. So it was almost as tough going downhill, but finally at the bottom I knew it was going to be relatively flat most of the rest of the way. But I was really hurting physically, still dry heaving at points, but nothing coming out, so the GoFuel was just sitting inside me, taunting me.
At Mile 20, I thought I was dead.
At Mile 22, I wished I was dead.
The course was much flatter, but at this point I was just hanging on. I was going very slowly and I knew that, but I didn't have the same type of emotions I did last time because my legs were fine. The only issue I was having besides fatigue, was from the GoFuel and that was self-inflicted, because I should have never done something different going into the race. Runners go by routine and for whatever the reasons, I thought I'd have no issue with any kind of liquid, so I never tried it out ahead of time. Classic rookie mistake.
At Mile 20, I thought I was dead.
At Mile 22, I wished I was dead.
At Mile 24, I knew I was dead.
The only saving grace for me at this point was that the course was really beautiful. We were running along the Columbia River on a bike path, it was part woodlands, part condos, lots of people out cheering us on. Plenty of people offered me encouragement as they could see I was struggling. It was a nice feeling, but I was really feeling awful and I knew that one more challenge was ahead. Having studied and driven the course ahead of time I knew that as we left the river trail we would head back to Fort Vancouver which meant an extreme uphill right at Mile 25. Again, this was a tough uphill even if it would have been a the beginning, but at Mile 25?!?!?!! It was as brutal as I imagined, but I slowly made my way up it and as we left the Fort we were back downtown. The streets were lined with people on both sides, all the roads were completely closed and finally, FINALLY we were running downhill. A little late don't you think? But it did make for a nice finish. As I turned the final corner and could see the finish line about 1/10 of a mile ahead of me, I heard the announcer call my name, as they were reading the bib numbers of finishers coming in. Of course he mangled the pronunciation, but still, hearing my name as I got close to the end, I have to say, it was pretty cool. Although, quite honestly, there was going to be no Boogaloo finish for me, because all I wanted to do was cross the finish line and hopefully throw up.
At Mile 20, I thought I was dead.
At Mile 22, I wished I was dead.
At Mile 24, I knew I was dead.
At Mile 26.2, I realized I was too tough to Kill!!!!!!!!
I'd like to say it was a great finish and I suppose in some ways it was, but I proceeded to cross the finish line and then sat on a curb, as they had no chairs for anyone(one of the few negatives). As I was sitting there, a guy I saw hurting around Mile 15 that I had shouted some encouragement too, who then caught up to and ran with me before fading back, come up to me. He had just finished and said he'd been following me, trying to keep up. He said he could tell I was hurting too, but seeing that helped spur him onto finish. That was nice to hear. I then proceeded off to the medical tent and told them I was going to throw up, they were prepared, and I sat there for about 15 minutes and nothing happened. Then I laid in the grass for about 15 minutes and nothing happened, so I went back to my Jeep. As I was changing my shoes, that's when Mt. Saint Helen's erupted. It was an absolutely awful feeling as I proceeded to purge anything that was in my body, which was mostly all liquid at that point. A woman in the car next to mine came over and sat with me and gave me some of her water and a towel. She was very helpful and I thanked her. At this point I got very, very cold and was shaking and I didn't have any warm clothes, so I got in my car and turned on the heat full blast and tried to warm up. After about 10 minutes or so, I felt good enough to drive back to the hotel. I then tried to take a shower, but ended up laying in the tub with the water hitting me, for maybe 1/2 hour. When I stood up, Mt. Saint Helen's Part 2 was there and I think I may have even thrown up a piece of a crayon I might have eaten when I was 3 years old. It was violent, ugly and took what very, very little energy I had left in me at that point. I was extremely fatigued from running as it was, now I had absolutely no fluids or any replenishment in me. So I crawled into bed and tried to stay warm and just laid there for about 2 hours. I couldn't sleep, I was just completely exhausted. Finally I decided to drink some gatorade and that was fine. Eventually I ate some chocolate chip cookies I brought, because they are my absolute weakness and I hadn't eaten any in a really long time, as I had tried to eat healthy leading up the race. The cookies stayed down and about 2 hours later I was really feeling pretty good. Finally. I had no leg issues, very little soreness and now that my body had some good fuel I was pretty much back to normal. I sat in the hotel hot tub for a bit, relaxed and then ate a little bit and soaked it all in.
In the end I ran this marathon in 3:54:04 compared to 3:56:37 last time, so hardly much difference in time. But last time I had trained so hard and felt so prepared and yet my body let me down and it was out of my control and virtually impossible for me to accept. This time, I may have bonked or however you want to look at it, but it was by my own doing. Without the GoFuel, would I have done much better, I'm sure I would have, but how much better, who knows. One thing I have learned is that 26.2 is just a long, long ways and you can do all the training runs of 20 and 20+ you want, but on a race day, there are just so many variables beyond your control that you have to appreciate all you can. Last time I couldn't do that, but this time, not only could I appreciate what just happened, but it also made me realize how much I pushed through the Phoenix Marathon despite the cramping. Comparing how I felt physically after this race compared to that one, it seems impossible that I even finished in Phoenix. Yet this course was much more difficult, so slower, and I had nausea issues, so again; variables. But looking back, 13 months ago I couldn't even run 2 miles without stopping, let alone at any sort of pace. Since then I've run over 2000 miles, I've run in about 15 races including a few 1/2 marathons and 2 Marathons in the last 3 months. What was I really expecting to have happen, I mean I'm not a professional and a year ago I was on the couch?!?!?!? Am I disappointed that I didn't run faster, sure. Do I think I can, no question. But if I didn't have the high expectations and went after them, I'd certainly never achieve them. I mean on any given day I can run 20 miles and not many people can do that. Last year my life got completely turned upside down and I was grasping at anything to not only stay afloat but try to make sense of what the second half of my life would hold because it certainly wasn't going to be anything like I had envisioned. Just over a year later, now I can truly appreciate what I have been able to accomplish; how I am in the best shape of my life, that I have a tremendous family and friends that have and will support me through anything; I've made new life-long friends; and most importantly I've gotten back the confidence I lost in myself as I was knocked over the edge last year. I am too tough to kill and maybe it took me a while to get that feeling back, but without appreciating the journey that was needed to get here, I could never fully appreciate the results. A sincere thank you to everyone who has been with me on this journey, I honestly would have never made it without you. Phoenix Marathon 2014, I'll be back!
Hey Gregg Allman, wait up!
I don't look too bad for having just run 26.2 miles and puking my brains out just minutes before this. You can even see remnants on the sidewalk behind me by my Jeep. I'm all class you know.
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