Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon

Leading up to the race
The weeks following the San Diego marathon, I started having to deal with lower back issues. I didn't want to risk a serious injury, so I switched from running to just working with weights and ran only 2 times in the two weeks leading up the race. So in less than a month, I put on about 10 lbs of muscle and whatnot. I knew the Seattle race was going to be a hard one no matter what strategy I used. I decided to wear my blue autism bracelet. It has a bunch of words on it that I planned to focus on during tough parts on the course. I also wore an orange Robeks bracelet because it went with my orange Worldvision shirt.

Planes, trains, and automobiles
I didn't realize that my flight was a 6:30 am flight until I checked 2 days before. That was fine since I'm used to waking up at 4:30am every day. But boy was I tired when I got into SeaTac. I finished reading The Outsiders while on the plane. I had to catch my bus to downtown and I was blocked by a bunch of TNT people before the race even started. Since they were in my way, I started talking to them about the marathon. I believe they were from Philly. I took the Gray Line to downtown for $9 each way. It worked out ok. I suppose I will try out their light rail next year. I got to my hotel, checked in, and hoofed it over to the expo really quick to pick up my race packet before I went to meet up with my friends for lunch.

Expo and FE
The expo was ok. It was pretty much like San Diego, but a little bit smaller. I did the usual walk up and down every aisle. And of course, I said hi to the girls at the Elite Racing table. They don't give me much attention these days. They already know that I'm going to sign up and sign up I did, for next year's Seattle marathon for $50. They must be doing their research and realize that nuts like me that are trying to cut back cannot pass up on such a deal! With that I got the heck out of there before I spend any more money. I headed up to the waterfront to meet up with my friends (Ryan, Cat, Aimee and her husband Miles) to eat at the Crab Pot. The last time I was in Seattle, I also ate there. Afterwards they were going to go sightseeing, but I left them to go back to my hotel and crash. And crash I did after buying some Powerbars, water, and Gatorade at a Walgreens along the way. I woke up briefly to go eat pho. Then I resumed the sleeping.

Race Day
I got ready and boarded the bus for the start at around 4:45am. It was nice to have the pickup spot right across the street from my hotel. I ate my two Powerbars on the bus and it was a pretty quick ride down to Tukwila. When I got there I hung out inside a Mexican restaurant that was kind enough to let us stay inside. Met maniacs #593 and #583.

The gun went off a little after 7am. They did something new with the corrals. After they release a corral, the next wave was held for a couple of minutes before they were released. It wasn't until about 20 minutes after the gun that my corral was given the green light. I got really antsy and took off a tad faster than I would've liked, mistake number 1. I passed at least 2 corrals because before I knew it I was at the heels of the 4:15 pace group. I slowed down so that I wouldn't pass them.
1: 8:34
2: 8:45
3: 8:58
5k: 27:16

There was a big downhill after mile 5, so I just took off and passed the 4:15 pace group, mistake number 2. Of course I would see them later. I knew that, but what the heck I might as well see if my right hip flexor was ok with me picking up the pace.
4: 9:21
5: 10:16
6: 8:24
10k: 56:16

I started to finally settle into the pace that I should've ran at the beginning. But I have a hard time doing that on a rolling course. Running around Lake Washington was nice. It was pretty much the main stretch where we got great crowd support.
7: 9:36
8: 9:27
9: 9:29
9mi: 1:22:54

First bridge across Lake Washington. It was nice to split off from the half marathoners and see those in front and those behind me.
10: 9:44
11: 10:15
12-13: 20:58
13.1mi: 2:04:50

Another good downhill, but my right leg was getting tired. Running through the tunnel around mile 15-16 was not very enjoyable. It was loud and stuffy. After we exited the tunnel it was a nice long gradual climb. By mile 18 my right quad was done. It was knotted up and I tried working it out with my water bottle... maybe I should start carrying The Stick with me. I thought this was a good a time as any to take a potty break.
14: 8:46
15: 10:18
16: 12:02
17: 11:42
18: 15:57
30k: 3:10:20

After the turn around, it was nice to run downhill for a change. I licked some salt at an aid station. I'm sure it helped a little with the cramping, but my stomach was not feeling good. It could be from the Cytomax. Next time I should just carry two handhelds with Gatorade for the entire race. Anyways it was back into the tunnel for miles 21-22. I was hating life right after that and just didn't even feel like wogging or slogging. Good thing they don't put benches on freeways or I might have planted myself and not get back up.
19: 11:44
20: 12:23
21: 12:39
22: 14:14
23: 14:47
24: 13:14
24mi: 4:20:15

I was passed by a guy wearing a shirt where he wrote, "If you're reading this, that means that I am not last." We leapfrogged each other for awhile and one time when he passed me, I yelled out, "crap! I'm last again!" During the final stretch I kept looking back to see if someone was going to burn me in the last 50m. My legs were locking up and all I had left was a pretty pathetic trot across the finish line.
25: 12:27
26: 14:22
26.2: 2:16
Finish: 4:50:49

Post race thoughts
Again I felt like passing out soon after crossing the finish line. After I ate half a bagel and drank some water, I felt better. I think I need to adjust my food intake when the weather is on the warm side. Beers taste very good after a marathon, especially after running a horrible one. I'm going to see if I can drop back down to the low 140s before San Francisco.