I took an early morning flight out of LAX to Seattle with Virgin America. I got there in a couple of hours. I took the fairly new Link light rail to the Stadium station and walked over to the expo. I went through the expo, stopped by the WorldVision booth, and met Meb again. He's a really cool guy. I ended up signing up next year's Seattle RnR race for $40 off and the DisneyWorld Goofy's marathon and a half challenge. I met up with my friend Ryan to go eat sushi. Too bad we couldn't find one open for lunch. Instead we ate at Pho Hoa.
Visiting my friend at the WorldVision booth
"Free" bag for signing for the Goofy's marathon and a half challenge
Met Meb again... great athlete, great guy!
Carbo-loading at Pho HoaAfterward we met up with Sam, who ran Seattle as his 31st marathon this year. He will be running a total of 60 this year for Train4Autism. Here's Sam's website: OperationJack. I usually sleep early, so I wished them both a good race and headed north to my hotel. On my way there I stopped by Walgreens to pick up cookies, water, and some juice. This year I stayed at The Roosevelt. I took a quick nap and went back out looking for some sushi. I had thought about eating at a kaiten sushi restaurant across the street from my hotel, but I decided to go for quality sushi and walked over to Shiro's Sushi. I lucked out, there was one seat left at the sushi bar. I ate my usual picks: toro, mirugai, hamachi, amaebi, geso, albacore, and a salmon skin temaki.
Pre-race
I walked over to the Westin to catch the bus to the starting line in Tukwila. I met a couple of Loma Linda Lopers on the bus. When we got to the starting area I met and hung out with 2 marathon maniacs, Ed from Hawaii and Ponytail from Arkansas. I also got to meet the guy who takes crazy photos, Dave from Chicago. I also happen to spot Ryan and his friend Jennifer a few minutes before the start of the race.
Pre-race photo with some maniacs1st Half
I started off in the front of my corral. Ran as comfortably as possible. Few people ran ahead of me and I was smart to not follow them. After getting my first mile split, I knew I was going a bit fast. I made sure not to speed up during the steady climb all the way through mile 5. Mile 6 was a huge downhill. Once again I started feeling discomfort in my right ankle at around mile 8. This was when the 3:40 pace group started coming up to me. I hung with them for about a mile and then I had to let them go since I still do not have the endurance. I felt that the pace would be really comfortable if I could get my ankle back to 100%. I wasn't pushing very hard but the lower back was getting tight. So with the ankle and the back I stuck to the usual plan... a slow 2nd half. While on the Lake Washington Bridge, I was able to see my friends Ryan and Sam.
1: 7:52
2: 7:58
3: 8:13
4: 8:32
5: 9:11
6: 7:44
7: 8:17
8: 9:09
9: 8:35
10: 8:47
11: 10:18
12: 9:16
13: 11:02
13.1: 1:55:59
2nd Half
I slowed down a lot, more than I expected. I used the same refueling plan as San Diego, but I started feeling nauseous when I took my next scheduled PowerGel. I tried to push on and switched to drinking Cytomax only for carbs. But by mile 17, I knew it wasn't working. I was starting to get light headed and was having the feeling of diarrhea coming on. I walked most of the next 2 miles trying not to pass out and crap my shorts. I tried to stick to my plan for the most part. I took my salt at regular intervals and tried to run a little for the next 2 miles. But then at mile 21, it happened again... nausea, light headed, and feeling the squirts coming on. I eventually made my way to the median divider to sit down before entering the viaduct tunnel. I was getting really dizzy. This was when I decided to go back to taking the gels. I would rather risk throwing up and crapping my shorts instead of passing out and taking a ride with the EMT. I would walk a little right after taking my gel and salt to let the stomach settle before running. I guess it worked out ok since I was able to recover enough to speed up a little and get to the finish without any unfortunate accidents.
14: 9:28
15: 11:07
16: 11:44
17: 14:07
18: 18:21
19: 13:12
20: 13:21
21: 17:47
22: 16:08
23: 13:43
24: 12:47
25: 12:07
26: 12:39
26.2: 1:36
Finish: 4:53:05
Post-race
It was good to get a feeling of what it's like to run at a 3:35 - 3:40 marathon pace. The ankle is getting better, but I need to get off of the maniac bus. I'm pretty sure everything will be solved once I am able to work on my endurance. It's just too much to ask my body to run 26.2 miles when my longest runs have been less than 12 miles. I finished about 40 minutes slower than what I planned. Anyway, I hung out with Steve at the finish area for a little bit. I then had to get back to my hotel to clean up and eat with my friend from college.
Gordon BierschWe ate at Gordon Biersch. I had a burger and a schwarzbier. Good stuff. Then I was knocked out for the "night" at around 6ish. So early, but I was pooped from the marathon and had to catch the first train the next morning to catch my flight home.
3 comments:
Emil: you are one gutsy dude! Cannot believe you ran another marathon 3 weeks after SD. I think other people have mention this before and I think you are taking it to heart now but I think some rest will do you good. Hahaha...you signed up for more running at the expo, can't beat those deals!
Ugh. At least it sounds like mentally you are doing great. I think the marathon is such a mental game, that once that piece goes it really doesn't make any difference how well you are physically ready.
Way to make a great effort when your body was trying to get you to do otherwise.
Ouch sounds like a tough second half!
Kudos for muscling through it...with that tough mental attitude you've got trail running in the bag!
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