Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon 2012

Thursday
Plane tickets were significantly cheaper on Thursday versus Friday, so this year I flew out to Seattle one day earlier. I had a nonstop morning flight on Virgin America from out of LAX. I drove out to the airport pretty early to avoid any morning work traffic. I parked in the usual parking lot C and took the shuttle over to the terminal. I killed time by listening to music on my iPod while charging my phone. I had a window seat and the guy next to me smelled like oriental cockroaches when you smash them. Who knows, maybe he was killing some before he came to the airport. Yeah, that's one funky smell that you don't ever forget! :)

I love the SeaTac airport. It 's one of the easiest airports to navigate. I walked over to the Link light rail station which was at the end of the parking structure. I paid $2.75 for a one way ticket to the Westlake station. I got off at the Stadium station and walked over to the CenturyLink Field to attend the race expo.

Expo
I signed up for the Tinker Bell half marathon for $150. They did not give me another sling bag. Those bags were for people that signed up for marathons. I also signed up for next year's Seattle Rock n' Roll Marathon for $85 plus WA state tax, $93.08 total. A marathon under $100 is still a good enough deal in my books. I picked up a Garmin tote bag before sitting down at the stage area to listen to Jim Ryun, John The Penguin Bingham, and Suzy Favor Hamilton.

Jim Ryun, John Bingham, and Suzy Favor Hamilton

Front

Back

I ran into a few of my running friends as I was leaving the expo. I stopped at the nearby Uwajimaya in the International District to pick up some drinks and snacks before hopping back on the light rail to check into my hotel room at the Sixth Avenue Inn. The hotel didn't look all that great from the outside, but the rooms were pretty nice. I hung out in my room, snacking on a big bag of shrimp crackers while watching the TV.

I walked back down to the expo at around 6pm to meet up with a friend for dinner. It took me about 30 minutes to make the trek. My lower back was getting sore which meant it was going to rain soon. We walked over to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant called Green Leaf. Everything inside the restaurant wasn't very clean looking, but I've come to accept that since most Vietnamese restaurant are that way. The food was pretty good. We got some Spring rolls and I ordered the duck salad. I love duck. This was a really good salad. But as with most salads, I was feeling hungry about an hour later. My friend drove me back to my hotel.

Spring rolls

Duck salad

Friday
I think anxiety usually gets the better of my GI system whenever I'm excited about an upcoming race. I was very excited to run in Seattle again and I was actually hoping to better my personal best of 4:21:25. But I was having major GI issues. It cleared up enough by near afternoon for me to go eat, so I went out to get some lunch down at the waterfront. There was light rain, so I brought my umbrella. Most people out and about were just wearing hoodies and not using an umbrella. Since I didn't stick around to watch it on Thursday, I first stopped by the expo again to watched the course preview. I got out of there pretty quickly after watching the video as it was pretty dang crowded.

I made my way down to the waterfront to eat at Ivar's Fish Bar. I ordered the jumbo shrimp & fries as well as a cup of white clam chowder. I tried to sit in the enclosed eating area, but it was super crowded due to the rain. So I sat down at one of the outside tables. As soon as I sat down, I was greeted by a seagull. He spread out his wings and had his mouth opened wide as if he wanted my food. I ignored him and started eating all the while feeling a little nervous that he would eventually attack my food. Lucky for me, a swarm of kids came over with crackers and fries. They started throwing everything at the seagulls.

Jumbo shrimp & fries with a cup of white clam chowder

Hungry seagulls!

After I was done eating, I walked through the Pike Place Market and took my annual picture on that famous hilly sidewalk. I hiked it back to my hotel room. I came back out to buy dinner at the McDonald's across the street from my hotel. I bought 20 piece chicken McNuggets and a Big Mac. This meal has worked for me for the last two marathons so I'll keep eating this before a race until it fails me.

How's my butt? Are we grading on a curve? :)

20 piece chicken McNuggets and a Big Mac

Saturday
I got ready and walked over to the Seattle Center, the new starting line area. I packed my umbrella in case it rained while I was walking to or after the race. I even brought a mylar blanket in case it rained while I was waiting in the corral after I've checked my gear bag. After we took a Marathon Maniac picture, I checked my gear bag, and lined up for the portapotties. I started near the front of corral 10.

Seattle Space Needle

Starting line

Goal A: sub 4:30 (run 1st half in 2:00)
Goal B: sub 5:00

1st half
Given that I've only ran about 10 miles since San Diego, my ankle felt as good as it has been in a long time. But it also meant that I undoubtedly had lost some fitness and endurance. Everything was flowing smoothly until we hit a big hill at mile 5. It was pretty steep but short. When we crested the hill, it was quickly followed by a very steep downhill. Almost everyone around me had no idea how to run downhill. They were slowed to a crawl as I passed a whole bunch of people. The full marathoners split off from the half marathoners near the mile 6 marker. My body was sluggish and feeling the effects of the high humidity. I knew that I was working harder but going slower than I had ran at San Diego. A little after the mile 12 marker, we rejoined the half marathoners. We had our own lane to the right side of the road to ourselves. I tried to pick it up a bit when we ran through a shady area. But because I was feeling like I was overheating, I slowed down again and was a little over my goal of 2 hrs for the first half.
1: 8:38
2-3: 17:00 (8:30)
4: 8:45
5: 8:53
6: 9:15
7: 9:24
8: 9:25
9: 9:39
10: 9:46
11: 9:51
12: 9:05
13: 9:34
1st half: 2:00:12

2nd half
As we approached mile 14, we split off again from the half marathoners to run a little out and back before heading on the I-90 bridge. They extended the section on the bridge this year. We ran all the way to the end of the bridge and into the tunnel before turning around. Here was where the humidity really got to me. My legs were cramping up like a rock and my bad ankle was starting to feel sore. For the next 5-6 miles, I was trying to revive the legs. We reconnected with the half marathoners for the last time a little after getting off of the I-90 bridge and entering the tunnel. Again we had our own separate lane. Just like in San Diego, they never did once impede my forward progress. I emptied my handheld and filled it with Gatorade at an aid station. They were passing out salt packets at one aid station, so I added one to what was left of my Gatorade. The back-of-the-pack half marathoners and I were both about 3.5 hours into our races. I gave them a few words of encouragement as they're being tailed by the SAG Wagon. I applaud them for having the courage to enter a half marathon. They are getting off of their couches and running or walking a half marathon. I got the legs sort of working again at mile 23, but they quickly cramped up again. I took my last S-cap and drank all of my Gatorade before managing to run most of the last mile.
14: 10:12
15: 12:28
16: 11:57
17: 11:58
18: 14:05
19: 14:16
20: 14:09
21: 15:04
22: 13:30
23: 11:26
24: 14:28
25: 15:02
26: 12:36
26.2: 2:10
2nd half: 2:52:29
Finish: 4:52:41

Post race
They improved the course for this year, but I felt that it was a harder course. There was no longer a need to take a long bus ride down to Tukwila.

Here are my results for the past 4 years for this race:
2009: 4:50:46
2010: 4:53:05
2011: 5:26:52 (coming back from sfx)
2012: 4:52:41

I guess I'm consistently bad at Seattle. :)

I skipped most of the post race food. I stuck to the liquids... Jamba Juice, Chocolate milk, and water. I still can't handle solid foods really well right after a race. I guess maybe that's why I never had problems with post race food, but there was plenty of edible yellow bananas. :) I talked to a few Maniacs at the finish before heading over to the UPS trucks to pick up my gear bag. It was a good thing that I packed an umbrella because it finally started raining and my hotel was several blocks away.

Yellow bananas

Finish Marathon No. 78

After getting back to my room and getting cleaned up, I went back out to the McDonald's across the street to buy some lunch. I used the coupon in our goodie bag for a buy one get one free premium chicken sandwich. It was pretty good stuff. A couple hours later, my Seattle friend picked me up to go eat with a few others at a Korean restaurant, Ho Soon Yi, up north in Edmonds. I got the Kim Chee fried rice. It was okay but a bit greasy. Definitely nowhere near as good as Side Street Inn in Honolulu. The seafood pancake was pretty good.

Grilled chicken club and grilled chicken BLT

Hosoonyi menu

Kim Chee fried rice

Sunday
I tried to sleep in, but I still woke up pretty early. I packed up and relaxed in my room until it was time to check out. I walked over to the Elliott's Oyster House at the waterfront to eat some seafood and drink some post race beer. I had the waitress pick out a half dozen smaller sized raw oysters. I also started with an imperial sized (25oz) Maritime IPA. Eating seafood from the Pacific Northwest is one of the main reasons why I come back here every year. She also suggested one of the Copper River salmon. I got the sockeye salmon. This was really good. The pomegranate was a nice added flavor. I finished it off with a small glass of seasonal stout.

½ dozen raw oyster and imperial sized Maritime IPA

Copper River Sockeye Salmon

Seasonal stout

I hiked back up to the Westlake area to watch a movie at the AMC Pacific Place 11 theater. I thought about watching Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but instead I opted for Disney Pixar's Brave. I know I've wanted to stop watching movies in 3D, but it was actually pretty good watching it in 3D. I'm hardly ever disappointed by a Disney movie. It's your typical Disney magic at its best and since I'm a big Disney fan, I liked it very much.

I had a late evening flight, so I still had time to kill. I hiked down to the International District to eat at Maneki. It was super busy, so I ate at their bar lounge. I ordered their teishoku and it was a bad choice. I should've stuck to their sushi, sashimi, and other cooked seafood which was their specialty. Since it was pretty mediocre, I didn't even bother taking a picture of it.

I then hopped on the light rail and headed for the SeaTac airport. See you again next year Seattle!