I received notifications that my flight was delayed so I drove home to eat dinner before heading over to LAX. Originally I was going to go straight to the airport right after work. The flight was delayed closed to 3 hrs, but while I was parking the car in the usual Parking Lot C, I received a notice that the flight was leaving earlier. Good thing I always get there early.
Saturday 8/15
I landed in Anchorage at around 2 am. Local time was 1 hr behind Pacific standard time so I was very tired. I called the hotel (Courtyard by Marriott) for a shuttle and the lady told me where to wait for the pickup. However it would turn out that the shuttle was already there at door 3 behind the line of taxis. There were other folks there taking the same shuttle as well. When we arrived at the hotel, check in was super fast. That was one efficient lady working the front desk. Thank goodness because I was dead tired.
Microwave oven with mini fridge underneath
I slept in and took the shuttle at 12:30 pm back to the airport to pick up my rental car. They gave me a white Toyota Corolla. I drove into downtown and parked near 8th and G which was just a couple of blocks from the Dena'ina Center, the venue for the expo. We were told via email that street meter parking was free on weekends. I bumped into a few of my Marathon Maniac friends just as I was done with picking up my bib and race shirt. I went back into the expo to buy some GU. However they were out of the salted caramel flavor, so they told me to go to their store, Skinny Raven Sports, which was just a couple of blocks away at the corner of 8th and H. My friends that I had bumped into earlier were there buying shoes, so I ended up hanging out with them after we were done with our purchases. Our first stop was at the Pioneer Bar where I had an Alaskan Icy Bay IPA and a Midnight Sun Pleasure Town IPA. Both were decent IPA's. Then we stopped at the Snow Goose where I had their Fish On IPA and Braveheart Scottish Ale. I finally ate a reindeer burger for a late lunch. The beers and burger were all good, but I couldn't tell the difference between reindeer and beef.
Marathon course
Alaskan Icy Bay IPA
Midnight Sun Pleasure Town IPA
Fish On IPA
Reindeer Burger
Braveheart Scottish Ale
After that we went our separate ways. When I had gotten back to my car, I searched for a country music station so that the drive wouldn't be so quiet. I was able to find K-Bear, FM 104.1 where they tell you the artist and song title of every song that they played. I stopped by a Walgreens to buy some drinks on the way back to my hotel. I then went through the McDonald's drive thru to pick up my usual meal for dinner, a Big Mac and 10 piece Chicken McNuggets with hot mustard sauce. After eating dinner and before hitting the hay, I laid out my running gear.
Country music on K-Bear 104.1
Water, Powerade, and Green Tea
Big Mac and McNuggets
Flat Runner
Sunday 8/16
I got ready and drove out to the starting area at about 7 am to watch my friends start their 49k ultra at 8 am. It was also the early start for the marathon. I found street parking on 8th between G and H. After taking a few photos of the start of their race, I went to use the portapotties before going back to my car to get ready for my race. The regular start of the marathon was at 9 am.
Start of the 49k ultra
Now for the regular start of the marathon, there was a presentation of the colors. It was followed by a lengthy prayer for the runners. Then came the singing of the National Anthem. After that there was something that was new to me. The same guy that sang the National Anthem sang Alaska's state song. It was a very descriptive song of the things that they're proud of here in Alaska. Pretty cool to have so much going on before a marathon.
Presenting of the colors
Pre-race MM photo from Heather
It pretty much drizzled or rained the entire time I was out on the course. That kept everything cool. The first mile was a big downhill down to the Coastal Trail where we would run the first out and back. The mile markers in the first half were all over the place after the first 3 miles. I almost thought about not pressing the lap button on my watch.
1: 7:27
2: 8:15
3: 8:28
4: 12:31
5: 10:43
6: 4:52
7: 10:02
8: 9:06
9: 9:22
10: 10:03
11-12: (10:04) 20.08
13: 12:39
For the majority of the second half, we ran on the Chester Creek Trail for the second out and back. As with states that get adequate precipitation, this course was beautiful. Sure my left foot was getting pretty sore near the final turnaround, but there was a lot of greenery to serve as distraction from the discomfort. There were even people playing the saxophone for entertainment at a couple of the aid stations. The last couple of miles was a steady incline with one last steep climb before reaching the Downtown finish line.
1 of several sax players out on the course
14: 11:25
15: 11:43
16: 11:05
17: 12:36
18: 14:04
19: 14:16
20: 10:49
21: 11:59
22: 11:18
23: 12:16
24: 12:13
25: 13:58
26: 1:48
Chip time: 4:33:11
Gun time: 4:33:15
Adjusted time: 4:43:39
When I saw my finishing time, I knew that the course was short. My effort today was only good enough to be around a 4:45. We would later be informed via posts on the race website that the first turnaround was not in the proper place. They would later determine that the race was short by about 1 mile. So they calculated our pace per mile for 25.2 miles and adjusted our finishing time under the assumption that our average pace would be the same for that missing mile. That turned out to be acceptable for most running clubs as well as the Boston Athletics Association. At first I didn't want to count it for my own personal records, but later changed my mind, since if the adjusted time was good enough for Boston, it should be good enough for me. But still I have a big ol' asterisk next to that result. Most likely I will run another marathon in Alaska. If I have adequate funds, I want to check out Juneau and run the Frank Maier Marathon.
After getting my medal, I grabbed a small water bottle of Alaskan Glacial water. One unique thing about this race was that they had grilled cheese sandwiches for the finishers. Normally I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but I still can't eat much after running a marathon so I passed. I talked a bit with Laura MM#3512 from NC before heading over to the beer garden. I sampled some of the Fairweather IPA. It was pretty good. I hung out a bit with my Marathon Maniac friends as we compared notes on the race and how the course had to be short. I was getting a bit cold in the beer garden. So after finishing my beer, I said my goodbyes and headed for my car. Along the way, I grabbed two small bags of potato chips.
Beer garden
Fairweather IPA in the beer garden
Post-race MM photo in the beer garden from Heather
Pretty flowers
Pretty much as soon as I got back to my hotel room, I ate the two small bag of chips. I got cleaned up and relaxed in my room. I then rolled out of bed and drove over to Moose's Tooth to eat dinner. The place was packed. The parking lot was full and people were parking their cars all along the street. I was fortunate enough to get a spot just as someone was pulling out. A bunch of the Marathon Maniacs were already there so I joined them. Our group was big enough that we split up into two groups and were seated in separate areas. Once we were seated and our orders were being taken, I started with a Prince William Porter. Then for my meal, I ordered a medium size High Protein Land pizza with regular crust and a small mixed green salad to go with it. The salad was good and bigger than I had anticipated. The pizza was one of the best that I've eaten, but the crust was a bit harder than I'd prefer. I had two slices leftover which I had boxed up. I ate them at about midnight back at my hotel room.
Post race snacks
Prince William Porter
Small mixed green salad
High Protein Land regular crust medium size pizza
Monday 8/17
After checking out of my room and gassing up the rental car, I headed over to the airport to see if I could get on the standby list for an earlier flight. After dropping off the car and going through the TSA checkpoint, I went straight to the Alaska Airlines customer service counter. The guy working there was as slow as molasses on a cold winter's day. When it was finally my turn, he told me that I wasn't able to fly standby since my flight was booked with award miles. Since I now had several hours to pass, I found a spot at the bar at Humpy's to eat lunch. I had a couple of beers (Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown Ale and Sockeye Red IPA) with my blackened halibut burger. I have been eating quite a bit of bacon double cheeseburgers lately, so the halibut burger was a nice change of pace.
World record halibut
Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown Ale
Blackened Halibut Burger
I had a quick layover at the SeaTac Airport in Seattle and we parked at a gate in the N terminal. There wasn't enough time for me to go to the main terminal to get some fish n' chips from Ivar's, so I waited by the gate. I landed in LAX pretty dang late. There was also an unusual amount of cars leaving parking lot C. By the time I made it out, I didn't even have time to get a Double Double from In-n-Out.
Product Review - Ultimate Direction Jurek Essential
For this race, I was trying out the new Ultimate Direction Jurek Essential waist pack. I normally wear my trusty single pouch iFitness (Fitletic) belt, but I thought that I'd give this belt a try since it seemed able to carry my nutrition as well as my phone. The pouch on the left for the phone was waterproof. It was just big enough to fit my Samsung Galaxy S5. I also threw in some cash, my ID, and a credit card. The other pouch on the right stretches. It easily held four GU's. Both pouches had nice quality zippers.
On the front side, it had button clasps to hold the bib. This was a bit awkward. You had to buckle up and tighten the belt before attaching your bib. There was also a small velcro pouch for you to stash something small like salt tabs. It wasn't as convenient as the pouch in my Ultimate Direction handheld bottle.
Pros:
1. It practically rained the entire race and my phone stayed dry the entire time.
2. The belt did not bounce one bit.
3. It was one of the most comfortable race belts that I've worn.
Cons:
1. If you do not cinch the belt really tight, the belt will continue to rotate around your waist as you run.
2. The belt fastener was in the front so the extra slack was quite annoying even though you can fold it up.
MSRP: $34.95
It currently is selling for $26.21 at Running Warehouse.
Overall if I didn't already own a race belt, I would be satisfied with this belt even with the annoying extra slack in the front. The non-bouncing pouches definitely freed me from having to stuff my pocket in my running shorts.
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