Mercedes Benz Marathon 2015

Friday 2/20
After work and dinner, I headed out to LAX to catch a red eye flight that would take off just a few minutes after midnight. It wasn't a direct flight and the layover would be a couple of hours in DFW. I was able to get an exit row seat for the first leg.

Saturday 2/21
The plane landed in DFW at about 5 am local time. I made my way over to my gate and found a nearby McDonald's to eat breakfast. I ordered the usual Sausage Egg McMuffin meal, but this time I got a coffee instead. This was one of the rare times that I drank coffee, mainly because they charge extra for substituting it with orange juice.

Breakfast in DFW

I got into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport a little after 10 am local time. As I was walking through the airport towards the car rental counters, I saw an interesting wall. According to AL.com, it was a 100-foot-long, 14-foot-tall "living wall" that graces the corridor near Concourse C. The wall features 8,000 plants belonging to 60 species indigenous to the state.

Earth, Wind and Water: The Landscape of Alabama

Welcome to Birmingham

As for my rental car... they got me again. They asked if I wanted to upgrade to a Toyota Yaris for $10/day more. Sure, why not? It's pretty easy to make a few extra bucks off of me. Then I started to wonder what the heck kind of car would I have gotten if I hadn't "upgrade" to a Yaris? And since when was a Yaris an upgrade? :)

In any case, I hopped on the freeway and drove over to the expo. I found free street parking on 16th Street just South of Kelly Ingram Park. I walked over to the Boutwell Auditorium for the race expo. It was a pretty nice expo and I even got to sample some beer from Good People Brewery.

Expo

After finishing with the expo, I got back in my car and drove to a nearby Publix to buy some bananas, snacks, and drinks. It was here at the parking lot that I noticed that there was a little ding on the side of the car. I hadn't noticed it when I picked up the car at the airport. I didn't worry too much about it as it looked liked they had marked the damage with some yellow marker. It was either that or a yellow car or pole swapped a little paint.

I then drove over to my hotel for the weekend, La Quinta Inn & Suites Birmingham Homewood. But first I stopped by the nearby McDonald's to pick up some lunch. I ordered a Big Mac combo. It was too early for me to check in since the room was not yet ready. So I found a place in the lobby and ate my lunch. While I waited, I was able to charge my phone while one employee diligently vacuumed the entire lobby.

Lunch

Finally at about 2:30 pm, my room was ready and I was able to check in and get some rest. I caught part of the Matrix on TV just as they were showing one of my favorite parts of the movie... the part where Cypher sells out his friends for a steak, wine, and a cigar. :)

My favorite part in the Matrix :)

Snacks and drinks for the weekend

I went through the expo haul. I liked that they gave us a "Gotta Go Poncho", a Marathon Energy Bar, and a pair of throwaway gloves. Free stuff, much less anything useful is hardly ever given out these days at race expos. I laid out my running clothes before going out to eat dinner. The forecast threatened to have rain so I had the gloves ready just in case. If the weather is ever cold or rainy, I'll always bring out the calf sleeves just to stay warm. I don't think they're very effective in preventing calf cramps.

Expo haul

Flat runner

For dinner, I decided on eating at the O'Charley's just down the road from my hotel. The place was super busy at about 6 pm but I was able to snag the last spot at the bar. When I was finally able to get the overworked bartender's attention, I ordered a beer and their chicken fried steak with bacon mashed potato. It was so busy that it took about a half hour for the food to come out. Did I mention that it was busy? :) There were so many people there either waiting for a table or for their to-go order. The chicken fried steak was okay, it's not something that you can really mess up. Having said that, I've had better elsewhere. The bacon mashed potato was good... anything with bacon is good! :)

Chicken Fried Steak

Sunday 2/22
I got ready and drove out to the start pretty early. I was able to park in the parking structure right next to the starting line at the Boutwell Auditorium. I walked over to the auditorium and bumped into a bunch of Half Fanatics and Marathon Maniacs. I guess I had accidentally stumbled upon the meeting spot for the pre-race photo. After the photo we pretty much all scattered and went our separate ways to take care of last minute pre-race stuff.

As we waited for the start of the race, the rain started to come down. Fortunately it was never a hard rain, just a very light rain. My friend and I waited in the parking structure to shelter us from the rain before actually lining up in the starting corral.

Marathon Manics pre-race photo from Stacy Bolyard

Waiting for the start

The race started off at about 7 am. I took off at what felt like a pretty easy pace. I kept speeding up over the next two miles, so I thought that I best slow things down a bit and not run anything under 8 mins per mile. After mile 7, I decided to take an early walk break. I felt tired and I also didn't not want to aggravate the right calf again. For some reason, after I started running again, I got dialed into a 9:30 - 9:45 pace. I kept that pace through the first loop of the double loop course. Normally I would fall back to my slower pace for the second half of the marathon. But since I was already running somewhat slower, I guess I didn't need to slow down even more. It wasn't until mile 18 that I started to fade. I was starting to think that I had a good chance of beating my marathon PR (4:13:19). But eventually my calves started cramping up from miles 21-23 during the section with a steady gradual climb. It took me a couple of miles to get the calves loosen up during which I was passed by the 4:15 pace group. I was able to hang on and keep them in view before catching and passing them on the final stretch to the finish line.
1: 8:35
2: 8:16
3: 8:08
4: 8:26
5: 8:45
6: 8:40
7: 8:45
8: 9:49
9: 9:22
10: 9:45
11: 9:28
12: 9:50
13: 9:26
14: 9:40
15: 9:29
16: 9:45
17: 9:37
18: 9:59
19: 9:59
20: 10:26
21: 11:24
22: 12:19
23: 12:01
24: 10:05
25: 11:31
26: 9:52
26.2: 1:40
Finish: 4:15:04

This was a very urban marathon. With the gloomy weather, the cloud cover and the light rain kept the temperatures pretty comfortable. There were some steady climbs here and there, but it wasn't a very difficult course. The second loop was somewhat easier to tackle mentally since you already knew what to expect. My goal was to finish in about 4:15 and I was only 4 seconds off of that goal.

After picking up my medal and finisher's towel, I made my way over to the auditorium for some post race food and drinks. I like races that give out finisher towels. Very few races give them out. They are much more useful than medals. At this point with the number of races that I've run, I could do without more medals. Once inside the auditorium, I got in line for some food provided by Jim 'n Nick's Bar-B-Q. The line was fairly long, but it moved quickly. You had the option of turkey or pork. I got the pork sandwich and it came with cole slaw and a bag of chips. I found a seat at a table near the front right next to the stage where there was live entertainment which happened to be very loud for my quickly aging ears. :)

Finish

Post race BBQ

Pulled pork sandwich, chips, and cole slaw

On my way out, I saw a bell where you could ring if you set a new PR. It was close but no cigar. I had about 3 bad miles that cost me a new PR. I guess I really can't expect too much since I've been traveling and running so many marathons. Right before leaving the auditorium, I was looking at the results on the board. They had people there that printed out your results. Thank goodness that getting out of the parking structure was pretty easy. I couldn't wait to get out of my running clothes and take a hot shower.

Close, but no PR for me

Finisher's towel

Medal and results

While I was relaxing in my room, I received a few emails informing me that both of my return flights had been canceled. Apparently there was a storm coming through Dallas, Texas as well as Birmingham, Alabama. Their phone lines for customer service was slammed. Their phone system said that the wait would be over 2 hours, so I left a call back number. I didn't receive a call back until about 3 hours later and then I was on hold for about 10 minutes. First, the lady that was helping me was going to re-book me for a flight on Tuesday instead of the original Monday departure. So I made her look again and she was able to find me a seat on a US Airways flight on Monday but the connection would be in Philadelphia instead. I told her that I didn't care where I connected so as long as I got home to LAX on Monday.

Monday 2/23
After a good night's sleep, I got my stuff packed up, checked out of my room, gassed up the rental car and headed over to the airport to get out of town before the storm rolled on through. My original flight was at about 5 pm in the evening. It saved me money with my rental car as my new flight was at 11:10 am. I had a short layover in Philadelphia. While in Philly I bought a bag of beef jerky to tide me over until I got home. Once I landed at LAX, I made a beeline for the In-n-Out near my house before heading home. I ordered my usual meal, two Double Doubles... one for each hand! :)

The Lost Dutchman Marathon 2015

02/13/15 Friday
I was not liking the idea of spending Valentine's Day weekend at home alone, so I said "what the heck, I might as well be doing what I love... running another marathon." So I signed up for the Lost Dutchman Marathon. I had been wanting to run this race for some time based on some of my friends' reviews. Since I registered so late, there were no affordable flights available. I would have to drive and it would be about a five and a half hour drive each way.

02/14/15 Saturday
I left the house just a little before 8am. I stopped by the local Albertson's to buy some drinks and bananas. I had planned to drive straight to the race expo at the Apache Junction Multi-Generational Center. I only got off of the freeway once at Avondale to eat lunch at an In-n-Out. It was about 1:30 pm and the place was packed. I also realized that Arizona was in the Mountain Time Zone so I lost an hour as they're 1 hr ahead of California. I scarfed down my Double Double and continued on my way to the expo.

While going through the small expo, I bumped into a fellow Marathon Maniac/50 State Marathoner/Team RWB runner. These days it's not uncommon for me to see somebody that I know even if I'm running an obscure little marathon. Since I was a late registrant, they assigned me a bib number at the expo.

After picking up my race packet, I headed over to my hotel to check in. I was able to book a room at the very modern, Aloft Phoenix-Airport hotel for a very reasonable price. The check-in counter reminded me a lot of the Virgin America airline. The room was pretty nice. I laid out my running clothes before getting ready to go back out to eat dinner.

For dinner, I met up with my friends that I have not seen in years. We ate at Rudy’s Country Store And Bar-B-Q over in Chandler. We got there at a little after 6 pm. As to be expected, the line was long. After waiting in line, we ordered a bunch of meats along with some sides which included pork ribs, brisket, sausage, creamed corn, potato salad, and a gallon of tea. I stuck with their sissy sauce as I didn't want to risk any GI issues during the race. I sample a bit of everything and ate the brisket with some slices of white bread. My friends told me that their brisket was good and I can confirm that that was their best item. It was so good that we got back in line to order some more. The rest of the food was pretty good as well. The seating there was picnic style. After ordering your food, you'll need to find a place to sit down. Then grab some paper and napkins before you start eating. Afterwards you bus your own table. My friends invited me over to their place, but I had to decline and get back to my hotel to catch a few z's.

Interesting hallway lighting... redrum! :)

02/15/15 Sunday
I got ready, checked out of the hotel, and drove over to the parking lot at the Rodeo Grounds. I got there at around 5 am. I used the restrooms there before boarding the bus for the starting line. It was somewhat of a bumpy ride in the yellow school bus. We were dropped off at the camp site where there were many lit fire logs. Ok, in my opinion, those campfires were a bad idea. I really didn't need to inhale all of that smoke right before I run a marathon. Instead I went and sat in one of the warming buses right next to the gear bag check with a few people. If you run this race, I would suggest that you do this instead of sitting next to one of those fires. The majority of the runners however elected to be outside and inhale smoke. :)

As the start of the race drew near, they directed us to head for the starting line. Once I got to the starting line, I lined myself up by the 8 minute pace banner. The lower right leg had been feeling better and I wanted to check to see if it could handle that pace for the first 10k.

The race started at 7 am with the course beginning on a rolling dirt road called the Peralta Trail. Before I even reached mile 6, I was already feeling something in the same spot on my right leg. I began to pull back on the pace and just concentrate on moving at a pace that felt comfortable. At about mile 7, I reached highway 60. There was one lane open for cars and some of the passengers did not looked too pleased. After a little over a mile on the highway we made a right turn where we ran through residential roads. It was a steady climb and by mile 10, I was pooped. I just couldn't push with the ailing right leg. I pulled over to take a picture of the scenery.

I got through the first half in about 2 hrs. By mile 15 I was back on highway 60 for about a mile. Then I would turn right back into the residential roads. There was a turnaround a little after reaching mile 19. It was good to be able to see some of the runners that were behind me. By the time I got to mile 22, the sun was out in full force and it got toasty in a hurry! Once I turned left on Lost Dutchman Blvd, I knew that the end was near, but there were steady climbs here and there that caused my legs to start cramping up a bit. Finally I made it up to Idaho Rd where I turned right to head for the finish. There was one final turn towards the finish line at Prospector Park. All I could muster up was a brisk jog.
1: 7:47
2: 7:51
3: 8:14
4: 8:49
5: 8:37
6: 8:34
7: 8:46
8: 9:10
9: 9:41
10: 10:28
11: 10:38
12: 10:22
13: 9:40
14: 9:54
15: 10:33
16: 10:41
17: 11:57
18: 12:01
19: 12:33
20: 11:04
21: 11:19
22: 12:18
23: 12:22
24: 12:53
25: 12:08
26: 12:35
26.2: 2:00
Finish: 4:32:55

I was actually surprised that I was able to put out enough effort to come in around 4:30. Goes to show that it doesn't get any easier, you just get faster. Nowadays, a bad race day is around 4:30. It used to be around 5, 6 or even 7 hrs when I was having a bad day. After getting my medal and a bottle of water, I stumbled over to the post race food area, but didn't see anything that I would want to eat. As you may already know, I just can't stomach much of anything right after a race. After chatting with a few Marathon Maniacs and taking some random pictures, I got on the bus that took us back to the Rodeo Grounds parking lot.

Post race

I thought the medal was pretty nice. The sun on the medal spun. After changing into some clean clothes, I got ready to make the long drive back home. I stopped by a nearby gas station to fuel up before I hopped on the freeway. I had some Sobe green tea with me to keep me awake for the drive. I try to stay away from coffee even though current research and most doctors are saying that it's good for you. I just like to limit my caffeine intake unless I really need it.

Sean O'Brien Marathon 2015

02/07/15 Saturday
I arrived at Malibu Creek State Park a little after 5am. The final instructions said that it would cost $8 to park, but they collected $5. This year I was directed to park in the lot right next to the starting line. Spots were available because cars were leaving after the start of the 100k race. I tried to pick up my race packet, but those running the 50k and marathon were not allowed to pick up anything until after 6am. They wanted to make sure that those running the 50 miler were given their packet first. I walked over to the starting line and waited for the start of the 50 miler. After the runners were sent off, I picked up my packet, used the portapotty, and went back to my car to take a little nap.

Start of the 50 miler

Keira the RD

As it got closer to 7am, I got ready and positioned myself in the starting area. One nice thing about trail racing is that the start is very casual, definitely not as stressful as a road race. My right calf was getting better, but I knew that it was not 100%. I just wanted to get the race done, go home, and rest.

Starting line

The race started promptly at 7am. The weather was pretty good for running, overcast and threatening to rain. It's my kind of weather. Within the first mile, I knew that it was going to be a very long day. I wasn't getting much power from the right leg. I quickly dropped back and every time there was a steep climb, a bunch of runners would hike right past me. After about an hour, I made it to the picnic table that I saw last year. There was some nice views from here. After climbing up and getting over a very steep climb, I finally got to the first aid station.

Not a picnic

Nice views

Steep climb

Just as I had remembered the stretch from Latigo to Kanan was nice and shaded. It was cool to see a lot of familiar faces that had already reached the turnaround and were headed home.

1:45:06 Corral Canyon
1:00:07 Latigo
0:32:01 Kanan

It was a serious pain in the butt climbing back out of the Kanan aid station. Lots of loose rocks everywhere. Most of the return trip was one long struggle where I just couldn't push very hard with the right leg. Thank goodness it was a gloomy day where it drizzled on and off.

Almost 5hrs into the race, I came across a log where the end had been carved into the shape of a heart. At this point I had been leapfrogging with a guy named Leo. We were struggling at about the same pace so we stuck together for some long stretches.

It was cool to see my friends newborn as I was approaching the final aid station before the finish line. The stream crossing was actually pretty nice as the water was nice and cold. Luckily I had no problem with running in wet socks and shoes. Once I got on the flat terrain, I felt more at home and it was a sign that I was approaching the finish line.

Trail love

Headed to the finish

0:42:18 Latigo
1:11:05 Corral Canyon
2:02:22 Malibu Creek
Finish: 7:13:02

After "running" with pebbles and rocks in one of my shoes for most of the race, I think I'm done wearing those cheap not so effective gaiters.

I was pretty unhappy with finishing over 7 hrs, but that was the best that I could muster up on this day. I really need to be in better shape before running these trail races. They're not as forgiving as road races, especially those long climbs. I made a promise to myself not to put myself through that kind of torture again. Despite the struggle, it was still pretty nice to spend a better part of the day hiking through nature.

Finished

I stuck around to talk with some of my friends and waited for some of those running in the longer distances to finish their race. One of my friends had McDonald's waiting for him at the finish line. It was pretty nice of him to give me one of his cheeseburgers. I had some hot chili before heading on home.

McD's!

Medal and race shirt