I found myself at the start line of the Seafair Marathon facing the possibility that I may end the day with my first DNF (Did Not Finish). I had hurt my back cleaning the barn the weekend before, so the week leading up to the marathon consisted of a lot of rest and two short “loosen-up-the-legs” type runs. My back was feeling good, but every once in a while a pain would shoot through my lower back and into my hip. Standing there at the start I could feel myself favoring my back and being very careful not to bend over too quickly or turn suddenly. On top of having back problems, I was also facing a very hilly course on a hot and sunny day. I knew there would be very few flat sections of road and even less shade, especially the last half. Even so, I had plenty of energy and was looking forward to the run.
At the start line I found the huddle of Marathon Maniacs and joined in. We were busy talking about up coming races when I glanced at my watch: 6:55… 5 minutes until the start. Then suddenly the starting gun fires and off we go, 5 minutes early! Not a big deal for me, because I was ready, but a lot people were caught off guard and had to run to the start line from various locations in the athletes village. The course immediately started up the first hill and I was warming up well. I worked hard at controlling my speed since I’ve learned from experience that running my intended race pace (9 minutes per mile) during opening miles spells a finish line disaster for me. I’m best off running the first 3 miles at 10 mpm and then slowly increasing my speed. This ends up being harder than I thought on this particular day because the rolling hills prevent even pacing. Still the miles ticked by and I felt good, strong and fast. Unfortunately, the time on my watch did not agree with the feeling in my legs: my watch indicated I was slow. At the half way point I meet the Marathon Maniacs newest inductee, MM#611. We chatted a little as we climbed up yet another hill. I asked him if the course felt slow and he responded that it is a very difficult course to pace and that the race director actually published a mile-per-mile pace chart specifically for Seafair to help runners determine if they are on track. Dang, I didn’t see that and it would have been helpful. At mile 15 I did an all systems check. This is about the point I had expected to drop out because of back problems, but amazingly everything was feeling great. At mile 20 another big hill loomed before us, it was long and in direct sun. I managed to crest that hill only to find a screaming downhill that reduced many runners to a funny shuffle-limp as their quads gave out. Thankfully I had been doing lots of hill training and many hilly marathons over the past 6 months, so my quads didn't even know they should be fatigued. I passed a lot of people on that downhill. By this time the sun was out in full force and the course continued to roll. Eventually we turned the corner at mile 25.5, and I expected to coast into the finish chute, but no… another hill, and a steep one! As I crested the hill, I see Mr. Dove standing on the corner, cheering me in. I crossed the line in a disappointing 4:22. I felt like I had run a 4:00 and couldn’t believe I was as slow as the clock indicated, but physically I felt good and was happy with my performance. I finished, that was more than I thought I was capable of for this race.
When I returned home that evening I checked the results. To my surprise I was 5th in my division. It seems everyone was slow because of the course and the heat. The best part, though, is the marathon cured my back problems… not even a hint of soreness since mile 12 or so of the marathon. I'm planning on running lightly the next week or two before ramping it up again for the Haulin'Aspen trail Marathon in August.
