Race Report: 2008 Hartford Marathon - Part 2 - The Full Report

Warning: This is ridiculously long because I want to be able to look back at it and remember what I did in detail. Feel free to skim away!

I took Friday off from work to pack and travel to Connecticut for the 2008 ING Hartford Marathon. We left Massachusetts around 1:00pm, but got stuck in some toll traffic and didn't make it to Hartford until 3:30pm. Once we got checked in we walked over to the Expo to pick up my bib number and do a little shopping. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in the expo because it was so small, but the only marathon expo I had to compare it to was Boston and well I don't know if any expo will beat the Boston expo. So we did a little looking around, but didn't buy anything (hey, we are in an economic crisis I'm not spending $30 on arm sleeves or $45 on a sweatshirt). We went back to the hotel and waited to meet the rest of the running group for dinner. While we waited I nervously paced around the room unpacking and getting everything organized for the morning. Dave finally yelled at me and told me to sit down and relax so I laid on the bed and got comfy for about half an hour and then it was time for dinner.

Dave and I met up with the rest of the running crew - John, Paul, Sarah and their families - and headed to Vito's By The Park for dinner. Sarah gave a great toast and then we settled in for a night of water, bread and pasta. We had a few issues with the restaurant in that all the runners had to order the meal of pasta and an extra side because the portion was so small (so I had two orders of penne with marinara). Then we had some issues with over charging on the bill and our waiter was just a little distant, which I didn't really find a reason for because they really didn't seem that busy - there were tons of open tables. The company was great though and that made the dinner excellent. We took a few group photos when we got back to the hotel and then called it a night.

Dave and I headed upstairs and I got in my PJ's with my book, Triumph, and sat in bed reading. I fell asleep at about 10:00pm. Dave stayed awake with his three beers that he got from the bar downstairs and brought back up with him and watched the Red Sox game. I slept really well from about 10:00pm - 12:00am, but then tossed and turned a bit until about 3:30am when I fell sound asleep until 5:50am. I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm was set to go off so I just got up and started getting ready.

I made my oatmeal using the hot water from the coffee pot, got dressed and then headed down to meet Sarah. We then walked over to Bushnell Park where the race starts to meet John and Paul. We got in line to pee, looked over to the line next to us and there was Bill Rodgers. Bill Rodgers! I said to Sarah, "don't they have special lines for people like him? Why is he in the normal people line?" We couldn't quite figure it out, but gained a little extra inspiration from seeing him. After the bathroom, we took about a 5 minute jog around the block to warm up and then headed over to the start line.

The start line was a lot crowded and it took a few minutes to find our pace guy, but we did. We jumped in line and immediately shed our long sleeves (it was about 50 degrees at the start) because it was so warm with all the bodies. The gun sounded and we were off. I couldn't believe it. I was running my second marathon and my first attempt at a BQ. I was nervous.

Sarah and I ran together and were trying to keep our 3:40 pace guy ahead of us, but we were also trying to dodge people who were walking ahead of us (learn how to line up at the start people!). We managed to keep up with him through mile 2, but then noticed that he was running about 7:40 for mile 2 and 3 so we dropped back knowing that we had each other to get us to the finish. My Garmin was messed up from the get go so we relied on Sarah's for the duration of the race. 

I felt really relaxed in the beginning of the race. I was talking water/Gatorade at just about every 2 miles. I am slow out of the water stops and definitely need to work on that. Sarah and I met a first time marathoner around mile 6-8 (forgive me, all the miles blend together after awhile). She was breathing pretty heavy, but was very nice and I'm sure she hung in there to make it to the finish. Just before we crossed the timing mat at 10-miles and were seeing the first place runners coming back through on the other side. I always find this inspiring because I can see the absolute focus and determination in their eyes and I love to watch their strides. I also love seeing the people ahead of me because it makes me realize just how great of a sport running is. People of all ages, heights, weights, and shapes were running by and it just gives me that extra boost that anything is possible with some hard work and determination. 

We crossed the half marathon and were still pretty close to on pace and were still feeling good.  Starting at about miles 18-19 I started feeling... something. I wasn't really feeling bad at these miles, I was just starting to think "am I there yet? Can I really do this?" It's that mental doubt that started to creep in and I did my best to quiet that inner negative voice. Another girl joined us around these miles as well. This was her first marathon too and she said she hadn't planned to go for a BQ, but she was sort of on pace for it so she thought she'd give it a shot. I don't know what happened to this girl - where she finished - but I know she came in after us so I'm hoping she got the BQ and had a great time. 

Just before mile 20 there was steep downhill onto a bike path and a super motivational band that gave me this huge boost. I then hit the 20 mile mark and just kept thinking 10K left. However, my body wanted about 1K to be left, if anything, so my huge mental battle began here. Luckily I saw Dave at mile 21 and he gave me a little boost of confidence. Family and friends as support are really so important in giving that extra boost and it's great to have them there.

The last six miles included, if I remember correctly, four short steep hills left and I didn't like them. There were a lot of people walking up them and it's just not fun to see that because it makes my mind give up even more. Starting at mile 22 I was mentally telling myself to walk and that it didn't matter I could BQ some other day. However, Sarah was right next to me running and looking strong. I could not stop. I could not leave her and let her finish this on her own. I told her in the earlier miles that if we made it to mile 24 together then I wasn't going to let us lose each other. This wasn't mile 24, but since we really only had each other because we lost our pace group, we had to stay together.

For the last 2 miles, I kept checking in with Sarah, "just two miles?"... "so about 1/2 mile now right?" And she would answer me each time. When she told me just half mile I knew I had to hold on. I had to let my legs carry me to the finish. We turned the corner and saw the arches that we cross under. I tried to make my legs turn over as fast as they could. 

I saw the finish and I just went for it. I threw my arms up in the air and crossed the finish. Sarah and I looked at each other and hugged in complete excitement! We had both BQ'd!

I set my foot up on the bench for the volunteer to remove my chip. I had to apologize because I didn't use the velcro to put it on (they wanted us to use velcro to make it easier to take them off, but I didn't trust it). She said she didn't mind and congratulated me on finishing.

We then found our families, met up with John, Paul and their families and grabbed the free food and had a little picnic on the grass of Bushnell Park. All four of us met our goals and we couldn't have been happier.

Dave put together an ice bath for me when we got back to the hotel and I soaked in that for 10 minutes. It was not fun because it was wicked cold (he really enjoyed the fact that the ice machine was just two doors down and also took advantage of that by filling the tub with pretty much all of the ice from the machine). Then I took a hot shower and we headed back to Boston.

Fortunately, I didn't come out with too many injuries. I went in with a blister on the back of my left heel and needless to say I ripped that up really bad. I tried to tape it up, but ended up getting another blister just below the front of my left ankle from the tape. I also have two blood blisters (a small one on the left pinky toe and a big one on the right toe next to the pinky toe).

I was so happy with this race. I would recommend it to anyone. It's really well organized and a beautiful course. There are a few bands along the way and it's good for spectators as well. 

I spent Saturday trying to move around so I didn't stiffen up. Dave got me a big roast beef sandwich for my post race lunch and then we went to a bar later on and I got buffalo chicken nachos and two Blue Moon's. The Blue Moon put me right to sleep so I went home around 10:30pm and he stayed out with the group we went with to watch the rest of the Red Sox game.

Sunday I spent watching football so got some more needed rest. I am feeling much better today. My blisters don't really look any better, but I am hoping they miraculously heal so I can start running again. I don't have much muscle soreness. The fronts of my kneecaps and my hips were sore on Saturday and Sunday, but they feel better today. I have a little discomfort, but nothing very much at all today. I'm happy to see that my legs feel better already.

When I started looking at the official splits, I realized that Sarah and I actually negative split the course, which is a nice little added bonus.

I will head out of an easy 20 minutes tomorrow to see how everything feels and see where I stand.

Official Results

Gun Time:  3:40:52

Net Time:  3:39:02

Pace Overall:  8:22 min./mi.

10-Mile Split:  1:23:56 (8:24)

13-Mile Split:  1:49:40 (8:23)

20-Mile Split:  2:47:15 (8:22)

Place Division (F25-29): 19/128

Place Overall: 461/1942

Race Report: 2008 Hartford Marathon - Part 1 - The BQ Attempt

I did it. I BQ'd. My time was 3:39:02. I can register for the 113th running of the Boston Marathon. I can run on Patriots Day in Boston. I can run with a qualifying bib number. I can be seeded with all the other qualifying runners.

I cannot even illustrate how excited I am. I will write a full report, but I just need to put all my thoughts together before I do that otherwise my post will be a big jumbled mess of "oh and then... oh yeah but before that... oh and i forgot to to mention..." and I don't really want to do that. So this is just part one to let everyone know that I got the BQ.

I also just want to thank Sarah. She was outstanding today and I could not have gotten a BQ without her. The last 4.2 miles were a big mental effort for me and without her there pushing me I wouldn't have been able to push myself for the BQ time. Thank you, Sarah. And now let's go show the 2009 Boston Marathon what we're made of!

Also congratulations to John and Paul for achieving their goals and running an excellent race today! It's great to know that the four of us worked so hard together and we all achieved our goals. Great job!

Full race report to come later this weekend.

Checking In from Taper

Hi there. Just checking in to give a little update on the taper. I am feeling more relaxed now. I am focusing on nutrition and doing my best to bed good until the big day on Saturday. I have my goals in mind and my race strategy planned out. I've started a little packing list so I prevent myself from forgetting anything - or at least as little as possible. I went for a short run tonight and feel good so far. I have the sniffles and a running nose, but I'm not feeling anything in my chest really so that's good. I have one run tomorrow that includes a few little speed bursts - just 3 minutes each to stay open - and then one other light run on Friday. Only 4 more days...

Taper = Grrrr

I started my taper and I'm already annoyed, anxious and frustrated. I cannot wait to run the marathon next weekend... whoa shit... next weekend! Wow... um... I mean I cannot wait for the taper to be over. I guess that's pretty much saying the same thing, but without verbalizing the fact that the marathon is next weekend (although I've managed to verbalize that twice so far). 

I just want to run it. I don't want to to taper and wait to run it. I eat more. I sleep more. I move less. I work more. This is all a bad combination. 

I'm already debating what my goal should be. I don't even know. I want a BQ. I want better than a BQ. What if I don't even come close?

I'm off for my run now - 3 x 1200m intervals with warm up/cool down, strides and drills.

The Faster I Run, The Harder I Fall

The Plan

Saturday 9/20/08 - Long Run: 6 minute warm up, drills, stretch, 14 miles at 8:20 min/mi, 6 min cool down and stretch.

The Reality

I was schedule for my weekly long run today and was ready to get in another goal marathon pace workout. Dave took me out for an awesome dinner on Friday night. I had penne pasta in white wine sauce with shrimp and he had the biggest piece of lasagna that I've ever seen. He wasn't doing a long run with me Saturday, but I think he enjoys carbo-loading with me. We woke up late Saturday morning and lounged around watching the rest of South Park Imaginationland (I don't even like South Park that much, but these three Imaginationland episodes are hilarious!) and then we watched the first part of Street Kings. Dave had to pull me away from Street Kings so that I could get my run in before we went to a memorial mass and dinner with his family in memory of his grandfather and grandmother. I had enough time to run, shower and get in the car to go to church. That's how much I had procrastinated.

So I headed out.  I did my 6-minute warm-up, stretch and drills as planned. After that I was moving right along very comfortably with the 14-mile workout. I had set my Garmin with a slow and fast pace so it would beep to warn me whether to slow down or speed up. I had hoped that it would help me keep the steady 8:20, but it only started to annoy me because every time I went in a shady area it dropped my pace and beeped at me. It drove me nuts so I just turned the warning beep off and went by feel. I felt great through mile 6 pacing myself at 7:47, 8:10, 7:59, 7:59, 8:21 (it took me awhile to find my 8:20 pace, but I did at mile 5), and 8:29. My watched beeped for the auto-lap at 6.00 miles. I looked up and then... 

I fell, belly flopping and skidding down the road! When I was getting ready to go out I remember tying my shoe and thinking, "wow my laces seem really long." I believe the fall occurred when my right foot got tripped up in my left shoe lace. I'm telling you, I've never really fallen, but now I have twice in this one training cycle. What the heck! And this time I fell as a car was driving by and not surprisingly, given my last experience, no one stopped to see if I was OK (well Janette, you're not in Upstate New York anymore).  I sat and cried for just a moment then stood up and used some of the water I had to clean up. As I was cleaning up, a man walked by pushing a stroller with another child walking beside him. He asked if I was OK, but just kept walking with no interest in stopping if I had said no. I assessed the situation. Bruised, dirty and bloody were my right thing, right elbow and left knee. My hip was also bruised and scraped. I was 7-miles from home. I had no cell phone. I was four miles from the fire department. What is a girl to do except keep running? 

So I kept running. Nothing was hurting me to run, but I really just wanted to get home. With all of the falling, tears and trying to compose myself I messed up my watch and mile 7 came in at 10:29. I estimated I covered abut .3-.4 miles with it turned off and was standing for about 2-3 minutes with my watch running. Startin with mile 8 splits were 7:53, 8:07, 8:12, 8:04, 7:51 and 8:01. I really was trying to do 8:20, but I also was bleeding, uncomfortable and just wanted to get home and get cleaned up. I ran an additional half mile for 13.5. My knee was pretty swollen when I stopped at that point so I decided it was best to just call it quits.

When I got home I immediately called Dave and asked him to get me some peroxide to help clean out the scrapes. My elbow was ridiculously swollen and my knee looked like someone cut a racketball in half and stuck it on my knee. My upper right thigh was very swollen and had some road rash. My thigh had started to bother me toward the end of the run, but I thought it was just from the fast miles and not the fall. I was wrong about that.

Dave got me the peroxide and got me cleaned up and wrapped up. He left me to get to church on time. I skipped the church because I had to take extra time to get cleaned up and I met him later on to go with his family to dinner.

In hindsight, I wondered if I should have stopped when I fell, but honestly I felt fine running. I actually felt great. I was so focused and determined to get home. I don't believe that I caused any additional problems by continuing the run. 

I was disappointed that I didn't get in the full planned workout. I'm also disappointed that I couldn't keep it at 8:20. Then again, I'm sort of happy with the fact that I was comfortable with the run being faster than that. With the stopping/starting/falling issue I estimate the total distance of the workout at 13.5 miles in a total time of 1:49:29 averaging 8:07 min/mi.

I have pictures to put up not to gross all of you out, but just so that I can remember how crazy that fall was after the fact. I just have to get them on my computer to post so give me a day or so and I'll get them up. If you're like me and into all that crazy medical stuff then you'll love them.

____________________________

Updated 9/25/2008... Photos as promised.

The Knee w/Blood Trickle (Awesomeness)

The Hip

The Elbow Wrapped for Church/Dinner

The Elbow with Crazy Swelling

The Elbow With Blood

Training Recap for Week of 9.8.2008

I hit my most weekly miles ever this week... 42 miles! Here is how it all worked out...

Monday: 5-mile easy run

Tuesday: 8x800m Intervals with warm up and cool down for 6.25 miles total

Wednesday: Relaxing

Thursday: 7-mile easy run

Friday: 25 minutes easy

Saturday: 20-mile long run

Sunday: Sleeping

The easy runs this week went really well. The intervals were a blast. I love 800 meter intervals. I did these at 3:40-ish trying to go a little slower than I did about a month ago when I was hitting 3:30-3:35 so that I was fully recovered and ready for Saturday's 20-miler. I woke up Saturday morning ready to go into town with the crew for the long run, but my stomach was just not agreeing with that idea. I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary the night before and I got plenty of sleep, but when I woke up my stomach was... well... let's just say it was a little overactive if you know what I mean. I had to call the crew and let them know I wouldn't make it out. I decided it was best to just run some loops near my place in case of bathroom emergency (is this too much detail?! - sorry!). Everything ended up working out well and I got in the 20-miles. I averaged 9:05 for the run too so I was happy with that.  This is the farthest run I've had since I ran the Boston Marathon in 2007 so needless to say it felt good having crossed this one off the training list.

Saturday night I got to go out to dinner with my parents who were in town visiting from upstate New York. I like when the come to town. They like to come out here to go fishing on the ocean. We had a great time at dinner and they had good luck on the boat so everyone made out well.

Humidity is Not My Friend

Ever since I was little I can remember the weatherman talking about the 3 H's: Hazy, Hot and Humid. Ever since I was little I can remember how I would get super cranky whenever the 3 H's were around. One in particular was not my friend - Humidity.

I hate humidity. I hate sweating while standing still. I hate sweating when I just get out of the shower and then feeling like I need to take another one. I hate feeling like everything is sticking to me. I hate humidity.

So Mother Nature blessed me with meeting up with my biggest enemy. Saturday's "long" run of a scheduled 10-12 miles called for 85% humidity. What this translated into was completed soaked clothing - don't get me wrong I like to sweat while I'm working out, but I have to draw the line - so that when I got home from the run my shorts were actually dripping onto my floor. I had to change my clothes just to stretch comfortably. During the run I was miserable. My quads were burning so I was thinking that I wasn't recovered from my Cape Ann 25K experience. I stopped to stretch and hydrate often. Even though I had my tool belt I knew there was no way I was taking in enough liquid. I think for everything I took in 5 times that came out. (Wow, this sounds sexy doesn't it? Ew!)

I was doing an out and back course. By mile 2 I was already really hot and it just got worse from there. I had to mentally run this by the half mile thinking OK just get to 3.5 then reasses the situation... OK reassess again at 4... . It was terrible. At mile 5, I said alright to hell with this today. I turned around and went home.

I was so happy to be done with that run. The whole time I was running, I was thinking how I'm not in shape and how I should be able to run 10 miles with no problems. But then when I got home I realized I did the right thing. There is no reason to push like that - whether it's 2 miles or 10 miles - and risk getting hurt. I've been there and I really don't want to go back again.

Deena's Foot

Here's a great interview with Deena from flotrack.com regarding her foot injury that occurred during the 2008 Beijing Marathon.

Marathon History and Motivation

Every day I receive an e-mail from Runner's World with a motivational quote. Some of them really hit home, while others I delete and never think of again. This morning was one of the quotes that I delete and never think of again. That is until my little sister reminded me of it.

It's horrible, yet fascinating, this struggle between a set purpose and an utterly exhausted frame. -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

So Heather, my little sister, starts a gchat with me to tell me how cool today's quote was. And I said, "what? I don't remember it. What was it?" She reminds me what it was and I say, "hm... I wonder what it means."

Within five minutes my research guru little sister sends me an e-mail with subject line "the background" and in it is a link to an article called, The Great Marathon Boom of 100 Years Ago, written by Don Allison. Well good thanks, Heather. What the heck is this? Why did you send it? At least I have reading now at lunch.

So I'm reading the article at lunch (a great article by the way) and all of a sudden - there's the quote. As Allison states in his article,

As he [Dorando] entered the stadium for the final laps to the finish line, he staggered and turned in the wrong direction. With assistance from two race officials, the diminutive Italian was helped and turned in the proper direction toward the finish. He fell three times and arose each time, but not without help from two officials. Crossing the finish line first in 2:54:46, it had taken Dorando nearly 10 minutes to cover the final quarter-mile. A fresh Johnny Hayes arrived at the finish just 30 seconds later.

Later on, Allison quotes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yes, the author of my RW Daily Quote as well as Sherlock Holmes) from his report in the Daily Mail describing Dorando at the finish.

. . .Then again he collapsed, kind hands saving him from a heavy fall. He was within a few yards of my seat. Amid stooping figures and grasping bands I caught a glimpse of the haggard, yellow face, the glazed, expressionless eyes, the lank black hair streaked across the brow…It is horrible, and yet fascinating, this struggle between a set purpose and an utterly exhausted frame.

Needless to say this quote has a lot more meaning to me now than it did before. I hope you enjoy the article and the quote. I know I appreciate it much more now.

Hartford Marathon

I am officially registered for the Hartford Marathon on October 11, 2008. Gasp!