Baltimore Half Marathon 10/11/08

Shorter Race, Much shorter race report.......All in all, an absolutely great day! Perfect weather, lots of fun. Instead of lengthy paragraphs, I've simplified this for easy reading.

General Course Description:

Start at the inner harbor.
Go east past patterson park.
Go north to Lake Montebello. Run a lap around the lake
Run west across 33rd street.
Go south to the harbor, over the howard street bridge, through downtown
End at Raven's stadium

Half Marathon Distance: 13.1 miles

Race time: 2 hours, 5 minutes, 25 seconds

Average pace per mile: 9 minutes 35 seconds

Number of girls seen doing the walk of shame to find her car window had been smashed out: 1

Number of crack vials or hypodermic needles stepped on: surprisingly zero

Number of people who had driven to their cars down a one-way street directly into the marathon course and were pissed off they had to sit there for HOURS until it finished: Too many to count

Number of F-bombs heard from angry Baltimore porch dwellers: 1

Number of crazy crackheads trying to hi-five runners: at least 2

Number of encouraging spectators: Countless

Number of aid stations offering beer to runners: only 1

Number of points on the race I could have grabbed a handful of gummy bears: 2

Number of times I heard "alright everybody, last hill" : at least 3

Seneca Creek Greenway Trail Marathon

Seneca Creek Greenway Trail Marathon, March 1, 2008

At 4am my alarm clock went off, much to the displeasure of my wife and I. It was drastically earlier than when I am used to waking. The prior week, I had made attempts to get up earlier in preparation for the shock. I had slept well, not waking at all through the night, which was surprising given the level of anticipation I had experienced in the days leading up to March 1. I brewed a pot of coffee, ate a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and was out the door by 4:30am. The race was a “point to point” style, so all the runners were required to drive their cars to the finish of the race at Riley’s Lock on the Potomac River, northwest of Washington, DC. We would then be bused to the start of the race in Damascus, MD, northeast of Germantown.

I arrived at the finish at 6am, in plenty time to debate whether or not to wear shorts or pants. I opted for shorts which I regretted while standing around before the race started.

The bus ride from the finish up to Damascus was uneventful, about a 30min ride. Plenty of time to think about how far we would actually be running…

I had trained at distances up to 20 miles on off road terrain in Loch Raven reservoir and felt fairly comfortable I would be able to complete the marathon distance. The official marathon distance is 26.2 miles. The race website stated the marathon course was estimated at between 26 and 27 miles, with a guarantee to be at least the required distance, but would not be accurately measured. The estimated course distance was done by map, not by GPS or an odometer, like a road race would. Also, this race had two options: Marathon or 50K (31 miles for the metrically challenged, and like the “marathon” this option was guaranteed to be at least this distance J ) Runners doing the 50K would split off of the main course and do a 4 mile loop around a lake and then rejoin the course.

Once we arrived at the starting point at Damascus Park, we all got off of the buses and registered. Easy and quick, except it was 7:15 and the race didn’t start until 8. Plenty of time to second guess every decision leading I had made leading up to the race. Had I trained enough? Was the course going to be full of hills? How bad were my feet going to blister once I walked through the river at mile 4? Am I going to be this cold all day?

Finally at 7:58 the race director gathered all the runners and led us to the actual start point. There were about 240 or so runners, a very small number by big city marathon standards. The RD’s pre-race briefing was short and sweet. “If you signed up for the 5K, you’re in the wrong place.” J There was no gun, just a “ready, set, go!” and I was on my way.

The first half mile was run over an asphalt path, and then we picked up the trail. The entire course was on a singletrack (wide enough for only one person) dirt trail with some exposed roots, rocks, etc. With such a small headcount, the pack thinned out quickly. My plan was to run as conservatively as possible. Mentally I had broken the course down into three sections. I knew I could run the first ten miles fresh and easy, but the next 10 would require a good amount of focus, and anything beyond 20 would probably require all the mental and physical energy I had left in me.

Start to mile 7

Along the course there would be aid stations, offering refills on water and Gatorade as well as salty & sweet snacks for refueling. I made it from the start to the first station at mile 7 with no issues at all. The dreaded river crossing at mile 4 had turned out to be just a series of rocks exposed from the stream that we could hop across. I was running with my hydration backpack which holds about 70oz of water and by my calculations I’d only need to stop to top it off once during the whole race. I didn’t stop at all at mile 7, completely forgetting the RD’s instructions to check in and give my bib number to a volunteer. With runners spread out, and the course running entirely through the woods, the race management was very diligent in making sure they knew where everybody was.

Mile 11 Aid Station

From mile 7, the next aid station would be in about 4 miles, at the 11 mile mark. After I passed through mile 7, my right foot started aching, and for the next 4 miles I wondered how bad it would get. Worrying about my foot pretty much consumed my thoughts until mile 11. At the aid station, I checked in, topped off my water and popped some ibuprofen, wondering if it would make me sick. Shortly after leaving the station, the foot pain subsided. I ran stronger, and felt better once I perceived that I crossed the half way point. Since there were no mile markers and I was alone in the woods, it was more of a guess. The trail was scenic the entire way, following Seneca creek as it meandered through the forest. The temperature had risen up to the low forties, and the sun was moving in and out of the clouds which seemed like perfect conditions, especially for the first of March.

Mile 15 Clopper Lake Aid Station

When I exited the trail at mile 15 at the Clopper Lake aid station, it was very uplifting. At this point I had spent just under 3 hours on the trail, and at that point runners were so spread out it was rare to see more than a person or two. The aid station atmosphere was very social. There were several other runners & volunteers chatting, refilling water bottles & munching on snacks. My plan was to stick with GU energy gel that had always worked well in training, but when I got to mile 15, some pretzels were too hard to resist. This aid station was also where the 50K runners would split off to put in their extra miles. I told the volunteer I was “only” doing the marathon and was pointed in the right direction. The next few miles were uneventful, until about mile 19 when leg cramps started. Most of the course was made up of rolling hills, and overall it lost elevation. It sounds counterintuitive, but running downhill is hard, in that it will severely beat up your legs. At this point, my quads were burning and my calves were cramping. I adopted a strategy of walking the uphills, and running the flats & downhills, which is a very common practice in offroad running. I had actually observed several runners using this strategy early on in the race. Most of the hills in trail running can be hiked up just as quickly and with less effort than running. I continued to consume water & electrolytes in an attempt to fight the cramping. Unfortunately I had to fight the muscle cramping for the rest of the run. I was surprised by this since I had completed several 18 to 20 mile training runs with no cramping at all.

Peeptown Approx. mile 21.5

When I arrived at the aids station named “peeptown” I was feeling pretty beat up. Again the aid station atmosphere was uplifting. This station was named for the sugar coated marshmallow candy often lurking in Easter baskets. I passed on the peeps but had a few cheese-its and an oreo cookie, again straying from my strategy to only consume GU. While munching, I heard one of the volunteers say, “It’s only about another 10K to the finish.” (again, if you’re metrically challenged, 10K is 6.2 miles) Quickly doing the math, that made 27.7. Shit. I knew the race was supposed to be a little longer than a standard marathon distance, but that was not what I wanted to hear. Once I heard that, I decided it was time to be on my way get this thing over with. The next 6 miles would be the toughest I’ve ever tried to run, and since I passed through peeptown, I was just mentally and physically spent. No way I was giving up, though…..

Peeptown to the Finish

The trail from peeptown on was fairly flat, a few very small hills, and it switched back and forth from skinny dirt trail through the woods to a wider trail cutting through very large fields. At this point every muscle/bone/whatever else was throbbing. (even the elbows from holding them up all day) I stuck to my strategy of walking anything uphill and running the rest. Finally I reached another road crossing and saw the last aid station. This one hadn’t been listed in the course description or I had missed it. I was somewhat confused because once I left peeptown, the next thing I expected to see was the finish. I thought I was pretty much done. Why would they put an aid station so close to the finish? Either way, when I reached the station one of the volunteers asked how I was feeling and offered me some water. I quickly told him I felt like hell. He responded “You look great” Liar. At least I didn’t feel like I looked great. I drank a cup of water and asked how far it was to the end. He said, oh just under 3 miles. Huh? My heart sank into my stomach. Then another volunteer said “the marathon course is actually between 28 & 29 miles.” Good lord. This thing just keeps getting longer and longer. From my experience, and a few other race reports I’ve read, I believe the consensus is that the distance for this course was about 28 miles. Great! I get bonus miles for my first marathon! I left the last station wondering how bad the next 3 miles would be. I just kept going. This last section climbed one of the steepest climbs of the course, at least it felt that way. This was actually a plus since I would have walked this one even if I was fresh. Once I reached the top the trail dropped back down just as steeply as it rose. Back to running, every time my feet landed I felt pain in my quads. Oh well, suck it up. It just got to the point that I accepted the pain and just kept moving forward, knowing I had to be close. Once I descended the steep hill, the trail leveled off and just began to roll as it had for the entire course. Another runner passed me, and told me that we were almost there. “Less than a mile to the road and then about a mile on the road to the finish” he said. When the trail left the woods, we started running on a gravel road towards the Potomac river and the finish. I ran continuously for about the last mile, and the experience was surreal. It was euphoric in the sense of joy of what I had accomplished, but the exhaustion was not going away. As I crossed the finish line I saw Chas holding a sign she had made that said “congratulations.” I was so happy to be finished, and wondered how sore I’d be the next day. As it turns out it was very windy that day, but all day I’d been shielded from the wind by the trees. We did not hangout at the finish long since I was eager to get home and clean up.

Aftermath

For the next 2 days, I was very sore. Sitting or standing I was fine, but for some reason trying to move from one to the other was a daunting task. Within a week, all the soreness had gone away, except for that right foot that started hurting fairly early in the race and then subsided. I gave that another week to heal, and started back running 2 weeks after the event. I managed to get two 6 milers in before coming down with a cold and not being able to run for another week. Until this year, I had not run very often or with any consistency. Starting July 1, 2007, I’ve averaged 3-4 days of running per week, with my weekly mileage increasing from 6-8 miles in July to 25-32 miles per week at the height of marathon training. Needless to say, not being able run for 3 weeks had me going stir crazy. 3 weeks after the marathon, I’m back on schedule and hope to hit 28 miles this week. I guess I’ve become a bit of an addict.

Next Up: North Face Endurance Challenge, 50KM trail run, Sept 6, 2008

(yeah, signed up already)

Brian