Race Report Part 3. The Run. So I run back inside the convention center, get handed my Run gear bag and head into the changing room. I switch into my run shorts and Tri top and put on my socks and running shoes. Grabbed the bag of pills I had with me from the bike and head back outside. I was going to bypass the line of Volunteers with the sunscreen and was headed for the porta potties when the cute blond girl on the end said “Would you like some sunscreen?” “Yes, please!” There was no way I was going to pass that up. I was heading out of the parking ramp when I looked up and saw that the clock in the archway (where Aunt Rebecca saw me on the live internet feed) said 8:02. I started thinking “I have 9 hours to do these 26 miles. I can walk it in 6 and a half or 7. Probably in boots and a 40-pound ruck. I’m not wearing boots and a 40-pound ruck. Don’t screw this up now.” My watch said I did the first mile in just over 8 minutes. That was too fast so I immediately eased up on the pace. (Looking at the timing splits online after the race, the 8 minutes wasn’t accurate. I must have crossed the T2 timing strip somewhere in the convention center or before the porto potties. Also the clock on the archway was about 10 minutes off. They must have started it when the pros began. ) I did the second mile in about 8:36. (A real 8:36 this time). Still a little too fast. Mile three was just over 9 minutes which was more like it. I started getting a rhythm down for the aid stations. There were something like 14 or 15 along the 13.1 mile course (you do two laps) so there is about 1 per mile. Walk through the aid station. Grab a water. Drink it. Drink a Power Aid. Grab a second cup of water and pour over your head to cool off. Every third mile grab a gel. Work in a banana once or twice. Pop a couple electrolyte pills on the hour. Keep moving. After eating and drinking almost nothing but Cliff Bars, Gu Shots, and Power Aid all day, by the beginning of the run, I was getting a stomach ache. So I pulled out a couple of the Pepto Bismal tablets I was carrying somewhere on Mile 2 and they did the trick. At the first or second aid station, when I poured the water over my head, the back of my neck started stinging. Flashback to the Swim. I have a sleeveless wetsuit which I noticed has a tendency to rub up against the inside of my arms and cause some chaffing when I’m swimming. I put a bunch of anti-chaffing stuff on my arms and on the wetsuit arm holes before the race. Which worked pretty well. Expecting some rubbing, I had petroleum jelly in my Bike gear bag and put it on the hot spots on my arms and didn’t have a problem the rest of the race. But I had completely forgotten about the wetsuit closure on the back of my neck. I hadn’t put anything on it and it had rubbed the back of my neck raw. It wasn’t a problem on the bike. But, oh well. Just have to suck it up now. (Historical Side Note. This is the exact reason why early fighter pilots wore fancy, silk scarves when they were flying. They weren’t trying to make fashion statements. The silk scarves kept their necks from getting rubbed raw by their flight jackets as they were turning their heads all the time to spot other airplanes. ) By the time I got to the first real hill on the run, something like mile 5 or 6, my back was starting to tighten up. I looked at the hill and thought “I’m walking up this one”. Time wasn’t going to be a problem. A back spasm could be. I did the same thing on the next couple hills. That became the new strategy. Walk through the aid stations and up the big hills. Run the downhills and the flats. It worked and my back didn’t get any worse. There were plenty of people lining the streets of Madison. Not too many in costumes like on the bike course. Your bib number has your name on it so people could call it out as you go by. First time I’ve seen that. State Street, where all the bars are, was crowded with people lining both sides of the street. The run twists and turns in and around Madison and the University of Wisconsin campus so much, I never really knew where I was at on the course except by mile marker. It was a cloudy day and couldn’t even tell which direction I was going. So the big thing on the run is that you get to do a lap around the football field at Camp Randall Stadium (U of W football field). It was pretty cool but for some reason I was thinking back to high school football days and having to run laps at practice. Strange. I don’t have a problem running 26.2 miles. Just don’t make me do laps around a football field. So, headed back towards the Capital Building and nearing the halfway point of the run. I bypassed the Run Special Needs Bag because all I had in it were a dry pair of socks and some more pills like the bike. And since I was already carrying my bike ones, and my feet were OK, there was no point in stopping. Checked my time at the turnaround and I was right about the 10-hour mark. I had just done about a 2-hour half marathon. (I didn’t know about the archway clock being off by 10 minutes at this point). For just a brief moment I thought “Do I want to push this 2nd lap really hard and try to finish under 12 hours?” Then I remembered I promised Uncle Mike I wouldn’t make him have to execute his “Next of Kin” duties and that was the last of that idea. But I was still feeling pretty good because when I did my first ever Half Marathon in Fulda, Germany in 1987, I ran a 2:12. I had just beaten that time AFTER doing a 2.4 mile swim and 112 bike ride (even with the clock mix up) . The second lap was more of the same. The walking up the hills became more like walking up anything that even looked remotely inclined uphill. But I knew this was now my race to screw up, and I wasn’t about to. 10 or 15 minutes really wasn’t going to mean that much in the big picture. And you have to remember, I’m walking at about a 14 to 15 minute per mile pace, so this isn’t some slow stroll through town on a Sunday evening to get ice cream. Still I was feeling a little rough by about mile 19. Not feeling really bad, just not having as much fun anymore. And starting to feel like I might get a little sick at the end of the race when I finally stopped moving. Then something unexpected happened that changed everything. They told us it wouldn’t be put out on the aid stations until after dark so I wasn’t expecting it. Reaching for a glass of Power Aid, I got a surprise. WARM CHICKEN BROTH! My first thought was “What is something new going to do to my stomach? My stomach immediately replied “WOO HOO! Something that isn’t sugar based!” I’ve never had it before during a race. I don’t know if it is all the sodium in it or what. But chicken broth is like an Ironman Super Food. By the next aid station it was “To hell with the Power Aid. We’re on water and Chicken Broth from here on in.” By mile 22, I was feeling pretty good. Probably the best since somewhere early on in the bike. I wasn’t going any faster, because my legs now had 135 miles on them, but I was feeling OK. It was getting right around sundown and with the cloudy sky it was getting dark early. I was still wearing my sunglasses, which have prescription lenses, and I was debating whether to take them off or not. I took them off at one section of crowded State Street, realized I did NOT like the whole idea of everyone around (many of questionable sobriety) being just fuzzy blurs and decided I was better of leaving them on. I walked most of the long incline up to the Capital Building on Mile 25. A couple minutes of time were pretty meaningless at this point. Finishing strong and still being on my feet when I crossed the finish line was important. You basically have to run around three sides of the Capital Building (which I did) before peeling off into the Finishers Chute. Heading down toward the finishing arch, I checked around me to make sure I wasn’t crowding anyone. It’s bad form just to charge the finish and ruin someone else’s finishing picture. I heard footsteps behind me and thought the guy was going to pass me near the end. I was about to slow down to let him pass when he backed off. I couldn’t really see the finishing arch because they have big spotlights pointed at you. Plus sweat and water smeared sunglasses didn’t make it any easier. I heard my name being called out and figured I’d better smile and raise my arms (which really isn’t my style, but oh, well.) Next: The Finish Line.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:29:09 +0000
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