Race Report: Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon

On Saturday I ran my third marathon. Some of you might remember that my goals were A) run a sub 5-hour marathon B) PR -- meaning finish in less than 5:28:30 and C) finish and have fun. It was not an A-goal day. I knew early on that probably wasn't in the works for me that morning. However, it was a B-goal and C-goal kind of day. I set a PR of more than 10 minutes and, without discounting moments of physical, mental, and emotional discomfort, I had a wonderful experience with many moments that brought me joy, smiles, gratitude, and even a bit of laughter.

As a prologue let me tell you that I did not sleep well during the week leading into the race. I am fortunate to have rarely suffered from insomnia or bouts of sleeplessness, which is great. But that also means I am a giant baby when I have to function on less than 6-7 hours of sleep. I was working at a deficit. The day before the race I couldn't resist doing at least a little bit of sight-seeing in Seattle with my spouse, so in addition to walking to the Expo there was quite a bit of walking around to go to the Space Needle and to pick up a few odds and ends that I needed for race day before we went to the TNT Inspiration Dinner.

After another night of fitful sleep -- I woke up multiple times to either use the restroom or in a panic that I'd overslept -- I got up at 4:50, got ready, and met up with members of the TNT Flex Team at 5:45 to walk the 20 minutes or so over to the Race Start at the Space Needle. When I got to my designated corral (at an ungodly hour even for a morning person) I was sleepy and my calves and hamstrings were already feeling tired. Yet, I felt a sort of mental peace about it. My mantras for the day were simple: "I am running toward my better self" and "Go Team!" It was humid but pretty cool. It sprinkled here and there while we waited, but the rain mercifully mostly held off until the race was underway. I had my hat to keep the rain out of my eyes, my fuel and water to take it with on my own schedule plus a bit extra in case some of the aid stations ran out, my phone so that I could take plenty of photos and text with Team members before and after, and my TNT honored teammates cards and dedicated miles list. My friend who was doing the half-marathonfound me, and we chatted for a bit before she left to make her way to her corral. I introduced myself to the 4:55 pacers, chatted with some people in the corral, and waited and waited for corral 25 to get to the start line. The race started 15 minutes late and by the time my group got to the starting line it was already almost 8:00. Needless to say I already had thoughts of relieving my bladder.

Within a couple of minutes, it became apparent that I was not going to be able to stick with the pace group without feeling like I was going out too fast. My new strategy became to keep them in sight and keep my pace at 11:15-11:30 minute/miles for the first third of the race and then reevaluate. The first challenge to keeping to this plan was when we went into the Viaduct. I lost satellite reception on my Garmin and I was still feeling the adrenaline of the start so it was really hard to pace myself. Things evened out a bit after that as the course headed into Pioneer Square and then the International District and down Ranier Avenue.

Mile 1: 11:05
Mile 2: 8:15
Mile 3: 10:53
Mile 4: 11:02
Mile 5: 11:07
Mile 6: 11:05
Mile 7: 11:14
Mile 8: 11:06

The course then took us south toward Seward Park for a long loop that basically covered miles 9-15. I was running pretty steadily but starting to slow down a little bit. I eventually lost sight of the 4:55 pacers between miles 9 and 10. Although I felt physically tired (and had from the start), each mile I thought a bit about the person to whom that mile was dedicated and that gave me a distraction and a mental and emotional boost. I walked for a few seconds through water stops and every 40 minutes or so for a minute to take in calories. I had needed to use the restroom for a while and things were starting to become more urgent for other reasons. Around mile 12 I finally spotted a row of portajohns without a long line. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a reason that there was no line so after a minute of waiting with no change I decided to press on. I had better luck at the next stop, and spent a few moments taking care of business.

Mile 9: 11:31
Mile 10: 11:31
Mile 11: 11:15
Mile 12: 12:14
Mile 13: 14:41
Mile 14: 11:22
Mile 15: 12:15

We then ran north again. I picked up a TNT coach again for a few minutes. Then suddenly I heard, "Lady in purple! Lady in purple!" I turned back to see another runner flagging me down. My list of dedicated miles had fallen off the safety pin to my shirt and she had picked them up. I chatted with her for a few minutes and thanked her again before we went our separate ways.

There were some really powerful moments as we ran. I found the tribute to fallen servicemen and women, which included a long row of photos and then many American flags, particularly moving. I was running just behind a couple of people from the Greater Bay Area chapter of Team in Training, and the three of us were getting many personal cheers of encouragement and were offering many thanks to the men and women along the course. I caught up to the two TNTers and we chatted for a bit before I slowed to take more fuel again.

Miles 17- 23 had us going over the I-90 Bridge and then back into a tunnel for a long stretch before we exited and ran a little ways only to turn around and run back. This part of the course was pretty brutal. The bridge was windy and noisy, and there were long stretches of gradual declines and gradual inclines. My legs felt pretty trashed. During the stretches in the tunnels I again lost satellite reception, which made it hard to pace and to keep my walking stretches from creeping up a bit. However, for the most part I'm pretty satisfied with how I handled hitting the wall this time. The wall was most definitely there, but instead of falling apart when I hit it, I was able to slowly climb over it. I tried to stick to my strategy of running for at least 3 minutes before I would allow myself to walk. I picked out markers on the course to pass before I could look at my watch. When things got tough, I repeated my mantras to myself until I believed them. As each mile passed, I continued to spend at least a few minutes thinking about the wonderful people who sponsored me. Things were going pretty well. My only real complaint was that I had started to feel blisters developing on my feet around mile 16 or so. By mile 21 I was really starting to feel them. (Thanks, humidity and rain.) I called Mark between miles 21 and 22 to ask him to buy me a pair of flip-flops on his way to meet me at the finish. He said that he would and told me to keep going.

Mile 16: 12:02
Mile 17: 12:07
Mile 18: 12:29
Mile 19: 11:57
Mile 20: 13:21
Mile 21: 12:41
Mile 22: 12:53
Mile 23: 12:08

After mile 23, finally I was done with bridges and tunnels. The rest of the course had a few hills but seemed more flat and downhill. I ran for a few minutes between miles 25 and 26 with one of the TNT coaches. Talking with him gave me a nice distraction from the pain in my legs and feet. I admit that I walked up the penultimate hill, but that gave me the energy to run (albeit slowly) up the last hill and then finish strong.

Mile 24: 13:27
Mile 25: 12:10
Mile 26: 12:32:
Mile 26.2 (26.5 -- I managed to pick up an extra .3 in the early miles): 10:37

Official marathon time 5:15:18.

I found Mark at the finish, and he walked with me over to the TNT tent to check out. I picked up my finisher's jacket and stopped by the medical tent for Neosporin and bandaids for the worst of my blisters. Even though I hurt -- my legs were trashed, my feet were covered with angry spots, and I had some unfortunate chafing, I was incredibly happy. I finished a marathon! I PR'ed by over 13 minutes! I had persevered on a day when I didn't start out feeling great.

Thanks to all of you who have followed me, sponsored me, and cheered for me over the previous few months! I hope you'll stick around (and maybe consider donating to my fundraising efforts) for my training for the Chicago Marathon as part of Team Deere.