Nala's Quest: June 2009

Warning! Long Race Report ahead! For a shorter version, see previous post.

Yesterday, I ran the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon for the 1st time. Last year, I survived it and ran about 18 miles of it, and had to walk the remaining 8 miles. The day after that race in '08, I vowed to come back a year later, train hard, and run the entire race.

The moment finally came to redeem myself, and I took full advantage of the opportunity. The weather was perfect at the start: low 60s, overcast, slight wind, and a little drizzle. I got to sleep around midnight and had my alarm set for 3:45 a.m. When the alarm went off, I was thrilled that I had gotten sleep this year. Last year, I may have gotten 45 minutes worth of shut eye. After turning off my alarm, I quickly went downstairs, turned on the coffee maker and started eating my bagel. My plan was to eat a little, drink some coffee, and have about 32 oz. of water before heading over to the start. I got 2 bathroom stops in before I left.

Lisa, who is my MVP of this race, was willing to drive me to the start at 4:30 a.m. For those of you that know Lisa, she doesn't like to get up early (and early is before 8 a.m.!). We left on time and traffic was excellent. I got to the Start Village around 5:10 a.m. and actually got to experience the pre-race festivities. Last year, I didn't get to the start until 6:30!!!

I met up with my cousin and his friends and we warmed up, had some more food, took a salt tablet, tested the Cytomax (not bad, definitely better than Accelerade!), and had more water. I hit the porta potties 3 more times before getting into the starting corrals. Last year, we started at the end of the corrals because we were late getting to the start. We ended up having to weave through thousands of walkers, before finding room to run. This year, I started up in corral 6, near the 4:00 pace setter. My goal this year was to run the first mile with the 4:00 pace setter to make sure I didn't go out too fast, and then try to run around 8:45-9:00 pace for the rest of the race.

The race started and we were off. I was much more calm this year, partly because I was familiar with the course and partly because I knew that there were 4 hours of racing ahead of me and I needed to conserve energy. I was most concerned with keeping my emotions in check and staying relaxed. I stayed with the 4 hr pacer for the first mile and was feeling pretty comfortable.

Mile 1 - 8:46 (I thought the pace setter was going a little fast, but it was still comfortable)

The next two miles went by quickly as I tried to establish a relaxed pace and find someone to run with. I'm glad I had my Garmin, because most of the runners along side me were running at a quicker 8:30 pace (which I wouldn't have known if I didn't look at my watch) and I found myself trying to keep pace with them at first.

Mile 2 - 8:41

Mile 3 - 8:50

The next mile was downhill, and I tried not to run it too fast, but ended up banking a lot of time anyway.

Mile 4 - 8:17 (Saw Lisa for the first time!)

After that, I was back on track.

Mile 5 - 8:42

Mile 6 - 8:46 (One of my 5th graders was here to cheer me on. Thanks Jill!)

Mile 7 - 9:01 (Saw Lisa again!)

Mile 8 - 8:50

At this point, we were headed up highway 163 for a 2 mile slight incline. I was feeling pretty good at this point and had a good rhythm. The problem was that I had hydrated too much at the start and had been looking for a place to relieve myself for the last few miles. I didn't want to waste precious seconds waiting in line so I promised myself that I would use the first porta potty that was unoccupied. At mile 9, I finally found one and was in and out in 30 seconds.

Mile 9 - 9:29
Mile 10 - 8:42

At this point I was feeling great. I had made it through 10 miles without much fanfare. I was pretty much on autopilot at this stage and looking forward to transitioning onto Friars Road where the crowd support was excellent. There weren't too many fans on the 3 mile stretch of highway. The last mile of this stretch was downhill and again, I banked some time here.

Mile 11 - 8:13

As we turned onto the ramp and entered Friars Road, I got a shot of adrenaline hearing all the crowd support and cheerleaders. My goal was to get to the 13.1 mile mark, where in my head I believed that the race would truly begin.

Mile 12 - 8:50

Mile 13 - 8:32

Half Marathon Time - 1:55:39

When I hit the official halfway mark, I began to gear down mentally for the real race to begin. I began to set small goals for myself. The first was to get to mile 14 and have another GU with water.

Mile 14 - 8:35

The next mile was where I started to feel some tightness for the first time in my left hamstring. I stopped at the aid station briefly (probably less than 15 seconds) to stretch and squeeze the muscle.

Mile 15 - 9:01

At this point, all that was on my mind was about getting to mile 16 so that there would only be 10 miles left in the race. My legs weren't getting worse, so I just tried to keep running smooth and easy. I called my brother at this point to let him know that I was 3 miles away from the 19 mile mark where he was going to be cheering for me with his 3 year old son. I remember this stretch of the race a year ago, where my race began to completely unfold. I kept thinking to myself, 'Keep it together. You're doing okay.'

Mile 16 - 8:43

Mile 17 - 8:34

I ran past the GU station here and grabbed two more for the road. 'Come on, Joe. Get to mile 18. No cramping. Not like last year.' At mile 18 last year, my legs were done. Toast. I had to hobble the next 8 miles to the finish line. My thought was that if I could get to mile 18 without cramping, I had improved from last year.

Mile 18 - 8:45

Things were looking okay at this point and I was starting to feel good about my chances. I allowed myself to experience this feeling for about 10 seconds before reeling it back in and scolding myself for celebrating too early. I knew that I wasn't halfway done with the race until I had hit mile 20. At the aid station, I took another GU and stretched quickly before continuing on.

Mile 19 - 8:38

I saw my brother, his son, and his friends at this point and that helped me get up the 2 bridges that I would be crossing in the next mile. Last year, I remember cursing at those bridges and barely being able to get up and over them. This year, I was actually speeding up and passing people.

Mile 20 - 8:25

When I finally got to the 20 mile sign, I was ecstatic - halfway done!!! I took another salt tablet and chased it down with some water. Only a 10K to go. We passed by Sea World and I was feeling decent. I knew I had a shot at not only breaking 4 hours, but reaching my A goal of 3:50. But I knew that if I wanted to hit my A goal, I would need to run the last 6 miles at a faster pace than the first 20. So I started to speed up.

Mile 21 - 8:18

I think I pushed the tempo too hard on that last mile as the adrenaline wore out on me. I slowed the pacing for the next few miles, stopping to stretch at each water stop.

Mile 22 - 8:38

I kept talking to myself to keep myself on track mentally. 'One more mile to go and then it's only a 5K'

Mile 23 - 8:46

This was probably the hardest part of the race for me. Even though I now only had 3 miles to go, I felt like I was running out of energy, and my legs were failing me. I decided to take my last GU at this point. To keep me going, I focused on street signs about 200 yards ahead of me and told myself, 'just get to that point.'

Mile 24 - 8:57

With 2 miles to go, I decided it was time to go for broke. I mustered everything I had in me and turned the last 2.2 miles into a tempo run.

Mile 25 - 8:08

As I was heading into the last mile, I saw my co-worker that had given me great advice about the marathon and was one of the people that had talked me into running the marathon last year. She cheered me on as I headed into the last mile and change.

Mile 26 - 8:18

Only .2 to go. I forgot about the .2 and was almost out of gas. 'Why does there have to be an additional 385 yards? Someone needs to make this a straight 26 mile race.' At the finish line, I could hear Lisa yelling encouragements to me. I flashed her a huge smile and let my emotions loose. I flashed her the 'I love you' sign and pointed to her to acknowledge her significant role in the quest to break 4 hours. Then I let loose with some fist pumps, tears of joy, and screams of elation as I crossed the finish line.

1st Half - 1:55:39

2nd Half - 1:53:16 (Negative Split!)

Official Time - 3:48:53 - 8:45 pace and new PR by 51 minutes!!!

Afterwards as I was walking through the finish line area I took some time to reflect on the journey. 18 months ago, I wasn't even a runner. Without first measuring the cost, I set out to run a marathon a year ago; a race that I had no right running in, because I wasn't properly trained. But I was stubborn and did it anyway and paid dearly for it. So this year I set a goal for myself and promised that I would put in the work and effort to run the marathon the right way. I set a goal of 4 hours and focused on this for the whole year. So when I crossed the finish line and achieved my goal, it was one of the greatest feelings that I have ever experienced and a feeling that I will never forget.

Here are a few quick shoutouts to those who deserve mention:

Lisa and my girls - thanks for believing in me and allowing me to take up so much family time to run

Fellow Bloggers and readers (especially aron, billy, willis, and gary) - thanks for sharing all your training advice and racing tips

God - thanks for running the real race for us through your son Jesus Christ.

Here are some pictures from the race.

Showing off my shiny new medal!