Sunday, September 8, 2013

2013 VIA Marathon

Today was an outstanding day all around.  First, I ran the VIA Marathon (our local marathon).  Then I watched with the rest of the BCR as April finished her first marathon.  In the evening, we went to the Brew Works in Bethlehem.  The only downside was hearing that Flo got sick and couldn't finish her race.  Thankfully, she was okay and joined for dinner.

I signed up for this marathon hoping I could qualify for Boston or at least get close that 3:05.  Instead of getting faster, I was getting slower and slower, so I decided some time ago that this would become a training run for my 50K in a month.

The race started at 7 and at 6:20, we encountered a major traffic jam on the highway exit.  Luckily, we we are local and knew how to get around it.  We got of the next exit, came through the start of the course up Fish Hatchery Road and drove right into the hospital on Cedar Crest.  I did have to use the bathroom and our car was parked far away, so I cut it very close to making the start on time.  I got to the line with 2 minutes to spare.  I'm glad this wasn't a big city marathon or that would've been tough.

We started off with a short loop.  That was one of the few times you could actually see the leaders and I saw that Mertz was 4th overall, because he led off their relay leg.  I cruised along nice and easy.  That first mile was slow, over 9 minutes.

Everything I've done in the last couple months has been slow and long and on trails.  I had no feel for the kind of pace that I could run on a road race.  I figured I'd at least break 4 hours.  I was just going to run easy.

Going down Fish Hatchery Road was awesome.  There was just a sea of people that you could see all the way down to the bottom of the hill.  This steep downhill made for a fast 2nd mile of this point to point course.  I saw Kelley, Jessica and the rest of their relay team early on.

I knew that we ran in the Parkway, so I assumed that it would be on the gravel paths, but it wasn't.  It was actually on some of the wider roads through the Parkway.  We ran through the covered bridge and just before that I saw Leslie from the LVRR.  It was good to see another LVRR singlet.

I slowly passed some people, although I wasn't enjoying all of the pavement.  I couldn't wait to be done with that section.  We were out of the Parkway before too long and on to MLK Boulevard.  I was glad it was still early because the sun was beating brightly here.

This section was pretty long and I had forgotten about the relay checkpoint.  I was reminded of it as I approached it.  It was tough thinking that only one leg was gone.  I had not enjoyed all the pavement running.  My body isn't too used to it.  I continued along though.  I figured that I had quite a few miles until we were off of that surface.

We ran along the open road.  Someone had asked about the PP&L Building, so me and another runner gave him a history lesson.  I then came to a friend JP, who ran a couple group runs with me.  It was good seeing some people that I knew.

I couldn't wait to get off the pavement.  There was a nice run over the bridge over the Lehigh River.  It wasn't long until we were at the towpath.  First, I had to use the bathroom, so I went in the woods.  Then I filled my handheld bottle and threw in an electrolyte tablet.  Those two things slowed me down and made that mile about a 9:30.  I decided to just take water or gatorade from there on out and not fill my bottle.  I wasn't drinking much anyway.  I probably wasn't drinking enough, but I felt fine.  I wasn't thirsty.

The soft towpath was so energizing.  Suddenly, my legs felt awesome.  I started flying.  I still wasn't running hard, but I was passing a lot of people.  I just tried to maintain a fairly consistent pace.  There was a guy without a leg and I ran passed him after we leapfroged each other a bit.

I continued to just cruise along until Sand Island.  When I ran the relay a couple years ago, this was an exchange point, but I didn't know where the runners had to go.  I didn't realize that it was back onto pavement for an entire loop around the whole Musikfest area.  This was an awful mile or so on pavement.  I came through the half at 1:52 something.  I was well under the 4 hour goal.

I ended up talking to a couple guys that I was passing in this section.  They thought I was crazy for considering an ultramarathon.  I guess I kind of am, but I don't plan on running that hard.  I love the idea of trail running too.  I was starting to have chafing issues around this time, so I took off my shirt and carried it the rest of the way.

I was so happy to be back on the towpath.  Again, I felt awesome.  I really started flying now.  Going easy, it was like I had just started running.  My endurance is outstanding now and I could tell it by this portion of the run.  I've done a lot of 15 mile/3 hour runs and I was strong until I got past both of those points.  I was amazed at how many people you can pass if you just stay consistent in the second half of the race.

The path wasn't too crowded, but sometimes I would have to sprint around a big group to position myself how I would like.  I saw my friend Ron walking after a water stop and he said he was having a bad day.  I told him I felt great.  It's amazing how some people do well and other not great.  It was was nice to be on the good side of that fence for once.

I rarely got passed from about miles 13-18.  If I did, it was often by relay runners.  I felt amazing.  I've never felt so good at this distance before.  This was a great, easy course.

Somewhere around or just before mile 18, I suddenly started having soreness in my left calf.  This was the first time I had a problem.  That was the start of some issues.  I was still moving at a steady clip and passing a lot of people.  That made it a ton of fun.

A runner was down and needed a medic when I went by.  I was surprised because it didn't seem like too difficult of a section.  I had heard of some runners tripping.  I guess I'm just so used to trails.  In fact, the one section with a few rocks, I tried dancing along them pretending that I was trail running.

I knew the paved section would be awful for my legs.  At the Route 33 Boat Launch, we went on the rocky road.  This was just terrible.  It broke up my rhythm and really slowed me down.  Then came the pavement after that.

The pavement was at about mile 20 and I really started hurting.  I just tried to focus on the next mile or two.  The fact that I was still passing people helped a lot.  This was when the easy run was no longer easy.

Just before hitting the pavement, I took a gel and some water.  Stopping and starting again at water stops was difficult.  The legs didn't like that.  I kept doing it though.

Riverview Park was the last relay exchange point.  It was packed.  There was now about a 5K left.  We went straight across the road and I was upset.  The only path I knew of over there went straight uphill.  It would've been tough.  I then saw that we were actually on a new section.  This was nice because it was downhill.  It did curve though, so that was a bit weird.

After crossing the pedestrian bridge, there is some tough up and down.  It is small hills though.  Because I was running relatively easy, I never got tired and didn't bonk.  The only issue was just my legs being incredibly sore.

At one point, I thought about the fact that I was almost to Easton and had begun at Emmaus.  That helped.  My pace started slipping in the final 5K.  For some time, I figured that I was under a 3:45 pace.  Then when my pace fell, I calculated that I was too far behind it and wouldn't finish up that quick.

Since I wasn't going to get under 3:45, I backed off a bit and took it easy for the last two miles.  I looked at my watch way too often in this area.  I just kept counting down.

Inside the final mile, I could see the finish line across the river.  That was a huge boost.  Even though it was still pretty far, I knew I'd be done in a few minutes.  There was a short uphill to get to the bridge.  That wasn't bad as I was picking my pace up a bit.  It was as low as 8:29 at one point, but had dipped to 8:35 by now.  Still, I had not fallen off too bad.

I was pushing some, but I came onto Larry Holmes Drive in cruise mode.  Then I looked at my watch and how far I had to go.  I realized that I was at 3:43 and could actually make it in under 3:45.  I really started booking.

I ran in hard and almost was annoyed by a relay team that was coasting in together in front of me.  If you are going to do that, you should check around you first.  I got in 19 seconds under 3:45.  That was awesome!

Although I was sore at the end, I had a fun race.  I never thought I'd say a marathon was fun, I usually see it as a task.  Running easy made it fun though.  Maybe I'll just have to do this again in the future.

I enjoyed the course and its flatness (unlike the Run for the Red's fake flatness or useless downhill at mile 8).  I also thought the weather was great.  A lot of people complained about the humidity.  It was much better than I expected.  Some of that was because I ran easy, but I think the fact that I ran all summer during the hottest part of the day was a big help.

This was my 3rd marathon ever and actually 1st since my major surgery a year and a half ago.  I guess that's a good accomplishment, even if I'm not as fast as I want to be.  I may never beat my Crohn's, but at least I delivered a big blow.  Hopefully, there will be more to come.

It was tough waiting around a couple hours until April finished, but she did finish and it was worth watching.  Almost no one was left, but there were about 15 people from the BCR cheering her on as she finished.  What a fun group.

I'm pretty sore, so I don't know if I'll run tomorrow.  I'd like to get out on the trails and just see how I feel.  If nothing else, I'll bike.  I wanted to run this easy so that I could recover and jump back into running quickly.  We'll see how I do.

26.17 miles - 3:44:45 (8:35) Watch Time 3:44:41 Official Time

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