Pacific Crest Marathon Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 8; 14th Edition 
1 mile skied, 1250 meters swam, 48 miles biked and 192.1 miles run in 2013 races
Race: Pacific Crest Marathon
Place: Sunriver, OR
Miles from home: 173 miles
Weather: 70-80s; bright sunshine

Thought I would check to see if I still wilted in the heat whilst running in a marathon.

annnnnnd.....yep.

Until this weekend I had run one marathon in my life in Oregon - this same race seven years ago during my 52 marathons in one year quest. Doing a book signing of both my books at the expo for the race, more than a few people were curious what I wrote about the race from 2006.

It turns out that what I wrote about the race in 2006 remains the same 7 years later.  Excellent organization, tremendous aid stations and a beautiful course. That’s what happened in 2006 and that was what happened again this year.

The Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival is just that: a festival.  Three days of racing allows all different types of events for all different skill sets.  Unfortunately, on this weekend, due to what had to be close to record high temperatures, unless your skill set was being impervious to warm temperatures, you were going to be tested.

Without fail, when I work an expo, of any kind, there are more than a few people that I meet who leave me with a good feeling in my stomach. One random story I can tell you is how a young gentleman met me when I was at this event 4 years ago.  I wasn’t even racing. I was there doing a book signing of my first book. Well, long story short, he told me partly upon hearing what I had done and how we can do amazing things with the right attitude he decided to get his life in order.  Granted the message didn’t strike him immediately. It took most of this time from the last time we spoke for that point to be driven home but now he was eschewing drugs and alcohol and taking up running seriously. That is the sort of wonderful I get to experience every weekend.  It almost made me forget that I was wilting in the temperatures that were rapidly approaching 90 degrees. Almost.

Truth be told, I was nervous. I hadn’t done a marathon race in 7 months.  I don’t like running in the heat.  I was concerned what a year of living at sea level had done to my four years of temporarily residing at 4,000+ feet. Most importantly, I have come to the realization that the MRSA infection I had in my foot in April had messed up my foot pretty bad and although I like to think I can heal instantly from anything, that is not the case. The side effects of that infection are probably going to be with me for a while. Not an excuse, just a fact. A fact that made me nervous. The only way I know how to get rid of nerves about a race is to start the race. A starting pistol has always been the slayer of nerves.

First 7 miles:

My intention was to take the race and break it into portions. The first seven miles or so ran through many of the backyards of the vacations homes in Sunriver. Undulating through small rises on a bike path, twisting and turning through evergreen trees and dry shrubs, the course was, for the most part shaded through this portion. My intention was to hold a 3:10 marathon pace through here and then move on after that depending on how my body felt. My bestie Shannon was with me and this was her first of four marathons in two weeks.  Ridiculous! We stood near the front trying to hunker into some of the shade to stay as cold as possible as long as possible.

Salt Lake City Half Marathon Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 8; 7th Edition 
1 mile skied, 5 miles biked and 93.5 miles run in 2013 races
Race: Salt Lake City Half Marathon
Place: Salt Lake City, UT
Miles from home: 763 miles
Weather: 40s; Oodles of chilly rain and wind

When I originally scheduled this race I was going to use it as a barometer of where my racing was at this point in 2013.  I thought I was in line for a 1:23 or so, which would be putting me back where I wanted to be after nearly a year of being, well, off.

Then, like an alpaca out of nowhere: staph infection! Don't try this at home, folks.

So, not only did I have to cancel an appearance at the Peterson Ridge Rumble last week (when the foot originally flared up and I thought it was a stress fracture) but I knew this race in Salt Lake would be nothing but a "run".  This bummed me very much beyond the obvious reasons.

Taking over the race from the much-maligned Devine Racing last year, US Road Sports was putting their own stamp on the race which included changing the course a bit. Most importantly, instead of climbing up the gradual incline of State Street for the final mile plus and then ending on cobblestones near the
Gateway Shopping Plaza, it was ending in my beloved Liberty Park. So to not even be able to slightly race was disappointing. Then again, 48 hours before the race I didn’t even think I would be on the starting line so I guess it is all about perspective.

This was the first marathon of any particular size since the horrible tragedies of Boston just five days earlier. The thought of not running because of a safety issue didn’t cross my mind once.  Not because I am such a bad ass that nothing deters me- rather I simply knew the chances of anything happening that would endanger me were infinitesimally small. Nevertheless, the race and the city were taking plenty of precautions, with police beefed up in certain areas, along with bomb sniffing dogs and detection equipment placed in what I am guessing where strategic locations. These don’t bother me per se. I like being safe and as far as I felt, none of my liberties were put into lockdown. However, I felt they were basically unnecessary and if they were necessary, when do we stop thinking about them? It is impossible to police the vast majority of a marathon course. But this is all food for thought for other blogs.

At the expo prior to the race the mood was apprehensive.  The suspects were still at large on Thursday and for most of the day Friday.  Then, about ten minutes before I was scheduled to give a speech, cell phones began dinging, people began murmuring and the news spread.  The second suspect was in custody! I knew the idea of any sort of speech would be thrown completely out of the window so I instead simply sat down with a large group of runners and we talked. It was beyond cathartic. I had planned on using my speech to get a release for myself and let others blow off steam.  Virtually everyone was using the race for the same purpose. But now, with seemingly all of the bad guys in either a morgue or handcuffs, the healing could officially begin.

There were a lot of sighs of relief that evening.

Race Morning:

Even though the morning broke cold (but perfect for me) and a little bit of rain wet the brows of runners, the air was quite jubilant.  It was rather palpable.  As I ventured toward the start, I saw one of the higher-ups for US Road Sports standing out in the rain, handing out the blue bands for runners to show their support for Boston.  That is one of the thing I really love about this company is how even those involved with the race from a corporate standpoint are willing to do work anonymously to make it all come together. I am sure I was probably the only one there who knew who he was with the company. So I slid up next to him, grabbed a bag of bracelets and started handing them out as well. With about 5 minutes to go until the start, I had to leave to find a place in the masses. But the joy on people's faces was so wonderful to see.

As the race clock counted down to the start, my friend and announcer Jeremy Pate led us into song. Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” was sung by the runners as our own personal tribute to Boston.  Away we went. (Side note: knowing that Caroline Kennedy, aged 11 at the time, was the inspiration for a 28-year old Diamond's song is a little bit icky.  Try not to think about that, though.)

First 5 miles:

If the weather had simply stayed the way it was, it would have been rather ideal.  However, while the cool temps remained where I loved them, the rain (described by some as “icy buckets of ouchiness”) would come and go. Mostly it would come.

I had virtually no idea what to expect of my foot and tried to feel it out as I went. As the vast majority of this first 5 miles is rather forgiving with flats and downhills, I felt I might as well see what I could do.  Averaging
right around a 6:30 mile astounded me.  I was pumped full of antibiotics, had a swollen foot, was running at elevation for the first time in months and hadn’t run in two weeks at all.  These miles felt great. Well, moderately good, at least. Yeah, let’s go with “they didn’t suck” as the actual metaphor.