Got down to Cincy and parked the truck a few blocks from the start line, grabbed a few photos with Gina and Tyler, and then started walking to Paul Brown Stadium. Granted it has been 4 years since I ran this race, but I was really impressed with the Corrals - the first year i ran it you just sort of plugged yourself in wherever, this year they were watching corrals and making sure people didn't jump them. Additionally, there were a TON of people - more than i remembered from Previous years.
I happened to look at my HR monitor during the anthem, and it was up at 118 - I thought to myself this is not where I want to be prior to actually starting the run. I hadn't managed to make my corral when the gun went off - i was still fighting the mass of people.
They had done a moment of silence for Boston prior to the start, and after the gun went off, Sweet Caroline was the first song playing over the loudspeaker. Dirty water was the second they played - I had been watching the Bruins game the night before the race, and the guy who got both his legs blown off was part of the pre-game ceremonies - I actually got a little choked up, because frankly, I am extremely lucky to be able to even attempt to log 26 miles on my own two legs - every time I run one of these I am reminded of how lucky i really am (and that's part of the reason people wearing earphones drive me nuts in these things - I get it for training, but earphones close you off and you don't fully take in the entire experience).
A rainbow had also appeared during the start, I didn't see it, but my mom did, and i saw several photos of it following the race - again - shows how lucky we are to be attempting these things.
Mile 1 - 11:11
Jumped into a portajohn to take a leak during mile 1.
Mile 2 - 10:21
Mile 2 takes you into Kentucky, you could see the other runners streaming along further up on the course from the Bridge over the river.
Mile 3 - 10:30
Mile 4 - 10:34
Saw Mom, Gina and Tyler after crossing back into Ohio. I had also passed some porta-johns, was experiencing some stomach discomfort, and figured at some point i would need to visit them again, but it was not an "Urgent" need yet.
We also passed the Jail this year(I think it may be closed). The first year I ran the pig we ran by the Jail, and the inmates were out for their excercise, this year there was nobody in the yard, and the signs weren't there - but the razor wire still was. I've always found it interesting the various iterations of the course each time I run it.
Mile 5 - 11:35
Stomach had pushed into more of an Urgent need - there were lines for the Johns, and then i heard there was no TP, so I lost a minute or so as I initially waited - but then moved on, since no TP would have equaled a BAD DECISION.
Mile 6 - 12:58
Between Miles 5 and 6 I found an open john, and took care of the "Urgent" need.
Mile 7 - 11:07
Mile 8 - 11:03
These miles take you up the big hills of the race. There is also the best view of the race in these miles - you can see for miles down the Ohio River, and the water stop was manned by Sycamore Aviators - thought it was awesome to see the old high school represented at the pig this year.
Mile 9 - 10:15
Somewhere in here i was starting to notice how much different it felt to be running a pace that was closer to 4:40 than the 4:00 I had run in previous years. In those years, i was driving for a certain pace, and it was a "hard" run, if I pooched a split, i was unhappy, etc...this day I was just in it to survive, and so whether i ran a 4, 5 or 6 hour Marathon it didn't matter to me (secretly i was hoping not to run a Personal Worst, but other than that, I was just in it to survive.)
Mile 10 - 10:26
Mile 11 - 9:50
This mile i had started talking to a few people. One guy was wearing his Marathon Maniacs T-shirt, and I got talking to him about it - when i told him about my 2 Marathons in a week, he told me I had already qualified and i should reach out the maniacs to get signed up. In retrospect, I wish I had looked into it earlier, because my Maniac number is in the 7000's, and if I had signed up in 2007 it would have been a lot lower.
I also talked to a woman who was running her first marathon, and had followed the Higdon Novice program to the letter- I told her she was SOLID - and was going to finish, she had done her work, and would be rewarded. On the other hand, I had not done the work and it was going to hurt at some point- I just didn't know when yet....
I also found myself running with a guy from New Jersey who was in town to visit a friend, and had signed up for the four way on a whim. He was scheduled to run a 24 hour race in a month or so, and was talking to me about ultras - told him my pipe dream is to one day get into them. I actually would see him at several points in the race, and he made for great company on the run.
Mile 12 - 10:19
Somewhere in these miles i saw the Sycamore Sports Medicine mobile (when i was there the "Perry Mobile" was one of those John Deere Gators) - now the "Perry Mobile" is like an old ambulance - It was pretty awesome to see both Sycamore well represented, and Perry was actually working the station - so i briefly said hi - totally awesome to see him.
Mile 13 - 10:41
Apparently Mom and Gina saw my back around the halfway mark, but i didn't see them.
Mile 14 - 11:00
Mile 15 - 10:58
Mile 16 - 11:54
I think 16 is where you come thru Mariemont - I started running out of gas here. I did see the shark guy who runs this thing wearing a full body shark costume - he's one that i've seen running this race a few times. I did get to see Mom, Gina and Tyler Twice thru this stretch so that was cool.
Mile 17 - 11:32
Mile 18 - 13:29
I was bonking here. The tip off to me is when I start losing track of what mile I am on, as well as my math skills begin to erode. i was thinking to myself at this point - Mile 18, 6 Miles to go, even at 15 minute miles i can break a 5 hour marathon. Something seemed wrong with that math, but it took me about 5 minutes to figure out I still had 8 miles to go, not 6. Bonking this marathon was not nearly as hard a bonk as when I ran my first one - I don't know if it is because i was pushing thru and trying to make a time then, whereas here i just started incorporating walk breaks, or just because I can recognize the signs at this point and have been thru it before. The Cincinnati Jimmy Buffet Club was manning a water break somewhere in here - they were the best station on the course in my opinion.
Also, the woman wearing the same pig hat as me that I had seen yesterday ran by me here....
Mile 19 - 11:51
Mile 20 - 13:09
The first Gu station was manned by the Big Blue alumni club. I thought that was cruel, giving them that station. I went thru without taking any Gu's partially because I don't think it would have helped, I hadn't used them in training, but also just because.
Mile 21 - 12:27
Mile 22 - 13:36
At mile 22 I had a great "Dad" moment. Tyler came running towards me as i was running along, and I took some photos with him. Great reminder of what is important in life.
Mile 23 - 15:23
Second Gu station was manned by the Penn State Alumni club...Again, i realize when it comes to Ohio State I am one of the "Truck Drivers", but couldn't they choose schools from different conferences?? I would have taken one from Louisville, Northern Kentucky, or Kentucky, but did it really have to be Big Ten Schools?
Mile 24 - 13:32
----------And then the Garmin Died.
Funny how things play out. If i would have been running on track for my previous personal worst, the Garmin would have died as i was crossing the finish line or so. It is also funny to me that i had never even considered the possibility that my garmin would have died, and then to have the guy yesterday talk about battery life - it was foreshadowed that my garmin was going to die...
I ran like i had trained - I didn't put the work in that I needed to. A 13 mile LSD run is not enough to execute a marathon well. The result of that is running a 20 minute Positive split - which is about as bad as i have run in my "career" (if you can call my running a career). I did have fun though - and i now remember what i enjoy about these things so much. They are a challenge, whether you are in awesome shape, poor shape, or somewhere in between - there's always improvement that can be made. It was neat to run number 10 in front of Tyler and Gina, and i'm looking forward to getting the streak back going again - getting a few knocked out a year. Also looking forward to attempting an ultra sometime in the next year or two.
Cincinnati loves their marathon and it is the best organized marathon I have run - this years iteration was no exception. There was much more security out there than in previous years, and following what happened in Boston, I was not surprised - and although there was a lot more security out there, they did a good job of not impacting the race or fan experience. I will say that if you are ever on the fence about what marathon to run and Cincinnati is in the mix, you owe it to yourself to give Cincy a try - it truly is a World Class Marathon as far as the runner and spectator experience.
Results From the Flying Pig Website:
6.8 - 1:16:56
Half - 2:22:05
19.7 - 3:41:46
Last Mile (25.2-26.2) -13:27
Finish - 5:09:13
Final 5:09:13 - Personal worst by 25 +/- Minutes
Four way total - 6:42:43
Placed 110/156
As an interesting aside, there is an Arnulfo Quimare who placed 4th in the 4-way challenge with a total time of 4:10:13 - google tells me he is the Arnulfo that was featured prominently in Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall - wish i would have come across him at some point - would love to have a conversation with him.
I seriously don't know how you did this. I mean, I do, because I don't think I know anyone else who would actually pull off the 4-way...but I just can't even imagine how someone actually does it!
ReplyDeleteHave you read Born to Run? Really interesting!