Eat Drink Run Woman

Comparing running a marathon to childbirth isn’t new.  While I never have (nor ever will) experience childbirth, I can only imagine the similarities.  Both require a lot of thought and preparation; they leave you stinky, sweaty and totally spent; they hurt like a Mutha and compel you to lash out at your spouse for forcing you into this mess.

So what’s this have to do with a race report for Skagit Flats?

Taking the childbirth analogy one step further, Sunday’s marathon is much like the middle child — the unpredictable one who challenges you at every turn.  My fifth marathon, it was by far the toughest physically.

Because it was a training run, all pressure was off.  My goal was to run it slow; I figured if my average pace was faster than 10 minutes/mile, I would have failed.  It would simply be just another weekend long run.  However, I failed to gauge how taxing it would be on my body three weeks after my BQ.

My darling, meanwhile, was to make his second attempt (he missed his time by a mere 18 seconds during the Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon).  I fed him well the night before (his favorite — Pizza Margherita and Caesar salad) and made sure he ate his oatmeal and drank plenty of coffee race day morning.  I also helped him pack, as he’s notorious for running around race morning gathering various items (Garmin, iPod, shorts).

Skagit Flats is held in Burlington, a small farming town north of Seattle.  Since I didn’t want to be strapped for time, I made sure we left the house at 5:30 a.m. sharp, which I thought would put us into town about 7 a.m.  That would leave plenty of time to pick up our race packets, stretch and do a couple of warmup runs.  However, while I-5 north is notoriously a parking lot during the evening commute, there’s nary a hint of traffic at 5:30 on a Sunday morning.  We pulled into the Burlington-Edison High School parking lot just before 6:45 a.m. (I think the registration tables had just barely been set up).

Although the day promised to get into the mid-70s, the morning air was quite brisk.  I chose to wear my tried & true marathon outfit — zebra skirt, white short-sleeved Disney World Half Marathon shirt, black Runner Girl hat — but was thankful for packing a jacket as well.  After picking up our bib numbers and shirts we hit the bathrooms, then hung out in the car for about a half hour to keep warm.

My darling was nervous, but in good spirits.  His feet were giving him grief, but he hoped the pain would be tamed with some Vitamin I.  I did my best to encourage him, yet assure him it wasn’t a big deal if he didn’t BQ.

Just before 8 a.m. the race official called us to the start.  I bid my darling adieu and headed to the back of the pack.  In order to keep my place slow, I planned on running a mile, then walking a tenth of a mile until at least mile 20.  Then, if I felt good, I’d run the rest of the way.  I had programmed my favorite running songs into my iPhone since I wanted my darling to call with his news at the end of the race (good or bad).

Skagit Flats certainly lives up to its name, with the elevation reaching no higher than 50 feet.  It’s a small race — only 190 or so marathoners, although several more half marathoners — but extremely well organized.  Like the Tunnel Marathon, its organizers are Marathon Maniacs, so they know what runners need and want.  If you like a lot of spectators, it’s not the race for you, but the volunteers more than make up for it.  There were several stations throughout the race staffed by enthusiastic and supportive volunteers.  I didn’t realize until later they must have had a list of our bib numbers as they were calling me by name at the station right around mile 20 (in my stupor I thought perhaps my darling had asked them to keep an eye out for me).

My pace during the running portion was about 9:20-9:30, but with the walk breaks I averaged just over 10 minutes/mile.  I had a couple of 11+ miles, but that was due to two potty breaks and a couple of water stops during the hotter portion of the race.  I first started leap-frogging a gang of three women, but lost them at the half marathon turnaround.  I then started leap-frogging a couple of Maniacs, but eventually lost them as well (one ran ahead of me, the other stayed behind).

Because the course is out and back we got to see the leaders of both the half and full marathons.  I cheered them on, hoping they’d appreciate my enthusiasm (some looked extremely focused).  I wasn’t sure where I’d see my darling, but after a few quick calculations in my mind I figured I’d see him my mile 11 (mile 15 for him) if he was on track to BQ.  Sure enough, I finally saw his red REI shirt in the distance just as I was approaching that mile marker.  I started kicking my legs up cheerleader-style, hoping to spur him on.  However, as he passed he said he was hurting, so even though I kept my hopes up, I figured it would be a stretch for him to keep the pace for the next 11.2 miles.

By the time I hit mile 15 the aches and pains started.  I felt I was well hydrated, but started taking my salt tablets as the sun began to beat down.  It never felt particularly hot, but I was sweating profusely.  I gulped down at least two cups of water and/or sports drink at each station, as well as took in a couple of gels and a package of Shot Blocks.  I gave up the 1 mile run/.1 mile walk ratio at about mile 18; instead I started playing head games to keep me going — “You can walk after the third song plays; make it to the mile 21 marker and you can take a break,” etc.

Just after mile 20 I saw I was 3 hours, 15 minutes into the race — my darling’s BQ time.  I knew it would take him several minutes to go through the finish line, collect his medal, take in some water/food and get to his phone in the car.  But as the minutes ticked away and I still hadn’t heard from him, I knew the news wouldn’t be happy.  Sure enough, he blew up in the final few miles, finishing in a still very impressive 3 hours, 40 minutes.  Although I was sad for him, I was happy to hear he listened to his body and took the rest of the race easy.

Meanwhile, something funny started happening to me.  Although I was in pain and dying for the race to end, I started passing people.  By now the heat obviously was wearing on everyone, but my strategy to start out slow (and stay well-hydrated) was working to my advantage.  I even passed the Maniac from earlier in the race.  I ran mile 24 in 9:45, mile 25 in 9:53 and mile 26 in 8:50!  As I headed onto the high school track I managed to kick into a sprint, finishing in 4:27:09.

But boy was I hurting.  My darling handed me a water, then led me up the bleachers to a seat in the shade.  My legs started cramping, so I hobbled back down (I had to walk backwards) to the food area for some sport drink and potato chips.  The cramping subsided within a few minutes, but it felt so good to stretch out in the shade.  I managed to hobble back down once again to hit the showers (while the water was freezing, it actually felt quite good on the legs).

After a hearty lunch of crab cakes, garlic mashed potatoes and beer at the Skagit River Brewing Company, my darling and I headed home where we immediately signed up for the Marathon Maniacs.

And just like childbirth, now that the initial pain has subsided, I’m now thinking of my next race!