My First Marathon By Not So Doomed Runner

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My First MarathonBy Not So Doomed Runner


On December 4, 2011, I ran my first full marathon. The Dallas White Rock Lake Marathon. I decided to do it a few months back as a training run for the Rocky Raccoon Ultra Marathon (50 miles) in February. Because it was a training run, I had less pressure to run fast, but because it was a marathon, I probably ran faster than I would on a typical training run. To try to make sense of the day, I'll start with the weather, then the gear I chose to wear, and then a more sequenced description of the race and an over all recap.

Weather

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Until a few weeks ago, I don't think it has been below 60 more than a couple of days. I'm a Texan and I'm used to heat and the epic dryness we have had this year. On the day of the race, the forecast came out that it would be in the 30s to 40s, 10 to 20 mile an hour winds, and pretty rainy. I had done a barefoot 5K on Thanksgiving, and while I PR'd under 21 minutes, it had been pretty cold on my bare feet. I decided since this was my first marathon, and a training run, I'd play it safe and wear my Five Fingers Bikilas and some new injinji toe socks... which leads us into gear

Gear

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I wore the shoes, the socks, some leg warmers and gloves I got from Rogue Running in Austin, my normal shorts, and a black, long-sleeved tech shirt as well as a hat. I also wore my camelbak, and to start I had a throw away sweater and trash bag. Going through how each of these worked:

Throw aways- really good idea. They both worked out perfectly. I wish more people would throw their trash bags and ponchos to the side or just before the race though. When trash bags are suddenly there on mile 2 or so, some people were having trouble not tripping.

Shorts and shirt- the shirt was fine, but the shorts really held water. This has not been a problem before, but it kind of was. Nothing really affected my race, but when I took them off, all the body glide I had put on my legs and other areas under the shorts had washed off and chafing was an issue after the race. It is not terrible, but I would probably look for some better shorts in the future if I am running in the rain that long.

Leg warmers, hat and gloves- these were both perfect. I was so happy to have them both, and I never got overheated. My bald head and ears were comfortable all day and the had kept water from rolling down my forehead into my eyes.

Camelbak- I have a very small camelbak. It is a Mini-M.U.L.E., so it is about as small as you can get. For my training runs it has been great. I have water and just enough space to carry other items I might need out on country roads or trails by myself. For a race, I'd probably leave it home next time. It was bothering my old back injury, but not in a way that I felt inhibited anything. Still, in the future, if there are adequate water stations, I'll probably go without.

Socks and VFF- worst. decision. ever. I either should have gone barefoot, no socks at least, or wore my Trail Gloves. The VFF held water and so did the socks. There was no way to avoid submerging your foot fully in water every once in a while and after about mile 3, my feet were never dry or warm. I think the Trail Gloves are a bit better in the rain and at least barefoot they'd be out in the open and not just sitting in soggy socks. By mile 20 I felt like I had club feet. Everything else was okay, except my cold, wet, clubfeet.

Sequence of the Run

The race started at 8AM, so I got up at 4, and headed out to the race with my father (who I was staying with because he lives in the DFW Metroplex) and my wife. We got there at about 6 AM and sat in the car for a bit. At 7, I headed to the runners' building, went to the bathroom, and relaxed for a few minutes. At about 7:45, I headed out to the corrals, which were overflowing. A lot of people said you had to jump the fence to get in, but that's not true. You just had to keep walking and be patient enough to find an opening. The race started at 8 or so, and I went through the start 12 minutes later.

The first mile felt great. I looked down at my Garmin to see if I was about to hit a mile and it had been a mile and a half. The police were out there and people were actually out in the rain and cold to cheer us on. Once I got out my pace was pretty decent. I wanted to finish under 4 hours but said I'd be happy on a training run at 4:30. So I basically wanted to stay at about 9 minutes per mile. Miles 2, 3, 4, and 5 were 8:54, 8:20, 8:25, and 8:20, respectively.

It was about this time that I ran into Jason Robillard of Barefoot Running University and Merrell Barefoot fame. Jason is a barefoot ultra runner who has a really cool deal with Merrell

At about this time, we headed to White Rock Lake, where I had run the Hottest Half earlier in the year. The half-marathoners were long gone and there were far less people. The lake was quiet, windy, and cold. This, to me was one of the hardest parts of the race because all you have to motivate yourself is... yourself. I was still doing good though, and miles 10, 11, and 12 came in at 9:03, 8:41, and 8:22. Mile 13 came in at 8:22 as well.

At Mile 13.1, I had planned a 1 minute walk break and Gu snack. I had it in my camelbak, and when I tried to put the camelbak on, it was all twisted up, so it took longer than a minute. I saw Jason go by and thought it would be nice to catch up, but did not want to push anything. It was at this time that I first really felt how cold and wet my feet were. I thought about how I had gone on a 3 day mission with the Marines in 2005 and not changed socks and when I did, the wet socks plus friction had made it so when I took my socks off, the skin came with it. My feet just felt like cold, wet ice cubes from this point on. Nothing else ever really hurt, and I've been on 20 mile barefoot runs and my feet have never felt like this. I did finish mile 13.1 in about 1 hour and 53 minutes, a full 13 minutes quicker than my half marathon in August.

Until about mile 20, I would call "the suck." You are just going around a lonely lake on a cold day, with alternating drizzle and harder cold rain. There were less puddles than on the street, so there was that. Miles 14-8:29, 15-9:49 (took a walk break to try to jump and stomp around to wake up my dead feet), 16-9:03, 17-9:05, 18-9:16, 19-9:46.

At about mile 20, you start coming out of the lake and hit a few hills. Somewhere in this range is the Dolly Parton Hills. There were some big guys dressed as Dolly handing out water, which was kind of funny and the first beer handout that I saw. I considered it, but decided not to get any beer at this point. These hills are nothing compared to what I run in Austin, but after 20 miles, they feel much bigger than they are. I had another planned w
alk break at this point with Gu. Again, my feet felt far worse after the walk break. When I ran my first Half Marathon in August I had a walk break at half-way and felt my blister for the first time. This time every time I took a walk break things went down hill. So part of the lessons learned in this race is that I need to re-think walk breaks or incorporate them into my regular training better so that I'm used to it. There was also a Hooters stop at this point with free wings, but I never saw any girls. I guess they did not want to be out in the weather. There is a big starting line with balloons and all that hoopla at this point as it is considered the real start of the race. This is where my feet really were cold and wet. The socks had swollen in my Five Fingers and I ended up losing some skin between my toes from that. I did not have a single blister on the bottom of my feet. I also could not really feel how I was hitting the ground well at this point. Ground feel has become everything to me, so this was a big deal and I slowed down at this point. Miles 20, 21, and 22 were 10:25, 10:52, and 12:16.

We were back in neighborhoods again, but there were way more people. There were free beer stops, people in their yards, and my favorite sign "You've got stamina! Call me!" I was slow and my feet hurt, but it was fun. This was also the point those relay people became annoying! Hey! Why does he look so fresh! Oh, relay. I turned to a guy huffing and said "damn, this is the longest 5K I've ever run! Who mapped this course?" I got a slight smile out of a man who seemed like he was in a lot of pain and shuffled on. This was where I was shocked to see a lady contact her family to quit and then a guy pull over to vomit in some person's yard. I thought, well my feet hurt, but I'm not quitting or vomiting, so I'm good to go!!! 23, 24, and 25 were 12:57, 12:14, and 11:56.

Mile 26 was surprisingly uninspired. The course goes through the Fair Park area, which is not the nicest, and you are out of the nice houses. There were almost no people to cheer us on. This is where I also saw the fella who finished right in front of me, with no shirt. He also had no bib that I could ever see, so I don't know if he was doing the marathon, the relay, or just joined in.

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The last .2 was nice and I liked that they had it well gated off and everything. My dad was obviously there and my wife was too, yelling for me, but it was very loud. I gave the Hook 'Em Horns! signs and went through.

My final time was 4:18:51. Even though it was a training run, I've finished my last couple of races in the top 5%, so it was a humbling run! But so much fun. I think I smiled 80% of the way. I got to talk to Jason, I learned a lot about marathon running, I enjoyed all the cheering, and just had a lot of fun. I love how when anyone is down, everyone running talks to them and gets them back up. I know the elites are competing, but the rest of the middle of the packers have a great "all in it together" attitude that is a lot of fun to be a part of.

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After that, I got my foil warmer, headed into the runners' building, got my medal, my shirt, and a fresh, draft beer! It was MGD 64 but still may have been the best beer I've ever tasted. I wish family and friends were allowed in there because I would have had some more!!! I took my warmer off and headed out to go see them.

Another mistake! HOLY CRAP I GOT COLD!!! All my clothes were cold and soaking wet. I had not left a bag for bag drop and really should have. Next time I will leave some dry clothes for sure! This was the worst part of the race! I met up with Dad and the wife and got my dad's jacket and we headed to his car. I immediately stripped down and put a towel over me and turned the heat up in the third row of his SUV. I warmed up quick and felt great.

After that, we headed home, I took a HOT bath, we went to Cheesecake factory and had a great lunch! My mom was nice enough to stay home and watch my son so they joined us too. I think that may be my new marathon tradition. It was awesome.

In Summary

This was a great new milestone, a great training run, and a great learning experience. I'm really happy that I've gone from almost no miles run last year to hitting 1,000 on mile 2 of the marathon, and running a full marathon. It has been a productive year. I could not have done it without my loving family, especially my wife who puts up with all of my training runs, stinky clothes, and non-stop talking about the next race.

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Hopefully, I continue to learn at every event I go to, but at my first marathon I learned:

I need to refine my walk-break strategy.

I don't need to have a camelbak on as long as there are water stations.

I feel kind of odd on long runs with no beer the night before!

In the cold and wet, more might not be better. Wet bare feet vs. Wet, soggy socks and minimalist shoes? I think I'll take the bare feet, or else a shoe that either does not let as much water in or dries faster.

Apply even more body glide and get some shorts that don't hold water so much.

So that's it. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to do more. A lot of friends, family, and co-workers think it is insane to run long distances, but especially after an event like this, I think it is insane not to! Oh, and I'm a tad sore today, but not bad. The first two steps I take at any given time are a tad stiff, but then I'm fine. Can't wait to do it again!!!



http://doomedrunner.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-first-marathon.html
 
That seems to be true. It's funny all of my training was pretty much around 100 degrees with no moisture at all and race day its in the 40s and raining the entire time. It made me a little nervous because I had not tried out any of the stuff I planned to wear or do in the rain. It all worked out, but would have preferred hot and dry.
 
This last year I've had great luck with wearing the 'super tight' shorts, whose official name I'm not sure off, but available in running stores. Then, wear a pair of 'normal' shorts over them.

The tight shorts serve as the undergarment (tho you could wear them solo) and really really cut down on the chafing. I don't wear underwear anymore, though for long runs still put on some bodyglide.

I also generally can't stand my VFFs for pavement running, especially not long distance, though they've served me well on longer trail runs.

Congrats and cheers!

John