On Saturday, I joined approximately 15,000 other runners in Richmond, Virginia to run one of the three Suntrust Richmond Marathon events. Dubbed "America's Friendliest Marathon," the event offered your choice of an 8k, half marathon or full marathon distance race. Michelle and I headed up the afternoon before to check me in for the marathon which would be my third full marathon run. My previous two marathon runs to date were the 2006 and 2009 Marine Corps Marathons in Washington, DC. Earlier this year when I registered for the race, I targeted improving my marathon PR at Richmond.
Well, 2010 has ended up being a bit more of a challenge for me than 2009 because I've struggled with severe knee pain and inflammation off and on since June. Fortunately, the last 5 weeks leading up to the race have gone pretty well and my knees didn't slow me down at all when I ran the flat and fast Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon just 3 weeks ago. I even trimmed almost 5 minutes off my half marthon PR set in 2007. In addition, my longest marathon training run of the season was just over 19 miles 4 weeks ago so I went into Richmond fairly certain of finishing but much less certain of a PR or even finishing under 4 hours.
On Friday night, we were able to check-in to our hotel near the start than stop in the marathon expo across town before a quick visit to do some bottle shopping at Once Upon A Vine - Richmond's best craft beer store. It was certainly worth the stop as I picked up some great selections from east and west coast breweries that do not distribute in NC. Thanks to following the #runrichmond twitter feed that was being updated by local and visiting runners, I found out about a great place to hit up for dinner called Joe's Inn. While the name didn't jump out at me as a place for pasta and carbo-loading, their website did so we headed their way for an earlier than normal dinner. Luckily we beat the dinner rush just barely and only waited about 30 minutes for a seat. Not only was Joe's Inn a great place for dinner but they had a kick ass selection of draft and bottled craft beer. Being that Virginia allows happy hour specials, almost all draft pints were $2 until 6:30 too - sweet! While I normally try to avoid beer the night before a marathon, I do like to sip on a bourbon or two to calm my nerves. Joe's Inn bar had a Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout on draft so that ended up being my booze for the night and it paired quite well with the amazingly awesome plate of 3 cheese spaghetti and meat sauce I ordered for dinner. After some additional bottle shopping at Shield's Market across the street from Joe's Inn, we headed back to our hotel for me to prep for the morning.
Race day came bright and early with a start time for the marathon of 8 am. Our hotel was 2 blocks from the start along the race course so there was no need to rush but I still woke up around 5 am and started taking in coffee, water and food to energize me for the race. We were out the door around 7:30 and I headed to the start. Since the temps were in the low 40's, I chose to wear running tights, a short sleeve tech tee and a throw away sweatshirt hoodie. The sun was so bright, I probably could have gone with shorts but I figured the compression tights would help my sore muscles late in the race.
So the race fired off as promised at 8 am on the dot. Michelle was positioned right past the start line and got this photo of me running by.
Running marathons is like anything else in life, the more times you make it to the start, the more laid back and calm you feel when its go time. I eased into my planned race pace pretty quickly and headed off down Broad Street through Richmond with thousands of other runners. I realized within a few miles that I had unintentionally started with the 3:45 pace leaders and that I was hanging with them. I knew this was a bit faster than my race pace but the course was so flat, I felt fine running with them. By mile 3, I dumped my sweatshirt but the sun kept me pretty warm since I was wearing just a short sleeve T.
Moving into mile 4, we turned onto Monument Avenue at the base of one of the monuments and an on course band was playing Tom Petty's "Running Down a Dream". They sounded fantastic and it was one of my favorite moments of the race. Monument Avenue was beautiful with all the trees changing color for fall that hung over the street. This was also the point in the race where I started noticing signs posted along the route by supporters. As I passed the band, I saw one taped on a street sign post that said: "Almost there." About a block later, I saw a matching sign on a tree that said: "Well, not really" - haha!
The first 10 miles of the race were so easy, I couldn't believe it. I knew it was going to get tougher and that my low mileage in training would catch me at some point but I didn't worry. The weather, the course and the spectators were so awesome, it didn't matter at this point. I was still running off the back of the 3:45 pace group as we hit the 13.1 mile half way point at 1:52ish and I felt good.
I had repeatedly heard the most challenging part of the race was mile 16 crossing the Lee Bridge. As we headed to the bridge, I did my best to move up into a pack of people forming to cross over. There was a mild wind coming at us out of the north so it seemed ideal to let the group do some of the blocking for me. It was funny as people piled in behind the 3:45 pace leader - almost like a bunch of baby ducks following behind mama duck. Having crossed Lee Bridge, there was a junk food stop with volunteers handing out candy and other stuff but I passed on by. Mile 17 is where I expected to see Michelle again and I did. Moving on down the road to mile 18, a DJ was telling runners that "if you make it this far, than you will make it to the end". I knew better.
Mile 19 was ahead and my legs started to feel uncomfortable. Not sore, just tired. I did my best to ignore it but I knew it was time to pay. Not necessarily for starting too fast but for not running far enough on my training runs. As bad as I wanted to run 23-24 miles in late September or October - my schedule just got out of whack and 20 was as far as I ever had time to go. So now my legs were reminding me that they hadn't done this distance in over a year and I still had 7 miles to go. I bit the bullet and started taking walk breaks which I hated doing. It just plain sucks walking past yelling spectators who are cheering for you. I consider myself a runner and I needed to be running but I knew I wouldn't finish if I didn't take a few walk breaks. I kept smiling and feeling positive, thanking spectators with a thumbs up or wave and when I got the neighorhood block parties at mile 22, I even slowed up to grab a cup of beer from one of the tables. I saw one group offering bourbon shots of Jim Beam in plastic cups but I wasn't hurting bad enough for that. Moving on past mile 23, I kept running and was getting lots of support from spectators. I can't tell you how many people said "Go Jon" in the final 3 miles as they responded to my name being taped to the front of my shirt.
About mile 24, I was cramping up pretty regularly in my calves and hamstrings. I would walk for a moment than run again but I got this one cramp in my left hamstring that just about made me fall down it stung so bad. I took a few steps off course and rubbed it as hard as I could. I could feel a big knot in my leg and I just hoped the pain subsided so I could get back to my run. This was the point in the race that I realized that I wouldn't PR for the marathon today. I had run out of time to maintain a pace to finish under my 2010 MCM time of 3:54:45 but if my legs would hang in there, I could still finish under 4 hours. I got going again pretty quickly and back into another run. The strange thing was that after each short walk break, my pace was pretty normal and as quick as ever. Now I see how those Galloway run/walker folks finish marathons and how some do it pretty fast.
I made it to mile 25 and was moving towards the finish around 3:48. I was using my wrist watch and my Cliff pace band to track my time and knew the final mile was downhill so I should make it in 4 hours.
Running marathons is like anything else in life, the more times you make it to the start, the more laid back and calm you feel when its go time. I eased into my planned race pace pretty quickly and headed off down Broad Street through Richmond with thousands of other runners. I realized within a few miles that I had unintentionally started with the 3:45 pace leaders and that I was hanging with them. I knew this was a bit faster than my race pace but the course was so flat, I felt fine running with them. By mile 3, I dumped my sweatshirt but the sun kept me pretty warm since I was wearing just a short sleeve T.
Moving into mile 4, we turned onto Monument Avenue at the base of one of the monuments and an on course band was playing Tom Petty's "Running Down a Dream". They sounded fantastic and it was one of my favorite moments of the race. Monument Avenue was beautiful with all the trees changing color for fall that hung over the street. This was also the point in the race where I started noticing signs posted along the route by supporters. As I passed the band, I saw one taped on a street sign post that said: "Almost there." About a block later, I saw a matching sign on a tree that said: "Well, not really" - haha!
The first 10 miles of the race were so easy, I couldn't believe it. I knew it was going to get tougher and that my low mileage in training would catch me at some point but I didn't worry. The weather, the course and the spectators were so awesome, it didn't matter at this point. I was still running off the back of the 3:45 pace group as we hit the 13.1 mile half way point at 1:52ish and I felt good.
I had repeatedly heard the most challenging part of the race was mile 16 crossing the Lee Bridge. As we headed to the bridge, I did my best to move up into a pack of people forming to cross over. There was a mild wind coming at us out of the north so it seemed ideal to let the group do some of the blocking for me. It was funny as people piled in behind the 3:45 pace leader - almost like a bunch of baby ducks following behind mama duck. Having crossed Lee Bridge, there was a junk food stop with volunteers handing out candy and other stuff but I passed on by. Mile 17 is where I expected to see Michelle again and I did. Moving on down the road to mile 18, a DJ was telling runners that "if you make it this far, than you will make it to the end". I knew better.
Mile 19 was ahead and my legs started to feel uncomfortable. Not sore, just tired. I did my best to ignore it but I knew it was time to pay. Not necessarily for starting too fast but for not running far enough on my training runs. As bad as I wanted to run 23-24 miles in late September or October - my schedule just got out of whack and 20 was as far as I ever had time to go. So now my legs were reminding me that they hadn't done this distance in over a year and I still had 7 miles to go. I bit the bullet and started taking walk breaks which I hated doing. It just plain sucks walking past yelling spectators who are cheering for you. I consider myself a runner and I needed to be running but I knew I wouldn't finish if I didn't take a few walk breaks. I kept smiling and feeling positive, thanking spectators with a thumbs up or wave and when I got the neighorhood block parties at mile 22, I even slowed up to grab a cup of beer from one of the tables. I saw one group offering bourbon shots of Jim Beam in plastic cups but I wasn't hurting bad enough for that. Moving on past mile 23, I kept running and was getting lots of support from spectators. I can't tell you how many people said "Go Jon" in the final 3 miles as they responded to my name being taped to the front of my shirt.
About mile 24, I was cramping up pretty regularly in my calves and hamstrings. I would walk for a moment than run again but I got this one cramp in my left hamstring that just about made me fall down it stung so bad. I took a few steps off course and rubbed it as hard as I could. I could feel a big knot in my leg and I just hoped the pain subsided so I could get back to my run. This was the point in the race that I realized that I wouldn't PR for the marathon today. I had run out of time to maintain a pace to finish under my 2010 MCM time of 3:54:45 but if my legs would hang in there, I could still finish under 4 hours. I got going again pretty quickly and back into another run. The strange thing was that after each short walk break, my pace was pretty normal and as quick as ever. Now I see how those Galloway run/walker folks finish marathons and how some do it pretty fast.
I made it to mile 25 and was moving towards the finish around 3:48. I was using my wrist watch and my Cliff pace band to track my time and knew the final mile was downhill so I should make it in 4 hours.
From studying the course map, I knew the turn ahead onto Cary Street was the last turn so I picked up my pace. I had cramps in both calves but figured I would go for it and finish strong - or at least make it look like it. Moving into the final stretch, I accelerated and adrenaline took over. It seemed the closer I got to the finish, the more people were yelling my name. I felt like a star as I cruised to the finish. With each step, I felt a cramp in my calf and just hoped that I didn't collapse on the pavement in front of all the spectators. As I crossed the finish, the race announcer said my name and congratulated me on my finish. I stopped my watch and it showed 3:56. It was weird because I was proud of myself for finishing within 4 hours but I was so disappointed my final 7 miles were such a struggle. This was one of those times where no one is a bigger critic of me than me.
I got my medal and moved towards the photo booth and exit. I bypassed the food tent and went straight to the UPS trucks. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't tired - I just wanted a beer. My checked bag was handed to me by a volunteer and I grabbed my stashed can of 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA and stood by to enjoy it while I waited for Michelle to arrive. She had been along the final finish line fence cheering for me and even got another pic of me coming down the hill. Once she found me I grabbed some pizza from the food tent and we headed back to the hotel.
In case you are wondering, I did wear my Doughman team shirt in the marathon that I designed for the race earlier this year in Durham.
In the end, my official time was 3:56:10 which is a 9:00 mile pace and about 5 seconds slower per mile than I wanted. Luckily, I had enough of a buffer on time from the first 19 miles that my walk/run pace the final 7 didn't hurt my time too much. It was a disappointment to miss a PR by just 85 seconds but I really don't think I deserved a PR today considering how I fell apart the final 7 miles. There is always next time and I can assure you there will be a next time. I would run Richmond again, no question.
In case you are wondering, I did wear my Doughman team shirt in the marathon that I designed for the race earlier this year in Durham.
All in all, it was a fantastic event. I can really understand why Richmond is considered such a friendly marathon. The course was challenging but still easy enough for a beginner. The spectators, volunteers and course workers were amazing. The organization was professional and the post race area was well done. Thank you Richmond and Sportsbackers for an awesome day!