On November 3, I ran the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh, NC. This race has easy logistics. If you stay in a downtown hotel, you can walk to the start and walk back from the finish.
When I ran this same race
two years ago, it took me more than four and a half hours to finish. There were several reasons for that. First, I had a cold. Second, I wasn’t in peak shape. Even on a good day, I wasn’t fast enough to
break four hours. Finally, it was a warm
day, and I was feeling the humidity from the first mile.
This year I had every
reason to expect to be faster. I’m
healthy, I’m in better shape, and the weather was cooler.
I ran Boston qualifying
times in my last four races, but they were all on courses that were mostly
flat. This race has lots of hills. Running a qualifying time on this course
would be more challenging.
I flew to Raleigh on
Saturday. On my way into town, I stopped
at the LeRoy Martin Magnet Middle School to pick up my race packet. Each year, there’s some type of gift at the
expo. This year, it was a pair of socks.
After packet pickup, I
continued to my hotel in downtown Raleigh.
Then I spent most of the afternoon walking around the downtown
area. I’ve been to Raleigh twice before,
so I wanted to do some different sightseeing.
This time, I followed a walking route I found online that connects
several buildings that have murals.
This mural is called “All
Are Welcome.” It was hard to get an
unobstructed view of this one, because there was a car parked right in front of
it. As a bonus, I saw another mural on
the same building.
This mural, outside Shaw
University, celebrates their 150th anniversary.
This one depicts Ann and
Allen Iverson.
This mural is called “No
Damsel.” This isn't the whole thing, but I couldn't get it all in one picture.
This mural on the side of
the Lincoln Theater is called “Honest Abe.”
This one is called “Abstraction
Motion.” It incorporates Google Fiber,
so you can both see and feel it.
This mural of John Prine
was painted during the 2018 World of Bluegrass International Festival.
This mural is called “Color
Pop Corner.”
There’s artwork on the back
of the convention center that’s lit up at night, but it’s nothing special
during the day, so I didn’t take a picture.
I did, however, take a picture of the statue next to the front of the
building.
There was one mural on
the tour that was missing. It used to be
on a building that’s now part of a reconstruction project. While I never got to see that one, I saw
several other murals that weren’t part of the tour. I also saw other forms of artwork.
I didn’t have any lunch,
so I had an early dinner. I went to
Raleigh Beer Garden, which was just around the block from my hotel. Their menu includes pizza, and they have more
than 300 beers on tap.
This was the weekend that
we set the clocks back. Before going to
bed, I checked to make sure the alarm clock in my room was set up to change
automatically. I also manually changed
the clock on the microwave, so I wouldn’t be confused if I happened to notice
it when I got up during the night.
When I got up on Sunday,
the temperature was in the upper 40s, but it looked like it might get up to 50
by the time the race started. That’s my
usual threshold for wearing shorts.
In my last four races, I
wore tights, and at times I felt too warm.
This time, I was going to wear shorts.
Thirty minutes before the race, I checked the weather. It was still only 46 degrees, so I made a
last-minute decision to wear tights. It
was the usual trade-off between being cold in the first half of the race or
possibly getting hot in the second half.
They had a gear check,
but I didn’t need to use it. The
starting line was just a few blocks from my hotel, so I didn’t go outside until
20 minutes before the race.
I didn’t know if there
would be pace groups until I reached the start corrals. They had pace groups, but their target times
were all multiples of 15 minutes. My
goal was 3:50, and I expected that to be challenging on this course. On a flat course, I might have started with
the 3:45 group. Instead, I lined up
about 10 feet behind them and started at my own pace.
When I was walking around
downtown Raleigh on Saturday, I couldn’t help but notice that every block was
either uphill or downhill. None of the hills
was steep, but there weren’t any streets that were flat. That made it difficult to know how fast I was
starting.
The first few blocks were
slightly uphill. It seemed like I was starting
at a slower pace than I usually do, but I was breathing harder than usual.
After a few blocks, we
turned a corner and started running downhill.
Suddenly, running was easier. I
sped up, but I wasn’t working as hard.
During those first few
blocks, the 3:45 pace group got so far ahead of me that I lost sight of
them. By the end of the first mile, I
could see them again. They were about
half a block ahead of me.
To finish in 3:50, I
needed to average 8:46 per mile. I was
surprised to see that I ran the first mile in 8:10. The 3:45 group was evidently starting kind of
fast. Their target pace was 8:35, but
they started even faster than I did.
The second mile was
mostly downhill. I still found it hard
to gauge how fast I was running, because I couldn’t really go by perceived exertion. Instead, I just kept up with the people
around me, even though I had reason to believe it would be too fast. My second mile was a little faster than my
first mile. As a result, I was now getting
closer to the 3:45 group.
Early in the third mile,
we turned a corner and started going up a hill.
I was careful not to work too hard on the hill. I gradually dropped back from the 3:45
group. Then I reached an aid station,
and I briefly slowed to a walk while I drank some Gatorade. That caused me to fall farther behind the
3:45 group.
The more I drifted back
from the 3:45 group, the more it felt reasonable to keep up with the people
around me. That gave me more confidence
that I would stay on a consistent pace.
There were lots of turns
in the early miles. Depending on which direction
I was running, I sometimes felt a cold breeze.
It wasn’t windy enough to feel tiring, but it made me glad that I wore
tights. For the time being, I wasn’t in
any danger of getting hot, but without the tights, I probably would’ve been
cold.
After a couple fast
miles, it seemed like the 3:45 group settled into the right pace. I was running pretty close to their target
pace, and I was always about a block behind them. Then we reached a long downhill section, and
I inadvertently caught up to them.
It was a large pace
group, and they were spread out across the road. I was running right behind them, but I was
careful not to let myself get ahead of them.
The next time we reached
an uphill section, I gradually drifted back from the 3:45 group. Then we reached a downhill section that was
steeper, and I accidentally got ahead of the group. I eased up as much as I could without
actually resisting the hill, but I was still in front of the group. When the road turned uphill again, I fell
behind them for good. For most of the
race, I could see them in the distance, but I never caught up to them again.
Around seven miles, we
turned a corner and merged in with runners who were doing the 10K race. I’m not sure how many miles those runners had
run by now, but their pace was definitely slower. There were lines of slow runners that I
needed to pass.
I could no longer be
confident that I could stay on pace just by keeping up with the runners behind
me. I had to pay attention to keeping up
with the faster runners, while moving around the slower ones. We were going up a hill at this point, so I
had to pick up my effort to keep up with the faster runners. Going up that hill, I got warm enough that I
finally took off my gloves.
At the top of the hill,
the 10K runners had a turnaround. Those of
us doing the marathon or half marathon kept going straight. Now, I was once again surrounded by runners
who were all going at the same pace.
I was relieved to be done
with that hill. I was also relieved that
there were no longer any slower runners on the course. At the same time, I also knew that I was
nearing the end of the easy part of the course.
In another mile, we would leave the streets to begin a long out-and-back
section on the Reedy Creek Trail, which is a paved bike path. On roads, there were hills, but they were all
fairly gradual. The hills on the trail
are sometimes steeper, and the abrupt changes in slope make it harder to stay
in a consistent rhythm. So far, I was running
faster than my goal pace, but I expected that to be more difficult on the
trail.
I wasn’t running with a
pace group, but I wanted to be able to compare my pace to other runners. Before we reached the trail, I was hoping to
pick out one or two runners who seemed like they were running a consistent
pace. My plan was to follow them through
the various undulations along the trail.
There had been different
runners around me at different times, but as I looked around, I spotted one
runner who always seemed to be about 20 feet in front of me. It was a woman in a pink top and white
shorts. I didn’t know, however, if she
was doing the marathon or the half marathon.
I wouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out.
Shortly after the eight
mile mark, we reached the point were the marathon and half marathon routes
diverged. The woman in the pink top was
doing the half marathon. Those of us doing
the marathon left the roads and entered the Reedy Creek Trail.
I took note of which runners
were immediately in front of me. One was
a guy wearing a red shirt and a camelback.
Another was wearing a blue shirt and a white hat. I kept up with these two guys over the next
few ups and downs. Then I inadvertently got
ahead of them. What’s surprising is that
I passed them going up a hill. When we reached
a long downhill section, I sped away from them.
I remembered how much the
hills on this trail took me out of my rhythm when I ran this race two years ago. I didn’t remember that there was a downhill
trend on the way out.
Over the next two miles,
it seemed like we were mostly running downhill.
That scared me, because I would eventually have to run it in the uphill
direction.
Mile 10 was mostly downhill,
and I ran it in 7:56. That was my
fastest mile of the race. I was back to
being only about 30 seconds behind the 3:45 group.
Mile 11 was also mostly
downhill. That was my second fastest
mile of the race. I was getting closer
to the 3:45 group, although it would take an effort to catch up to them.
I wasn’t trying to catch
up to the group, but I wanted to keep them within sight. Behind the group, there was a big gap. My choices were to either stay close to the
group or resign myself to running completely by myself. As long as I could see the group, I could
tell if I was maintaining a similar pace.
At one point, we went
under a bridge, turned a sharp corner, and them climbed a ramp up to street
level. Then we crossed the same bridge
that we had just gone under.
Going under the bridge, I
was as close as I would get to the 3:45 group.
Going up the ramp, I was careful to conserve energy. I slowed down, and as a result, I fell
farther behind the group.
After crossing the
bridge, we turned back onto the trail and went deep into the forest again.
Most of the time that we
were on the Reedy Creek Trail, we were surrounded by trees. We were sheltered from the sun, but not from
the wind. There was a constant breeze,
and it felt surprisingly cold. With each
mile, my hands felt colder, until they felt like ice. I told myself to enjoy it while it
lasted. I still expected to get hot
later in the race.
For a long time, I was
running by myself, but then I was passed by a runner wearing an orange
shirt. I wanted to run with him, but his
pace seemed too fast. It occurred to me
that he was going to catch up to the 3:45 group. If I could keep up with him, he would pull me
up to the group.
I stayed with him for a
while, but then we reached a steep hill.
The hill was short, but it forced me to slow down. That was as close as I would get to catching
up with the 3:45 group.
That hill took us up to a
street, and for the next several blocks, we were running on a concrete
sidewalk. I was worried about tripping
on an uneven seam between two sections of sidewalk, so I ran more cautiously
here. That caused me to slow down.
The halfway point was on
this concrete section. When I got there,
I was on pace for 3:42. I was three
minutes ahead of my goal pace. The 3:45
group got there at least 30 seconds ahead of me, so they were still going fast.
I knew that I would have
more uphill running in the second half of the race, so I expected to slow
down. I was optimistic that I could run
a Boston qualifying time, but I definitely wasn’t going to try for negative
splits.
The section on concrete sidewalk
was initially uphill, but them it turned downhill. Even going downhill, I had to take it at a
cautious pace. At the end of that
section, we reached an aid station. Then
we crossed the street and backtracked a short distance to where we could get
back onto the trail.
As I grabbed a cup of
Gatorade at the aid station, a drop of Gatorade flew into my left eye. I had forgotten how much that stings. I briefly had difficulty keeping that eye
open.
Now that I was back on
the trail, I was able to pick up my pace.
It was getting more tiring though.
I usually find it easier to push myself when I’m in the second half of a
race. This race was an exception. I was still almost three miles from the
turnaround. As long as I was still heading
out, I didn’t feel like I was in the second half of the race. For now, I could only think about how far it
still was to the turnaround.
By now, I was starting to
see faster runners who were already on their way back. Now that we had two-way traffic on the trail,
we had to keep to the right to make room for the runners who were going the
other direction. We could no longer run
the tangents going around the turns.
I started to encounter
more and more things that took me out of my rhythm. Sometimes it was a hill. Sometimes it was a sharp turn. Sometimes it was a wooden bridge. At one point, it was all three at once. We were on a wooden pedestrian bridge that went
underneath a larger bridge. There were
sharp turns and some rapid ups and downs as we went under the bridge. I slowed down so much here that five runners passed
me in rapid succession.
After that, we went up
the steepest hill in the race. I
wondered if I would need to walk it.
When I saw the runners ahead of me walking it, I followed suit.
At the top of the hill,
we came to a clearing. This was one of
the few places along the Reedy Creek Trail where spectators could easy watch
the race. I recognized this as the spot
where some friends were watching for me two years ago.
Next, we ran past a small
lake. Then we went deep into the forest
again.
I was now within a mile
of the turnaround. As I got closer, I
saw a pace group coming back from the turnaround. I was surprised to see it was the 3:45
group. I thought I was still half a mile
from the turnaround, but it was actually just ahead of me.
Coming back from the
turn, I started to run with more confidence.
I spotted the runner with the red short and the camelback. I had passed him several miles earlier. Then he passed me in one of my slower
miles. Now I was on the verge of
catching him again. He was going faster
than most of the other runners around us, so I followed him.
Although I wasn’t keeping
up with the 3:45 group, I was usually running a similar pace. In miles 14 through 16, my average pace was
8:46, but before that, my pace was usually in the 8:30s. It’s worth noting that 8:46 was my goal
pace. Those miles felt slow, but only by
comparison with all the faster miles.
In mile 17, I sped up to
8:32, while chasing the guy in the red shirt.
He was setting a good pace for me.
Toward the end of that
mile, I ran down the same steep hill where I had to walk going uphill. It was so steep that running it in the downhill
direction was uncomfortable. I felt one
of my insoles slip forward in my shoe.
Right after that, we reached
the wooden bridge with hills and turns.
I took it faster in this direction, but I tripped on something just before
the bridge. I didn’t fall, but it scared
me. After that, I accelerated, and I passed
the guy in the red shirt. Mile 18 was
another 8:32 mile.
I was pleased with my
pace in those two miles, but I still had five more miles on the trail, and they
were going to have an uphill trend. In
the next mile, I reached a hill that was long enough that I had to walk the
steepest part of it. That mile was
slower.
I was discouraged at
first to have slowed to 8:58 in mile 19.
That was my slowest mile so far.
Then it occurred to me that it was only 12 seconds slower than my goal
pace. I wasn’t keeping track, but I knew
had to be at least three and a half minutes ahead of schedule going into that
mile. I could easily afford to give back
12 seconds.
In mile 20, I picked up
the pace again. I gained back seven
seconds of the 12 that I had lost in the previous mile. I knew the next three miles would be slow,
but I had a large cushion. I was confident
that I could maintain a steady pace when I got back onto city streets. My concern was losing time on the hills in
the last three miles of the trail.
Mile 21 had another hill
that forced me to walk. I was
disciplined and only walked for 30 seconds.
I gave back 37 seconds in that mile.
Mile 22 also had a hill that forced me to do some walking. In that mile, I gave back 19 seconds.
I was giving back time,
but I was limiting the damage. I estimated
that I still had a cushion of at least two and a half minutes.
Mile 23 was the toughest. There was a hill that was so long that I
couldn’t see the whole thing at once. I walked
the steepest part of the hill. Then I
resumed running to what I thought was the top of the hill. I turned a corner and saw that I wasn’t even
halfway to the top. I had to take
another walking break.
That wasn’t the last hill
in that mile, but it was the last one that forced me to walk. When I crested the hill, I accelerated. I started passing most of the other runners,
but there was one runner who kept up with me going downhill. She passed me, but I kept pace with her.
At the end of that mile,
I was running strong, but overall, that mile was slow. It was by far my slowest mile of the race. In just one mile, I gave back more than a
minute of my cushion.
I was thinking we would
leave the trail before the 23 mile mark, but I was wrong. We still had about half a mile on the trail. Fortunately, this section was mostly
downhill. Then we finally came out onto
the streets again.
I knew the rest of the
race would have a downhill trend, but the first few blocks were slightly
uphill. I fought my way uphill without losing
much time. When I finished mile 24, I
saw that I had gained back more than 20 seconds.
I had been trying to keep
up with the woman who passed me in mile 23, but she was too fast. Then she stopped briefly at an aid
station. I passed her at the aid station
and accelerated as I began a long downhill section. I ran that section as fast as I could, but
she was a strong closer. She eventually
passed me gain, and I couldn’t keep up with her, even though I sped up to 8:10
in that mile.
Coming back into the downtown
area, we had a strong headwind. Up until
now, the wind was always my friend. It
kept me from getting hot. Now, the wind
was tiring.
With 1.2 miles to go, I
knew I would break 3:50 by a comfortable margin, but I could see another hill ahead
of me.
Another fast runner
passed me. I wanted to try to keep up
with him, but I had to conserve energy for the hill.
That was the last hill of
any significance. After the hill, it was
almost all downhill to the finish. At
first, I wasn’t recognizing any of the buildings or street names. Then I ran past a fast food restaurant that I
had walked by on Saturday. I had a
better feel for where I was.
As I approached what I
thought was the final turn, I saw a runner who had already finished and was
walking back to his hotel. He said, “Get
around the corner, and it’s downhill to the finish.”
I rounded the corner, but
I still couldn’t see the finish. On the
plus side, it was noticeably downhill.
I raced down the hill,
and I reached the “26” sign. I ran that
mile in 8:12. I was crushing it, but I still
couldn’t see the finish line. There were
still two more turns.
I made the first of those
turns, and I immediately saw the second one.
It was just one short block. It
was slightly uphill, but my momentum carried me to the last turn. Then I could see the finish line, and the
final approach was downhill.
This was my first race
using a watch that I’ve only had for 10 days.
It’s similar to my old watch, but saving the data from a run is more complicated. There are two extra steps. I have to rate how hard I ran and how I
felt. I was so preoccupied with saving my
data, that I never looked at my time. I
knew I beat my goal by at least a few minutes, but I walked away from the
finish line not knowing my time.
I love the design of the
finisher medal. It features a large acorn
that spins. There are also acorns and
oak leaves on the ribbon.
There were volunteers
handing one water bottles, but I didn’t take one. My hotel was less than two blocks away, and I
had plenty of water there. I did,
however, make a point of getting some post-race food.
A volunteer at the food
tent handed me a banana and a bag with other snacks. At another table, they had cookies and
skewers with cold cuts. I took a cookie,
but I passed on the cold cuts.
When I got back to my
hotel room, there were several things I wanted to do first. I wanted to download the data from my
watch. I wanted to look up my official
result. I wanted to eat my snacks. I wanted to use the bathroom. I wanted to get out of my sweaty clothes and take
a bath. More important than all of those
was getting out of my sweaty shoes and socks.
I could not do that fast enough.
Shortly after downloading
the data from my watch, I noticed I had an email with my official result. I finished in 3:45:50, which was good for
third place in my age group. I qualified
for Boston by more than four minutes, and I did it on a hilly course. I had BQs in my previous four races, but
those were all on relatively flat courses.
I never regretted wearing
tights. Later in the race, it was
getting warmer, but I seemed to get a cold breeze whenever I needed one.
In case anyone is
wondering, the hotel I stayed at is the Hampton Inn. If you’re planning to do this race, you
should be aware that this hotel has pros and cons. On the plus side, you can’t beat the location
for race day logistics. It’s about half
a block from the back of the start corrals and only three blocks from the
starting line. It’s also only about a
block and a half from the finish area.
The big negative of this
hotel is also the location. It’s in a
nightlife district, and there’s a place next to the hotel that plays loud music
until at least 2 AM. I was fortunate. I had a room on the side of the hotel that’s
farthest from the noise. I occasionally heard
a loud truck or motorcycle, but I didn’t hear the music. I talked to runners with rooms on the other
side of the building, and they were kept awake by the noise. To their credit, the hotel staff provides
earplugs to all their guests.
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