On May 3, I ran the
Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. It’s
the third time I’ve done this race. It’s
a large well-organized race, but it’s also whimsical. They really lean into the pig theme.
Friday, May 1
We flew to Cincinnati
Friday afternoon. Our hotel was
downtown. We chose not to rent a car,
because parking would have been too expensive.
Instead, we took a taxi from the airport and walked to everything.
After checking in at our hotel, we walked over to the expo. This race has large expo. It’s like the Boston Marathon used to be, several years ago.
Besides my race bib and
T-shirt, I got a beach towel. I could
have picked up a poster, but I don’t have a place to put it, so I skipped
that. There were also vendors giving
away free stuff.
The timing of this trip
was unfortunate. Deb came down with a
cold earlier in the week, and she still didn’t have much stamina. We did a lot of walking around at the
expo. After that, she wasn’t up to
walking anywhere for dinner, so we had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
Saturday, May 2
When Deb tried to shower,
she couldn’t get any hot water. She
called down to the front desk, and they told her she needed to run the water
for a long time before it gets hot. After
30 minutes, the water was still only room temperature. Before breakfast, we went to the front desk,
and they gave us room keys for a different room.
The marathon wasn’t until
Sunday, but there were shorter races on Saturday, including a 5K, a 10K, the
Flying Piglet races for kids, and the Flying Fur race for dogs. I didn’t run any of these races, but Deb
volunteered at the Flying Piglet events.
The Flying Piglet races
were held at Smale Riverfront Park. I
went with Deb to the park, to help her find the volunteer check-in tent and the
Flying Piglet area. Then I went back to
the hotel to move all our stuff into our new room. In this room, I was able to get hot water,
but I had to run it for a while.
I went back to the park
in time to see the last few Flying Piglet races. When Deb’s volunteer shift was done, we went
to lunch.
Everyone knows my
favorite food is pizza, but I’m also a big fan of Cincinnati-style chili. For lunch, we went to Skyline Chili. There was a location about three blocks from
our hotel.
We spent the afternoon
relaxing at the hotel. Deb was tired
after being on her feet all morning, and I didn’t want to spend too much time
on my feet before the marathon.
For my pre-race pizza, I
went to a place across the street from our hotel that had an asparagus pizza.
Sunday, May 3
I have a consistent
pre-race routine, which includes taking a hot bath or shower and doing some
stretches. I got up extra early, knowing
I would have to run the water for about 10 minutes before it got hot.
The marathon started at
6:30, near the riverfront. The start area
was about half a mile from our hotel.
The temperature was in
the low 30s. I expected it to warm into
the low 50s by the time I finished, but it was going to be cold for the first
half of the race. I dressed much warmer
than I normally do.
While I was still in our
hotel room, it seemed like I was dressed awfully warm. When I got outside, I immediately questioned
whether I was dressed warm enough. It
was freezing.
I arrived in the start
area about 20 minutes before the race. I
saw insanely long port-o-potty lines, but I had used the bathroom just before
leaving the hotel, so I didn’t need to go again.
I saw a convenience store
that was open, so I ducked inside to get out of the cold. There were at least a dozen other runners
there. It was nice to get out of the
cold, but soon I needed to line up for the race.
When I signed up for this
race, I was hoping I could get my second Boston qualifier in Ohio. The course is hilly, but I’ve qualified here
before. I knew it was possible, but I
would need a good race.
I came into this race
with a string of poor results. In March,
I had three races where I struggled in the late miles. In each case, it was hot, and I was pushing
an ambitious pace.
In April, my results were
even worse. I ran three marathons in a
span of nine days. I blew up badly in
Albuquerque and Newport. The Boston
Marathon was just two days after Newport, and I felt like a train wreck before
the race even started.
Obviously, that didn’t
give me a lot of confidence going into this race. It’s possible that all my recent struggles
could be blamed on hot conditions and/or insufficient recovery. Still, I questioned whether a Boston
qualifying time was a realistic goal.
The last thing I wanted was to have another race where I went out fast
and blew up.
All week, I was worried
about catching Deb’s cold, but it seemed like my immune system was fighting it
off. I never had cold symptoms, but
there were mornings when I felt weak and/or tired, despite getting plenty of
sleep. That had me questioning whether I
was really at full strength for this race.
If this was any other
race, I would have started at a conservative pace, so I could finish
comfortably. This wasn’t just any
race. I’m trying to finish my second
circuit of Boston qualifiers in every state, and Ohio is one of my remaining
five states. For that reason, I felt
like I should at least test the waters.
Everything at this race
is pig-themed. Instead of corrals, they
have pig pens. I was assigned to Pig Pen
C. I thought this one was for runners
with estimated finish times between 4:00 and 4:10, but I was mistaken. That was actually the range of times for Pig
Pen D. I lined up in the middle in the
pig pen, thinking I would be surrounded by runners starting at a similar pace.
The time I needed for a
Boston qualifier was 4:05. That’s an
average pace of 9:21 per mile. Ideally,
I would’ve started with a pace group, but they didn’t have a 4:05 group. If I wanted to start with a pace group, my
choices were 4:00 or 4:10.
I looked for those pace
groups, but I didn’t see them. The only
pace group I saw in Pig Pen C was the 3:45 group. I later learned that the 4:00 and 4:10 groups
both started in Pig Pen D.
In the first mile, I ran
at the pace of the runners around me. I
was surprised how quickly we got up to speed.
The start wasn’t as congested as I thought it would be, although there
were some choke points before the end of that mile.
Near the end of the first
mile, we crossed a bridge over the Ohio River into Kentucky. The first half of the bridge was uphill, but
it wasn’t a big deal.
I didn’t know how fast I
was starting until I finished the first mile.
I was a little bit slower than a Boston-qualifying pace, but not too
much. Rather than try to speed up, I
kept running with the people around me. The
second mile was faster, most likely because we were already up to our pace, and
there wasn’t any congestion.
Right at the beginning of
mile three, I turned and started up the ramp to a bridge. This was the first hill that was big enough
to slow me down. I kept my effort consistent,
rather than trying to maintain a consistent pace.
I fully expected that
mile to be slower. I knew there would be
bigger hills, so I assumed a Boston-qualifying time wasn’t in the cards. When I finished that mile, I was surprised to
see that I was only about 10 seconds behind schedule for a BQ.
While we were still on
the Kentucky side of the river, I saw a runner trip and fall on the
pavement. All the runners close to her
immediately stopped to help her up. I’ve
fallen during races so many times that Deb always says she wants to put me in a
bubble. In fact, the last thing she said
when I left that morning was, “Bubble!”
That was my reminder to always watch my footing and look for patches of
rough or uneven pavement.
Toward the end of mile
four, I had to climb a ramp up to the bridge that would take us back across the
Ohio River again. I took this hill the
same way as the previous one. I maintained
the same effort, and I accepted that I would be slower.
The mile four sign was
right at the top of the ramp.
Surprisingly, I was still within striking distance of a
Boston-qualifying pace. I was only 12
seconds behind schedule.
As we came off that
bridge, we entered downtown Cincinnati again.
I started to notice that I was no longer keeping up with the runners
around me. I didn’t think I had slowed
down. When I finished mile five, I saw
that I actually sped up. Apparently,
everyone else sped up more coming off the bridge.
We came back into
downtown on 3rd Street, but then we turned onto Vine Street. The first block on Vine Street was
uphill. I had walked up this hill twice
on Saturday, so I knew it would slow me down.
Shortly after that, we
ran past Fountain Square. At this point,
I was only a block from our hotel. Had I
known the course came this close to where we were staying, I would’ve suggested
to Deb that this would be a good place to watch the race.
Through the first five
miles, I had been close to a Boston-qualifying pace. Because of the hill on Vine Street, mile six
was about 25 seconds off the pace.
That’s when I knew for sure that I would never make up that time.
The toughest section of
the course comes after leaving downtown.
The next two miles were a steady uphill grind. I didn’t worry at all about my pace here. I just kept moving at a pace that wouldn’t
break me. I was more than a minute per
mile slower now.
Now that I knew I wasn’t
going to run a BQ, I focused on my secondary goal, which was to finish the race
comfortably. That proved to be difficult
as well. I’ve really struggled on hills
lately, and this long uphill section took a lot out of me, even at a slower
pace.
As I finished mile seven,
a pace group caught up to me. It was the
4:00 group. The only reason I was ahead
of them up until now is because they started farther back.
It was still uphill for
most of the next mile. After that, the
next two miles were rolling. My pace
wasn’t any faster there. I needed a
couple miles to recover from the long uphill section.
When we were at the
highest point on the course, we came out to a spot with a good view looking
down across the river. I was tempted to
take a picture, but I didn’t want to take my gloves off. My hands would get cold instantly.
By mile 10, we had
reached a nice long downhill section. My
pace improved here, but I never got back to the pace I started.
I was just past 11 miles
when I saw another long hill up ahead. I
remembered seeing this hill on the elevation profile. Thankfully, it was the last major hill on the
course.
Another pace group caught
up to me on this hill. It was the 4:10
group. Their target pace was pretty
close to the pace I was running in the early miles, but they were in a
different pig pen, so they started later.
I ran with them
briefly. I was having a nice
conversation with the leader of that group, but I couldn’t keep up their pace
going up a long hill. I had to let them
go.
When the road turned
downhill again, I was able to catch up to the 4:10 group again. I was right with them when we reached the
halfway point. My time for the first
half was roughly 2:10. The 4:10 group
presumably ran the first half in 2:05, so they must have started about five
minutes after I did.
Presumably, this group
would also run the second half in 2:05.
To stay with them for the rest of the race, I would have to run negative
splits by five minutes. That seemed unlikely. With effort, I could keep up with them, but
that effort wouldn’t be sustainable.
I enjoyed my conversation
with the 4:10 pacer, so I kept up with the group for the next three miles. After that, the pace got too tiring. I had to let them go and continue at my own
pace.
With about 10 miles to
go, I reached something called the Bacon Station. I’m not sure if this was an official aid
station or just a large group of well-organized spectators. They were handing out cups with small pieces
of bacon. In the past, that’s something
I would have gone for. Lately, I’ve been
trying to eat healthier, so I skipped the bacon.
At other points along the
course, I saw people handing out jelly beans, Girl Scout cookies, pickles, and
pretzel sticks.
Now that I was running on
my own, my pace was almost a minute per mile slower. I probably stayed with the 4:10 group too
long. Their pace tired me out.
The second half of the
race is the flatter half, but there were still uphill and downhill
sections. They just weren’t steep. Some miles felt more tiring and others felt
easier.
With about seven miles to
go, I made a bathroom stop. I probably
could’ve held out until after the race, but I thought the remaining miles would
be more comfortable if made a stop now.
I was wrong. When I resumed
running, my legs felt stiff. It was
tough to get back into the same rhythm.
It was much warmer now
than it was when I started. I was
dressed for the colder temperatures, so I was worried about getting too
warm. I was grateful when I started to
feel a cool breeze. That kept me from
overheating.
There was a place where
people were handing out nerf basketballs, and there were a few hoops where you
could try to make a basket. Apparently,
I can’t make a basket while running. I
completely misjudged the shot.
In the late miles, I was
sometimes running with other runners and carrying on conversations. Inevitably, those conversations ended when I
could no longer keep up the other runners.
One of the nice things
this race does is give special bibs people can pin to their backs if they’re
running their first marathon. In the
late miles, I saw dozens of runners who were doing their first marathon.
With about four miles to
go, I noticed we were following a bend in the river. Looking to my left, I could see downtown
buildings in the distance. That made the
remaining distance more tangible. I just
had to keep making progress around the bend.
I hadn’t been paying much
attention to my pace. When I finished
mile 23, I noticed that my pace was now slower than it had been on the long
uphill section from six to eight. I
can’t honestly say that I was finishing this race comfortably. I wasn’t blowing up as badly as I did in my
last three races, but the late miles were still tough.
With three miles to go,
the breeze got stronger. Now, I was
actually getting cold, despite all the layers I was wearing.
In my previous three
races, I had to take walking breaks in the late miles. I was slowing down, but I was still able to
run the whole way. With a mile to go,
there was a small hill. People in front
of me were walking the hill, but I was determined to keep running. As I reached the top of that last small hill,
I could see the downtown buildings in front of me.
With about half a mile to
go, we turned a corner and ran closer to the river. Now, the wind was stronger. I was colder now than I had been before the
race, but I only had a short distance to go.
I crossed the Finish
Swine in 4:32:55. I was disappointed to
see that I was slower than 4:30. I knew
I slowed down in the last 10 miles, but I didn’t realize I had slowed down that
much.
As usual, they had a
two-sided finisher medal. One side
showed the front of a pig, and the other side showed the back.
Finish line food included
pizza, and it was nice and hot. After
being cold in the last few miles, it felt good to eat something hot. We also each received a bag with pre-packaged
snack foods.
I had seen two friends at
different points during the race. I
bumped into one of them again in the finish area.
When I got back to the
hotel, Deb and I ate the rest of the post-race snacks. That was most of our lunch, but Deb also went
out and picked up smoothies.
In keeping with the pig
theme, I had a post-race beer at a place called The Blind Pig. For dinner, we opted for the hotel’s
restaurant again.
Monday, May 4
Our flight home wasn’t
until late afternoon, so we were able to have a leisurely morning. Deb still had a cold, and I had tight
Achilles tendons, so neither of us felt like doing much walking.
We had to check out by noon, so we left for the airport earlier than we really needed to. We had lunch at the airport, where there's a Skyline Chili in the food court.
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