Today was the second day of
the Mainly Marathons Northwest Series. Today’s
race was in Hermiston, OR. It was the
same course as yesterday’s race.
Today I arrived earlier,
so I could take the early start at 5:30 AM.
I wanted to finish earlier, since I needed time to drive back to
Kennewick and get cleaned up before checking out and getting on the road. Today was the only day that I’ll have to do
that. The next four races are all close
to each other, so I’ll be able to stay in the same hotel for the rest of the
series.
I only slept for about
half the night. Then I woke up and
couldn’t get back to sleep. I’m usually
able to shake that off, but today I couldn’t.
I was dragging.
During pre-race
announcements, they always recognize runners who are reaching a big
milestone. Today was Clyde Shank’s 800th
marathon, but this was no ordinary celebration.
Clyde does cryochamber
treatments to help him recover from races.
He recently posted a picture on Facebook that showed him standing next
to the cryochamber in his underwear. Today,
to tease him about that, dozens of runners doing the early start wore tidy
whities over their running clothes.
Clyde was a good sport
about it. He also put on a pair of
underwear over his running clothes. It
was a real spectacle throughout the races seeing all these runners wearing underwear
over their running gear. I wonder what
other people using the trail thought of it.
I learned yesterday how
dark it is before 6:30. There’s no light
sources along the course, so a flashlight or headlamp was essential for the
first hour. I started the race with a
small flashlight.
I wanted to go a little
faster today, so I could get back to my hotel sooner. At a minimum, I wanted to keep my time under
5:30. Five hours would be better, but I
had to see how it went.
Because I was starting
earlier, it was chilly for an extra hour before it started to warm up. I wore a warmer T-shirt than the one I wore
yesterday. Like yesterday, I started the
race with gloves and a Tyvek jacket.
Most people who took the
early start were walking, but there were several other people who started out
running. I just followed them.
A few of those runners
took walking breaks the first time they reached a hill. My legs were cold, so I had to keep running
to stay warm.
I started at about the
same pace as yesterday, but by the time I reached the turnaround, I was already
falling behind the lead group of runners.
From that point on, I was always running by myself.
As I was finishing my
first lap, I saw a faint orange glow on the horizon. The course was still dark though.
By my second lap, I was
already slowing down. Already, I was
almost a minute per mile slower. I kept
up that slower pace for the first half of the race.
After my second lap,
there was enough light that I no longer needed my flashlight. I stopped at the aid station to put it in my
drop bag.
Now I could clearly see
where the hills were. I was tempted to
walk the hills, but my legs were still too cold to take walking breaks. I had to keep running until it warmed up.
The temperature was still
dropping until the sun rose. An hour
into the race it was a degree or two colder than when we started.
As I reached the
turnaround in my third lap, I saw a blanket of fog over a field that was just
past the turnaround. I’m sure that fog
was there earlier, but it was too dark for me to see it.
After three laps, I was
roughly on pace for a five-hour finish, but I knew that wasn’t a realistic
goal. I had already slowed down since my
first lap, and I would eventually need to start taking walking breaks.
By the end of my fourth
lap, I was feeling sweat under my jacket.
My legs were still cold, but I needed to unzip my jacket.
They always have some
type of hot food at the aid station.
Today, it was breakfast poutine.
As I started my fifth lap, I grabbed a cup of it at the aid station and
walked while I ate it. It was nice to
eat something warm, but the walking break gave my legs a chance to get colder.
After another lap, I was
finally warm enough that I could take off my jacket. I still needed my gloves for two more laps.
As I started my sixth
lap, I was no longer worried about my legs getting cold if I walked. I was tempted to start walking the hills, but
I forced myself to keep running them for one more lap.
After six laps, I was
half done. My halfway split was 12
minutes slower than yesterday, even though I didn’t do any walking yet. I was just slow today.
For the first half of the
race, I was drinking Coke. I was hoping
the caffeine would give me an energy boost, but it didn’t seem to help at
all. Before starting lap seven, I filled
my bottle with Gatorade and made a bathroom stop.
Starting with lap seven,
I took walking breaks on the hills. On
the way out, there were two short hills that I consistently walked. After that, it was mostly downhill all the way
to the turnaround.
Coming back from the
turnaround there were two long uphill sections.
The first one was a gently enough grade that I could force myself to run
it. The next one was more tiring. For the rest of the race, I always had to
walk that section.
There were two more short
uphill sections after that. In lap
seven, I was able to run them. Starting
with lap eight, I had to walk the last one.
With four laps to go, I
had to drag myself through each lap, but I was disciplined about where I walked. I stuck to the same pattern for the rest of
the race.
It wasn’t until my 11th
lap that I realized I was getting hot and sweaty. It warms up quickly after the sun comes up,
but starting earlier meant I got farther into the race before I felt the heat.
As I started my last lap,
I allowed myself to take an extra walking break, so I could eat a turkey
sandwich. As soon as I put the last bite
in my mouth, I forced myself to resume running.
I always found the
turnaround point to be the toughest part of the course. After the turn, I was beginning the uphill
direction. I wanted to immediately start
walking, but I had to force myself to run.
I was relieved when I made that turn for the last time.
I finished the race in
5:20:20. The first half was slower than
yesterday, but the second half was much faster.
I needed to do that, so I could get on the road as soon as possible.
I got another piece to
add to my chain of medals. This was
another Oregon medal, but it was a different style from yesterday’s medal.
I managed to leave by
11:00. I got back to my hotel in
Kennewick around 11:30. I didn’t need to
check out until 2:00, so I had more than enough time to have a snack, take a
bath, do some stretching and finish packing.
I didn’t take any longer than I needed.
I had a long drive ahead of me, and I wanted to get on the road as soon
as I could.
For the rest of this
series, I’ll be staying at a hotel in Lewiston, ID. From Kennewick, it took about two hours and 45
minutes to drive to my hotel in Lewiston.
The drive was mostly on two-lane local roads. At one point, I went an hour and a half
without seeing any towns. When I finally
drove through a small town with a gas station, I stopped to fill up.
Tomorrow’s race is in
Clarkston, WA, which is just across the river from Lewiston. I can take the 6:30 start, so I won’t need to
get up as early. Today was the only day
that I needed to change hotels after the race, so I won’t need any more early
starts.
The first two races of this series were much more tiring than I expected them to be. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the series. My only time goal is to keep the rest of my finish times under six hours, but that may prove to be difficult. I desperately need to get more sleep tonight.
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