In January last year I set several running goals for the year. Here are the results:

1. PR a 5K: My PR was 24:55 set in March of 2009.  I am cheating a bit, but I ran 24:46 on January 1st of 2011… just a few short hours after 2010 ended.  I still think it counts especially since it was pouring down rain.
2. PR a 10K: I wanted to PR the Peachtree Road Race in July.  However, I was deep into marathon training and 10K speed is not really on the training plan.  I had fun running the Peachtree again though and felt way better running it this year than I did last year.
3. PR a Half Marathon: I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon in March in 2:00:21.  It was a PR and only 22 seconds shy of my desire to run a half in under 2 hours.
4. Run a Marathon: I ran, and finished, the NYC Marathon in November.  This is one of those life events for me that I will never forget.  My goal last January was under 4 hours.  After doing the training I really thought 4:30 was possible.  My running coach said it would be good to just finish it and that around 5 hours would be respectable.  There’s a reason he is a coach… 5:10:15 was my time and I am not at all disappointed with it.

During the months of training and throughout the actual marathon there were things that I observed that have stuck with me.  I thought it would be interesting to share some of those:

1. Almost every Saturday I would see deer at the start of my long training run.  It struck me as interesting that they could have the same, “You crazy idiot” look on their face as humans did when I told them I planned to run 26.2 miles.
2. In a blast from the past I saw someone out for a walk one morning with an actual cassette walkman. The next week I saw someone with a discman out for a stroll.  All I am missing is the portable 8 track player to complete the collector’s boxed set.
3. I managed to run up on and surprise an armadillo one day.  I am not sure who was more surprised, the armadillo for having to run from the fat guy trying to catch his breath or me for seeing one that was alive and not in a zoo.
4. This may be a little morbid but I started mentally keeping track of road kill.  I saw a bird, frog, snake, armadillo, and squirrel to name a few.
5. You find out who your “real” friends are when you start asking for people to come and run a segment of your 20 mile long run.  Thanks to JR Lee, my sister-in-law Steph, and college roommate David for their support.
6. The best sign I saw along the marathon route in NYC was, “Chuck Norris has never run a marathon”.  I think I may have actually laughed out loud when I saw that.
7. Someone named Steve must’ve been running near me around mile 10 in NYC.  All of a sudden I see someone in the crowd raise their hands and yell, “STEVE HOLT!”.  If you don’t get this reference you need to watch Arrested Development on Netflix.
8. I saw a lady wearing a shirt that said “50th marathon” at about mile 21 in NYC.  I remember distinctly thinking that she needed to be checked into an insane asylum.
9. In the marathon, 13.1 miles is not halfway to 26.2.  I decided that mile 23 or so was halfway for me.  The last 3+ miles seemed to stretch on forever and time seemed to stand still.  Of course that could’ve been the starvation and dehydration setting is as well.
10. Training for and running a marathon is not an individual achievement.  For months, Heather helped mix Gatorade, re-arranged her schedule around running, and put up with my crankiness after the Saturday long runs.  Heather, Chad, and Chase never complained and I am thankful for it because in all my crankiness I may have bit someone’s head off.

Here is my tale of not only my first NYC Marathon, but also my first marathon…

Crossing the Start Line

At 10:10 the starting cannon fired, Frank Sinatra started singing “New York New York”, and wave 2 was officially underway.  When I crossed the starting line at 10:20 (or so) my trip to the starting line had already included a ferry trip, a bus ride,  a cold seat on a curb, a long line for the porta potties, two-thirds of a bagel, and a small bottle of water.  Oh yeah, and a 4 hour trip time.

Segment 1

Dale, my running coach, had set a goal of 1:03:00 for the first 6 miles of the race.  This was a 10:30 pace.  I had heard, and read, many times that the most common marathon mistake is getting too excited and going out too fast.  As I made my way through the first mile I must have checked my watch a hundred times.  As I reached the top of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge my watch beeped and announced that I had completed the 1st mile in exactly 10:30!  I felt good and relaxed, and I settled into a comfortable pace.  I ran the next 5 miles at a 9:41 pace and crossed the 6 mile mark at 0:58:55… a full 4 minutes ahead of schedule.

Segment 2

The segment 2 goal was 1:02:00 but was 7 miles long.  That would mean a 8:51 pace for this segment.  I tried to pick up the pace but when I did I started to cough.  I had picked up a cold about a week before the race and while I felt fine there was a pesky cough that stuck around.  I decided that I would stick to the pace I was on since I had gained a few minutes in the first segment.  At just past mile 8 I saw Heather, Aaron, and Steph for the first time.  It was great to see them and I knew that I would see them again in mile 14 ahead.  I finished the segment in 1:09:29 for a total time of 2:08:24 which was 3:24 behind the target time for this point in the race.

When I look at the mile splits from my running watch I can see that mile 9 is where I started to struggle.  My fitness level aerobically was fine, it was the legs.  They felt heavy and were starting to hurt a little bit.  I had never really experienced this in training so I just kept running.  But, I slowed from my 9:36 pace at mile 8 to 10:13 for mile 13.  At the 13.1 (technically half way) mile marker I stopped and took a walk break.

Segment 3:

Dale had set a 1:05:00 target for this 7 mile segment… that is a 9:17 pace.  When I hit mile 13 though I knew it was not going to happen.  Pain was starting to set in and I was starting to have thoughts of quitting.  I knew I would see Heather again in mile 14 and I knew there was a subway station right there that would take me back to the hotel.  Luckily before I got there I had talked myself into finishing even if I had to walk the last 12 miles.  I told myself that there was no way that I had trained that long just to quit and that Heather, Aaron, and Steph had come to see me finish a marathon not quit a marathon.

I located Heather and even though it may not have looked like it, I was so happy to see her.  She had Gatorade refills for me which I grabbed and continued on without a word before I gave a thought to quitting again.  Mile 14 was at an 11:29 pace.

Coming off of the Queensboro Bridge into mile 16 is where it all officially fell apart for me.  I still felt fine fitness-wise, but the muscles right above my knees started to really bother me and I had to mix walking segments with running segments in order to keep them loose.

I finished segment 3 in 1:29:09, a 12:44 average pace.  The goal was to be here (mile 20) at 3:10:00 but instead I was at 3:27:33.  I was 17 minutes behind and knew that my personal 4:29:59 goal was not going to happen.

Segment 4:

The last 6.2 miles were unknown since 20 miles was the furthest training run that I had done.  Dale’s race strategy pretty much said “let’s see what happens”.

I continued to struggle with my legs and had to keep mixing running and walking.  Downhill portions bothered me the most and the miles seemed to get longer and longer.  I knew I was near the end though and any thoughts of quitting were totally gone by this point.  I was going to finish if I had to drag myself the last few miles.

At mile 22, as I rounded a corner I was greeted by a message on a large screen that said, “I am proud of you Shane”.  I’ll admit it.  As I slowed to a walk to loosen up again I lost it.  Some lady on the side of road looked at me strange probably thinking, “Why in the world is a grown man crying in the middle of a marathon?”

Somewhere before mile 24 I saw Heather and Steph again.  Aaron was there somewhere taking pictures and claims he called my name, but I didn’t see, or hear, him.

At mile 24 the course turned into Central Park.  If anyone tells you that halfway for a marathon is 13.1 miles, I will argue that mile 24 is halfway and the last 2 miles is the hardest half.  It seemed like the mile markers kept moving further and further away.

The Finish:

I managed to run the last half mile entirely.  I crossed the finish line in 5:10:15.  While a part of me was disappointed with the time, a bigger part of me said, “I did it!”  An average pace of 11:29 is nothing to brag about, but finishing a marathon is something to brag about… and I have the medal to prove it.

What’s Next?

In the last 2 miles (you know… the second half of the marathon) I told myself I would never do this again.  When I crossed the finish line I told myself that I would never do it again.  As I write this post it has been 5 days and I am starting to realize that I have some unfinished business with the marathon.  I am not committing to another one right now, but don’t be surprised if I do.

I know that I still owe everyone a post detailing my 26.2 miles through NYC on November 7th, but I wanted to get this information out now for anyone that was interested.

For the second year I joined 54,999 fellow runners, walkers, and crawlers on July 4th for the annual Peachtree Road Race.  This 10k boasts to be the largest in the world and with 55,000 entrants and 51,000 finishers, they may be right.  My time last year was 54:31 and I was planning to go for a 10k PR this year by finishing under 54:27.

After talking it over with Dale we decided that I would be better served to use this race as “practice” for running in a controlled manner based on my heart rate.  This is what I will have to do in the NYC Marathon later this year, and I need to get used to doing this in “race conditions”.

I did OK running in a controlled manner… for most of the race.  I finished with an average heart rate of 154, just slightly over the 140s that Dale wanted me to target.  It really is my fault.  I felt so good after Cardiac Hill (big hill, half way) that I started to speed up.  Then, when I got to mile 5 I still felt good so I sped up even more.  I completed mile 5 to 6 in 8:27, and I finish the last .2 of a mile in under a 7:00 pace.  The only point in the race were I felt some fatigue was when I ran across the bridge over I-85.  I think it was the longest section of time I spent in the sun which probably caused this feeling.  I also completed the whole race without stopping at any water stops.  I kept telling myself I would stop at the next one but I felt so good that I didn’t want to waste the time since they were all pretty busy.

Overall it was a great race and I still felt pretty fresh when I finished it.  I felt like I could have run 10 miles without any problems.  Maybe this heart rate training idea that I was doubting a few weeks ago is actually starting to work.  I am already looking forward to next year’s Peachtree and getting my 3rd t-shirt.