Race Report - Lincoln Marathon

My morning started out earlier than the 5:00 AM time I had planned. My hotel room was one of those adjoining rooms (with connecting doors, so that two rooms can become one) and as a result probably not as sound-proof as a regular room. My next door neighbors were a family with two young children. From the sound of things, as they tried to get the little ones settled down for the night, there was a toddler and a baby. Finally around 10:30 PM, the parents were successful in getting things quiet. I could hear almost every word through the door and knew they really were trying to quiet their children down for the night.

At 3:30 AM, the littlest one was up crying. This continued until about 4:30, giving me only another 1/2 hour or so before my scheduled wake-up time. At least I had plenty of time to get ready. I could also tell that one of the parents in the room next door was running as the entire family seemed to be up and going between 5:00 - 5:30.

My breakfast consisted of coffee, Gatorade, Multi-Grain Cheerios (not my first choice, but apparently they no longer make Team Cheerios which are less sugary), part of a plain bagel and 1/2 of a Cliff bar.

I left the room around 6:15 for the approximately 1 mile walk to the start. The temperature was a nice brisk 39 degrees. The wind was a bit breezy, but not too bad.

Before I knew it, it was time to find my place in the starting corral and the gun (sounded like a cannon) went off. The start was on the campus of the University of Nebraska, by the old coliseum. My first mile or two I was very aware that I felt dizzy - or at least that my head felt foggy. Perhaps this was due to the lack of sleep, because after the first couple of miles that sensation thankfully went away.

Some of you may know that I typically miss things along a marathon race course, such as the Alamo during the San Antonio Marathon. I am getting better at noticing things around me. As usual I missed some points of interest, such as the State Capital. However, I did notice somethings as I ran along.

The race course description mentioned two significant hills - one just past Mile 9 and one at Mile 20. I did notice the hill at Mile 9 - it was a tough one. I also noticed the hill at Mile 2 and the hill at Mile 5, neither of which were mentioned in the course description. I did not notice any antelope in Antelope Park (near the 20-mile mark), so I'm not sure if there is any connection with the name of the park and the animal.

My plan for this marathon was to run conservatively for a couple of reasons. First of all, this was the least trained I've ever gone into a marathon. Driving over the day before, left me a bit under-hydrated (I didn't want to make a 7 1/2 hour drive even longer by frequent pit stops) and a little under stretched out. Sitting in a car for that long the day before a marathon is not ideal.
The biggest factor for my conservative race approach was the fact that I did not want to risk running so hard that I either felt too wiped out or too sick to drive myself home.

My plan was to try to run even splits, although I knew my training would ultimately end before the race did. Sure enough, even though I ran the first 1/2 of the race a good 7-8 minutes slower than I usually run the first 13 miles of a marathon, I could not maintain the same pace for the entire race.

This marathon was challenging in that most of the 6,000 participants were only running the 1/2 marathon, which meant the course was lined with spectators saying things like; "You're almost there", or "Only two more miles to go". Those statements were true if you were a 1/2 marathoner. Shortly before Mile 13, there was a right hand turn for the 1/2 marathon finish and a straight ahead for the full marathoners. I felt as though almost everyone was turning. Most, in fact, were turning. Only 1200 of the 6000 runners were doing the full marathon. I told myself that at least now I wouldn't hear any more of those comments until they were actually true. Of course anyone who has ever run a marathon knows that inaccurate comments such as "You're almost there", or "It's all downhill from here", or "You're looking good", make up the spectator dialogue along the entire race course.

From Mile 13 - Mile 19 I tried to prepare myself mentally for the big hill at Mile 20. Even though the morning had started out quite cool, the temperature was quickly rising and with the cloudless blue sky, there was little relief from the sun. Here is the description of the area around Mile 20 from the marathon course literature:

"Holmes Park - A great place to picnic and watch the race as runners approach "the wall" at the 20 mile mark. The climb up the dam to the park on Normal Blvd. may be the toughest stretch of the race."

As I was running along near this section I happened to hear a group of bugler's playing and then the spectators and some of the runners themselves yelling "charge". There seemed to be quite a bit of fanfare around this. Hmm.... is it possible that I have already run "the hill". As I rounded a traffic cone and crossed the chip timing mat at Mile 20, I asked a fellow runner who seemed very familiar with the course, if we had already conquered the hill. He said; "Didn't you notice that big hill that we just ran up?" (Obviously he hadn't heard of my reputation for missing the obvious during marathons.) I cheerfully responded, I wasn't sure if that was it or not, but I felt really good knowing I had just run up the toughest part of the race.

I really did feel pretty good all the way into the finish. The most challenging part of those last 6 miles, was the last .2 miles. The pavement into the final stretch was in very poor condition. It was a combination of uneven bricks, potholes, and attempts to repair potholes that were even worse than the potholes themselves. On already fatigued leg muscles, it made any attempt to run hard to the finish line an impossibility. I found myself instead paying attention to running as carefully as necessary to avoid injury or a fall.

The finish line did not provide the usual Mylar blanket. There was, however, a nice surprise waiting for the female runners. The volunteers were handing out beautiful long-stemmed red roses. These were not your usual limp second-rate roses that are often handed out in mass at various events. These were beautiful florist-grade roses. The marathon medal itself was not particularly noteworthy, but it was proof of a successful finish so that's good enough.

At first, I politely declined my rose, letting the volunteer know that I would be traveling and therefore the rose would not hold up during the long trip home. I thought perhaps someone else could take it home, even if it was a volunteer after all the runners had received their roses. She said with a bright smile on her face; "Then just enjoy it while you can, honey".

That got my attention. She was absolutely right. It was about that moment. Here I was so quick to pass on the opportunity to breath the delightful aroma of that rose. Those are the moments of our lives. And so I carefully carried that rose with me during the mile walk back to the hotel, breathing in the scent as I walked along. The sun was shining, it was a glorious day, I now have the state of Nebraska crossed off my 50 states marathon list and I had money in my pocket for a Starbuck's just 3 blocks from my hotel.

Unlike the Tucson Marathon a number of years earlier, I didn't feel a sense of loss that no one was there to congratulate me at the finish line. I felt proud of myself that I had taken on the challenge of this marathon even though I could have easily made enough excuses to bail out on the idea.

I will say the trip home crossing the state of Iowa was very, very long! My quads are still sore 4 days later and I have yet to run. Typically I run within 2 days of a marathon. The recovery process seems to be a bit delayed following my 8-hour drive home immediately following the marathon. I literally was in the car driving within 40 minutes of getting back to my hotel room.

Next marathon? Indiana on May 31st. At least I can say I've done a 20-mile training run.