Tucson Marathon - Run

Temps were perfect. Mid 40's. Almost no wind. Jumped in next to the 3:15 pacer, which did put me in the right spot. I didn't have to avoid too many people, nor did I seem to get in the way of others. The race starts off with a steep downhill. I was dreading this part, figuring that it would be a quad destruction zone- but instead- I just loved it. It was great to be waltzing down the hill at an effortless 6:30 pace. But then a few uphills showed themselves, and I was already seeing my HR too high, plus- I had left the 3:15 pacer in the dust. Oops. Felt great- but I figured I'd be paying for that a little later.

We were all sorting ourselves out on the course, and the scenery the first few miles was just magnificent. The sun cracked the horizon at mile 2, and lit up the rocks, with a full moon setting in the west. Hard not to have a smile on your face. It was still the early miles, and I felt fresh; happy; enjoying the run. I knew this would change.

Started taking calories early. Popped a couple caffeine laden shot blocks in the early miles, and I had a 10oz water bottle on my hip, so I could drink at my leisure. The amphipod belt was annoying to run with, but handy to have water, bloks, gels and my phone with me, that was playing 180bpm cadence music. I grabbed cups at the aid stations and re-filled it as necessary.

I was pacing for a 3:12 at this point, knowing the hills would slow me down later. After 5 miles the 3:15 group was surrounding me. While I do tend to chat people up that I'm running next to- I hate getting boxed in so I eased away from them, and after 6 miles, entered the 4mi easy downhill along the highway. Less scenic and some cars going by, and runners were spaced out nicely.

At 10mi there's an out and back detour on the Biosphere 2 road. Way more of a hill than I was expecting. 2 miles of pretty steep climbing. I let my HR go up a little, but also let others pass me- trying to keep the effort reigned in. I found that I tended to pass more people on the downhills, and get passed on the uphills. From my perspective- they're all doing it wrong. Keep the intensity the same and let the pace drop off. On the steeper sections, I was slowing down to nearly a 9min/mi.

The turnaround was just shy of mile 12, and about 175ft of climbing in that stretch. Crossed the 13.1 marker at 1:36, which seemed about right. Given the course, I wasn't going to be negative splitting this one.

Mile 14, the pain started in. My left calf, for some reason, just wanted to cramp up on me. It was hurting, and I knew this would only get worse. My right quad- from the morning's table bump, was still sore, but it didn't seem to be slowing me down. Right hip was getting tight as well- probably due to running on the left side of the road and being continuously off kilter.

At this point, there's a nice downhill stretch for 5 miles, where I was fairly comfortably holding a 7:15-7:20 pace. This is when I started having those... only 12 more miles, only 10 more miles. Each mile starting to get harder and harder. My wife and daughter would be stationed at just after mile 19- and I got to see them there. The cheering really helps, told them I loved them and kept on moving.

By this time, a lot of the enjoyable downhill is behind you, and the road undulates, with some rising sections. It was hard to look down and see that my pace was often 7:40, but that's about all that was in the tank. Saw my family again at 21, and things were hurting pretty good by this point. They drove alongside me for a bit- that was fun, but smiling and talking I added a little extra intensity that I didn't really have to spare. 22-1/2 starts the climb of the last hill. It's not long, but there's a few hundred yards were it gets really steep. Gave up quite a bit of time here, but HR was right at LT and there wasn't much more to give. The backside of that steep climb.... was even steeper. Too steep to really pick up the pace for a while.

Anyway- after that was all over, it was getting harder and harder to hold pace. If I wanted to go sub-3:15, I would need to get my pace back to 7:25/mi, and by this point, there wasn't much downhill to assist. Anything faster than an 8min/mi felt just killer.

The 3:15 pacer showed up right next to me.... with not a soul around him. He was running solo, but both his and my watch said the same thing. We needed to hold a 7:25 (which he was running) in order to slide in under the 3:15 wire. With 2 miles to go, I let my HR rise about LT and into the danger zone. Wasn't sure how long I could hold it, and really didn't think I could, but there's something about passing that 25 mile marker that gives you a little boost. HR was bumping right up against my max, for those last few hundred yards, but once I turned the final corner, saw the time on the big clock and the distance left- I knew I had it by a few seconds. Crossed the finish line feeling pretty darn good, considering.

Post race I had a little bit of a problem. I got very lightheaded and dizzy. Spoke to the race doc, who I happen to know, and he said that I needed to lay down with my legs raised for 10 min or so, so off to the medical tent I hobbled. It worked. Ate, drank, and picked up my hardware- a 3rd place age group award. Handed to me by none other than the famed ultra marathoner and RD, Pam Reid.