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Bellingham Bay Marathon - RunMarathon


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Bellingham, Washington
United States
50F / 10C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 48m 6s
Overall Rank = 189/269
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 14/18
Pre-race routine:

Coffee and oatmeal. Did stretching at home and then at the start.
Event warmup:

Cool, could see breath, did some stretching. Took jacket off and left bottle of NUUN on the window sill, didn't realize it till I got the starting line...DANG IT. Now I have to fight through to water during the first couple of water stations.
Run
  • 4h 48m 6s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 10m  min/mile
Comments:

At the start I realized I left my 12 oz of NUUN on the other side by the building, no way to retrieve it. And than I notice I was up near the front of the start...oops, reminder to self to go easy at start. It was a mix start of Half and Full marathoners with a 5k to start 15 minutes later.

Nice and cool for most of the race till the end, than out in the sunshine.
Had some angry thoughts early on about how many Half mary and 5k runner/walkers would scarf all the food down at the recovery area and nothing would be left for us Marathoners except pizza crust and crumbled muffins. Had to do the mental wrestle to get it out of my mind and not stress that stuff. It happened 3-4 times during the first 13 miles till I couldn't see any Halfers any more.....So many times, people zoom past you and then you realize, "oh, they are Halfers, so don't pay them any attention... But it screws with your Marathon pace abilities...

Nice run besides those points, cool and clear was using Hammer Gel and took two e-capsules to keep electrolyes up. Ultima was the drink and it was ok..Doesn't taste like the stuff I use to use 4 years ago..

Had to walk the California Street cliimb up to IU trail. Then on the out an back on the IU, saw the leaders and everyone else, Pretty cool to say Hi ya to Marathon Maniacs. Got caught by a couple of them and had some nice chats.

After the 15 miles or so, had no ability to keep up speed or pace, became again a matter of mental power to just keep the up tempo shuffle...Only walk the aid stations to drink the cups of water.

Edgmore area was another uphill climb that was a walk. Around 21 miles.
Coming up to the final couple miles, calves had the twitchy feeling, so I had to watch to not overdue it....Ran with Monte Pasqual (MM) up to the finish , but didn't care about doing any racing. Saw wife and dogs and got a lick from the wife and kissed the dogs. What a relief.

What would you do differently?:

Lack of training, especially the Long runs. I get to around 15 and have nothing left except Mental Willpower. Plus weight was still higher than I want...217 at wakeup than had some oatmeal and coffee. After all the gels and water, than one slice of Lil Ceaser cheese pizza (smaller slice) my weight at home was 216. So for 26 miles of sweat and one peestop, only a pound difference. I would say that was pretty decent hydration.

Oh yeah, during the run, periodically I would have issues with my left buttarea...I keep thinking of it as being a sciatica problem. Nerve or muscle problem???
Post race
Warm down:

Hobble around the Farmers Market area, got one of the photos that were posted. Enjoy the Post Marathon High of knowing another one is done and just moving around slowy doing the Marathon hobble. Dogs were going goofy with all the people around.

Got into the truck slowly and actually laughed at the soreness that was in my hips and legs.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Weight and Lack of Long training.

Event comments:

2nd year and they improved the start and finish area. Next to Boundry Bay Brewery and Farmers Market, better parking, nicer course and weather was beautiful. Would recommend this race absolutely.

Will definetly do it next year unless I get a Kona Slot.




Last updated: 2008-09-19 12:00 AM
Running
04:48:06 | 26.2 miles | 10m  min/mile
Age Group: 14/18
Overall: 189/269
Performance: Average
9:03, 9:53, 8:52, 9:35, 9:12, 19:27 (two miles), 9:41, 9:49, 9:58, 10:27, 11:51, 10:40, 10:53, 11:12, 12:17, 11:13, 11:24, 12:46, 11:36, 12:11, 12:42, 12:20, 13:36, 12:46, 12:41, NO HRM
Course: New Course. City Neighborhoods, some park trails, streets following the bay and than onto the Interurban trail of hardpack. Major climb at California street and some nasty hill climb in the Edgemoor district around 21 miles.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2008-09-29 9:25 PM

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Champion
6931
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Bellingham, Washington
Subject: Bellingham Bay Marathon


2008-09-30 10:08 PM
in reply to: #1705121

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Elite
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Boise
Subject: RE: Bellingham Bay Marathon
Nice job! That had to have been a beautiful marathon. I came real close to going to WWU. I loved the area up there.
2008-10-01 9:30 AM
in reply to: #1705121

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Extreme Veteran
487
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Spokane, WA
Subject: RE: Bellingham Bay Marathon

Another one in the books Spence! Awesome job again!!

Looks like my first full mary will have to wait til next year, but having little Luke around is worth it!

2008-10-01 10:06 AM
in reply to: #1705121

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Master
2033
200025
Subject: RE: Bellingham Bay Marathon
Way to go Spence! Sounds like you had a GREAT race!
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