The Day After

David at the starting line just moments after the race started.

Before I talk about the race, I need to thank my wonderful wife, Jennifer. I could never have done this without her help and support (or at least her acquiescence). My work schedule is weird, my running schedule is crazy, and my dietary needs are a pain. She puts up with all of it, and I am eternally grateful.

Well, my body is beat to heck, and I am very, very sore. Both legs, especially my knees, arches, shins, and right quad, are in distress and I'm having great difficulty walking. The little toe on my right foot is a big blood blister. Oddly, the part of my body that was in the most distress yesterday and forced me to start walking, my right gastroc near the achillees tendon, doesn't feel too bad. Go figure. That is the same gastroc I ripped almost three years ago, and in the same place where the pain began during the run. I'm going to have to work on that somehow before my next big run.

I went to bed at a reasonable hour last night, but woke up after noon. I missed church, and around 3:30 went back to be for a "little nap" but slept until after 8:00. I've been up almost three hours but will be heading back to bed soon. Again, I thank my wife for enduring through my schedule.

General Stuff.

I don't know how many people signed up to run or start in each category (marathon, half, or 5k). And, under the "marathoner's option," a person running the marathon can opt, in route, to run only the half. But 1,096 finished the marathon (713 men and 383 women) and 2,633 finished the half (1,123 men and 1,510 women). So, at least 3,729 people were on the starting line at 7:00 am. There was also a 5K, which started a few minutes after the marathon.

A few finishers of note. A young lady named "Mary," age 82, finished the half marathon in only 3:22:48. Another young lady, this one named "Molly" and 15 years of age, ran the full marathon in 4:16:49. These were the youngest, and oldest, competitors in the race. A gentleman named "George" at age 70, finished the full marathon in 4:41:03. Woo Hoo!

My Race Plan.

I downloaded the course elevation chart and the course video long before race day, so I felt like I had a good handle on what I would be facing. The elevation chart showed three hilly sections. The first section goes from about 1.7 mi to about mile 5, the second starts at around 8.5 mi and goes through mile 14, and the last one goes from mile 19 to mile 23. All three reach about the same elevation, but the first two sections are quite steep while the third section is a long, slow incline.

With this in mind, I used basically the same race plan as with the Lincoln Marathon, modified to allow for additional time on the inclines and a bit faster time on the declines. In both races, I divided the race into two parts: the first 15 mi, and the final 11.2 mi. The idea was that, if I ran the first 15 mi in around 3 hours, that would give me around 3 hrs to run the remaining 11.2 (which is 3.8 miles shorter). For the Lincoln Marathon, the 15 mi/11.2 mi division was a practicality. For KC, however, the division was much more strategic. The two steepest hill segments occurred in the first 14.25 (or so) miles. So, if I could knock out the most difficult part of the course in about three hours, I could finish the geographically easier final 11.2 mi in well under 3 hours. In Lincoln, I finished the 11.2 segment in 2:57:21, with individual mile times fluctuating from 15:30 to 17:03 per mile. If I could keep each mile in that 11.2 segment under under 15 min, I could shave up to 15 minutes off my other marathon time. Barring injury, of course.

The First 15.

The first 15 miles started very well. I was concerned by the race congestion at the beginning, because some of the slower runners lined up too far in front and passing them was a chore. At this point, someone might accurately say "but Kurt, YOU are one of the slower runners." Yes, and no. The marathoners and half marathoners start at the same time, so there were 3,729 folks on the starting line. While I was one of the slowest marathoners, the finish times show that I am actually faster than many of the folks who ran the half. I passed quite a few people nefore the routes split.

Anyway, the 1 mile sign had fallen down so I missed it, and recorded my time at mile 2. When I didn't see the sign I checked my IPod, which told me that I was around the 1.3 mile mark.

The first hill, which came at the 1.7 or so mile mark and extended to mile 3, was as dramatic as the elevation chart showed. I walked part of it (along with just about everyone else around me), but still finished a few seconds ahead of schedule. I completed the frst two miles in 21:12 and, using my Ipod time to extrapolate, my best guess is that I completed the first mile in about 9:40, completed mile 2 in 11:32, and mile 3 in 12:06.

I then settled in for the long haul, and recorded some good times. For example, I completed mile 6 in under 11 minutes. Mile 9 had the steepest hill in the race, which followed a mile long uphill beginning at mile 8. My time for mile 8 was very good, but my right gastroc started to cramp around my achilles tendon in mile 9, and with a cramping leg that steep hill was a bear. I had to run to the side of the road and stretch it, and that took valuable time. I also walked part of that big hill, and finished that mile in 13:47, which was by far my worst mile in the first 13 miles of the race. My left gastroc started to hurt somewhere around mile 11 or 12, but I was able to push through it, at least initially. I then recorded solid times for miles 14 and 15 so, despite the early cramping, I finished the first 15 miles in 3:05:36. That was 2:55 slower than my Lincoln Marathon time but, given the hills and my aching calves, I was VERY pleased.

The Last 11.2.

Started well but ended poorly. I finished mile 16 in 14:45, and 17 in 15:26 (which included a bathroom break), which was good. But, the cramping intensified. I noticed that the pain in my gastrocs caused my stride to change, so now my knees and arches were aching as well, as well as part of my right quad. My times continually slowed after that, until I realized that I could no longer run. I was profoundly dissappointed because, as late as mile 17, I was still on track to shave at least 15 minutes off my previous marathon time. But, I was not about to quit, and hoped that, perhaps, my legs would loosen enough so that I could run again. It was not to be. By mile 22 my time was over 17 minutes, and by mile 24 my time was over 18 minutes. I was toast. David met me about .2 from the finish. We walked a bit together, then I noticed that the last .1 or so the finish was a fairly pronounced down hill. I always sprint to the finish anyway, so I got David ready and we took off! That sprint felt like the male version of child birth, and it hurt so bad that I was biting my lip and tears started to form in my eyes. But, we sprinted all the way to the finish line.

While the last 5 miles was extremely painful, I did make some good memories. Somewhere around mile 22 or so, I caught up with a young lady who was doing her first marathon. We walked most of the rest of the way together. She and her husband live in Kansas City, and her husband and family were out cheering for her in much the same way as Jen and the kids were out for the Lincoln Marathon. They didn't have the neat signs, but the husband did have something I deeply appreciated - a bottle of cold water. It tasted like ambroisa from heaven! Her young teen daughter walked the last 3 miles with us. As we approached one of the camera stations, the photographer started to focus in on us. I called out for him to wait for just a second, then asked the woman and her daughter if they were up to jogging for a few seconds. So, when we got closer, we started to jog, he took some quick pictures, and we started walking again when he raised his camera. We met another photographer about a mile later and did the same thing. I'll buy a copy of the pictures when they become available.

As we walked, we closed in on two other gentleman who had been a short distance ahead of us. I had passed both previously and knew that one had injured his knee, but they passed me when I was refilling the water bottle at the comfort station. Anyway, we caught them with about .25 left, and I introduced David when he arrived at .2. I gave them advanced notice that I was going to sprint to the finish and, when it was time, I told them that I would see them at the end and then started my sprint. Despite the pain (it was bad) I was glad that David was with me when I crossed the finish line. Actually, he beat me by a few feet!

The sports photographers sort the pictures by racer's number, and I should get an email with pictures of me in a few weeks. They are a tad expensive, but I'll probably need to order a few because I don't have any other race pictures. I'll post them when they become available.