Party On

What a busy weekend for DC. Yesterday the running of the fifth National Marathon took over many city streets, the Tea Party was out in force around the Capitol in trying to intimidate wavering Democrats on the historic health care vote later today and the seventh anniversary of the Iraq invasion prompted an antiwar protest near the White House.

Saturday morning from my course marshal post on the race course at the bottom of Capitol Hill, I saw many friends go by. I also watched Tea Party members stream across the race route all morning enroute to the Capitol. When I gazed intently at their signs to try to read their scrawled messages (sample: Obama: B.O, B.S, Kill the Bill) I encountered hard stares back as if I was offering an affront by attempting to read their hand-lettered signs with my 57-year old eyes.

Local runner Michael Wardian won his fourth National Marathon (he was runner-up last year) in 21:58, and it was a thrill to see him go by my post at MP 16.5 almost five minutes ahead of the eventual runner-up (the man who beat him last year). Then as I threaded Tea Partiers through the marathoners on the race course so the partiers, exulting in their First Amendment rights, could exercise their views at the Capitol, a running club and coaching friend of mine ran by whom I hadn't seen since I resigned my position as DCRRC's president five months ago. Perhaps slightly befuddled by being on his seventeenth mile, he paused in his marathon and clasped me in a bear hug (I had offered him a high five), exclaiming, "Good to see you! Don't be a stranger!"

As his perspiration seeped through my dry clothes, I said, "Yeah, well times and things change." He ran off looking a little wounded (my bad) while I envied my friend being in the midst of running a marathon. I was worried that my Posterior Tibial Tendinitis (my aching ankle) would prevent me from ever running long again.

And meanwhile, Tea Partiers were hurling the N-word at an African-American Democrat Representative and the F-word at an openly-gay Democrat Representative who apparently are going to vote yes on today's historic health-care bill. Ugly ugly!

It was a heck of a ride

Here is the body of work I was responsible for in the six months since I became my running club's president. The club has over a thousand members and over $100K in assets. There were some further things I accomplished, such as negotiating a potential $4.5 K contract to provide training over the winter for up to three hundred registrants for a local national marathon. This agreement replaced the old understanding which paid nothing beyond brand name exposure. But...well...that's for another post.

In the actual club posting this was taken from, real names were used but the following has been slightly edited, mostly for privacy.

Spring 2009: 10K Training Program.

Ten program participants ran in the Capitol Hill Classic 10K target race, with four runners finishing in under an hour and one athlete taking second in her age group and another athlete taking third in her age group. Thanks to the Program Director [Peter] and all the volunteer coaches.

Summer 2009: Ten Mile Training Program which on my watch became the exclusive training partner for the Army Ten-Miler Race. 173 trainees registered, which potentially collected over $12K in revenues for the club, representing a six-fold increase over the program's revenues a year ago. Some Program highlights:

We provided 16 weeks of training at three different sites over two weekend days. Included for participants were three Happy Hours, one picnic, a pre-race dinner, six seminars and a weekly informative email. The Program Director had a speaking role at the ATM Expo, and there was a club Table for our racers at the race finish line.

The race administrators were so impressed with the professional job we provided that it indicated it wants the club back. In a mass emailing, under the heading "[Club Name]/ATM 10 Mile Training," the Army Ten-Miler Race reported that for "the first time ever the ATM used pace groups provided by [Club Name] and they were a success." Thanks have to go to the Program Marketer, the three Site Directors [including Peter], and all the volunteer coaches.

Summer 2009: Marathon Training Program:

About 100 trainees registered for 5 months of training. In addition to coaching, the MTP provided three seminars, social events, and a tent at the MCM Finish Line. Thanks to the Program Directors and all the volunteer coaches.

Fall 2009: Army Ten Miler Race Pace Program.

The Pace Program Director and several other club members [including Peter] led pace groups in the race, and all six led their groups to the finish line within thirty seconds of their goal times.

August 11, 2009 Bart Yasso event.

The club co-hosted, along with Saucony, a Fun Run on the Mall with noted runner Bart Yasso. At the subsequent social gathering in Georgetown, Saucony provided gait analysis while Yasso gave out free autographed copies of his autobiography. The Membership Coordinator set this up.

Other notable club events:

There were four club social gatherings, including a dinner at Generous George’s in Alexandria, two Happy Hours at Gordon Biersch in the District and a Happy Hour at Sette Bello in Arlington. Thanks to two club members for setting these up.

There was an attempt to partner with Channel 9 (WUSA) and Pacers on a charity-event 5K race in Silver Spring last month, which was cancelled in the last week by Channel 9. However, in addition to negotiating complete financial that the television station would cover all the losses, if any, the club got television exposure out of the non-event when a club member was interviewed by the local news during prime time. In addition, the club forged important new relationships with powerful local concerns. Thanks to the VP of Operations [and next club president] for doing so much work in setting up this race.

The club welcomed a new SLR Director, Membership Coordinator, and Volunteer Coordinator.

Awards were presented to the Snowball Series and Bunion Derby winners. These runners mostly ran in the normal complement of club races put on by our hard-working Race Directors and club volunteers. Notable was the complete face lift given to the Larry Noel 12K (formerly 15K) by its RD, and the 25th running of the National Capital 20-Miler and 5-Miler races under the direction of three longtime club members.

The club purchased an AED Defibrillator unit to be on hand for potential emergencies at track workouts and club races. The club provided six volunteer coaches with the opportunity to receive RRCA Coaching Certification training this fall, and negotiated that payment for all such training (including CPR/1st Aid) be paid for by the local national marathon.

Peter

Blog Land Hookup

I've been sort of remiss in keeping this blog updated recently. Busy at work, you know. Also busy lamenting losing 40% of my net worth in the last six months of the Decider's and the Torturer's (aka the Great Bird Hunter) reign. Trying to map out retirement at age 82 rather than 67.

Last month I attended a blogland hookup in DC at the District Chophouse on Seventh Street (NW) that was pure blogger. The occasion was Danielle from Iowa came to town to run the National Half-Marathon, and eight of us had pre-race dinner together. The pictures just came back (I still use film which bugs people I know mightily).

(Danielle, Adam, Rebecca, Joe, Audrey, NBTR, DC Rainmaker and DC Spinster.)

Sag you too.

After we picked up T at Saturday's SunTrust National Marathon, we drove up in the Sag Wagon behind two women and followed them for awhile as we approached the DC waterfront. One was a lady in her 60s, always traveling with a running motion although going very slowly, and the other was a 30s-something woman who was running some and walking some. She was barely ahead of the elderly lady. No one else was in sight, as the juggler had surged ahead of these two.

By now the long lost Sag Wagon 1 had joined our procession. The convoy of race vehicles, street sweepers, police cruisers and sag wagons followed the two women for a short bit, past MP 18. I confirmed that they were several minutes behind the course closure time for that point in the race. There seemed to be no prospect that they would make up the time, given the painful nature of their shuffling gaits.

I popped out of the bus and ran up to the elderly woman and walked alongside her. I remembered her from when she passed by me at MP 15 while I attended to the course clock there. She was very dignified and distinguished looking.

I asked her what her name was and told her the bridge, more than a mile ahead, was going to be opened soon and that she couldn't get there by then. Without arguing that point she said, "But there's a sidewalk on it."

Meanwhile the other woman had come back to us and joined our conversation. I agreed the bridge had a walkway but said that the road by the waterfront also needed to be opened and the support people should be released. I said that both of them had had wonderful long runs of 18 miles, quite a feat, on a beautiful morning and asked them to please get on the bus for their safety and support. I sorrily informed them that they wouldn't get a finishing time, no matter what. The younger woman looked stunned.

The elderly lady wanted to continue on the sidewalk, but only if she had company. She still had to go through SE Washington, after all. She looked at the other woman for support, but that woman shook her head and glumly climbed aboard the bus. The first woman followed suit. It was over for them.

Once everyone was aboard, the tail of the SunTrust National Marathon started to move with a little pep. Gears ground and gas pedals were pressed down. We drove over the streets by the waterfront and then turned onto a broad cement walkway along the river. There we came upon the juggler, and the vehicular juggernaut snugged in behind him at 4 MPH.

B, the elderly lady, cried out that we couldn't pick him up. He is well known and a mainstay at many local races. Ominous thoughts of newspaper headlines about the juggler being jerked off the marathon course by the DCRRC president flashed through my mind. Fortunately the juggler was many minutes ahead of the rolling course closure time and seemingly traveling at a pace that would carry him to the finish line on time. It was going to be a long seven miles though, even with the distraction of watching a traveling vaudeville act for over an hour. (Above: The juggler at a 2007 race in Anacostia River Park.)

We crawled by the Nationals' ballpark and creeped over the Frederick Douglass Bridge into Anacostia River Park. The younger woman was seething at having her marathon ended, although she claimed not to be mad at me. She wouldn't talk, except to say that she'd run marathons before. B, however, was quite pleasant and loquacious.

She said she had done 64 other marathons, well, actually 66, because the one she did on the Great Wall of China didn't count ultimately and now there was this DNF. But she had started this morning's marathon as a long training run and she was okay with being swept off of it. She was hoping to match her age soon in number of marathons completed. She was actually training for a 50-miler.

She was fascinating to talk to. She had done marathons on all seven continents. I asked about the one in Antarctica, and she said that one was very dangerous. They had arrived in their cruise ship off the Antarctic peninsula and a lead party had gone ashore to set out the milemarkers. The support stations were going to be the various national research stations. I guess you don't just set up water tables in the Antarctic. But then a storm system had descended upon the area and a three-day whiteout ensued. They barely got their advance party back. When it came time to sail away, with the storm barely abated, they gave the runners this choice to complete their Antarctic marathon. 422 laps around the ship's deck. She took it.

She had raced in Rio, and run by the Pyramids in Egypt and over to Gaza. In China, the marathon had started on the Great Wall and then traveled through a long series of rural roads before winding back to the Wall for the finish. However, she arrived back at the Wall four minutes after they opened it up to tourists for the day and they wouldn't let her pass by to complete the marathon. That was her only prior DNF, before Saturday.

We passed by a water station at MP 22 staffed by enthusiastic young men and women. I asked them to bring fluids to our wounded warriors and these eager children swarmed over the buses, offering up water and Gatorade. I asked Sag Wagon 1 to complete the mission of succoring any remaining runners on the course and we drove our three weary runners back to the finish area.

B was upbeat about it all, very positive, taking the situation as it occurred with a positive frame of mind. That's why we run.

Sag You

T was the first one we scooped up. We’d been following this late-40s runner for awhile.

Sag Wagon 2 was on task. It pulled out from the curb at MP 15, where it had sat idling for three and a half hours generating plenty of complaints from the neighbors (the driver kept the motor running to keep the heater going–it was cold!), and went off to find the tail of the SunTrust National Marathon.

Sag Wagon 1 was lost and never came by. Sag Wagon 2 was supposed to drive onto the course and start sweeping up slow and lame runners once it reached us. All the halting runners had already limped by us several minutes ago, followed by a procession of street sweepers, and nothing was coming down East Capitol Street now except for cars, which had been let back onto the road network by the beleaguered police who had been blocking off every street corner so far. If you want to hear a terrific argument, stand next to a policeman as he tells a local resident that the citizen can’t drive his car away from in front of his house for the next three hours because of some race.

We drove down to the Capitol where a Capitol Policeman stood next to his unit, eying us suspiciously. No buses are allowed to go by the Capitol. I got out to ask him where the race had gone, but he swept by me and hopped aboard the bus to look around. All he saw was the radioman and the driver. When he alighted again, satisfied we weren't the advance guard of the Taliban, I told him we needed to catch up to the end of the race, wherever it was. He waved us on.

Meanwhile, the race administrators were telling the radioman we should backtrack to find Sag Wagon 1 and pick up all the runners behind us. There were no runners behind us. And no one knew where Sag Wagon 1 was currently. This was getting to be like a typical military operation, all fouled up.

I told the driver to go on forward. The radioman looked dubious but reported my decision to base. We pawned responsibility for not following orders off onto the police, saying they had said there were no runners behind us. (They had said this. They apparently know everything.)

We turned onto Constitution Avenue and passed by MP 17. No walking wounded there. We turned into the Ninth Street tunnel which runs under the Mall, where we located T hobbling along, the tail of the race.

T was walking along with huge vehicular escort. He was being closely followed by a race vehicle picking up cones, street sweepers and several different jurisdiction police cruisers with their lights going. If I were T, all that commotion 12 feet behind me would have made me nervous. But he was ignoring it, I think in the hope that we would all go away.

I could see two women slowly moving along the tunnel up ahead, and way up ahead, the juggler. This locally famous juggler is actually a decent runner, but he apparently has to juggle so many seconds every minute during a race or else it doesn’t count. He was dropping a lot of balls because he was getting tired.

We followed T all the way through the long tunnel and down an exit ramp which led towards the Interstate highway. No one in the Sag Wagon knew where the race went but a printout of the race map showed a wicked hairpin turn where the course doubled back on itself. The two women were stopped here wondering whether the course went onto the Interstate or back down the other ramp towards the DC waterfront. There wasn't a race marshal here, merely a set of cones set haphazardly in the roadway. I waved the women down towards the water, figuring that no marathon would put runners onto an Interstate full of moving cars. The operative word here was FUBAR.

T limped down the ramp towards the waterfront and MP 18. The Sag driver could barely go slow enough to keep behind him. The radio operator confirmed that T was several minutes behind the rolling cutoff time for that section of the course. National has a qualifying standard of five hours to enter, and a course limit of six hours to finish.

The Frederick Douglass Bridge across the Anacostia over by the new ballpark was still another mile ahead, still closed down waiting the passage of these few runners before it could reopen.

I hopped out of the bus and ran up to T and fell in beside him. I asked him how he was doing. He said fine in a hopeful manner. I asked him his name, and then I lowered the boom. I said he’d run a terrific race, but I had to put him on the bus. He acted as though he didn't know what I was talking about. That bus there, I said, pointing to the shuttle bus twelve feet back, leading the slow moving convoy. He acted as though it was the first time he'd seen any of that back there.

I told T that an 18 mile run was a tremendous accomplishment which lots of people couldn’t do. He'd already had a beautiful run on a wonderful morning. But it was past time for Maine Avenue down by the waterfront to be reopened, and he wouldn't make the bridge before it reopened as well. He could continue by taking off his bib and becoming a pedestrian on the sidewalk, but he wouldn’t get a finishing time. I didn’t recommend this course, I said, because he would lose his support and it would be unsafe. Get on the bus, I urged.

I felt like a State Trooper again back in Colorado, trying to talk a recalcitrant motorist into doing something he didn’t want to do. A good cop operates by persuasion, not force.

My old fast-talking charm was still there. T got on the bus. I felt bad though, as for the next hour T resisted all my attempts to engage him in a conversation and merely politely answered my questions. He displayed neither anger nor resistance. I think he was mortified.

Directly ahead were the two women, moving very slowly. One of them was to prove to be very interesting, a seven-continent marathoner.

What a race

The National Marathon was run yesterday. This is a great race, a must-do. A comer. Even if they did run out of cups yesterday.

I ran the infamous seven hills of hell part of this course in PG County the first year when the race strayed beyond the confines of the District. Bex was doing her first marathon and I accompanied her the last six miles. They changed the course the next year to put it entirely within the District and eliminated these diabolical hills. I still go over to PG County once a year to run those seven hills on Central Avenue/East Capitol Street for hillwork. Whomever I talk into accompanying me never runs with me again. It's like being out on a LRRP patrol over there, they are not used to seeing runners on that vast highway wasteland and the locals do not react well to their presence. During the marathon, scores of motorists, angry at being delayed by road closures, drove alongside runners on the other side of the road and yelled and gave them the finger. When I last did this run one Sunday morning last fall, Redskins fans, obviously well into their cups already, honked and shouted at us for daring to be on the shoulder of their highway as they zoomed off to their hours-long pre-game tailgate rituals at FedEx Field.

The next year I set my marathon PR in this race. I will never forget running over the Frederick Douglass Bridge into the District proper from Anacostia (SE) in the early morning gloom and, when the mist suddenly parted, seeing revealed to me the steel skeleton of the new baseball park being built, arising out of the ground by the river shore. It was a magnificent sight, my most memorable marathon moment ever in this, my second favorite marathon race (NYCM is the best race ever) .

Last year I directed the 17-week Reebok SunTrust National Half Marathon Training Program and I felt I should run the half-mary in support of my trainees. Although a couple of trainees and a couple of coaches beat me, I was gratified to get my second best HM time on the course. I liked the course a lot, with it's challenging hill being in the middle (around the seventh mile) when you're still "fresh." Its long downhill run to its ending point at RFK from the course's high point near McMillian Reservoir (where the raucous Howard University band lifts your spirits with their brassy sound and extreme gyrations) takes you through parts of the District where runners rarely go otherwise.

This year I directed 20-week Reebok SunTrust National Half Marathon Training Program again. We had great turnout each week at our usual meeting place Gotta Run in Arlington, and incredible coaches. (Thanks Matt, Lauren, Ellen & John, and get better soon Emily!) I know a lot of the trainees ran the race and did well, and I know Ellen, at least, had an incredible 11-minute PR. Ellen, a trainee last year, developed an incredibly devoted following amongst her charges as a coach this year.

Since I had run the marathon and had a good HM race on the course already, I saw no need to run either race again. I wanted to learn more about administering a big race so I contacted the race administrators and asked for SAG Wagon duties. Racers know what the ominous SAG Wagon is. Those interesting duties will be the subject of a future post.

The next Program

Week 2 of the twenty-week 2009 Reebok SunTrust National Marathon and Half Marathon Training Program, powered by volunteer coaches from my running club, is done. Or at least the long Saturday run is over. I have to run the track workout Wednesday evening.

Last week we all met at the Georgetown Running Company, normally the hook-up point for the marathon runners. After we listened to elite athlete Samia Akbar speak about running, we went out for a 6 mile run on the C&O Canal Towpath. It took an hour and the run was along the Potomac on nice soft dirt. I created the route. Yes, it was nice.

I direct the HM Program. Today we met at Gotta Run, our normal starting point. The fast coach wasn't there so I took out the rabbits. We went 7.45 miles running up to Ridge Road, down to Four-Mile Run Creek, over to the Potomac and on to National Airport, back up to Ridge Road and home. Do you get the idea that we ran up a ridge twice? I created the route. No, it was not nice.

We did it in 1:05:02. The four runners I was running with politely let me lead and set the pace. They didn't know where to go anyway. During the sixth mile, going up 23rd Street, which I call Restaurant Row, to get onto S. Arlington Ridge Road the second time, D, who ran a 1:32 Half in Baltimore last month, pulled even. He looked at me and smiled. "Go on, go on," I gasped as I feebly waved him on. His face brightened and he lit out up the hill, surmounted it, trotted back down and came up it a second time with me. Evidently the other three didn't feel like showing off because they stayed put behind me.

Last Wednesday was the Program's first track workout night. All these fasties showed up then too. The routine was 6X400 at tempo pace. I was the fastest of the three coaches there so I dutifully fell in with the fast group. Three guys rocketed off to a series of splits in the mid-80s, and I hung with the rest of the faster group many meters back. I did 90-92-96-98-92-93. I didn't lay a glove on those three students way up in front.

Man is this stuff great or what?

The SunTrust National Marathon Newsletter

I received the SunTrust National Marathon Newsletter in my email box yesterday. Intending to delete it, I opened it and glanced at it.

It headlined 2008 as a record breaking year for the three-year old race, and posted a picture of local legend Michael Wardian threepeating in a course record time of 2:24:57. It listed both half-marathon winners as setting course records, Ezkyas Sisay in 1:06:17 and Virginian Samia Akbar in 1:16:31. It pointed out that DC Mayor Adrian Fenty PR’d in 3:40:05, and it touted essay winner Steven Babylon, who wrote about his adopted daughter who loved playing with his marathon medals, so he had to get more for her. Lastly, it listed the Featured Runner with this accompanying picture.

What a surprise. (Look, I'm wearing my Reebok shorts!)

The newsletter said that I started running in 2000 and have become a coach and running advocate as well as a runner. When I am "not wearing the tread off [my] running shoes, [I] maintain a blog about life and running in the DC area." All of that is true. Then it provided the link to my blog.

Since they didn't interview me, I can't claim I was misquoted. Which otherwise, I aways do. Keep your options open, I always say.

I sure enjoyed running the SunTrust National Half Marathon, yet I never really posted a full report about it. I already told you it was my second best time for a half marathon (my PR is 1:44:18 at the Inaugural Disneyland Half). I’m not going to bore you with a full report now, but my splits are informative, so I’ll list them. Numbers don’t lie.

The course definitely has hills in its middle part. Between the fourth and seventh miles it rises 200 feet, with the steepest climb being right at the 10K mark. Starting at the eight and a quarter mile mark, the course runs downhill to the finish, except for one more climb of about 65 feet in the twelfth mile.

I believe that to run a fast race, you have to get going right from the start--fast. My first two miles were fast, 7:41 and 7:33 (down Capitol Hill).

Then I didn't see any more mile markers til the sixth one, at 47:30 (7:55). This time included a porta-potty stop of perhaps 45 seconds in the third mile. In the sixth mile, we were into the uphill section of the course, at the steepest part. I ran over a timing mat at the 10K point in 49:22 (7:57).

The rest of the way went like this. Seventh mile 8:31 (steepest hill); eighth mile 8:05; ninth mile 8:05 (going downhill); tenth mile 7:56 (10 Miles, 1:20:10 (8:01)).

The last three miles were 8:18; 8:37 (an uphill plus I was drifting); and 8:00 (Sasha passed me by and I pepped up, thinking I might light out after her). 0:48 for the last tenth. Final Time: 1:45:35 (8:04).

It was 17 seconds faster than flat Disney World in 2006, when I was running well. It was 81 seconds slower than Disneyland in 2006, when I was at my peak. In both those races I had some gas in the tank at the end. Here, my tank was empty and I finished on fumes.

My last 5K at the Disneyland Half Marathon was 23:10 (7:27); here, it was 25:25 (8:11). That's a big difference.

Numbers don't lie. But I was thinking 1:53, so I'll gladly take 1:45.

National Marathon Course Considerations

I listened to Keith Dowling, the SunTrust National Marathon Race Director, speak at the annual banquet for the DC Road Runners on Sunday. He is a noted runner in his own right. He was the first American at the 2002 Boston Marathon, 15th overall, in a time of 2:13:28.

He was visibly relaxed, as the marathon he had just directed the day before went pretty well. You could tell though, that he was already starting to fret about the next one coming up in 364 short days. Such is the life of a major race director. (Right: Keith setting his PR at the 2002 Boston Marathon. Photo credit Alison Wade.)

The first year of this three-year old race there were traffic issues. This led to the part of the course in Prince Georges County being abandoned (a really hilly part along Central Avenue and East Capitol Street that I called the Seven Hills of Hell) and the race was brought entirely within the District.

The second year there were distance issues with the half-marathon course which ran a little long due to an AWOL course marshal. Many runners were outraged, especially those that can’t walk down the sidewalk without consulting their Garmins. Personally, I think that everybody ran the same distance, and the times were a little slow. So what.

This year there were no major problems that I know of. Michael Wardian from Arlington won the race for the third straight year in course record time and then immediately left for Knoxville, where he hoped to win its marathon the very next day. (He was leading until the last mile when he was overhauled and he finished third.)

Some tidbits I learned: The marching band placed strategically at the highpoint of the course near McMillan Reservoir was the Howard University band, fulfilling a course requirement by performing at the race. I would grade them an A+. They were good!

The day before the race Metro announced it would open two hours early at 5 am. Many runners took it to the 7 am race. The mayor, an avid runner (3:40 on Saturday), had something to do with that.

The first sponsor, Wirefly, went through a financial restructuring and SunTrust, with its rock-solid history of sponsoring the respected Richmond Marathon, stepped in.

The marathon featured running teams while the half marathon did not. The rationale behind that is to allow the longer race to have some stand-alone features, so the popularity of the half marathon doesn’t overwhelm the marathon.

The qualifying times for the race, not always popular with runners, were installed as a way to ensure that the roads reopened in a judicious fashion. Another way to achieve this is by using a rigid timetable to reopen roads, but a benefit from the qualification approach is that it ensures that everyone on the course has raced before. This eliminates running novices who show up merely trying to do 13 or 26 miles without any prior preparation, an approach that can lead to injury or even tragedy.

Tweaking the course is always under consideration. The race is a tour of the four quadrants of the city and passes by many of its numerous monuments. (Seeing the dome of the Capitol for the first ten minutes of the race, brilliantly reflecting the sun rising behind the runners, is a good start to the day.) The course currently runs past the Washington Monument but not down to the Lincoln Memorial. Changing that is under discussion.

The course was flipped around from last year’s route so it would reopen the denser NW quadrant to traffic first, not last. The sparsely inhabited SE section along the Anacostia is now run last, not earlier in the race. The traffic control officials apparently like this course the best.

It was interesting to hear about considerations of a major marathon from its director. Keith does a great job.

My personal opinion is that you gotta do this race. I mean it. Last year I thought it was really cool to run in the 9th Street traffic tunnel under the Mall during the race, where otherwise pedestrians cannot go. This year the runners ran in the Connecticut Avenue traffic tunnel under Dupont Circle, where you could never venture on foot normally. It was cool running through there even though it was uphill coming out.

The National Marathon Training Program

This morning was the sixth week for the Reebok Training Program for the Wirefly National Marathon and Half-Marathon, to be run on March 29, 2008. On Saturday mornings we run long, and on Wednesday evenings, the participants have the opportunity to do a track workout in the presence of coaches.

My running club, DCRRC, is "powering" the training by supplying the coaching and expertise for the sixteen week program. It is directed by club president Ed Grant, who runs the Marathon training portion of it out of the Georgetown Running Company store in DC. I run the Half-Marathon portion ("Program") of it out of the Gotta Run store in Arlington. (Above: Gene and Rita smile as they wait for Matt to be ready, while the two Stephanies stretch.)

Today Matt took out two athletes of the advanced group on a fast eleven mile run through Old Town. Sasha trailed behind him with another athlete from the intermediate group on a ten mile run, cutting a little bit of Matt's route off down by the Torpedo Factory along the waterfront.

I took out eight runners in the beginners group the other way, north past the Pentagon, over the Memorial Bridge, down the Mall, up Capitol Hill and back, a run of ten miles in a little under two hours. Half the group, just starting out their training, turned around at the Washington Monument and returned together, making it a six mile run. Everyone who made it to the Capitol looked swell powering up Capitol Hill, a steep obstacle. (Above: Sasha leads the two Stephanies out.)

It was a terrific run for me. The weather was cooperative, 45 degrees with no wind, but that wasn't why I enjoyed it so much. Since the only male trainee in the Program, who is a terrific guy to be sure, went off with Matt, that left only me to run with eight women. Well, somebody had to do it. (Above: The sun rises on a Saturday morning in the Program. Photo credit SL.)

Product Placements, or Injured Again

The second week of training for the National Half-Marathon, to be run fifteen weeks hence on March 29, 2008, was held yesterday morning in South Arlington. I went out with the intermediate group, and we ran seven miles out and back on the Mount Vernon Trail at a 9:09 pace. Before the run, the Reebok rep came by with running outfits for the coaches. Reebok is sponsoring the training program, while my running club is supplying the coaches. I liked the running jacket provided, it was light-weight and wind-resistant, keeping me warm on a cold windy morning without allowing too much of a heat-buildup as the run progressed. (Above: Reebok's lightweight men's running jacket. Absolutely perfect for West Point graduates.)

During the run I developed a painful cramp in my right calf muscle, which I ran through. It hurt, although I couldn't imagine how you could injure your calf by just running. Perhaps the two miles I did the night before, an 8:28 outbound mile uphill and a 7:55 return, started the problem. I really should warm up before I just "head out" when I return home from work and before I eat dinner.

I was going to do 18 miles this morning. It was in my brain that eighteen was what was on the schedule and it's so hard to give up when it's locked in. Forget about the cold pelting rain out there, other runners were out in it. But as I worried my calf "injury" with my Runner's Stick, it really hurt. Dragging the stick over my right calf twenty times, even lightly, was pure agony. I decided not to do the eighteen, nor even to run at all today even though the rain stopped. (Above: The Stick. Hey you, it's my right calf that hurts.)

I couldn't walk up the stairs but I was wrestling with guilt about not augmenting last weekend's fifteen mile run with eighteen today. I feel like a such a slug. Are runners insane or merely strange?

A Busy Day of Running

Lots of running stuff happening. Yesterday was the start of the Reebok Marathon and Half Marathon Training Program for the Wirefly National Marathon on March 29, 2008, which is a must-do marathon. Reebok's training program is "powered by" my running club, and I am directing the half-marathon portion of it, operating out of the Gotta Run running store in Arlington. Four coaches took seven runners out on a 10K run in about an hour in South Arlington yesterday. You can sign up for the training program on the race website. I am very excited about this, as all of the program coaches will receive the opportunity to get coaching certification out of it.

(Left: Almost there! Approaching the bridge over Leesburg Pike WB on the W&OD. Right over the hump of the bridge is MP 7. 200 feet further and you'll be passing by my house.) This morning I ran 15 miles on the W&OD in 2:08:32 (8:38) in cold and rainy conditions. Along the way I did my eight on date eight (actually the date was the ninth) in 1:07:27 (8:26) and I completed my virtual Blue and Gray Half-Marathon run, actually held in Fredericksburg, in 1:51:51 (8:32). Jeanne and Susie and David, Susie's husband, actually ran the race in Fredericksburg. Susie achieved her excellent time of last year, David broke two hours (congratulations to him!) and Not Born To Run PRed! I'll let her tell you all about it when she posts about it, at this very moment she is limping back to DC in a car without a muffler. She called me from the road and asked if I could hear her muffler, or lack of it, over her cellphone. Naw, I said, I could hear it before you called.

NBTR reports that she called Bex after the B&GHM and Bex answered on her cellphone and reported she was at that moment at MP 11 in the Honolulu Marathon, slogging through a heavy rain on her 26 mile "training run."

Did You See That?

It's amazing what you don't see late in a marathon. When I ran the WDWM in 2006 I ran right by a giant dinosaur in Animal Kingdom and I never saw it. When I looked at the professional pictures later, I said, Huh? When did I run by that? (Right: That's me in the white shirt running away from a dinosaur in the 2006 Walt Disney World Marathon that I never saw.)

Since we ran through the four theme parks on Disney property during the marathon, I later surmised through a process of elimination that I probably ran by it in Animal Kingdom, apparently around MP 17. But I never saw that towering leviathan.

Here's another thing I ran by without a clue in a marathon. In National Marathon in March, apparently a gentleman took a nasty tumble near the finish line right in front of me. He lay prostate for several moments, facedown on the ground while a steady stream of runners, myself included, ran right by, ignoring him. (Left: At National Marathon in front of RFK, two hundred yards from the finish, a runner is lying facedown in the middle of the picture. I am approaching in the distance in black shirt and black trunks.)

I never saw him. When I looked at the professional pictures later, I said, Huh? Did I run by that? (Right: The man is still inert facedown on the pavement. I'm running up on him, unknowing.)

Although bloodied, he was all right I suppose. At least he had a finishing time (I looked it up). I don't know whether he tripped or collapsed. (Left: Finally the downed runner received some assistance as medical workers roll him over. Runners continue on by, oblivious.).

Some help he got from me, a former EMT. (Right: Bloodied Finisher. A Fifty-Stater at that. Now he has DC in there too, the hard way.) It's a jungle out there in the last miles of a marathon.




(Left: Downed runner? Huh?)

Synchronized Running Marathon Team

Y'all know I ran the National Marathon in March. What you don't know is that within the marathon, I was competing in the obscure sport of Synchronized Running.

I was on a coed team, the DC Spinners. The rules state that you need two pairs of synchronized runners. One of the overall total has to be a woman. All four runners can be synchronized, but for extra difficulty points you can have two synchronized pairs of runners traveling side by side.

Here is my team early in the marathon. We thought we were hot because before the sun even came out we were displaying dual synchronized running routines.

Look at the form on me and my partner. We're the two runners on the right. Arms synchronized, strides perfectly matched, both looking slightly away.

Our dual teammates to the left in the picture also had their routines down pat. Look at their synchronized uplifted toe thrusts. Maybe we would have lost a point because their fist closures weren't exactly the same (one has an open thumb) but the degree of difficulty we demonstrated during this type of tandem running was very high.

We were robbed! My team was DQed because of a "lack of symetry in appearance." Not our movements, but our appearance! My partner's competiton number was not as "proximate on her person" as mine. Talk about chickensh*t application of the rules.

I guess to make sure they didn't get sued (I am a lawyer) they added the violation that our chip ankle strips were not "of even appearance" (on the same foot).

Can you believe it? I was so disgusted that I didn't even bother to look up who won.

Bex ran by during the race and waved at us while we were performing. A photographer happened to catch her just then. Bex is a great person and all, but I know she brooks no fools.

I have studied this photo and I go back and forth on this. What do you think? Is Bex smiling and waving hello to us? Or is she smirking and dismissively flicking her hand at us? After all, I'm well aware that the sport of Synchronized Running is generally scoffed at within the marathoning community.

The National Marathon: Recap.

National Marathon Recap: Marathon Training Lite.

Now that I have signed up for the Chicago Marathon, I should analyze what I did to train for the National Marathon last month so hopefully I can improve.

I ran the NYCM on Sunday, November 5, 2006 in 3:52:34 (8:52). I was in pretty good shape for a marathon then, although I bonked at MP 21 and walked at least a half dozen times from there. In the twenty weeks between New York and National, I didn’t correct my most glaring weakness, which is my lack of a mileage base. Here’s a recap of my training between marathons.

4 Weeks of Recovery from New York:
November, 2006
Week 20: 2 runs, 3.8 miles. Yoga twice, biking once.
Week 19: 2 runs, 3 miles. Ran the monthly noontime 3K race around the Tidal Basin in 13:16 (7:07).
Week 18: 3 runs, 9 miles. Ran a tempo 3K (7:16). Yoga once.
Week 17: 4 runs, 11.3 miles. Yoga once.

16 Weeks of Training for National:
December, 2006
Week 16: 1 run, 4.4 miles (7:53), running on the Mall with G, who last week ran a 3:14 Boston.
Week 15: 3 runs, 19.1 miles. LSD of 11 miles (8:46).
Week 14: 5 runs, 24.1 miles. LSD of 12 miles (8:43). Back to my standard of running five times a week. Ran my last race of the year, the noontime Tidal Basin 3K, 13:09 (7:03).
Week 13: 5 runs, 22 miles. LSD of 11.6 miles (8:48). Tempo 3.75 miles finished by running up Capitol Hill (8:09).
January, 2007
Week 12: 5 runs, 22.3 miles. LSD of 7 miles (8:27). I start leading a Saturday LSD group that is gearing up for the National Half-Marathon in twelve weeks, but none of them want to run more than 6 or 7 miles yet. Tempo 5.6 miles (8:11),
Week 11: 5 runs, 22.4 miles. LSD of 13.5 miles (8:40), achieved by running 5.5 miles (8:00) to my Saturday group run and then running 8 miles (9:07) with them. I am very fatigued during the last mile.
Week 10: 5 runs, 17.8 miles. LSD of 9 miles (9:57). Noontime 3K race 13:28 (7:13). One Kickboxing class. The weather has turned bitterly cold for the duration.
Week 9: 5 runs, 21.6 miles. LSD of 10 miles (8:40). Two tempo runs on Wednesday of 5.6 miles (8:06) and 2.5 miles (8:00).
Week 8: 5 runs, 5 miles. Very busy at work. I run a mile five times when I can. 8:00, 7:34, 7:44, 6:48, 6:44.
February 2007
Week 7: 5 runs, 23.3 miles. LSD of 18 miles (8:58), achieved by running 7 miles (9:00) and then seventeen minutes later running 11 miles (8:57) with my group. I was really fatigued the last two miles and although I rallied and passed Bex near the end, she ran me down and finished half a minute ahead of me.
Week 6: 1 run, 11 miles. LSD of 11 miles (8:55). A and Jake finished several minutes ahead of me. I hurt myself shoveling snow.
Week 5: 5 runs, 18.6 miles. LSD of 9.2 miles (8:26). I ran this distance at a Marathon Relay. (Our Washington's Birthday Marathon Relay team. Myself 9.2 miles (8:26), L 7.3 miles (8:27) and D 9.7 miles (8:06). We finished fourth in 3:36:56 (8:17), 3:40 slower than in 2006 when we finished sixth. D ran the third leg 3:24 faster last year than I did it this year.) Last year I ran 9.7 miles at the same relay at a 7:59 pace. This year the wind was brutal but I didn’t have any oomph and I wilted on the last big hill where two other relay runners passed me without any response from me. At least I didn’t walk up the hill. Noontime short 3K race 12:31 (7:07), where I couldn't hold off a late charge by a competitor. My club’s current 10K Group Training Program starts on Saturdays which compounds my mileage problem since I’ll be going 10K distances with them on weekends, not marathon distances. I’m starting to sweat the marathon coming up.
Week 4: 5 runs, 15.7 miles. I do my only track workout 4X800s (4:00, 3:25, 3:20, 3:00). Yoga once.
March, 2007
Week 3: 5 runs, 34.9 miles. LSD of 23.3 miles (10:05), achieved by running 11.8 miles (9:52) then ninety minutes later running 11.5 miles (10:18). The last five miles about killed me. 2.5 mile Tempo run (7:58).
Week 2: 3 runs, 21.6 miles. LSD of 14.6 miles (7:59). I ran this distance at a Marathon Relay with Bex, and we take first in the co-ed division. I conclude from this showing that I am capable of running the National Marathon and I finally sign up for it.
Week 1: 1 run, 1.8 miles. This is the noontime 3K race in 12:52 (6:54) on Wednesday, during which I hold off a competitor late. On Saturday I run a 3:50:22 (8:48) at National. The last 10 miles are miserable. I need more base.

Totals for the 16 week training period leading up to National:
Sixteen Weeks 64 runs (4 per week).
285.5 miles (17.85 per week). One week of over 26.2 miles (week 3). Avg. of 4.46 miles per run (including LSDs).
Long runs: Eight runs of 10 miles or more. Breakdown, longest runs first:
23.3 (Week 3, 11.8 miles, 90-minute break, then 11.5 miles)
18 (Week 7, seven miles, 17-minute break, then eleven miles).
14.6 (Week 2) (Race)
13.5 (Week 11)
12 (Week 14)
11 (Week 6)
11 (Week 15)
10 (Week 9)
9.2 (Week 5) (Race)
9 (Week 10)
7 (Week 12)
One track workout. No hill workouts. Seven races.

I think I need more miles.

The National Marathon. Review: The Last Six Miles.

The National Marathon Review. The last 10K was...a chore.
If you do marathons, you gotta do this race.

My splits.
MP Split Time Notes
1. 7:49 (7:49)
2. 7:45 (15:51) Down Capitol Hill.
3. 7:57 (23:49)
4. 8:11 (32:49)
5. 8:11 (40:11)
6. 8:11 (49:12)
7. 8:12 (56:35)
8. 8:14 (1:04:50)
9. 8:33 (1:13:23) Up the hill on M Street NE.
10. 8:04 (1:21:28) Half Marathoners split off in SE.
11. 8:38 (1:30:06)
12. 8:28 (1:38:30)
13. 8:40 (1:47:10) Over the Frederick Douglass Bridge.
14. 8:35 (1:55:46)
15. 8:42 (2:04:28) Through the 9th Street Tunnel .
16. 8:51 (2:13:20)
17. 8:53 (2:22:14) Passing Lincoln.
18. 9:49 (2:32:03) Up Rock Creek. Gu stop.
19. 9:31 (2:41:35) There's an incline in Rock Creek Park!
20. 11:04 (2:52:39) Walking the Calvert Climb.
21. 9:49 (3:04:51) My last walk uphill.
22. 9:48 (3:12:07) Up past the McMillan Reservoir.
23. 8:46 (3:20:54) Downhill.
24. 9:15 (3:30:09) The pace group passes by.
25. 9:15 (3:39:25) I attach myself to the pace group.
26. 9:12 (3:48:37) Looking for RFK.
.21. 1:59 (9:04) My pace for this two tenths.
3:50:22 (8:48) My National.

The first twenty miles. I arrived at Milepost 20 in Adams Morgan, with its cheering throngs of spectators (Adams Morgan turned out, bless them) at 2:52, an 8:38 pace so far. (Left: We went from down there to up here in about 200 yards during the Calvert Climb.) My pace had fallen a lot in the last seven miles from my halfway pace of 8:15 down by the new stadium. (Right: We ascended these heights by climbing up the Calvert Climb.)

The old saw goes that a marathon is a twenty mile warmup for a 10K race. RFK and the finish line was 6.2 miles away. The race was strictly business now, the business of finishing it without wrecking it. It was no longer fun and the next hour would tell. (Below: After the Calvert Climb we still had to climb that up ahead. The view up Calvert Street towards Adams Morgan from the Duke Ellington Bridge.)

Gone was my hope of breaking 3:45, left behind on the incline in Rock Creek Park. Still within my grasp but fading quickly was my hope of beating 3:50. Still beckoning was breaking my PR at last November's NYCM of 3:52:34, although it would be close. More realistic, but not a certainty, was meeting my new standard of beating four hours.

The last 10K.
MP 21-12:12 (3:04:51). I had walked up the Calvert Climb out of Rock Creek Park on 24th Street NW. The climb on Calvert Street to Columbia Road was much less severe and I had managed it pretty well because I was familiar with the road, having run it several times. Turning left on Columbia and running past MP 20, I left behind all familiar terrain. I had never run up here before and didn't know what to expect. It was uphill, that much was plain to see. (Left: Turning up Columbia Road after The Climb and the climb up Calvert Street. A few more hills waited up here.)

I debouched from Columbia onto a long uphill stretch on Harvard Street. Its length was visually intimidating and I broke down into a walk for the second time. After 50 yards I started running again. I was going to wreck my race right there if I started to cycle in walking breaks. I went by the Red Bull Energy Drink stand but didn't take any of the proffered elixirs. I remember thinking it was odd they were handing out energy drinks here at the top of the race at MP 21, rather than at the bottom of the race at MP 19. I missed the milemarker so at 12 minutes I punched my Timex to keep my splits correct.

MP 22-7:15 (3:12:07). I ran by the McMillan Reservoir. I had never seen this body of water before, nor even knew it existed. Running past it was uphill, as always seems to be the case when running by water is involved, but then I crested a slight ridge and started down Michigan Avenue. It was rolling hills up here but I knew from studying the topographical map that a two mile downhill stretch was half a mile away. I couldn't wait for it and its promise kept me moving forward. I took a right onto North Capitol Street and the slight downhill grade lay before me, enticing me onwards like the Sirens of Titan. This was a short mile because I missed milemarker 21, so I had no idea how I was actually doing in terms of pace.

MP 23-8:46 (3:20:54). Downhill is better than uphill. I had wanted to fly down this long decline of North Capitol Street but now my feet were striking the pavement hard, keeping my speed in check. I was too tired to do anything with the downhill. In several places the roadway dipped under an overpass, presenting an uphill section on the other side. Runners around me were walking up those short stretches. I was tempted also, but here is where I took back my race. I powered through those uphills and just kept looking for mileposts. I knew one stretch of a series of turns was coming up and then I'd be in the vicinity of RFK. This stretch was the dogs days of the marathon.

MP 24-9:15 (3:30:09). I turned onto K Street NE. From the elevation chart I knew the long downhill was over and there were several rollers down here. I was really fading, thinking that I could walk it in from here and still do all right, get my 3rd best time even if I missed breaking 4 hours. I had given up on breaking 3:50 because I knew I couldn't do two and a quarter miles in 20 minutes. I had no oomph left. The 3:50 pace group ran by. I recalled reading running blog accounts where runners late in marathons had let their opportunites slip away and just a few minutes later they were ruing the irreversible effect of their momentary hesitation. This group was led by three Naval Academy students and had five or six men with blank expressions hanging on within it. It was a moving wedge working its way down the tail end of the race, destined to hit the finish line in three miles at the appointed time of 3:50. My desired time. I stepped into the spot right behind and between two pace setters. I watched the back kick of the end one and tried to stay where her heels had just left the air on their swing forward. I was so close it probably bothered the hell out of her. I was in her space. But I was desperate that no separation occur, otherwise I was afraid I'd lose her and the group and miss my PR by seconds after almost four hours of running.

MP 25-9:15 (3:39:25). We ran silently on. Ghost runners in a ghost group. We were definitely running past people though. I ran by my only spectator in the whole race, Jeanne, who had come from her hospital bed to encourage me on at H Street NE and 4th, just past MP 24. Her hail to me boosted my spirits. Thus energized, I hung with the pace group another half mile. Then I let them go. I was spent and couldn't keep up anymore. They had served me well, ensuring my PR. I hadn't squandered the opportunity the pace group had presented to me. There, near MP 24, stepping it up when they went by me and hanging with them for five or six minutes, was the key to my successful marathon. (Above: The 3:50 pace group at MP 24 on H Street NE at 4th Street NE. Look at those roller hills in the background! Photo credit Jeanne.)

MP 26-9:12 (3:48:37). Running alone again, I was trying to pick up my pace near RFK, anxiously looking for the stadium. I was back in an area where I had run before so I knew I wasn't far away from the finish. Determination was powering me now because my training hadn't been long enough or good enough or hard enough to take me this far. I kept thinking, Last mile. Keep at it.

.021875-1:59 (3:50:22). In sight of RFK, I passed the final milepost on the last long curve around to the plaza fronting the stadium where the finish line was. I thought about how long it would take to do one turn around the track at Washington & Lee High School in Arlington on the club's speed workout night. I could run a lap in 88 seconds there. I did the math. I wasn't going to break 3:50 in this race. I still brought it home as hard as I could to assure myself of meeting my bronze standard of a PR. I ran across the finish line in 3:50:22 net time, 3:50:39 gun time, bettering my NYCM mark by 2:12. (Left: Finally finished. So, umm, do you think my running shorts are too baggy? My good friend S gave me my Red Chili Pepper Socks as a present at the NYCM Expo. They're hot at least.)

After the race, I had some pizza and Stella Artois in Capitol Hill with my running buddy A and her friend L, who had PR'd in the long Half. That was some good recovery repast. A, good friend that she is, patiently listened to my long boring account of the morning's run while I unwound, even though she was tired from having stayed up late the evening before to attend the Snow Patrol concert at the Bender Arena.

Man, I liked this race. Three weeks later I have come to the conclusion that, aside from the NYCM (I grew up on Staten Island where it starts), this was my favorite marathon. I liked the way the course took us through all four quadrants of the city. Of the scenic urban marathons I have done, Columbus was nice and flat and I had family there, Twin Cities was beautiful being on the Mississippi and running by the lakes and all, Baltimore was, well, hilly, and MCM was nice but it doesn't actually go through the city a whole lot, but this marathon occupies a dreamy part of my mind already, right there alongside New York. (Right: DC Mayor Fenty finishes in 4:08.)

The National Marathon: Review. Halfway Mark to MP 20.

National Marathon Review: Halfway mark to MP 20. The Hills.

First half review. Although I felt good in the first half of the 2007 National Marathon, I was steadily slipping off my goal of 8-minute miles as I chased after a time of 3:45 (8:35). After four miles I was steadily over eights, and I ran an 8:40 thirteenth mile. In the second half of the race I wouldn't run any mile in under 8:35. The thirteenth mile was up and over the long Frederick Douglass Bridge over the Anacostia River. (All smiles the day before at the Expo. I think I can!) We transitioned during that mile from nice flat waterfront running in SE through pastoral Anacostia Park to running the streets in the District again, heading for a return to the Mall.

A special view. My magic moment in the race came when I saw the Nationals’ new stadium from the bridge, its skeletal steel arising out of the mist along the riverbank like the ribs of a wrecked ship which had been driven upon the shoals. It was spectacular. (The next day. How come there are Russian numbers on my bib?) But in retrospect the telling point was that the climb over the bridge didn’t bother me, at that point. But that was about to change drastically. Up until then, I had been putting miles behind me. But now each new mile was starting to lengthen and acquire an orbit of its own.

(Looking south from the construction zone of the new baseball stadium at the Frederick Douglass Bridge, also known as the South Capitol Street Bridge. The incline didn't seem like much in the thirteenth mile but my perceptions were about to change dramatically.)

My splits.
MP Split Time Notes
1. (8:06) 8:06; 2. (7:45) 15:51; 3. (7:57) 23:49; 4. (9:00) 32:49 Missed the marker; 5. (7:22) 40:11 Short mile; 6. (9:01) 49:12 Missed the marker; 7. (7:22) 56:35 Short mile; 8. (8:14) 1:04:50; 9. (8:33) 1:13:23; 10. (8:04) 1:21:28; 11. (8:38) 1:30:06; 12. (8:28) 1:38:30
13. 8:40 1:47:10 Scenic-The new ballpark
14. 8:35 1:55:46 Momentarily lost
15. 8:42 2:04:28 Tunnel
16. 8:51 2:13:20 Runnin’ the Mall again
17. 8:53 2:22:14 Manifest Destiny
18. 9:49 2:32:03 Uphill grade
19. 9:31 2:41:35 Slogging up the grade
20. 11:04 2:52:39 The Climb
21. 12:12 3:04:51 Missed the marker
22. 7:15 3:12:07 Short mile
23. 8:46 3:20:54
24. 9:15 3:30:09
25. 9:15 3:39:25
26. 9:12 3:48:37
.21. 1:59 (9:04) 3:50:36 (1:22 is 6:30 pace)
3:50:22 (3:50:39) (8:48 pace)

MP 14 (8:35) 1:55:46. Lost. Leaving the bridge I ran northbound on South Capitol Street SW past MP 13. I immediately turned left onto M Street SW and headed back towards the DC waterfront. Although I was retracing in reverse my eighth mile, I didn't know where I was because I rarely run M Street SW and I have never entered it from the south before. Studying the street signs soon oriented me, however, and I passed the halfway mark in 1:48, an 8:15 first-half race pace. That's on pace for a 3:36 marathon but I knew that with how I was slowing down and the hills coming up, I would be lucky to break 3:50. I was now slurping gatorade in addition to water at every water stop, still grabbing the cups on the run. I swallowed my first GU, and it made me feel nauseous for the next mile. I hit the waterfront and turned onto Maine Avenue, passing by the Arena Stage.

A special moment. I reflected upon the last time I had seen a play in its unique theatre, seven years earlier when I had brought my now-21 year old son there to see Howard Sackler's pulitzer-prize winning play The Great White Hope. Then the wearisome memory of five recent years of devastating divorce proceedings that followed soon afterwards passed through my thoughts, instantly sapping my energy. Defending myself against that bitter rip-and-tear litigation financially ruined me and left my children estranged from me. As I ran by I wryly answered my own unstated question-no wonder I run marathons!

(Looking westward at the Arena Stage in SW by the waterfront, where M Street SW swings around to turn into Maine Avenue down about a mile west of the new baseball park.)

MP 15 (8:42) 2:04:28. The Tunnel. We left the waterfront and entered the 9th Street Tunnel, a highway underpass which runs under the Mall. Ever since the first National course went through there, I had wanted to run it. There are sidewalks lining the walls down there. For a long time whenever I drove it I studied it to see if a runner could get through there safely. I finally decided it would be suicidal. So when the opportunity to run it during the race arose, I relished finally running through the dark dank tube. Emerging onto Constitution Avenue, I turned left towards the Potomac River. The short incline leaving the tunnel was the last uphill stretch that I didn't suffer on for the rest of the race.

MP 16 (8:51) 2:13:20. The Mall again. I retraced exactly my third mile along the Mall. Earlier I did this flat section in 7:57 but now my time was almost a minute slower. I went past the Washington Monument and the White House for the third time and passed mile marker 16, the sentinel I had run by in reverse over ninety minutes earlier.

MP 17 (8:53) 2:22:14. The sweep of history. As I veered left to run down Henry Bacon Drive towards the Lincoln Memorial, I glanced right to see the statue of Albert Einstein, seated half-hidden in the bushes. Crowd support here was sparse but vocal, with every spectator clapping and cheering us on. Some called out my number in encouragement. I passed Lincoln and at the Potomac River swung north to head up Rock Creek Park, a deep wooded ravine cutting across the District like a slash mark made by an other-worldly sword.

A special spot. All around me lay two centuries of American history, embodied in visible pantheons and icons. Virginia, home to Presidents and the formerly slave-holding state where two of my three sons were born, lay to my left across the Potomac. The Custis Mansion, Robert E. Lee’s pre-war home, was shining on the hill in Arlington National Cemetery across the way. There the precise, ritualistic sentries were silently patrolling the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, and there also JFK and RFK lay at rest. The flag atop the Iwo Jima Statue in Arlington was visible, upon whose ebony base were carved the names of the two horrific battles my own father fought in as a young carbine-toting Marine corporal during the Pacific campaign, Peleliu and Okinawa. The Kennedy Center with its cultural triumphs lay directly ahead, with the Watergate and its profound effect upon American history, directly behind it. Within a mile of this point were the Bill of Rights and the Emancipation Proclamation at the Archives. The World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials were all nearby. The text of Lincoln’s two greatest speeches was carved into the granite walls of the temple I had just passed. Its marble columns looked out at the Reflecting Pool, over which Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic I Have A Dream speech rang during America’s summer of discontent in 1963. The FDR Memorial lay half a mile behind me, with the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin from it. I was passing by Roosevelt Island which lay in the Potomac, with its huge statue of Teddy Roosevelt upon it. I had just come down the very route the military personnel had traversed along Constitution Avenue on June 8, 1991 during the huge military parade following the First Gulf War. Those soldiers had trod upon the steps taken during the prior century by the victorious Union armies during their two-day military review on May 23-24, 1865 following CSA General Joe Johnston's surrender after Appomattox.

Can you make out all of these heroes marching down Constitution Avenue just before they recede into the mist of time as they resumed their ordinary lives? The sense of history at this spot is palpable. If you haven't already, you should consider running this marathon some year and experience its extraordinary ambience. This is going to become an important marathon.

MP 18 (9:49) 2:32:03. Uh-oh. For the first time ever, I was noticing the uphill grade in Rock Creek Park. It’s not much but it was really slowing me down. I was getting really tired and my muscles were starting to protest, so I popped an advil. Running up this giant creekbed hollow, the long sweep of the incline curving around corners and stretching up straightaways was daunting. No more liquid replenishment taken on the fly. I stopped at a water station and walked through it as I drank a gatorade and ate a GU, washing it down with water. With a groan in my throat and a crick in my step, I got underway again.

MP 19 (9:31) 2:41:35. Beware the id. I shuffled upstream, passing under the towering arched bridges of the roadways above. I started obsessing about the big hill coming up just past MP 19, the Calvert Climb. An exit road, 24th Street, leaves Rock Creek Park to climb up to Calvert Street next to where the long Taft Memorial Bridge allows Connecticut Avenue traffic to pass high above Rock Creek. The climb is perhaps 200 feet of elevation gained in about 200 yards. It's a killer climb in the best of times. I had attended two club hill workouts there and run up the Calvert Climb a dozen times. The night before I had visualized powering up the hill. But as I worked my way up Rock Creek Park towards the Climb, I now feared it. R came running by just then. Fittingly, she coordinates the club hill workouts. We greeted each other and she went past to finish 13 minutes ahead of me. I was passing practically no one by now, and a steady stream of people were passing me.

MP 20 (11:04) 2:52:39. The Climb. There was a water station at the base of the Climb. I knew the hill well but now I was seeing it in a different light. It was huge. It went straight up, like some black diamond slope in Aspen where I’d skied two winters in another life. I stopped and took a gatorade and a water and started walking up it. There were a lot of spectators on the steep slope, urging us on. You know the type, people who slow down to gawk when they pass a car wreck. I finished the liquids and kept walking. I had no pride left. Halfway up I broke into a shuffle for 100 feet, then walked some more. One hundred feet from the top I jogged the rest of the way up, gained the level ground and turned right on Calvert Street. The worst hill was now behind me. I ran across the Duke Ellington Bridge over Rock Creek Park and went up a lesser grade to the end of Calvert Street where I turned left onto Columbia Road in Adams Morgan. The high point of the marathon lay half a mile away. There were lots of vociferous spectators cheering us on in this neighborhood. I hit MP 20 at 2:52, a four minute PR for me and an 8:38 pace for my distance up to this point.

(The Calvert Climb as seen during a rainy hill workout in June, 2006. The photo doesn't do justice to its steepness, but the runners had to gain the elevation of the roadway above, represented by the arched bridge in the picture where Connecticut Avenue crosses Calvert Street, in a few hundred feet during the climb out of Rock Creek Park. This nasty hill came at at MP 19.1 in the National Marathon. That's my friend N. pushing her bike up the hill in the background. She ran a 71 minute ten-miler last year. With her speed, she does me a favor whenever she runs with me.)

Trouble ahead. But my per-mile pace was really breaking down now, to over nine minute miles, and now I had just thrown down an eleven-minute mile. A 3:45 finish was no longer a possibility and I started to doubt my ability to break four hours. Three and a half miles ago I had been running along contemplating the grand sweep of American history and now I was running with my head down, grim-faced, thinking only about finishing and barely seeing anything past a spot eight feet down the road. Periodically I would raise my head to check the horizon. Down the road I could see another hill rising up. I was unfamiliar with the rest of the terrain. I knew from having studied the elevation chart that I was near the "top" of the race now, but there were two miles of rolling hills "up here."

The race within the race. Now that my twenty mile warmup was done, the real race, a 10K run to RFK, was just getting started. It would take me almost fifty-eight minutes to get there, a 9:17 per-mile pace from here.

Next: Hitting the Wall.