Seattle Marathon

I finished the Seattle marathon and I am a little disappointed in how I did.
I finished in 5:07 on my watch. The day was clear and sunny, just beautiful. It was warmer than expected - the high was 75F, with about 60% humidity, 68F had been forecast - but not very much warmer.

I drove the course two days before, it was very beautiful. After a weird start in Tukwila (tuck-willa), it quickly dropped down to Lake Washington and circled the western half the lake. Then it was I-90 freeway running through mile 13, then almost all the rest of the race was on the Alaskan Viaduct (freeway) which has an incredible view of Seattle harbor. The course had many hills, most relatively short, some quite steep. The course featured three tunnels - each fairly long, with no view from one end to the other, which was an interesting experience in itself. I've never run through a long, dark tunnel before.

I did ok through mile 16, but by then I just didn't feel "right". I was occasionally becoming a little bit dizzy. By mile 21 I was nauseated, and I chaulked that up as the cause of my not feeling right. I also had intermittent chills and "goosebumps" mostly on my arms but also my legs after about mle 19, which I blamed on the very cool shade alternating with the bright warm sun. At mile 19 I took a salt pill (my skin was thick with salt - meaning I was sweating and it was evaporating in the relatively dry air), and at mile 21 I took some Pepto Bismol tablets and they seemed to help, and I was able to finish, but with frequent walk breaks.

I drank a lot of water on the course - one or two cups at each water stop, plus "Smart Water" and a 20 ounce bottle of CytoMax at the starting line. I consumed three CliffShots along the course. So I was refueling and replenishing liquids and electrolytes, and still I pretty much bonked at mile 20.

Goosebumps (per the American College of Sports Medicine and also Runner's World [http://askcoachjenny.runnersworld.com/2008/03/goose-bumps-in.html]) indicates possible heat exhaustion, dehydration, or hyponatremia - all bad conditions to have during a marathon. Other heat exhaustion symptoms include dizziness and nausea. I don't get it. I have paid my dues on the long runs preparing for the marathon, and I was more attentive to fueling and hydration than on many other marathon courses. Yet I still didn't perform as I would like. Hmmm, another mystery to ponder.

Seattle

I'm here in Seattle staying at a friend's house. I was in Seattle for the World's Fair when I was about 10.
This is just the most wonderful city and I'm here at the very best time of year. Yes, it rains daily - a gentle shower - and then the clouds blow away and there is beautiful sunshine. Hardly the dark, gloomy city I recall from my childhood visit.

The city's surroundings are as green as it comes. There are seemingly endless woods, hiking/biking/running trails, pastures, and beautiful scenery in every direction. It is just absolutely gorgeous. I'd move here next week if I could.

The marathon is Saturday. It is looking like a great day for a run.

Insane thoughts

I have been thinking about how to get in my 22 miles this weekend, scheduled around the heat index values. There's no clear answer, its ugly all weekend..

However, I did measure it off using www.mapmyrun.com (which btw is an incredible piece of software), and the distance is 22+ miles from home to work.

Running that distance in the morning would require some advance placement of my laptop, change of clothes, and other personal effects. It could not be done Monday.

It is a net downhill and should take me about under 4.5 hours to complete at a comfortable pace. If I'm targeting arrival time of 7:30 am, I would need to leave the house at 3am.

I'm thinking Tuesday would be good for that. Need to plan to take the bus home in the evening...

More later as the plan unfolds.
Peter

midnight run

I had a 10-mile run to do this weekend, and it's always a challenge to figure out when to do them. So I figured I would go out Saturday night (and really at night this time, versus very early the next morning). My plan was to go down the Fairfax County Parkway for an hour and see where that leaves me, and then head home. I figured this would be about a 10-mile run overall.

I took my headlight when I headed out at 10pm, and it's a good thing I did too, because there was a lot more vehicle traffic than the prior week. The car lights shining in my eyes really made it difficult to see the trail and the headlight helped make it visible. I need to figure out a Plan B as far as the hat and the light go - the light shines through the visor and is itself a glare problem for my eyes.

The run was pleasant and uneventful. I was very tired when I got home at midnight. I stretched, ate something, took a shower, and went to bed quickly. I'm pretty sore this morning - i didn't ice my legs or anything, i was just too tired.