Other Marathons

Other marathons I have run, which did not get a full writeup.

Quad Cities

September 23, 2007
Finish: 3:45:31 (Full Results )

The racers and spectators enjoying lunch afterwards

Despite finishing Ironman Wisconsin two weeks earlier, I decided to run the Quad Cities Marathon with friends that had been training for it. I did not run hard, but undertaking the race on such little recovery was probably still a mistake. On top of that, during the race expo I was convinced to co-lead the 3:45 pace group. The position was vacant, and it was near when I expected to finish. I had never led a pace group though and had almost no experience holding that speed. The other captain was someone with which I had come down, but it was only her second marathon, and that time was about ten minutes faster than her inaugural PR. We thought though it would be a bunch of inexperienced kids carrying the flag, or else no one at all. Hopefully no one would be too dependant on us for a BQ effort.

The marathon itself went well. The pace was actually slower than my normal distance runs, and my legs had recovered pretty well from Wisconsin. Running at the front of a pace group was an awesome experience too. Although we never had a big unified group and our followers trickled to only a few die hard runners by the end, talking with other runners with a common goal and helping them along was great.

The course was mainly urban, but had some nice views of the Mississippi River. The only part to complain about was the loops around Arsenal Island. Due to security concerns, spectators were not allowed on the island so a long five or six mile lonely stretch challenged the runners. Other than that section, for a race that size crowd support was really good. The idiocy of jumping into a marathon did eventually catch up with me as the last five miles were pretty painful. The 3:45 pace group leaders held constant though and finished within thirty seconds of our goal time. Not to bad for a pair of rookies. I enjoyed watching all my other friends finish or congratulating the ones which beat me. Quite a few were first time marathoners, and it was inspiring to see what people who do not devote an unhealthy amount of their life to running can accomplish.

Pace vs. Mile

Madison Marathon—Oh What a Night

May 25, 2008
Finish: 3:12:32 (Full Results )

After a disappointing time at Boston, I hopped to quickly reuse my fitness level and achieve a better marathon PR. I would try to be a little more conservative this time, but was still striving for around 2:50. Six weeks later, I laced up my shoes for another attempt at the marathon.

The first half went great, and I was on pace. A little headwind hampered the progress a couple miles after that which slowed me, but I was not too worried then. After that though, my race quickly fell apart. I slammed into the wall and slowed significantly by mile 17. About this same time the course toured an arboretum, which although was beautiful, had little to no crowd support. I knew my pace was slow and stopped looking at my watch. At mile 23 I checked the clock though, and knew I had no chance of even breaking three hours. What little motivation I had left vanished, and I reverted to survival mode until I could finally reach the finish line. I was so thankful to finally be done, but was extremely disappointed with my performance. I probably had been racing too much leading up to the race, and never gave my legs a chance to fully recover from Boston. Impatience is not something that usually benefits long distance runners, so I will have to wait a little bit longer for what a good marathon time for me. At least I had a good weekend up in Madison with a couple fellow CVRA runners.

Pace vs. Mile

Place vs. Mile

Des Moines Marathon—Learning to DNF

October 19, 2008
Finish: DNF

My only goal for this marathon was to finally break the three hour barrier. Learning from experience, I would start conservatively and actually stick with the three hour pace group. If by chance there was anything left at the end, I could try picking it up in the last couple of miles. My race of course did not go as planned. Although I did stay with that group, my legs felt sluggish from the start. By the 10K mark, they felt like I had already covered twenty miles. I hung onto the back of the pace group through mile twelve, but coming out of Drake Stadium I finally fell off the back. We turned into a headwind at the same time, leaving me alone to battle the breeze. The three hour group increased the gap, and my thirteenth mile was thirty seconds slow. I crossed halfway in 1:30:30, which was pretty close to correct pacing, but all the time was lost in the prior mile and things would only get worse. Although I could have finished, I had no chance of making my time goal. I mentally gave up and dropped out at halfway, resulting in the first DNF that I remember. Although I was not in great shape, I still should have had the fitness to break the three hour barrier. It just was not my day however. I have had better weekends. The only thing that comes to mind was that my taper directly prior to the marathon was unintentionally too severe (no running for the three days leading up to the race). I need to do a little easy work before a big race to keep my legs sharp. Although the race was very disappointing and a big let down for me, I am too stubborn to give up on marathoning and will slay the three hour demon another day, even if my results indicate I should consider something else.

Triple D—Playing in the Snow

January 10, 2009
Finish: 5:07:30

I had not originally intended to include a report from the Triple D Adventure Race from Dyersville to Dubuque, IA (being it only around 22 miles), but after experiencing the carnage firsthand I had to record what transpired. I initially registered for the race as a challenging long run in preparation for a spring marathon (although my plans changed, and I did not run a marathon anyway). Due to some holiday sickness, my fitness was also not at a level to compete in this type of race, but I had already mailed my check, so a racing I would go.

Leading up to the race the weather had been tolerable (for Iowa in January at least), but that morning a fresh eight inches of snow blanked the ground. I had to shovel even to free my car and braved some poor road conditions on the drive up. It did not yet dawn on me what the inclement weather might do to the event though, so I just blissfully milled around with other participants at registration. At the appointed time, a limo bus ferried all other runners and skiers to the start near the Field of Dreams .

The naive runners ready to face endless snow

The motor coach abandoned the runners in a small park for us to make it back under our own power. The start was unceremonious as the ragtag band of runners headed down an access road towards the Heritage Trail , which would lead us to finish line twenty-two or so miles later at a bar in Durango. The first quarter mile was fine, with a cleared road providing an adequate surface on which to run. We soon, however, encountered the actual trail, which was not plowed. The prior night's snow left six to either inches of a white hindrance to slug through. Somehow I was upfront too, so I had the honor of breaking trail.

The snow was relentless and deep. Throughout the entire race, only a couple hundred feet were clear. For the first ten miles I broke through virgin powder deeper than my ankles. The snow made an otherwise enjoyable run grueling work and a long day even longer. For the last half of the race, we neared enough to civilization that snowmobiles had packed the trail. This seeming blessing was actually no help at all, as we still slipped and skidded with every footstep in the snowmobiles' paths. It was really no easier or faster to run on than undisturbed snow.

The race director had mentioned a detour around parts of the trail that had been destroyed by the floods . I failed to note at which mile marker this diversion actually was though. With this oversight I somehow missed the turn and continued along towards the devastated sections. Upon scampering through large washouts and two destroyed bridges, my deductive reasoning (and navigation skills) finally concluded that I was probably in the wrong place. But I had gone too far to turn back, knew I would not get lost on the trail, and was too stubborn, so I just made my way through the destruction. The missing bridges were the most interesting, since although the rivers were frozen, I was not entirely confident in the ice’s thinness. I did not get wet at least, but crossing those streams was not the smartest thing to do. To make matters worse, I was still in the lead so a couple racers followed my treacherous path. They all got through fine, but my misguided way actually took longer than staying on the official course.

Watch a news report on the race

The long day through the snow grew long, with my legs becoming ever more tired. My water bottle even eventually froze, leaving me without adequate nutrition for the last couple hours. To survive, I kept counting down the mile markers until the end. I took it one mile at a time, trying to get slowly closer to the end.

I (surprisingly) led the entire race, but in the last couple of miles I spotted a runner several minutes back. I had little energy and fleeting motivation to actually race my pursuer, but their presence did motivate me to walk less than I otherwise would have. I especially did not want someone to pass me at the end after being in front for so long.

Eventually I reached the bar though, finishing in 5:07, averaging around a whopping fourteen minutes per mile. If not for the snow, my finish time probably would have been half of what I ran that day. Nonetheless, my performance was still good enough for the win (I survived the fastest). My efforts were rewarded with a neat, handmade trophy. With the difficult endeavor completed, I consumed some nonalcoholic post race replenishment at the bar while thawing out.

The craziest part about the whole day was the Triple D was mainly a bike race. Almost fifty people took their mountain or snow bikes into these elements. The conditions made it nearly impossible for them to ride, and they pushed their bikes for large stretches. No one even finished the entire bike race, with only a handful of people making it to the turnaround. The bikers were even more nuts than I was. Hearing their horror stories made my day seem not quite as bad.

Triple D 2010

January 9, 2010
Finish: 3:24:30

The famous runners posing for pictures

Despite learning my lessons the prior year about how miserable running long distances through snow is and having few training miles due to a vacation to New Zealand and a separate little incident with a pickup truck , I still wanted to run the Triple D Winter Adventure Race. Despite this training dearth and in spite of my better judgment, my thick headedness led me to the starting line, with very few miles on my legs.

The race was the exact same format as before, with an approximately 22 mile slog along the Heritage Trail from Dyersville to Durango. Fortunately though, the trail was in much better shape. Although there was snow, for most of the race I found decent footing and did not sink into the powder. Having to constantly search for stable ground was also a good way to distract myself from the long run at hand. The weather was decent as well, with temperatures in the low single digits, no wind, and packed snow on the ground. My water bottle froze again, but earlier in the race than anticipated (around 5 miles), so I had to go forego water most of the race. I still carried shot blocks for sustenance, and kept those unfrozen inside my gloves.

The bar at which the race finishes

The run was actually relatively uneventful as I plodded along the trail. Most of it was enjoyable (which is not a statement often associated with Triple D). Towards the end my legs were sore from the lack of training and constant adjustments to keep balanced on the snow. I made it to the finish just shy of three and half hours, somehow being the first one to arrive. Despite being in worse shape, I was over an hour and a half faster than in 2009, just because of better trail conditions.

Post race was a fun time of hanging out in the bar with fellow racers, sagged bikers (did I forget to mention there was a separate 100K bike race as part of this event?) and other random patrons, while trying to warm up and get some food.

Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon

Where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average

May 8, 2010
Finish: 3:03:26 (Full Results )

A little incident on the bike and a jaunt to the southern hemisphere put me out of commission for several months, but I jumped back into marathon training after the new year. Unfortunately I ramped things up too quickly after my hiatus, and succumbed to fatigue from over training. This mistake threw a wrench right in the heart of my build up, which once again followed Jack Daniels Marathon plan B/C???. Nonetheless, I made it to the start of the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon , just outside of St. Cloud, Minnesota. "Trail" was a little deceptive though, as it ran along a flat, paved bike path.

My goal for this marathon was to finally break three hours. I had no grand plans for anything faster and 2:59:59 would have suited me just fine. Rather than go out fast and die as I have done in the past, I intentionally held that pace from mile one. I did a relatively good job of meeting my marks, being within a couple seconds each mile and crossed the halfway mark in 1:29:10.

This marathon was small, with less than 200 participants. Throughout the race the trail was never busy, but I could always see at least one other competitor. Despite the size, the volunteers and race organization was great. Enthusiastic crowds camped every couple miles at the road crossing. In between I was left to enjoy the silence of the beautiful trail. Wooded forest, fields, a couple lakes, and quaint small towns lined the picturesque route.

I ran with another person trying to crack three hours from the halfway point until about mile twenty. The company was nice, keeping us on pace and our minds occupied. My race was going very well through this stretch, but past mile twenty things started to get hard. Instead of cruising along, I searched for mile markers, desperately wanting to check off the next one.

At mile twenty-two though I was still (barely) on pace and genuinely thought I could sneak under three. Mile twenty-three slowed some and twenty-four even more. My quads were killing me, and with 2.2 miles to go, I had fifteen minutes and fifteen seconds before the first digit on the clock ceased being a two. Normally I could have made it, but with as much as I had slowed and with my legs giving out, I had no hope. Although pride and training to endure through pain should have caused me to do otherwise, at mile twenty four I essentially hung things up and waddled in, knowing I would not break three but would still get my BQ back. I crossed the line in 3:03:26, a respectable time considering my training, but still a disappointment for not reaching my goal.

My final time was once again a let down, not breaking three hours. I had ideal conditions with a float course and little wind. But having messed up my training, I could not complain too much with my time. I was not in top shape but still came very close to my goal. Quads were the only thing that gave out and if those held, I would have made it. At least I executed a good race, keeping my pace consistent and not going out too fast. I will have to go out and fight another day (again).

Pace vs. Mile