Walt Disney World Marathon

Distance: 26.2 miles
Chip Time: 5:02:15
Gun Time: 5:11:31
Pace: 11:32 min/mi

Comments: Needless to say, I was pretty apprehensive as I got ready to start this race effort.

As much as I tried to stay off my feet and rest after the half marathon, it was still clear my legs were pretty tired the next morning. The one bit of good news was there were no injury-type aches lurking about.

The weather forecast wasn't favorable either. Temperatures were expected to get into the upper 70s with very high humidity right about the time I was expected to be doing the final 10K or so of the race. My plan was to hydrate a lot early on.

I got up, out the door and on the bus with no problem. Knowing the routine certainly made the pre-race process easier. Got to the start, headed to the corral and sat down to conserve whatever energy I had to spare. After an hour they let us go.

For the first five miles or so I ran slow as I possibly could. Not as slow as during the half marathon but as much as three minutes slower than my race pace. Tons of people passed me and, as I continued along, I felt pretty good about my chances of catching them on the second half of the course.

Although I felt pretty hydrated, I made myself take two cups of water at every drink station. The hope was that I could maintain my hydration levels over the cool miles and give myself a better chance when the heat came on.

I let myself enjoy the run through the Magic Kingdom a bit more this time. The downside of heavy hydration was needing bathroom breaks. I took advantage of the ones in the parks I could starting at this point.

The next section going to Animal Kingdom went pretty well. It was interior service roads so lots of room and shade. The couple of photo stops I wanted were along here as well so I had fun with those while I still felt pretty good.

As Animal Kingdom, and the halfway point, approached I was feeling pretty optimistic. I was starting to pass a lot of runners so I figured I was in pretty good shape in comparison. The park was fun to run through but a lot more up-and-down than I expected.

The plan was to start pumping up the pace as my legs could handle following the halfway point. I started to play with that but it was clear my legs were pretty tired. As we left the park and did a big circuit around the parking lot, the sun hit us for the first time and I knew the best-case-scenario wasn't going to happen.

From that point I made an effort to stay in the shade wherever I could find it but the rising temperatures were unavoidable. I was still double cupping at the water stations but that didn't help the growing fatigue in my legs any. As ESPN's Wide World of Sports approached the real test of the final portions became clear; wide open and sloping roadways.

The sun was a beast now and the long open roadways let it beat down without mercy. The gradual uphills to the overpasses were brutal, sapping whatever energy I had left. The circuit through Wide World of Sports was a bit of a relief with the shade and softer surfaces but the toll of the race was clear at the 20 mile mark. The last 10K would be a struggle.

And it was. I was now at the point where every step was physically uncomfortable through my entire legs. I was trying to focus on cadence to conserve energy but found myself shuffling more often than I liked. The access ramps on the way to Hollywood Studios were nightmarish to ascend and the downhills after offered little relief.

The final four miles were a real struggle. The temptation to stop running and walk the rest of the way was enormous. And the sun was so bright I found myself partially blinded and having trouble avoiding obstacles at times. Entering Epcot I actually dreaded the World Showcase portion of the course and found myself walking at least half of it to get over the inclines it offered.

I got it together and did the final half mile at the best pace I could. The slow, shuffling run wasn't pretty but I didn't walk over the finish line. Somehow, despite stacking the odds against myself, I finished the race-and-a-half challenge. I'm not planning on trying it again. Ever.

2018 Hartford Marathon

Distance: 26.2 miles
Chip Time: 3:56:26
Gun Time: 3:57:01
Pace: 9:01 min/mi

Comments: So the day finally arrived. After months of training that required hundreds of miles run, the race was upon me. And I felt completely miserable.

The head cold that had plagued me over the last week had not transformed to a full-on sinus infection but it was not making the start of race day any easier. And the forecast of clear weather that I had been promised at the start of the week transformed to one of constant rain with less than 48 hours to the start.

Still, the cold was "above the neck" which is the runner's threshold for racing sick. And the rain would make it miserable but the temperatures were very cool (mid to upper 40s) and no wind was expected. So I went out and did it.

The first 10K was a delight. I deliberately worked on moderating my pace with cadence and holding back as much as I could. But I still was knocking down crazy fast splits. Nothing was even close to 9:00/mi and a couple came within a breath of sub-8:00. But it was all cooler temperature and using downhills. I was running without looking at the Garmin and keeping breathing relaxed and easy.

At the halfway mark, I could definitely feel that the level of difficulty was about to get serious. This was the flat out-and-back portion of the course so I did start looking at the Garmin just to keep under 9:00/mi pace. As much as I wanted to try to negative split, I was realistic about what was about to happen.

I found myself starting to fade a little as I approached the turnaround at mile 17. The "out" portion turned out to have a long gradual uphill which proved to be a drag on my effort. I tried upping cadence on the return to make up a bit but, at this point, fatigue was really getting warmed up. At the 20-mile mark it settled in for real.

Miles 21 and 22 were a battle to keep my pacing up as much as I could in order to finish the out-and-back portion. It was clear that the fade was making itself comfortable wrecking my hard-earned consistency and eating away at my confidence. The last four miles were simply a matter of survival. I had to battle for every single step over this portion of the course and any incline took a severe toll.

A lot of better conditioned runners took me down through this part of the course which, even though I know better, was disheartening.

Crossing the Founders Bridge was pretty much the nightmare I had expected and I still had the last 3/4 of a mile to go. A real big shout out to the guy who had just finished and was back on the course, still draped in his mylar blanket, shouting "ALL OF YOU ARE SUB-FOUR MARATHONERS!" That encouragement got me through the ridiculously awful last section.

After I crossed the finish line I was completely wiped. I have rarely felt as exhaustively beaten after a race. I clutched the reflective blanket as tight as I could but I was shivering uncontrollably by the time I staggered back to the hotel. And every single step hurt as much as if I was still running the race.

But, I did it. I ran the whole course. And I hit my sub-four goal.

2014 Big D Marathon

Race: The Big D Marathon
Official Time: 5:21:52 (27.3 miles)
Watch Time: 4:49:54 (26.2 miles)

Comments: This was not my finest race effort by any stretch of the imagination. I knew going in that I was undertrained and the odds were enormously against me but I didn't realize how terrible this race was going to be.

First off lets address the issues that shouldn't have been part of the deal. The folks who put this race on, Mellew Productions, were absolutely awful. They sold this race as a smaller, by-the-basics event. I liked that. It was something I had gotten used to in Arizona where there are a number of distance races with a thousand or so entrants.

Instead of being frugal, they turned out to just be cheap. I passed a lot of it off as part of the deal but it turns out the issue extended to the way they managed the race. Somehow these geniuses screwed up leading the runners out of the Fair Park area and succeded in adding more than a mile to the course. Then, for the rest of the day, when we mentioned it to any organizer on the way, they just blew it off.

(I tried contacting Mellew Productions by Twitter and email to get an explanation and refund but, predictably, they have completely ignored my requests.)

Now adding a mile to any marathon is a serious problem but doing so on this course was downright dangerous because the conditions turned out to be extremely challenging.

It was cooler earlier in the week but by Sunday we kind of knew what to expect -- start line temperature of about 60 degrees and, depending on how long it took you, about 80 at the finish. Add to that the course went through an industrial area the final two miles you had to contend with the sun beating on you the whole way. And this is what ended up happening.

I got out very well at the start. I knew a fast beginning would be disastrous so I tried to keep myself in the 10 minute mile range. Of course, I was going about thirty seconds better than that most of the first third of the course. The tree lined neighborhoods and a bit of cloud cover kept the sun from being too much of a problem at this point so I tried to take advantage of any downhills to conserve energy. I was walking though the aid stations and making it a point to get a good drink of fluid at each one.

Things got ugly when we got to the lake. As the course wound around White Rock Lake it gave it's first long gradual ascent. Then, it threw the first big hill at as as it led into the Lake Highlands neighborhood and the host of the uphillsI was concerned about followed soon after. Seriously people, they call it "Lake Highlands" for a reason. I tried to take the ascents easy and ride the descents but I could tell my reserves were going quickly and my quads were taking a lot of abuse.

At the "halfway point" I told the timer that he was at the 14-mile-mark. He said a lot of runners were telling him that but "this is where they told me to set up." I know it's not your fault dude, but you could let one of the idiot organizers know. A guy in a Mellew Productions shirt at the 20 mile marker (but 21 miles into the race) was similarly unhelpful.

Coming out of the neighborhood and back around White Rock Lake was when the course started to turn the screws. I knew I was going to have a tough battle on my hands at about the 15.5 mile mark but then things got ugly. There was a 10 mph wind coming off the lake that simply battered me. It was at about the 18 mile point I walked for the first time. There was no way I could keep up against that and the rolling incline of the lake trail and get to the finish.

When the wind lessened and the trail leveled off I was able to get back into my 11 minute mile pace but then the course went into the Lakeland area and threw another series of hills at us. About 100 feet of ascent in less than a mile. And, by now, the temperatures were well in the 70s and enough overhead the trees only gave limited protection. The neighborhoods were pretty but I wasn't really able to appreciate them.

At this point I started walking the uphills and trying to "run" down the descents. But because I was nearing the end of my energy reserves and the agony of my quads, my "running" was little better than a shuffling jog. Going down Swiss Avenue, which is a long easy descent, I had to walk every quarter mile or so. The hope was to conserve enough for the end which, by now, I was reasonably sure included the extra mile courtesy the incompetent race director.

Even though there were no more hills the heat was my undoing at the very end. I mustered enough energy to shuffle run most of mile 23 and 24 (at an electric 12+ minute mile pace) but after that I was done. There was nothing left in my legs. Nada. My walking pace was reasonably decent for mile 25 but at mile 26 I was even struggling with that. And the final extra mile was simply awful.

In the end, my watch time came to 4 hours and 50 minutes or so. That was minus the extra distance and the bathroom breaks. My official time was a good half hour more than that but who cares? This was a pretty complete disaster with the single saving grace that I don't think I injured myself in the effort.

My goal was just to finish another marathon and that I accomplished. The strategy now is to rest up and ease back into general training over the next month or so. Then segue into strength work over the summer. As awful as this race was, I have to have some conditioning as a result of it. The hope is I can build on that over the summer and then translate that into a good marathon effort in the fall.

2011 IMS Arizona Half Marathon

Race: The IMS Arizona Half Marathon
Official Time: 1:37:56
Actual Time: 1:37:59

Comments: The original plan was to make this race my BQ effort but the problems with the calf pushed things back a bit. So I opted to switch to doing the half in this one. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision due to the weather.

Turns out a front is passing through the region. Heading out to the West Valley yesterday for the race expo I got treated to a pretty violent wind storm and intermittent rain. It rained on and off all night and the temperatures got on the chilly side. Not cold, just damn uncomfortable for standing around in the dark waiting for a race to start.

I went with Rob and Lacen to the start of the marathon to see Kyle off. Rob and I then headed back to the half-marathon start where we found the rest of the Rx Running crew. I hit the head and chatted a bit then found my way to the line. The clouds to the west didn't look too promising.

As the gun went off I realized I didn't have my Garmin set to record mile splits. So I stepped out of the group, set it and got started again. The result was I was back in pack heading out. It was more crowded than I expected (a total of 605 runners to be precise) especially since everyone was running around the puddles of water in the parking lot. I just blasted right through them. It was pretty obvious we would all be wet by the time this one was over.

Now my initial intent was to make this a goal pace run and try to get as close to the 7:37 as possible. But last week the info about Boston changing their times came out and it looks like I need to really consider going for that 3:15 marathon again. So I decided to try and hit the 7:27 pace that would require.

The first mile went by pretty well and I nailed the 7:27. But I felt pretty good so I decided to increase my pace a little but not to the point where I felt I was pushing it at all. And even when the rain started coming down at mile four it didn't slow me down too much.

The precipitation eased up after 10 minutes or so but I was completely soaked. Now I knew my shirt sticking to me made it possible I would get raw nipples but they didn't hurt and I was way too focused on the pacing. I had passed a slew of people the first few miles but now I had about five in front of me I would spend the rest of the race reeling in.

My legs felt really good but I started having trouble keeping the pace down at about mile seven. Looking at the elevation readout later I saw that was because the whole second half of the race was a gradual incline. But a guy at the next water station saw my hat and yelled "Roll Tide." I yelled "Roll Tide" back and rode the adrenaline to my second-fastest mile on the course.

Turning the corner at mile eleven the rain started coming down again. This time with a very noticeable breeze. And then it became clear my nipples were raw. The front of my shirt was spotted with blood. So I took it off and the guy behind me yelled "don't lose the pants!" Which would have been funnier if I wasn't busy suffering the last few miles of the race.

As expected, there was the bitch of a bridge over the 101 to cross in order to get to the end. I shortened my stride and tried to increase my turnover but I was pretty tired by that point. I rode the downhill and just focused on finishing strong. A kid wearing a Camelbac that I passed at mile ten passed me right close to the finish line. I let him go. It made his day even though it turned out I beat him by ten seconds.

I stood around with everyone as they finished waiting for Kyle to finish his marathon. I was fine at first but when the rain and wind started again I started losing body heat and began shivering pretty bad. Dean went and got my sweatshirt but it didn't help. I eventually had to go sit in his car under a blanket to warm up. I stopped shivering but I sure as hell wasn't warm. Finally the guys got done and Dean drove Rob and I back to our cars.

Overall this race went well. I was a full minute faster than the last half marathon I did and my 7:24 average pace was in the ballpark of what I was shooting for. My finish was 30th overall and third for my age group. But most importantly, there's now some data to make the decision of what race I'll run next.

2008 Holualoa Tuscon Marathon

Race: Holualoa Tucson Marathon
Official Time: 3:24:48
Gun Time: 3:25:04

Comments: OK. The first point to address is the unvarnished fact that this race was a major disappointment. The goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon and I missed it by three minutes and forty-nine seconds. To get that close and come short was a massive gut punch and I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

Now, aside from that there was a lot of progress here. I bested my previous PR (set at the Sydney Marathon last year) by 6:49 - an improvement of about half-a-minute per mile. More importantly, despite my knee and hip problems this year, neither was a serious issue during or after the race.

So I've clearly made a ton of progress. . . just not quite enough to achieve the goal I'm hoping to reach quite yet.

We got to the resort the Friday before the race so we could pretty much lay low the day prior. This worked pretty good since I got to go to the race expo on Friday and avoid the crush of folks on Saturday. Most of Saturday was taken up with eating carb-rich meals and watching football (and seeing my team lose a heartbreaker of a game).

The morning of the race I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and lay in bed for an hour before just deciding to get going. Most of the pre-race routine was taken up with useless nattering about just to keep busy and not freak out too much.

Before leaving I looked up the 3:15 race split times for the halfway and 20-mile mark and wrote them in ballpoint pen on the back of my hand.

I got on the bus at 5:00 a.m. and took the ride up to Oracle. The trip took almost an hour but we still had a good hour-and-a-half till the start of the race. I sat on in the relative heat of the bus until 6:30 or so then got out and wandered around the start area.

At about 7 a.m. I finally found the rest of the guys and we took the final piss-break and ambled to the start. The temperature to get going was pretty chilly but not abnormally cold. Pretty ideal, actually.

They started the race on time and headed down the hill into the "historic" town of Oracle. As expected, this section was pretty up-and-down as well as narrow. There wasn't anywhere to really go in the pack but the relatively small field - we had just more than 1,000 runners in the marathon - meant it wasn't too crowded. And it slowed us down about right.

We got through the first 7-mile stretch through these side roads pretty well. The hills weren't too fun but nothing brutal either. When we came out onto Oracle Road (SH 77) we were in good spirits and just a bit behind pace - exactly as planned.

The three downhill miles here went really well. We made up a bit of our time but didn't push too hard. As we made the turn at mile 10 into the Biosphere our banter was upbeat and we were feeling great. Of course this is where the wheels fell off for me.

Approaching the Biosphere meant we were heading back toward the Santa Catalina mountains and thus uphill. Add to that there were three actual hills involved and this was a more formidable stretch of the course than it seemed from just a drive over the roads.

The guys were pushing to keep to the pace and I really started to feel it by the middle of the second long hill - dropping F-Bombs intermittently as the suck of the stretch got significantly worse. Since it was two miles in and two miles back, I knew it would be easier once we got to the turnaround but I gave a lot to get there.

And, even when we hit the turnaround, there were the uphills we traversed before to contend with as well. By the time we came up on the half-marathon mark we were running about half-a-minute to a minute behind ideal pace but the worse was over - or so we thought.

Coming out of the Biosphere we got back to Oracle Road for the long 10-mile decline on the highway. The plan was to recoup the lost time from the early miles and the Biosphere as necessary here. Accordingly, we started trying to get closer to the 7:27 mile pace we targeted.

But, increasingly, I was having trouble keeping up. Along the hills in the Biosphere I had a few bad moments but pushing to keep up with the guys got me through the. Out here I found myself constantly pushing to keep up with them and the mental game to keep going was getting really brutal. I was starting to suffer and I knew it.

I kept battling this over the next several miles but when the group sped up to an almost 6:30 per mile pace in order to pass a runner the writing was on the wall for me. Half a mile later - somewhere after the 18-mile mark - I had to let them go.

Now I was in trouble. Out by myself on the course with the pain getting bad and the ability to keep my pace going evaporating by the minute. I knew I had a five-minute cushion due to the difference in our training pace and my actual target but keeping the Garmin pace indicator under 8:00 was getting harder and harder.

The race became a constant battle with the desire to give in through this portion. I knew what I was dealing with from my first marathon experience but coping wasn't any easier. I gave in enough to take a piss break and that helped a little - but it was clear getting the BQ time was going to be close.

Things kept getting bad and I was doing everything I could to keep moving forward. I gave myself two more short breaks when it got brutal with the hope of finishing strong if necessary. Then the 3:20 pace guy caught up with me.

I dropped a hearty F-Bomb and shucked everything extra I was carrying - my gel belt, my sunglasses and even my beloved Alabama hat. The guy (one of the members of Blue Pants Racing) was really cool and supportive but unforgiving with his pace. I kept up as long as I could but eventually he just started pulling away as well.

Then the coup-de-gras. Turning at the 24th mile there was the slight uphill and then to the section behind the Basha's grocery store that was one long incline. I made a last effort to put on a push and slammed into the wall. There was nothing - and I mean nothing - left in my legs.

It was obvious that the rest of the race would be simply trying to keep moving forward to the finish line. But I got across somehow. I was completely and totally shot. My legs were rubber and full of pain. I stopped and waited for one of my fellow runners who I passed at about the 24-mile mark but even just standing there was a lesson in agony.

In retrospect I think we all had enough to not only complete this race in the BQ time but to do so without all the pain. So what happened? Some thought the lack of fluids/carbs was the big factor and others believe the lack of hill training was the culprit. I believe these were factors but I think the big mistake was in the pacing.

When I tried to keep up with the group through the hills in the Biosphere section I pushed myself too hard and paid for it down the stretch.

If I had held to a level of exertion similar to the start of the race - even with the substantial decrease in pace - I would have had so much more left in the tank for the second half. Looking at the breakdown of my splits I was almost exactly on the pace for the 3:20 until that final stretch - 1:39:14 vs my 1:39:01 at the halfway and 2:32:40 in comparison to my 2:30:50 at the 20-mile mark.

But, as my heart-monitor shows, my heart rate increased substantially after the Biosphere section and while I was able to keep it somewhat under control with my decision to slow down I clearly had pushed too hard. When I tried to give the final push my heart rate got up to its max and - I assume - my lactic levels probably were redlining as well.

So what now? Hard to say. First up is to let myself recover from this and then take a closer look at what happened. But it seems pretty clear that Boston '09 is not going to be in the cards.

2007 Sydney Marathon

Race: Blackmore's Sydney Running Festival Marathon
Official Time: 3:36:59

The second marathon effort this year turned out to be a world of difference from my first disastrous venture back in January. Instead of pushing myself for a specific time I concentrated on building strength for the race. The result was a much stronger effort than I had any reason to expect.

My final time was 3:37 (chip time later proved to be just under that bar), well below the 4 hour race I was expecting and positively obliterating my horrible 4:20 from January.

I started out a lot faster than I expected pulling in a 1:44:40 half. That put me dead on for a 3:30 marathon and I made a bit of an attempt at it but the long, long inclines on the second half of the course got me and my reverse split blossomed to a 1:52:18. There just wasn't anything left in the tank at the very end.

All told I averaged an 8:11/mile pace across the whole course - a 7:54/mile for the first half and a 8:32/mile on the second. Much better than last time.

I got up at 4:30 a.m. mostly to have enough time to run into the walls in the dark while getting ready. My friend Dave - who I am staying with here in Sydney - was kind enough to drive me to the race. We got there at about 5:30 a.m. which was when the bulk of folks started to show up.

I joined the throng of folks heading to the staging area at Bradfield Park at Milson's Point on the north side of Sydney Harbor. The race area was literally underneath the bridge which as either intimidating or awe-inspiring depending on how chilly you were.

Cause it was chilly - about 50 degrees. There were scattered clouds as well. But, again, this was nowhere near as brutal as the 29 degrees of the previous race and, by the end of the run, the sun was shining and things had warmed up to almost 65 degrees. Perfect marathon weather, really.

While pre-race estimates were hopelessly optimistic there was a pretty good showing for the effort. All told, 19,000 people took part in all four events and there were almost 1,400 of us in the marathon itself. A good number but not so much it made things kind of crazy.

I had my cheap chullo on which enabled my running partner on Team ZGeek, Gabe, to find me. We waited as the half-marathon started and made the last minute preparations. I had a big bowl of porridge before heading out of the house and downed a PowerBar twenty minutes before the race.

Some guy with a camera cornered me for an interview - due to the chullo I suppose. "What do you have to do to win something like this?" he asked. "Win?" I responded. "This ain't about winning, it's about survival."

Run the Bridge

Things were very very positive at the starting line, the mood in the queue for the start was downright upbeat. Due to the relatively limited number of runners it was a self-seeding event.

The start was up a pretty severe incline out of the little park and up to the bridge road surface. So when the fired the starting gun the crush of folks heading out was kind of a pain. But we barreled up onto the road and, by the time we passed through the toll-booths there was plenty of room to run.

Now part of the attraction of this race was being able to run over the Sydney Harbor Bridge and I want to tell you - it was every bit as awesome as I was hoping. It's a grand and magnificent structure and I put myself right in lane 4 down the middle. I tried to keep my pace under control but it really was tough given the spectacle of the thing.

A helicopter with a photographer was hovering overhead and, when I got to about halfway over the bridge he brought it down to roadway level. The guy was less than 10 meters off to my right dead even with me and I could feel the whoosh of the blades in the air. Pretty awesome but I kept expecting the sniper shot to ring out...

Needless to say I headed down the bridge at a good clip heading onto Macquarie Road into the beautiful public spaces of Sydney. The southern rim of the harbor is dotted with parks, museums and such and the course now wound its way through these.

The route up to Macquarie Point was downright picturesque and the mood was still very light for the runners. This was the first time the course backed around on itself and we got passed by the front-runners heading the other direction. We all applauded them as the zipped by.

I had put myself at the 4:00 pace section but, by now, I had pushed past the 3:45 group and was trying to settle into my rhythm for the race. I knew I was going faster than probably advisable but my goal was not to think about the speed itself but my physical condition – no heavy breathing or sweating at this point, just a smooth easy run.

Heading into the city again the road started throwing little hills at us. Nothing severe yet but I knew the real ones were lurking a few blocks over. We went through Darlinghurst section and brushed by the Kings Cross. There were a few all-day pubs on the route and folks cheered for us as we went past. It was really good-natured and that was a nice surprise.

At one point we passed a guy who was completely wasted on the sidewalk. He was younger and had passed out or fallen down on the sidewalk and was so frickin drunk he didn’t have enough co-ordination to get up. Not much pity for him on my part – I was going to have my own problems soon enough – but the medical staff following us stopped to help him.

The Blue Line

The race then got into its first real long stretch – Anzac Parade – an here we picked up the Blue Line I had looked forward to running for so long. It was still very bright and clear in spots and I stuck right to it when I could. But not everyone else did. Which I found pretty odd…

The line was painted for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and, as such, indicates the direct course for the race. Stay on the line and you are assured running exactly 26.2 miles (or 42.195 kilometers). When it cuts down the middle of the street, it is for a reason.

Yet folks mostly kept to the side of the street rather than use the whole roadway we had been afforded. It might seem like a little bit extra and not worth concerning ones self over but for a race this long you don’t want to run any further than absolutely necessary.

So my mantra became “trust the blue line” and, by the end of the thing I was damn glad I did.

Things got bucolic again as we had our detour into Centennial Park. This was a large circuit that was a nice change from the regular roads that marked the rest of the course. It was halfway through the park I started to do a solid assessment of my race.

I had gotten past the “danger zone” that laid me low eight months ago. I’d gotten a full third of the course finished and my ass wasn’t in agony. Although I knew I had come out on the first miles a bit quick, I had not ever really pushed myself unreasonably. I was feeling hydrated and with plenty in the tank.

And the real test was the bathroom. This was a brutal ordeal in January but, this time, it was routine. Get in, get done, get back on the course. No horrible feeling of dread for getting back into the race. A very good sign indeed. So I got back out on the regular roads in a positive mindset.

The Halfway Point

The race then headed down a few roads a bit of a way and then reversed itself. The second of these was the halfway point. I pushed to it and saw that I had an incredibly good time and the very real possibility of a sub 3:30 race. I knew it was a longshot and I didn’t start pushing myself for it but I did try and keep my pace even.

Back up Anzac Parade I kept to the blue line and really got into the workman part of the race. The enthusiasm is gone, things have thinned considerably and there is a serious amount of mileage left to go. The weather, I must stay, had taken a turn for the gorgeous. The clouds had pulled off and the sun was bright and pleasant – not too hot.

I had made a decision to run the race without my music but a chance encounter with an early Madonna song had left an unwanted tune in my mind for the days prior to the race. So in my pre-race preparations I made it a point to play a catchy and good song to pull me through - UB40's "Rat in Mi Kitchen." That mantra-like chorus really helped out on this long stretch of the course.

We then got back into the city proper and the first roller-coaster section got started – narrow streets with severe ups and downs. None of these was brutally long just persistent. I tried to shorten my stride and keep my pace constant on the uphills and then stretch things out to take advantage of the downhills. The shade of the buildings was almost chilly though and this was the only part of the course where there was any wind to speak of.

Despite the problems, it was pretty cool running through the streets of downtown Sydney.

At this point the race started its long westward leg that I knew was going to be trouble and it certainly delivered in that respect. We had to go up on one of the flyovers that circled the Darling Harbor to leave the city proper and move over to the next inlet. This was an unpleasant incline and then the road had an irksome superelevation.

Instead of leveling out, it then dropped onto Glebe Island section near the fish marked and delivered another series of up and down neighborhood streets. I was able to keep to my strategy but things were clearly a lot harder than they were just twenty minutes ago.

Go West Not-So-Young Man

The mighty Anzac Bridge was blessedly not on the menu today. As inspiring as the Sydney Harbor Bridge was to start the race, doing this bad boy at this time would have been simply hellish. That’s a long long long long incline to get up… twice.

The Old Glebe Island Bridge, by contrast, was pretty much at street level. But even it had an incline that my legs weren’t keen on. I was really feeling the miles by this point but still felt I had a decent amount left in me and I really wanted to nail the 3:30 time. The City West Link saw the end of that.

This final long stretch led out on one of the main highway connectors for the center of Sydney to the suburbs. It’s a multi-lane road built for relatively fast speeds. That means long inclines and turns. And it was that long rise to the turn around point that kicked my ass. It just kept going on and on and on and drained out what reserves I had left.

At about the 32 kilometer mark I got the ass pains like back in January. The difference was that I knew I could endure them for a 10k but it meant that nailing the 5 min kilometer pace was a slim possibility. I crested the hill at Norton Street and made the u-turn with a hope of making up the pace on the downhill and gave it as much of an effort as I could. The trusty blue line was there to help out as well.

But it was pretty much over for me at this point. My hasty start was coming home to roost and, instead of any kind of strategy it had become a battle of attrition. The 3:30 went out the window (although beating 3:40 was still possible) and hanging in for the final few kilometers was all I could hope for. While I gritted my teeth and got down to the painful final few miles, folks with better race strategies started passing me with regularity.

The somewhat irksome hills around the Old Glebe Island Bridge and the Sydney Fish Market were brutal torture now. On each and every hill the hamstrings and shins were dying on the way up and the quads and calves were seriously unhappy on the way down.

I was very very glad Dave and I drove the route because I had a mental idea of what terrain was left rather than the unfeeling terror of looking for the next kilometer sign. This was particularly good on the Darling Harbor Flyover since I knew the route back onto the city streets and around the rocks was going to be a lot easier.

The run around the shore of The Rocks was some of the most beautiful of the course but, lord knows, it was lost on me. A few folks were pulling up with leg cramps and doing everything they could to get done. I passed one guy being attended my medics with oxygen and a saline solution. The best I could do was commiserate and get on with my own agony.

The Finish Line

Finally I passed under the massive span of the bridge and saw the Sydney Opera House across Circular Quay. Just more than a kilometer to go.

As much as I would have liked to pour it on for a strong finish I really didn’t have anything left. So I kept what pace I could and tried to look happy for the race photographers snapping shots.

Turning the last corner presented one final indignity of the course, a sort of wheelchair ramp built up the opera house steps for us. A final incline to get to the finish line. I took the stabby feeling in the calves and then finished the race with a modicum of élan. I was beat and had left everything I had out on the course but I had actually run the race making it an incredible improvement over my first – an achievement even more important that the better time.

Afterward I downed a ton of water and gels and talked a bit with some of the folks I met on the course. It was very warm and pleasant – a reward for the months of crappy weather in Lima. There was a long long walk up a hill to the Marathon recovery area and all of us were ambling slow and painfully up it.

I turned in my chip begging it to have a good time (it let me down by a minute but I’ve forgiven it) and then picked up the ass-ugly finisher shirt that I’ve never been more proud of. I had to then go back down the hill to the reunion area and meet Dave. I lay barefoot on the grass and basked in the sun. Despite the agony, it was blissful.

Dave showed up and I put on my flip-flops and we then set out up the hill to The Australian Hotel & Pub where the rest of Team ZGeek were meeting. The journey took awhile since it was a rather difficult walk up a series of steps and walkways and I made it a point on the section by the marathon course to yell for every person still finishing up their race.

At the pub we all reveled in our victories and I allowed myself the rarest of treats – a beer. Five years ago I sought out this pub to try the renowned Burragorang Bock from Scharers Little Brewery in Picton which they serve on draft. That pint of beer tasted as wonderful and glorious as I remember it did when I first tried it in 2002. And I allowed myself to enjoy it to the fullest.

Conditions:

Start: 7:15 a.m.
Surface: concrete/asphalt
Weather: partly cloudy/sunny
Temperature: 50 degrees
Humidity: 63 percent
Wind: 6 mph
Location: Sydney, Australia
Shoes: Asics Trance VI

2007 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon

Race: P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
Official Time: 4:20:02
Actual Time: 4:20:22

After almost a year of preparation, effort and worry raceday finally arrived. The good news - I was able to finish my first marathon. The bad news? It was a complete and total disaster

My hope had been to at least get in spitting distance of the Boston Marathon qualifying time for my age group of 3 hours 15 minutes. I came in almost a full hour behind that at 4 hours 20 minutes and change.

The mile splits tell the story. I stuck with the pace group starting out which had me reeling in 7:20 min/mile for the first six miles or so. I got to the halfway point at 1 hour 41 minutes which put me at a 7:44 min/mile. By the 20 mile marker, which I crossed at 2 hours 55 minutes, that had slid to 8:46 min per mile. The final tally was 9:55 min per mile.

So what happened? I guess it was a perfect storm of bad luck and bad decisions. To figure it out it would probably be best to start at the beginning.