Pittsburgh Marathon 2018

Marathon #4 is in the books!  The 2nd that my body was totally unprepared for, and it's hard to say because I've probably blocked the last bad marathon from my memory, but I think this one was worse.  BUT, I did make it to the finish line, I did run the entire race, and I did get my BQ!  A little bit sad that my slowest marathon is the one I plan to use as my Boston Qualifier, but oh well.  All that really matters is I beat the 3:35 cut off time by 5 minutes and change.

The forecast said it would be in the low to mid 50s for the whole race, and there was an 80-90% chance of rain as well.  I debated wearing a shirt since the morning air felt cold to me, but in the end I decided against it, and I was barely a mile into the race before I knew that leaving the shirt behind was the right choice!  I never got too cold or too hot during the race, so that worked out pretty well.  And luckily, it really didn't rain at all.  I think it started sprinkling in the last mile or two, but it wasn't a big deal.

I had a "seeded" start position, which allowed me to be near the front of Corral A, but I ended up not even trying to be that close to the front.  I think I started somewhere near the middle of Corral A.  I settled into a comfortable pace, not wanting to be too slow, but making sure it didn't feel like I was really working either.  I had my camelbak on with about 1.5 liters of water, and 1 stick pack of Tailwind mixed in.  I was carrying my inhaler in my Hydraklick belt.  At some point in the first 5-6 miles, I noticed that the belt pouch felt very cold and wet, and I was feeling occasional cold drips go down my legs.  It seemed way too cold to be my sweat, and also my belt pouch has never gotten that soaked just from sweat.  I reached up and discovered that the back of my camelbak was also dripping wet.  I think by the end of the race, I had drank about half of what went into my camelbak, and the other half leaked down my back.  That's what I get for buying a cheap knock-off bladder to replace the one I filled with mold, I suppose.

The course was not a difficult one at all, especially considering all the hills that could have been included.  There was a long gradual hill or two, but there was nothing even close to steep, and most of the race was flat. Most of the inclines were going on or off of bridges, and they were pretty short.   I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get a strong push up the longer hill around mile 12 because of all the flatness before it, but I didn't have too much trouble.  I'm guessing the lack of steepness helped with that. 

I felt ok until about mile 12, and then I started to feel the stress of the distance. Coby was on his bike riding around to cheer for me at various points on the course, and when I saw him around mile 13.8 it gave me the boost I needed to wake my legs back up and run a few more miles.  By mile 15, I was in the surge-crawl cycle, with the surges gradually getting shorter and the crawls getting longer.  By mile 18 I was hurting quite a bit.  Mile 25 I was completely dead, and then somehow managed to pick it up for the last mile, and give a good, pure adrenaline-filled surge to the finish line.  After I crossed the line, I was barely able to walk, but managed to stagger through the very long finish chute.  I downed a whole bottle of water, and grabbed another one to drink more slowly later.  When I finally came to the crowd of spectators at the end of the finish chute I just walked blindly hoping Coby would find me, and thankfully he did very quickly, as I was on the point of collapse.  My body was so done, I had barely made it through the chute without crying, so of course I lost it once I had a shoulder to lean on.

The walk back to the car was long and painful, and I had nothing but a heat sheet and a towel wrapped around me to keep me warm, but I made it.  And even managed a smile for a post-race photo... but my legs hurt so bad for that walk I don't know how I made it to the car!

Pittsburgh 1/2 : My lungs failed me again

Oh yay, they made the shirts my "favorite" color.

The guys got green shirts...lucky.

It is SO frustrating to have your legs be in great shape and ready to carry you to a PR, and then have your lungs laugh in your face and constrict so tight you can't draw a proper breath.  And then your legs start slowing down because they don't have enough oxygen to hold onto the pace that they would otherwise be comfortable with.

When my lungs are in shape, breathing tends to be easy for the first 6 or 7 miles. Then it gradually starts getting harder, but just in the sense that I am breathing faster.  I am still getting enough oxygen, I just need to take more breaths per minute.  During this race, my breathing started getting tight after the first mile or two.  I had to put extra effort into drawing deep breaths, and really think about my breathing.  I knew this was not a good sign.  But since I already knew I was going to have problems later in the race, I decided to keep the pace up as long as I could, so that hopefully it would all balance out in the end.  By mile 9 I was really struggling as my legs started to feel the effects of less oxygen.  Somewhere around the end of mile 11 is when my lungs were feeling really constricted and I didn't have a chance of picking up the pace anymore.  I kept telling myself only 4 miles left, only a 5k left, only 2 miles left... Under normal circumstances, I am able to kick even though I am out of breath, because I am still getting enough oxygen and I know I will be fine to the finish line.  Under these circumstances, nothing can get me to pick up the pace except for the finish line actually being within view.  Understandably, my body just won't let me go any further into oxygen debt, no matter how much I might want to try.

At least my slowest mile was also the "hilliest."

Not that anything on this course really counted as a hill.

The day started out well enough.  I had to get up at 4:15 in the morning, which wasn't so fun, but I did make it out of bed and had a tasty cinnamon bagel with peanut butter and a banana.  Then my aunt took me to the train station to catch a 5:30 train into the city.  Thankfully, a good friend had offered to hold my sweats and phone for me during the race, so I was able to wear my sweats for the chilly wait on the train platform.  The phone was quite useful in helping me find him once I got off the train.  Once I found him, there was some hanging around with our other friends who were running, and then it was time to get into my corral right before they closed it off at 6:45.  Once in the corral, I jogged a block or two as a "warm-up" as I traveled closer to the front of the corral.  Then there was the usual standing around waiting for go time.  Finally, we were off.  I tried to settle into a comfortable pace.  I had to really focus on my breathing to try to keep my lungs as open as possible.  The course itself wasn't one of my favorites.  It was much too flat.  Really the only hills were the bridges, and they weren't much more than bumps in the road.  There was a hill in mile 12, but even in my oxygen deprived state, it didn't seem like much of a hill to me.

I finished the race with an official time of 1:31:10.  I was 194 out of 14, 577 runners.  I was the 31st female, and the 13th in my age group.  I didn't make my goal of finishing in the top 30, or of finishing with a PR.  But I did the best I could with my asthmatic lungs.  Maybe I will try again another year.

I knew going into this race that I would probably be out of running for awhile afterwards.  I hurt my right foot (not the one I had trouble with a year ago) about 2 weeks ago.  I have been taking it easy ever since, but I wasn't going to give up this race.  I was smart enough not to sign up for any races after this one, in case I ended up unable to run, since race fees are non-refundable.  Smart choice. My foot didn't bother me much during the race, but it definitely hurt afterward.  Pre-race, I was able to walk in Danskos or Chacos without pain.  Post-race, my foot hurt no matter what I wore, but at least only hurt a little bit in Danskos.  So, looks like I'm stuck in Danskos now.  Too bad, because it's warm out now and I want to wear sandals!  Hopefully after a few days of being careful I can at least start wearing my Chaco sandals again.  I am expecting to take a month off of running (or maybe just til my birthday at the end of May, because who wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday with a run?!).  I am going to wait two weeks before deciding if I need to go to the doctor or not.  If I can walk without pain after two weeks I will just continue resting.  If walking still hurts, I will go to the doctor.  And if I end up at the doctor, I will definitely be talking about my asthma too.  I don't want to have to keep being let down by my lungs during races, if there might be something I can do to prevent it.  

For now...I see a lot of biking in my future!  I did discover yesterday that my foot hurts the least when I walk in cycling shoes...maybe I will have to start a new fashion trend. 

Time to run Pittsburgh

I've been thinking about the Pittsburgh Half Marathon for years.  Mainly because I have relatives living in Pittsburgh, so it seems like a logical place to go do a race.  However, it always falls about 2 weeks after the Blue Ridge Half which is near and dear to my heart and which I will definitely run every year that I am able.  In the past I've always been scared by the idea of running two half marathons so close together.  I am getting over that fear.  I am strong this year.  (and I am really bummed out by my last disaster of a race and felt the need to replace it with an additional race)

If the mob of runners at Pittsburgh doesn't box me in too long and slow me down...maybe it will help carry me to that PR that I have been trying so long to achieve!