Short Version: 3:11:02 (30 !!!!!!!!!!!! Minute PR)
Road Trip (Non-Running)
I signed up for the Missoula Marathon on a bit of a whim. I ran across it almost on accident on marathonguide.com . After spending some time on their webpage and blog I decided to give it a go. Aside from wanting redemption for May’s Great Potato Marathon (henceforth referred to as the 1st Marathon) debauchery I have a special place in my heart for western Montana. I grew up in a small town just northwest of Missoula and when we needed to go school shopping or go to a movie theatre with 10!! screens we would go to Missoula. My wife and I also decided this would be a great opportunity for my parents to visit their one month old granddaughter again for a couple days. It was set.
We were very nervous about the drive with a 1 month old infant (our first). We split it up into a 3 hour drive and a 4 hour drive the next morning. We stayed the night in the Salmon Rapid Inn in Riggins, ID. It worked out perfectly. The baby was happy in her car seat, the hotel was fantastic and affordable, and we had great driving weather with surprisingly little traffic.
Sleeping Baby
My wife and daughter on the balcony of our room at the Salmon Rapids Lodge
Training and Taper (Running)
I had an 8 week cycle between my last marathon and the Missoula marathon. It went *perfectly*. I followed Pfitz’s 8 weeks between plan. I peaked at 64 mi per week. I had a completely injury free 8 weeks.
The taper was also fantastic; a stark contrast from the 1st Marathon’s taper. We made no plans for the weekends leading up to the race and I got as much sleep as our baby allowed. I stayed focused and healthy. This included lots of hand washing and one airborne in the morning for some extra anti oxidants. Three days out I sensed a little ache in my knee so I skipped the strides after my 5 mile recovery run.
Here is what I feel contributed most to this period:
* Massage 2 days after the 1st marathon.
* Smart but aggressive recovery after 1st marathon.
* Close attention to all the scheduled speed work.
I skipped most speed work for the 1st Marathon.
* Softer shoes. (Asics 2130’s vs Brooks Adrenaline)
* Extra day off 2 days before 2nd marathon.
* 45 minutes of core work 3 times per week
* Three days of intense carbo loading before 2nd marathon.
Extra note on the carbo loading; I love plain carbs. Plain white rice and plain noodles.
I can eat these with no extra sauces, so that is what I did. I will definitely repeat this.
Marathon Expo and Day Before
We arrived at our hotel at 11am the day before the race. We immediately headed down to the marathon expo in Caras Park (a beautiful park with a canopy on the banks of the Clark Fork river) to pick up my race packet.
Even the expo spoke volumes for the organization and execution of this event. There were lots of vendors and folks really excited about running. For a small town like Missoula, (pop ~64,000) this is a BIG deal.
We ventured to Romeo’s Italian Grill for dinner where I polished off my plate of spaghetti w/ marina and grilled chicken and a half piece of tara masu. Romeo’s was great; excellent service and food. We then dropped the baby off at my parents hotel room and promptly hit the sack at 7:45pm. It was our first night away from her! There were some serious sleep issues because of a gigantic wedding happening several feet from our balcony. Suffice to say, the hotel had A TON of complaints from marathoners staying there. I ended up getting about 5 hours. Not bad for the night before a race.
Game Time (Race Day)
My alarm blasted at 3:45 am and I was immediately wide awake. I was uncontrollably excited. I had made it to marathon morning well rested and healthy. Perfect. I got up and got to business. As quickly as possible I ingested 2 cups of hot coffee, 32 oz Gatorade, 1 bagel with peanut butter, ½ of a PowerBar. I had over 2 hours to digest and take care of some much needed bodily functions.
4:30 am race day. Ready to rock and roll.
I was ready and out the door by 4:30am and made the short 3 block walk to the start line bus. I got on the second bus that morning. Everyone on the bus was friendly and chatty. I talked with a guy from Iowa who was hoping to run his 3:35 BQ. The crazy thing about this guy was that he claimed to never train. He JUST ran races. He claimed his job as a farmer kept him in shape enough to run marathons. He’d run more races than I, so I’m not going to knock it.
After we unloaded in Frenchtown, MT (a tiny town about 20 miles from Missoula) I was really happy I decided to wear sweats and a sweatshirt over my running clothes. It was about 46 degrees. PERFECT!! For the next 30 minutes I sat on the pavement, used the porta john, and tried to conserve as many calories as possible. At 5:45 I started my stretching routine. At 5:55 I shed my top layer and dropped my gear bag off and headed to the start line. I “did the salt” and took two antacids and toed the line.
At 6 am they fired some cannon that scared the sh*t out of me. I hit start on my garmin and was off.
Goal Pace: 7:38 / mi = 3:20 marathon
Fall Back Pace: 8:00 / mi = 3:30 marathon
Miles 1-5
About 50 people immediately blew past me. I knew this was a good sign from reading other successful race reports. I found a comfortable pace and enjoyed the scenery. Watching the sun come up made me realize how much I miss Montana. After checking my mile 1 split I decided that I had indeed gone out to fast and forced myself to slow down. The next 2 splits were spot on. However, at mile 4 something funny happened. I felt like I was exerting more energy than needed to keep my stride in check. I decided to loosen up and run by feel.
1 – 7:22
2 – 7:35
3 – 7:34
4 – 7:35
5 – 7:30
Miles 6 - 10
I found a rhythm. I was still checking my stride to keep myself from going too fast, but was VERY comfortable here. No labored breathing. Legs felt loose and light. A couple times I had fleeting thoughts of how I’d be kicking myself for running too fast at mile 22, but they never substantiated into any noticeable pace changes.
6 – 7:24
7 – 7:27
8 – 7:21
9 – 7:29
10 – 7:27
Miles 11-15
At this point I completely stoped checking my stride and started running by feel. I’m was very comfortable and still having a great time enjoying the beautiful Montana scenery, great weather, and surprisingly abundant spectators. I spent a lot of time thinking about running as a kid in Montana and how I took all this natural beauty for granted. Deep thoughts for sure J . Around mile 12 we turned onto a road named “Big Flat Road.” All I have to say is some asshole in Missoula sure thinks he is funny. The only hills on the entire course were located here. I spend most of my time training in mild hills like these so they were no problem. The only substantial hill was at mile 14 and you can see that reflected in my split. I probably could have run it faster, but I definitely wanted to conserve energy on this one so I took short quick strides, pumped my arms and focused on my breathing. It was over before I even knew it began.
11 – 7:19
12 – 7:21
13 – 7:18
14 – 7:47
15 – 7:22
Miles 16-20
At mile 16 we came down the elevation we had gained and continued on a flat course for the duration of the race. At mile 17 I started to feel those familiar tinges of fatigue in my legs. In my last marathon this is where I panicked thinking, “How can I be tired? I still have 9 miles to go!” This time I knew it was coming and dismissed it saying, “Of course your legs are starting to complain. You’ve already run 17 miles.” My breathing was still comfortable here and I was still having a great time. I just let my legs go.
16 – 7:09
17 – 7:20
18 – 7:11
19 – 7:13
20 – 7:09
Miles 20-25
How can this be happening? Why am I not breaking? I’m running WAY to fast. All of these thoughts kept playing over and over in my head as I rounded mile 21 where I passed the first place female. I cheered her on as I went by.
At this point I started playing mind games with myself saying, “You only have 5 miles to run. You only have 4 miles to run, etc.” I didn’t purposely decide to “take off” on these last miles like it appears. All I thought was, “just put your head down and go.” At this point I was picking off marathoners every 3-4 minutes who were fading.
About mile 22 I notice an old guy suddenly running to my right. I look over and flash back to when I was 10 years old running down the county road near our house. Only this time the roles are reversed. It is my dad. The first time I ever left my house and went for a run was with my dad. I think I was 7 at the time. We might have run ½ mile. I ran my first 5k with my dad the summer between 3rd and 4th grade. I can’t even imagine how slow we must have been going, but he didn’t care. He ran the entire thing with me. He never pressured me into running. If I wanted to go with him I was always welcome and if I didn’t that was ok also.
My dad and I have countless stories about running together that usually get told over and over again at family gatherings. Now my dad runs ~10 min/miles and about 12 miles a week. But there he was with me. He was with me for maybe 4 or 5 seconds, but all those thoughts washed over me in that short period of time. We exchange a couple words. I remember him saying “Great job. Stay focused. Just go, go, go.” before I was too far in front for any more conversation. This was a powerful moment for me. I turned off that straightaway hoping more than ever that I can be as good a father to my daughter as my dad has been to me.
I wipe a few tears from eyes and say, “screw it”. I let my legs unleash.
A few hundred yards later I ran past 3 of the 4 most important women in my life; my daughter, my wife, and my mom (only missing my sister J ). I gave them a big smile and kept on truckin’.
21 – 7:03
22 – 7:07
23 – 7:03
24 – 7:10
25 – 7:09
Running past the girls at mile 22.5
Miles 26& 0.2
At this point, I knew something good was going to happen. I was not going to fade. As I made the final turn onto the Higgins St bridge I checked my watch. 3:10:00 . I looked at the finish. It was going to be close.
Giving it everything I had left.I gave it everything I had and came up 3 seconds short.
26 – 6:58
0.2 – 0:21
(My Garmin only registered 26.06. However, this is a certified 26.2 course)
Final: 3:11:02
1st Split: 1:37:27
2nd Split: 1:33:35 (3:52 minute negative split)
Post Race
Most would be heart broken by this. But this is just the start of my marathon journey. I had a 30 MINUTE PR. I could do nothing but smile from ear to ear as I made my way down the finishers shoot. I was a 3:11 marathoner; a far cry from the 3:41 marathoner I was 8 weeks ago. I had just run the best race of my life.
After saying good bye to my folks we packed our little family in the car and started the 7 hour drive back to Boise. We had to stop every hour for me to stretch and to change the baby. I talked my wife’s ear off about the experience most of the way. Around 6 pm we stopped for dinner where I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with fries. I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed a cheeseburger that much.
Conclusion
I want to give a huge shout out to the folks that organize and run the Missoula Marathon. They did an absolutely fantastic job. Everything from the expo, to the course tour, to the post race food was fantastic. They really got the community excited about this event. If you are looking for a reason to take a vacation to Montana, this is a damn good one.
Finally, I believe the “stars aligned” with this race for me. I had been running amazing training races that I felt well exceeded my marathon time in the 1st marathon. Now I know what I’m capable of and I can’t wait to test my limits at Portland on October 5th.
