Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon

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Location:

Snoqualmie,WA,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon PR: 4:17 at Portland Marathon, Oct. 2007

5K PR 24:37 2009

10K PR 52:58 2010

Have run 22 marathons to date.

No injuries, ever.   :)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for Boston (4:05 for my age/gender) - or, perhaps, to use my desire for a BQ as a way to get in the hated speed work so I don't just get slower and slower over the years.  This goal is "under (re)construction" right now, until I figure out whether it is truly what I want. :) 


Long-Term Running Goals:

To continue learning about myself and about running, and to enjoy being a fit, happy runner for life.   To always know why I am running and the best way to get the most (both mentally and physically) out of my runs.  To keep a sense of humor and remain optimistic about myself as a runner.  To enjoy running more and more with every passing year. 

Personal:

Baby boomer generation.  Jogged a little in my 20's and 30's.  Started running seriously in 2002.  Low-carb runner since January 2010. 

I love long runs and cold, cloudy weather.  I don't believe in "junk miles."  I am an optimist.  I adore dark chocolate, fog, my family, and knitting -- not necessarily in that order.  

"As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are."  -- Joan Benoit Samuelson 


Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks ST3 Lifetime Miles: 891.35
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Lifetime Miles: 23.77
Brooks ST3 II Lifetime Miles: 965.17
Lunaracers II Lifetime Miles: 198.23
Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Lifetime Miles: 104.14
Asics Piranha Lifetime Miles: 536.83
RunAmocs (Softstar) Lifetime Miles: 16.23
Piranha II Lifetime Miles: 219.53
Race: Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:48:08
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
26.200.000.000.0026.20

Goal: fun & easy.
Splits: 5K 33:39, 10K 1:07, half 2:20, 30K 3:18, 40K 4:19
Weather: Low 50s, rising into low to mid 70s, sunny & clear

Number 18 in the bag!  It was a rockin and a rollin, but more like an ocean liner than Duane Allman’s fingers on a fret board.... slow!  Executive summary - a great experience overall, though I did not handle the rising temperatures well.  I did not see Elvis. And I was so sure he’d be there.

I’ll get the whining out of the way right off the bat, then the raves, and then a little blow-by-blow.  First, the whining...

This is a very hilly course.  From the first little rise at mile 1.6 to the last seemingly gruesome climb at 25 (what hill is minor at that point?), there are a lot of hills.  Many of them were gentle or short, and there were certainly long stretches of flat running, but the hills were formidable.  I greatly pity the runners who had no hill training. 

It’s just pathetic, I know, but I got so hot once we were out on the I-90 floating bridge. And I never really cooled off after that.  It’s about 1.5 miles over the bridge and back; on the way out there was a slight breeze, and Mt. Rainier was out, and I was still in my happy place. But when I turned back, out of the breeze, I started to feel my face flushing and all I wanted was to reach the shade of the tunnel ahead. 

The tunnel. Ok. This just should not be legal.  We rejoined the half-marathoners as we entered the tunnel and within 15 seconds the roar of sound was unbearable.  People were screaming, whooping, and the band at the far end was cranked up with their speakers pointed down towards the other end.  I didn’t really know where the roar was coming from; the Mt. Baker tunnel (seen in this picture as the freeway disappears into the landscape for a bit) is a little over a half mile long and it wasn’t until I was right on top of the band that I realized they were there. I was just trying to keep my head down and get through there as quickly as I could.  And - it wasn’t much cooler inside the tunnel than out.

Shortly after the tunnel we were all funneled into a narrower lane of traffic and there seemed to be 1 marathoner for every 15-20 half-ers, most of whom seemed to be struggling through their last 2 miles.  Dodge, weave, dodge, weave.  I never thought I’d be faced with that kind of running at mile 13!  (Our mileage was higher than theirs because we marathoners had an out and back on the bridge.)

Let’s see. What else can I complain about?  The road surface was really rough in places when we were on the freeway.  I had to get up at 2:50 AM to get into Seattle for the shuttle buses.  And if it’s warm enough for no sleeves who wants to wear a black? (The race t-shirt.) Glad I didn’t have mine on for the race!

Now for the praises...

The race organization was excellent!  Those Rock n Roll people really know what they are doing! 

I surprised myself by liking most of the bands!  Because of my age and my musical tastes, I didn’t think I would enjoy most of the music.  In mile 3, when we all ran past a band singing the Beatles’ “Come together,” everyone started singing along.  Excellent fun!   I did have to listen to “Too Many Puppies” twice.  Even one Too Many Puppies is too many Too Many Puppies in my book.  Ah, but I was done whining, wasn’t I?

When the course was pretty, it was incredibly pretty!  The first few miles are pretty trashy, but then we got views of some lovely neighborhoods, Lake Washington (complete with bald eagle overhead), Mt. Rainier, Elliot Bay and Lake Union.   Anyone visiting from out of town really got to see the best of Seattle today.  For their sakes, I was happy for the clear skies.  Sunshine -- most people do seem to enjoy that sort of thing. 

The volunteers, support crew and the crowds were all really nice.  I ran my marathon so slowly and the enthusiasm isn’t usually that good after 4 hours.  Maybe they were all happy about that sunshine stuff.

Spending time with AuntieEm, fellow blogger and my friend from Ravelry.com (and with whom I’ve run 3 races now) was delightful! 

Ok, a little overview of my race and I’ll sign off. (Warning, Contains material of a disgusting nature.)

Because I am so anxiety prone, and because I couldn’t see how they would ferry 25,000 runners to Tukwila with only 400 buses, I had told my lovely house guest, AuntieEm, that I would have to be on an early bus.  We left the house about 3:30 and about an hour later we were shivering safely in the Start Village.  With nearly 3 hours to wait.  (Forgot to whine about that.)  Though the race began at 7, my corral did not take off until a little after 7:25.  I shed my thrift-store sweat shirt at the first water station.

By mile 6 we were along Lake Washington and everything was Feeling Groovy. (I didn’t hear that song, but it would have been nice.) This is the best part of the course, in my opinion.  With the trees and the lake, it is just lovely.  I could tell even here that things were warming up, but I still felt great and hoped for the best. 

I think it was sometime around mile 10 or 11 that the marathoners split off to run over the I-90 floating bridge and back.  See section 1, Whining, for details.

The half marathoners left us for their finish line sometime during our 14th or 15th mile.  Sorry for the vagueness; after spending a half mile in the tunnel, I gave up on any kind of Garmin Gazing, and the mile markers were kind of small (read, I wasn’t paying attention).  This is not a good race for people who like their Garmins to guide them.  First is the aforementioned tunnel.  Then when we parted from the half-ers we ran for a long time on the bottom deck of the viaduct, and a little later there were 2 passes through the Battery Street tunnel.   In spite of all these periods of gps no-mans-land, my Garmin read 26.52 at the finish!  Sigh.  Maybe it just freaked out on me, but I know I ran a lot of extra steps -- there was almost no way to cut the tangents when we were packed together, and there was at least a mile of dart-and-dodge at mile 13 (see above).

Once one is away from Elliot Bay, there is very little scenery to speak of until the mile 19 turnaround at the Aurora Bridge.  Leading up to this bridge, we climb and climb for what seemed like a couple of miles -- on the least shady side of the street.  Feeling too warm became feeling hot and for me that means - Nausea and GI distress.  :(  At the turnaround I spent about 5 minutes in a Honey Bucket, unfortunately heating up even more.  Maybe I’ll just skip this part.

When we got back over the bridge we got to run downhill on the shadier side of Hwy 99 - ah!  I was feeling a bit better now.  Back through the Battery Street tunnel and past beautiful Elliot Bay, with the ferries streaming out over the Sound. 

If I were designing this course, I would have taken everyone around the lovely, wooded Seward Park at ~ mile 6 and eliminated the last little bit. We had to run past the finish area and down to the West Seattle bridge entrance, make another hairpin turnaround, and run back.  Just 3 miles, but it felt like forever. My nausea returned and all I could think of that last mile was how embarrassing it would be if I puked.  The crowds from mile 26 to the finish are thick and loud.  But I made it ok. 

It took me about 25 minutes to walk to my car, my legs were so shot.  Now that I’ve had a nap and some Ibuprofen, I am feeling much better, and we’re off to Mexican food in a few minutes.  I will conclude that I hope to remember this experience forever, the fun and beauty of it but also the feeling of being too warm -- I do not want to run any more summer marathons! Even the “cool” ones in June are just not good for this cloud lover.

Triax 12 II Miles: 26.20
Comments
From The Howling Commando on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 21:21:05 from 72.224.24.41

You get commando points! Wow. What a good race report. It captures the ups, the downs, and most of all, your ability to rise above the obstacles and still have a blast! One of the things that makes you a role model for me. Smiles, smiles, and more smiles. After all, what's the point of running if you don't enjoy it, right/!

From Bonnie on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 21:32:05 from 75.164.32.215

Great report Sno, 18 in the bag!

From allie on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 21:35:59 from 65.160.29.66

wow. a very captivating report. love it! congratulations on your race today. great job!

sorry you didn't see elvis :(

From Tracy on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 21:57:55 from 173.24.32.153

Congrats on your race today! Sounds like you had a great time--gotta love that!

From JD on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 22:39:20 from 32.178.121.40

Great report! 18 marathons, wow!!

Primus wants you to call them. :-)

From Mark on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 22:45:29 from 173.168.88.68

Glad you had fun and enjoyed it. Most excellent race report!

From Sean Sundwall on Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 23:20:40 from 98.247.29.82

Great job...way to hang in there. You should try the half next time. I will probably never run the RNR full...just too many hills. You were one of nine from the Mt. Si Running Club to race today...the only one to run the full marathon. Kudos for that.

From Dale on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 11:15:17 from 69.10.215.11

My thoughts exactly on the hills, tunnels, and heat. I know us PNW'ers are whimps when it comes to the sun and warm weather, but hey, when it makes it hurt, it hurts.

Nice job on #18!

From april27 on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 11:16:07 from 99.188.251.180

Great report--I had to giggle when you were mentioning how others may like all the sun and nice weather stuff...I too like some cloud cover. You are my hero! 18 marathons! Awww someday that will happen...someday!

From auntieem on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 11:52:14 from 67.182.145.8

Sno! I saw Elvis, and I told him to wait for you! Dang. Wish I had heard "Come Together" but I didn't. I thought of you often after I finished, and sadly suspected you were getting too warm - what do you think became of that Texan couple running in their sweatshirts! I think everyone in the race hated the tunnel - ghastly idea.

Congratulations on number 18!

From nicole on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 11:53:21 from 68.26.246.84

Great job Sno!! after hearing how hilly the course really was, I felt less sad about not getting to do it! :-) and I got to see most of the elites finish, which was inspiring and something I'd never seen before. my friend also thought it was HHHHOOOTTTT!!! way to get 18 in the bag!

From Kelli on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 12:03:59 from 71.219.76.64

You are such an amazing runner and WRITER! I love your race reports and daily running logs! Love it!

Okay, that tunnel would absolutely freak me out. I do not think I could do that race! And heat absolutely kills a run for me, too! It is so hard to adjust to, sorry it caused you grief.

Great work!! Glad you had fun and accomplished your goal of taking it easy!

From Metcalf Running on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 12:32:56 from 97.126.146.56

Congratulations on number 18!! WOW you are amazing!

Love your race report! Sorry the heat got to you and not seeing Elvis.

You are such an inspiration!!

From Snoqualmie on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 13:49:51 from 67.171.56.164

It's so great to read everyone's comments!!! Thank you!!!! Before the blog, I'd be boring anyone I could find to talk endlessly about my races and my running. It's so great to have a community where I can share all this now! I feel pretty good this morning (though sore) and I cannot wait to start training again! Wouldn't you know it, it's cloudy today.

From Kelli on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 16:58:21 from 71.219.76.64

Of course it would be cloudy today!

Heal well and thanks for sharing your stories with us! We love to hear them!

From Carolyn in Colorado on Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 19:01:04 from 71.229.164.25

Hey Sno.

It sounds like you had a fun race despite the heat and the tunnels and Too Many Puppies.

Wow. 18 marathons. You are really quite the marathoner. You're going to be raring to go for that fall marathon.

I like a sunny day if I'm not running, but clouds are definitely better for a run.

From Canyon Man on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:52:20 from 71.164.9.70

Snoqualmie,

I too ran the full marathon and reading your blog sounded like my experience step for step. Not only was the tunnel crowded and LOUD, but it was actually hotter than outside! This was my first marathon so I don't really know if this was a hilly course compared to others or not, but I am sure glad my training included a lot of hills! Congrats on 18.

From Snoqualmie on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 11:09:45 from 67.171.56.164

Congrats, Canyon Man! I would say this was a very hilly marathon compared to others. It wasn't the hilliest I've ever run, but it's up there in the top 5. But then there are the trail marathons - a whole 'nother world of hilliness. Glad you had a good experience and I hope you'll have many more! :)

From Little Bad Legs on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 13:15:57 from 24.216.235.183

Snoqualmie- Congrats on yet another marathon! I'm impressed with your ability to jump back so quickly.

I completely agree about summer marathons being too hot-especially if you're used to the cloud cover. Once again, good job and enjoy your recovery. What's the next marathon?

From Snoqualmie on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 13:28:25 from 67.171.56.164

Thanks, LBL. Next up is Royal Victoria. I am getting very excited about training for it. I love marathon recovery for that - you just plan the hard work and don't have to do it yet! lol I want to really work on my stamina with some faster long runs and fast finish long runs. I'm even considering taking advantage of an offer for coaching that Sean Sundwall made to our running club. If he'll have slow, stubborn me. :)

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