For the record, the elevation chart can be accessed here: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/51656024/.
As you can see there are climbs from 6 into 7, from 11 into
12, and from 17 into 18.
A running friend from Baltimore picked me up at 5 and we
drove to Gettysburg. We arrived a bit
before 6:30 and had plenty of time before the race.
I decided to run with knee brace on. I put on sun screen. I was down to shorts and my Back on My Feet
tank. My number was 80. And I checked my bag. I used the porta-potties twice before the
race and thought I was fine.
We lined up approaching 7:30. I was closed to the front than I
expected. Was not sure of the technology
to get times, but it worked wonderfully.
A gun (fired by someone in a Civil War uniform) fired the gun to start
the race and we were off.
I was so near the front that I could have gotten caught up
with a start down near 7:00. But I could
tell that it was considerably too fast, so I dropped back. There were probably 30 people ahead of me
total. And after I settled down my first
mile ended up being run at 7:35. Right
on the planned pace. Shannon had pointed
out that if my Garmin ended up at 25.3 (which they almost invariably do in
races) that would put me right on. Second mile went by and I had run a
7:33. So far I couldn’t get any better.
As I ran along somewhere in the 2-3 mile range, a runner my
age came up and struck up a conversation.
He told me he was from Charlottesville and had run a few marathons to
date. He wanted to aim for a 3:15. We chatted about our training. Miles 3 and 4 went by in 7:33 and 7:19.
The latter of those two really worried me.
So, I managed to slow down mile 5 (after mentioning that
this was a bit fast) and we ran 7:30.
Mile 6 was then down to 7:27.
So, we ran mile 6. I
recognized that I had not had a Stinger at the start of the race. I had begun the morning with a bowl of
cinnamon and wheat cereal and soy milk at 4:30.
I then had a Stinger at around 6:45.
I should have taken one at the start of the race. So, I consumed one as I approached mile
6. The guy I was running with did closer
to the water stop. That was water stop
number 3. Throughout the race I took
something to drink at each stop. Early
in the race that was all I took. After I
grabbed the cup, I realized I could not go on without stopping. Since there were porta-potties at each water
stop, I took the chance to stop. I told
my fellow runner that I would maybe catch him later. I didn’t.
But it did allow me to slow down.
Between the pit stop and the hill going to mile 7, that mile was run at
8:12.
Moving along the next several mile were run at 7:28, 7:20,
and 7:33. The first two of those pretty
much got me caught back up with the time I was trying to get. Early in the race my Garmin and the
race-marked miles matched closely. As
the race went on there was more separation.
I could do the mental math to figure out what time I should be at when I
reached the mile markers. The calculations were part of what kept my mind busy.
Somewhere along the race there was a beautiful stream to run
by. There were many fields. I ran by an alpaca that was standing at the
fence of its farm and staring at the runners.
There was a very loud chicken coop.
And the support other than the water stops was minimal but nice. A few people just stared.
As I ran through mile 11, it was run at 7:51. The cool thing was that in this race I was
able to recover each time. Mile 12 was
run at 7:20 again and mile 13 at 7:21.
Those felt like strong miles. At
some point in this range, I ran into a guy who was 25 and said he grew up in
York. We chatted for a bit. And after a while on a down hill he started
running ahead. I let him go. It was not
worth trying to keep up. I told him to
have a good race. I had completed the
first 13 miles in 1:38:12.
In mile 14, I ran a 7:29 again. And then there was a hill in the 15th
mile and I ran a 7:50. The ups and downs
started getting to me. I ran a 7:29 for
mile 16. I don’t remember at this point
whether I yelled at a driver during mile 16 or mile 17. But at that point, I had been running with
traffic (not recommended but all runners were on that side). I was behind two runners. They were two I would eventually catch as I
had so many others. The two seemed to be
communicating with the driver of a minivan.
After they passed the minivan driver started backing across the road to
pull perpendicular to the road. I don’t
know if the driver somehow did not see me behind them or was just inconsiderate. But her backing was slow. And if I had not broken stride and changed
direction to go around the car I would have run straight into it. So, I yelled.
Startled the other two runners.
But there was no reason the person could not have waited. In any case,
mile 17 was run at 7:35.
I felt like I had to work harder now to keep my time. Very different from running 8:45-9 and
feeling like I didn’t even have to breath hard.
Another up in miles 18 -19 and I ran 7:39 and 7:33.
This was where I truly had to face my own ability to
persevere. My stomach felt like I might
have to stop again. But I tried to
relax. And while I proceeded through
mile 20 at 7:25 I regained my composure and ran right by the water stop. As I passed the actual marker I was within
just a few seconds of 2:31:40 and was ready to try to make the goal I had.
So, miles 21 and 22 were both run at 7:33. This was at the stage of the race in which I
would always take two cups. Either both
water—one to drink and one to dump on my head—or a water to dump and a Gatorade
to drink.
I had taken my second Stinger during the race around mile
16. I had felt a lot slower while
consuming it. So, I tried to avoid
taking the third during the race. My
fuel belt ended up with one extra Stinger.
That 25 year old who had grown up in York. When I spotted him originally he said he was
hoping for a 3:30. He did a lot better
than that, but I did pass him. Turns out
that if you are thinking of a 3:30 and you catch up with someone who is running
a 3:20, you will eventually run out of steam.
Mile 23 was both fast and my saving grace for my overall
time. I pulled myself together to run a
7:14. As I finished that mile and had
just a little over a 5K to go, I was feeling good.
For mile 24, I ran a 7:35.
At that point I saw what my time was and saw that I could afford to slow
down a little if I still felt like I was under control. I wanted to stay faster than 8 minute miles because
I didn’t want to risk missing the opportunity I’d worked so hard for. I thought of how Jackie ran the last four
miles with me in Philly in 2014. I
thought of all the miles Lauren, and Joselyn, and Kristen had put in with
me. I thought of the fact that I was
using money that my grandmother had left my mother and my mom had passed on to
me. I thought of how Shannon had little
or no doubt I could complete this. And
as I headed into the neighborhood to run mile 25 before coming back out to the
main road for the end of the race, I settled in for the end of the race. Mile 25 was run at 7:52. I passed one guy in the neighborhood who
commented on how hard I was working. I
wanted the sub-3:20.
So, I continued on and came back out onto the main street
leading to the last run. Mile 26 was run
at 7:41. Amazingly enough the second 13
were run at 1:38:27. Now, I realize that
the first half included a pit stop, but I had run the two 13’s within 15
seconds of each other.
Then, there was the end.
I ran a 2:32. Once I made the
final turn, I could see the clock above the finish line and through all the
effort to get there, I smiled.
Success. 15th
overall. Made my time. Many choices available to me now.
And with the 7:34 over 26.3 or 7:36 over the official 26.2
distance, I have proven that I don’t need a taper to run a decent marathon.
No one had passed and stayed ahead of me from mile 2
forward. And I had come back to pass
many of the people who had gone in front of me at the start of the race.
