Route 66 Marathon

Well, my 8th marathon is in the books, i'm happy bout that.  What can i say, this race was another challenging one, seems the last 5 i've run have been nothing but uphill challenging races, just tough.  I must love torturing myself. 

Well anyways, i got to the expo on Saturday, picked up my race packet, browsed around a bit, chatted to one of the OKC landrunners bout becoming a volunteer for the okc marathon next Spring, i've run the half & Full there, twice, don't care to run it anymore.  I even met up with Glenn S. from Daily mile, chatted to him a bit, then we wish each other luck, and parted ways.

Remember earlier in week i wasn't much liking what the weekend weather forecast was suppose to be like race day? Well, then, the forecast for race morning in Tulsa was suppose to be like 55 degrees, i dreaded it somewhat, but, they were wrong, it was worst, when i went to bed Last night, temp was 58 degrees, windy, when i got up at 4:30AM, it was 61 degrees, it actually warmed up overnight, talk to a couple of other runners, and they thoughts so as well, well, ok, even the weather station proved this.  So, here i am, thinking, "oh no, here we go again", But, i was determined to remain positive no matter what the conditions were, i trained hard, got all my long runs in the last couple of months, i still felt my overall conditioning would prevail and take me to a sub 4 hour marathon. 

I wore my sleeveless tech shirt, my hydration belt, with its 3 six ounce bottles, carried a dozen endurolyte caps with me, in a sandwich bag.  Got to Veterans park bout 45 minutes b4 race time, they were saying over the loudspeaker to all the runners, keep hydrated, it's gonna be a WARM one, like i really needed to hear that.  U know, OK weather is so strange, 2 weeks ago, i ran a 5k, and the starting temp at 8AM was 38 degrees, loved it, last weekend, the highs(cool), were lower than this mornings starting temp. I know we can't control the weather, just happens that way, but sure would be nice to have a starting temp of one of the big races, anywhere from very cool to even cold, with low humidity.  Even this come holiday weekend, they're predicting OK coldest weather this Fall, the question i ask, WHY DID this weekend have to be so WARM??  We probable won't have another weekend this year that's like this, ugh.

Ok, back to the race, i was assigned to corral A, there was a beautiful  song by the Tulsa native american club, the sang a traditional song, LOVED it, :).  And, as i standing, waiting around, someone came up to me, asked if i was Marlon, it was Tammy D. also from Dailymile, nice to have met u 2day.  OK, i took 2 endurolyte caps b4 the race, Glenn S. advised me to take it easy the first mile and half, due to some hills, he wasn't joking, well, actually if he had advised me to take it easy the first half of the race, he wouldn't have been joking there too, that first half was HILLY, quite a leg workout for someone who hasn't put too much time in hills(will now). I was at a 9 minute pace for 10 miles, and hit the half marathon point in 2:00:39, still not bad, and wasn't feeling all that bad, considering i was soaking wet from all that sweating(humid).  It was windy, at times it felt good, then there were times, running thru the residential areas when there was no wind, rough.  I took 2 more endurolyte caps at mile 6, and at mile 13, and 18. One thing, cramping wasn't a issue, thank god, even tho there were times i felt like a cramp was bout to pop up in my left calf or right arm pit, i slowed down or i'd massage my arm.  I stopped at mile 10, mile 15, and 18, 22, and did some run/jog til the finish, FINALLY the cramps started the last mile, but, i have no problem with that, hot/humid as it was, it's expected, there were runners walking stiffed legged way back there round mile 18 to 20.   So, i do believe i finally got this cramping issue resolved, :). 

It was just the first half, with all those hills, humidity, i ended up getting drained, legs were worned out, hydration belt got emptied, i was grabbing cups of water, and gaterade at each aid station, so glad there were plenty of them.  Plus, it was overcast the whole marathon, i was thankful for that, could've been alot worst. 

As for my marathon goals, guess i'll just have to make them as just to run a race better than the last, if that was the case 2day, i did that, bettered Minneapolis by 20 minutes.  BTW, the conditions were bout the same as Minneapolis, starting temp in the 60s, humid, but 2days race just had alot more WIND, the hills in MN were more scattered throughout the race, 2days hills were mostly through the first half marathon.

I haven't run a good marathon in 2 years, this same race, back in 08, i ran my PR, 3:58, first half then was like 2day, 2 hours, but, 2nd half was in 1:58, the conditions were so different, back then, i wore my long sleeve tech shirt, ski ban to cover my ears, and gloves, the entire race. I'm just not a warm weather long distance racer.  Even when i was injured with Plantar Faciitis back in Feb. of 09, Cowtown marathon, heel felt like it was on fire from mile 10 to the finish, i still ran 4:17, and still remembering thinking, it can't get any worst than this, i was so WRONG.

Anyways, i finished, got my medal, finishers shirt, and then met another daily miler, Denise, lol, everyone sure recognizes me, must be my bandana, lol.  Nice to have met u Denise, hope u ran a good race, or near what u had hope to run, if u did, u ran a hell of alot better than i did.  I visited Paul J. also from Dailymile, so, in the 2 days, i talked to 2, and met 2 for the first time, from DM, :). 

Not all was bad, there were some of my DM friends who ran well under these conditions, way to go Lia M.  i think u said u ran one minute off of your PR, Wow, that's moving, and u were moving, Kacy ran a 3:59, awesome Kacy, proud of u. 

Well, now u have it, the good, cramp issue resolved(hope), the bad(not so good), the weather, wind, humidity.

Finally, feel for the young guy who passed away 2day from running the half, prayers to his family, tragic.