The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon

Date: March 17, 2013

Location: Virginia Beach, VA

In the days leading up to this marathon, I was feeling really excited. I probably looked at the event website a hundred times, imagining what it was going to be like. I was excited to be near the ocean, run another unforgettable race, and perhaps most of all, I was excited for the post-race St. Patty’s day celebration!

But, I was also REALLY nervous. My training – or rather, “maintaining” since Disney – hadn’t exactly gone as planned. I decided to run these two marathons only 2 months apart because I wanted to experiment with maintaining rather than starting from scratch and re-training all over again. This way, I figured, it resulted in fewer net miles, which could be better for my body.

In theory, a good idea, but, this winter was brutal and endless, and the flu hit especially hard in Indiana this year. I was sick several times, and that combined with the harsh running conditions resulted in my longest run since Disney being only15 miles. However, I did do a lot of (indoor) cross training – swimming, biking – and I did more lower body strength training than usual. Those few long runs felt great, and I PR’d at a 5K race in February! So, my fitness still seemed pretty good, but I was still worried about my endurance. I really had no idea what to expect.

But ready or not, there I stood with Jin at the starting line, shivering in a sea of green-clad runners. It was completely overcast, with temperatures in the low forties – which is actually a great temperature for running – but the wind was brutal. Everyone was trying to keep moving around to stay warm as the countdown to the start began. And then, we were off!

Any marathoner will tell you that the beginning is bittersweet. You feel strong, and confident and enjoy the freedom of running. But at the same time, you can’t shake the feeling of dread at what’s coming. That inevitable pain of exhaustion will eventually set in, it’s just a question of when. In a way, I almost feel relieved when it finally happens because it’s like “okay, there it is. NOW I can deal with it.”

The beginning of the race seemed to fly by. We ran south on Atlantic Ave flanked by the cheering, shivering crowd. Jin and I had decided to run at our own paces, so we only stayed together for the first few miles. The only time in the entire course that we saw a drastic change in elevation was when we crossed Rudee Bridge, (which we actually crossed twice), and I used the sharp downhill to lengthen my stride and fly past a bunch of others. I was feeling amazing! But, I didn’t want to go out too fast.

Before long, I was on General Booth Blvd, around mile 5. At the end of this stretch, there would be a turn-around, so the runners a couple miles ahead of me were running in the opposite direction, directly to my left. I watched the faster pace groups go by… 3:00, 3:15, 3:30… seeing those faster runners really pushed me to go faster too. I had started the race just in front of the 4:15 pacer, and I hadn’t seen him pass me yet. Am I really going at a 4:15 pace?!

After that I remember running through some wooded areas near the Camp Pendleton military base. The cadets stood in lines on the side of the road shouting military chants and holding out their hands creating a high-five receiving line. The girls gave pretty weak high-fives, but after I passed the boys, my hand stung for a mile.

At mile 10 I was still feeling pretty good, but I was starting to get a little tired. Luckily, this was when we got to the boardwalk. It was a million times windier in the open beachfront air, but I didn’t even care because the ocean was right next to me! Maybe it’s because I came from land-locked Indiana, or maybe it’s a result of witnessing the sheer power of the ocean. Whatever it was, I suddenly started running with renewed vigor.

We exited the boardwalk and ran through the downtown area where there were a ton of spectators cheering and reinforcing my energy. Someone was dressed as Gumby – I have no idea why, maybe because he’s green? – but he was going ballistic, jumping up and down and waving his arms as we passed. It looked hilarious and I started cracking up. I would think about Gumby a few more times later in the race, and in my delirious state, would crack up all over again.

I passed mile 13 – the halfway mark – and I was still feeling great. I saw the time displayed on the clock. It was just above 2 hours, which meant I was on pace for a PR! True, I still hadn’t seen the 4:15 pacer go by, but I thought maybe I’d missed him, or maybe he was actually going at a slower pace, which sometimes does happen in races. But the clock confirmed that I was indeed ahead of him. Still, I tried not to get my hopes up too soon. 13 miles is a heck of a long way to go, and anything could happen in this second half. I thought for sure that I would hit the wall soon, as I had in my other marathons.

The next three miles were really boring as we ran north up Atlantic Ave. The wind was blowing at a full-frontal assault, so it took more energy to keep my pace. This was another stretch where we could see the faster runners go by in the opposite direction. And by faster, I mean the leaders. Including the guy headed for first place. They were few and far between, but jeez were they still going hard, even though they were red with exhaustion.

To distract myself from the biting wind, I started thinking about the book I had been reading for the past week called Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer. She was the first woman to “officially” run the Boston Marathon, and then worked tirelessly to make women’s distance running official. Because, before 1972, women were not allowed to run the marathon distance. In fact, the longest event they were allowed to run was 1 ½  miles because it was legitimately thought that running longer distances would turn them into men, or make their uteruses fall out! People actually believed that!

Looking at the number of women running all around me, it seemed so strange that there was a time when it was unheard of for women to run. I’m not entirely sure that I would be the same person if I didn’t have the opportunity to run.

Finally we turned off Atlantic Ave at mile 16 and onto Shore Drive; a small road completely lined with forest. There were posters lining the path with really corny leprechaun jokes written on them, like ‘What do you call a leprechaun at the beach? … A LEPRECONCH!’ They were all pretty terrible, but at least they were distracting.

After 18 miles, I was still feeling good. I felt like Forrest Gump when he just kept running and running across the country! (It had been on TV at the hotel the night before). At the 18.1 mile mark there was another clock displaying the time, and it was at this moment that I knew – without a doubt – that this race was going to be a PR. Some quick mental math told me that even if I slowed significantly in the last eight miles, I would still finish before 4:30. It was exciting and outrageous at the same time. It was the last thing I expected coming into this race.

Shore Drive ended at mile 19 and then we turned right and were back on Atlantic Ave. After another half mile, I finally met The Wall. My legs just started slowing and hard as I tried, they wouldn’t speed up. “Go faster legs!” I told them, but they were exhausted. Runners started passing me left and right, and after about a half mile, the crowd around me thickened significantly. It must be the 4:15 pace group I thought, and sure enough, the guy in the bright orange shirt holding the 4:15 stick came up behind me, shouting encouragements to everyone around him, and then he said “We are exactly on pace for 4:15 everyone, don’t slow down now!” And right there I made the decision to stick with the pacer. No matter what. I only had about 6 miles to go and I’d already come this far running this fast. I would push myself as hard as it took to make a 4:15 time.

So, I kept going, never letting that bright orange shirt out of sight. We ran past Fort Story and Cape Henry Lighthouse, and then we were back running south on the stretch of Atlantic Ave that we’d already run north on with only about 3 miles to go. People were holding out beer for the runners now, and it smelled so good! Tempted as I was, I had to get to the finish line first.

The wind was now at our backs giving a friendly boost and I was running directly behind the man in the orange shirt. I owe so much to that man. He was a great pacer, and if I hadn’t been in front of him for the majority of the race, he wouldn’t have turned up when I needed him most, and I might never have pushed myself as hard as I did in those last few miles.

At mile 25 he turned to me and said, “You only have one mile to go, just go for it!” Whatever you say, savior in the orange shirt! And so I took off, back through the downtown area and then suddenly I was on the boardwalk again. I could see the huge King Neptune statue in the distance and I knew that’s where the finish line was. I passed runner after runner as I put every ounce of remaining energy into that last stretch. I passed the statue and the spectators were going wild. And then I was crossing the finish line. I had finished in 4:13:59!!! I couldn’t even believe I’d just done that. An entire 17 minutes faster than my previous PR! How did that just happen? I thought I hadn’t trained enough for sure.

But I didn’t have time to think about it just then. Because there was so much swag to gather! First, of course, my medal. And then, much to my surprise, I was also handed a shamrock marathon blanket, AND a running hat! And the best was still yet to come... the afterparty. Each runner got free Irish stew and Yuengling. Yuengling is my favorite beer, and it’s not sold in Indiana! I may or may not have chosen to run this marathon just for the Yuengling J

Despite the fact that we could hardly walk, Jin and I had a great time at the celebration. The band – The Deloreans – were amazing! It was the perfect ending to such a great race. But the question still remained… how did it end up being such a great race?

One thing that definitely stood out was the lack of knee pain... that dull ache behind the kneecaps that I usually get during long runs as a result of runner's knee. I'm still not entirely sure why it didn't turn up this time, but my guess is that my twice weekly leg workouts played a big role here because one of the causes of runner's knee is weak quads or hips.  

Another contributing factor in this race was the temperature. I had felt that I was primed for a PR in the Disney marathon, so the heat that day must have slowed me down more than I’d realized. Especially since I was completely unprepared for it having trained in cold weather. So, I must have maintained that pre-Disney fitness better than I’d thought and since I wasn’t battling the heat this time around… voila!

There are other factors, like the flatness of the course, and maybe even my recent focus on running nutrition. Anyway, all the stars seemed to have aligned and now I feel a new sense of hope and excitement in my potential as a runner.

The first step had been learning how to run – and stay – injury-free, which I achieved before Disney. And from the past few races, I’ve learned a lot more about what kind of training tactics work for me. So, now that I seem to be getting the hang of this marathon thing, my focus will no longer be on just getting across the finish line. Instead, I plan to focus on improving my times and become a faster runner. After all, one of my goals is to eventually qualify for Boston!

More to come in October after the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon J