Marathon Me

After the triple I hadn’t been doing much running. I had tweaked my Achilles tendon and had to stay off of it for a while and then when I came back it was too hot. So I spent most of my training running inside on the treadmill for 4 or 5 miles at a time. I lost any heat acclimation I had as well as most of my hill training. I want to run well in St. George so when Big Jeff said they had a change of plans and the Ship was sailing to Wisconsin for the Eisenbahn Marathon I thought it would be a good training run. It was supposed to be a flat, fast course (but since Al picked it, I figured that it would get warm and sneak some hills in on us per Mesa Falls, Poconos, etc).

Shelley and I flew into Chicago to use frequent flyer miles and then drove up and meet up with Al, Sandy, POJ, Linda and Big Jeff. Somehow Al had conned Mike Friesch into having his parents host us for dinner. This was the nicest pre-race pasta dinner I’ve ever had. Ann and Andy took good care of us and they have an amazing house. We got to see all the memorabilia from a real runner (Mike). After we found “Cardboard Mike” we took some pictures and had a good time, as we were leaving Al quick-stepped Mike at the finish line. Way to run Al.

Look at that form!

The next morning we got up hella-early for me, but I channeled Paul Williams and was the second person down in the lobby after Big. The rest of the team almost had a heart attack getting beaten by me, but everyone survived. We then got on the bus to head to the start. Our bus driver got lost and added additional time to our trip. The funny thing was she turned off the road within a mile of where she needed to be and then added a good 10 miles to our trip. Luckily Big Jeff was able to shout out directions from the back of the bus to get us there.

For reasons still unclear to me, I decide to try a new nutrition plan for the race. I had been reading good things about Vespa (The sport supplement not the Druish Princess).

Yes

No

In theory it makes your body burn fat instead of carbs and so you don’t need GU or sports drink and you don’t crash. It seemed like bullshit to me, but a lot of Ultras had been won by people using this so I figured what the hell, what is the worst that can happen?

I took the first Vespa (which tastes so incredibly bad it was hard to keep down) about 45 minutes before the race as per the directions. We were going past some farms at the time and the smell didn’t help with the taste either. Shelley had coined the phrase “Wisconsin, smell our Dairy-Air” while we were driving up.

At the start there were guys talking about whether they would run 2:42 or 2:50, so I went ahead and decided to stick with the plan of running about a 3:10. I was hoping for a solid 15 miles or so and then just hang on.

We started on converted railroad trail and I tried to get into my pace. It was warmer than I would have liked at the start and I was definitely feeling the lack of training and was never really able to get into my pace. The first three miles were okay, mostly flat, but I felt like I was pushing it a lot more than I should have for the race I was running.

0-1 6:59
1-2 6:45
2-3 6:46

I’m waiting for the magic of the Vespa to kick in, but so far nothing. The course is pretty nice just some simple crushed granite trails, it feels like we are always going up a slight hill but this probably has more to do with lack of training than actual hills.

3-4 6:56
4-5 6:52
5-6 7:21

By mile 6 I am already feeling it. I know I won’t be back under 7 minute miles this race and wonder how long it will be before I keel over. Come on Vespa, burn some fat or something. This sucks.

The next 3 miles were mismarked and I missed a split. So my next two miles came up 14:07 which was on the short part, then the next mile was 1.11 long according to Garmin.

6-8 14:07
8-9 8:10

The course is starting to get longer on my watch. I think I was about a tenth too long at this point and would end up at about 26.5 miles, which is shorter than a lot of marathons I’ve run.

I’m trying to hang on until mile 12 when I am supposed to take my last Vespa.

9-10 7:23
10-11 7:14
11-12 8:23

I don’t know if it is psychosomatic or if finally the Vespa is working (probably it was a downhill) but I dip back under 8 minute miles.

12-13 7:28
13-14 8:08
14-15 7:32

Okay I am officially done. I don’t want to run anymore, I just want to be done. Why am I here? I’ve already run Wisconsin, I hate Vespa. I decide Vespa is crap and I start getting Gatorade at the aid stations, but it is far too late for me.

15-16 8:05
16-17 8:16
17-18 8:34

I am starving right now. I’ve run 18 miles on about 150 calories, while good for my waist line it isn’t good for my finish line. I break down and take a Power Gel but I don’t really expect a benefit before the race is over. But it does make me a little less hungry.

18-19 7:51
19-20 9:14

I’ve been getting passed by people over the last several miles. I’ve drifted back from 1st to 3rd, to 5th to somewhere around 10th. Then a big muscular guy passes me. I really don’t like getting passed by guys bigger than me. When the skinny ones pass I can always tell myself it is because they aren’t carrying any weight, but when the muscle guys pass I figure not only can they kick my ass, but they are actually kicking my ass in the race too. Bummer.

20-21 8:03
21-22 8:08

Will this race ever end?

22-23 9:04
23-24 8:40

I wonder how Big Jeff is doing. He had called a shot that he’d beat Sandy by 13 minutes, but on this day I think Sandy is going to run him down in the heat.

24-25 9:06
25-26 8:25
26.2 1:41
===========
3:25:22

Finally finished. Poor Old Joe and Linda take my picture and I walk about 20 feet past the finish line and sit down and wait for Shelley to find me. I really don’t want to walk any further. My arms and legs are covered in salt. My dog would be in heaven if he was here right now. Shelley gives me some recovery drink and after ten minutes I am able to stumble over the food tent but all I am interested in is the chocolate milk.

Afterwards this is how I feel:

We go back to the finish to watch Big, Sandy and Al come in. Big comes through and breaks four hours, but does he have a big enough lead? Nope, here comes the S-Train barreling down the path, Sandy comes in about 3.5 minutes after Jeff and picks up the only Boston Qualifier of our group.

Al comes in right on his called shot, the man is a metronome.

 

This is the family-friendly post-race picture.  For the other one, you’ll need to talk to POJ.

Afterwards we head to the hotel and make plans to meet at 1pm and then go grab lunch. At 12:45 Jeff calls and says they are leaving. So Shelley and I get ready and head down but they are all gone. I text Jeff, wtf mate? He says when Geezers want to eat, they want to eat.

Using my speed racer skills Shelley and I make it to the restaurant in Milwaukee about 3 minutes after them, so they couldn’t escape us. We had a good lunch and then headed to a Brewers game that night. The Brewers won in extra innings, but we left after the 7th inning stretch since Shelley and I had to drive back to Chicago that night for an early morning flight.

Overall it was a good trip, I knocked off marathon number 112, but I am not super happy about my current fitness level. The most depressing part is my time was slower on this race than the first of my 3 marathons in the triple. Weak sauce. St. George is going to be ugly, I need to start running more.

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Tags: Marathons, Race Reports //