October 2nd, 2012
Over the past weekend I ran in the Bellingham Bay Marathon. The weekend started on Saturday where my wife and I got up around 9 am and had a great breakfast of eggs and fresh vegetables from our garden. I love this time of year because we always get to enjoy fresh vegetables from the garden. We left for Bellingham around 11 am. The drive is only about 1 hour and 30 minutes so it is not really that much of a chore to arrive there. We actually like going to marathons because it gives us an excuse to get away for the weekend and we were expecting to take full advantage of a little down time before the race. We drove about 45 minutes to Mount Vernon and decided to stop and get a sandwich from Subway to take with us on a hike that we were planning to do a little later. We got a turkey sandwich and started to leave but we were both very hungry so we decided to go back inside and eat our sandwich there. At the store I noticed that there was a guy there who looked like he was a trail runner. I decided to introduce myself because you never know who you might be meeting and ultra runners are fun people. I think this guys name was Nick and he was from Chicago and had just moved to Seattle 3 weeks ago. He was up north running a trail somewhere on Chuckanut drive, I think the Oyster dome trail. It was cool to meet him, he told me that he had just run an Ironman triathlon. I noticed that he had Brooks Cascadia shoes and I asked him how he liked them. He said they were great and they should be because I believe these are the shoes that are designed by Scott Jurek.
After lunch we headed to our hike on the Fragrance Lake trail up by the Bellingham area. We got to Larrabee state park and parked there and then headed to the trail. This was a great trail and we ran into some people on the way up and the way down but not really tons. The trail basically was a 2 mile out and back trail, mostly on single track trail with about 1000 feet of elevation gain. I think we hiked the whole trail in about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The lake was a pretty hidden oasis up in the mountains. We originally thought the trail was 5.5 miles but it was only 4 so we added a .2 out and back with an amazing view. We were overlooking the Puget sound and across the sound you could see Orcas island and all the other San Juans it was just awesome. After the hike we got back in the car and headed toward Bellingham. I wanted to show Kara the Lake Padden trail that I had run about a month and a half ago for a race called the Hamster Endurance Race. In that race I ended up winning for the first time ever and completed 59.8 miles in 12 hours. We ran one loop around the lake it took us 26 minutes and 11 seconds which was actually pretty good pace for Kara because the loop was 2.6 miles. It was good to have a little run to loosen up the legs a little.
Next, we went to go pick up my race bib so that I would be ready for the race the next day. The host hotel was the Best Western Lakeway Inn. We went to the "expo" which was actually kinda lame in terms of an expo but this is when I really realized that this was not going to be a very big race. They had one booth that was for another marathon that is called the North Olympic Discovery Marathon, which is a nice little race. Then they had a women's skirt booth, a running store booth, some t-shirts booth, a medal display booth, and then the numbers pickup. The layout of the room was not very good, because you came in one way and you had to go back out the exact same way so logistically it was really clogged up in there. I just really wanted to get out of there but of course my wife really wanted to look at everything, which is usually fine to me but I was getting hungry from our day of activity and a little irritable. She ended up buying a headband at the expo which is good because she needed a headband.
After the expo, we went to go get our hotel room which was already booked at the Rodeway Inn by Bellis Fair. It was great that we had already reserved our hotel room because there was a guy who was trying to get a room by walking up and they told him they were completely booked. After checking into the basic room a bed, a bathroom, a TV, a couple of tables, a microwave, and a mini fridge, we went to go get dinner because I was starving. We chose to go to the Boundary Bay Brewery for dinner, it was in downtown Bellingham. We got down there and it looked pretty busy but we got in pretty quick because it was faster to sit outside, so we did. I got a lamb burger with roasted potatoes and also a side salad. It was actually a big dinner and I ended up eating the whole thing. After dinner we went to get some ice cream at Mallard's ice cream which is a Bellingham institution, kinda like Full Tilt in Seattle. I had peach and sweet corn ice cream together on a waffle cone, it was really a great way to end the day.
We went back to the hotel room and just relaxed the rest of the evening. We went to the hotel jacuzzi to just spend about 15 minutes in the jacuzzi. After that we went to the room and just relaxed the rest of the evening. Kara basically fell asleep as I was getting the race map set up for her to follow the next day. I usually try to plan out a route of different places for her to see me at. This is usually a lengthy process, and it took me until about 11:30 pm. After this I got my race outfit set out which I usually wear to bed the night before just to get me into the mental state of the race. My race plan was to try to get 8 minute miles for the whole race.
The next morning we got up at 6 am so that we could get some breakfast before the 7:30 am race start time. It took us about 45 minutes to get ready and we packed up all our stuff in the car and then took advantage of the free breakfast. I had a half a bagel, a banana, and a peach yogurt. I had almost forgotten to do the most important thing for the whole race which was apply anti chafing cream, so I did this just before we left for the start. It took awhile to get to the start because it was out on the Lummi Indian Reserve to the north of where we were and I didn't know how long it would take. I was glad we left when we did because we arrived at the start at about 7:15am which gave me basically just enough time to go to the port a pottie and get over to the starting line.
The race is on!! We started with a nice smooth downhill followed almost immediately by a nice little hill. I could really feel my 100 mile training coming into effect here as I was passing quite a few people on the the hills for the whole day. I ran the first mile in about 8 minutes and 38 seconds, but I heard two guys next to me talking to each other and they said we had run about a 7:15 mile so I was thinking they must be crazy but then I realized the had a GPS watch so I knew they were probably right. This whole section was along the water and it was a really beautiful start to the day. The road was a little bit rolling here so that kinda benefited me because I was pretty strong on the hills and like I said earlier it really helped to be ready for these small hills. The second mile was 7:39. The third mile was 7:08, the fourth in 7:19, the fifth in 7:29. At mile sixth we encountered Sasquatch which was actually kinda scary to me. It was someone who was dressed up in a suit and had a half marathon number on so I wonder if he ran that race too huh. Mile 6 was 7:10, at mile 7 I would see Kara for the first time, I ran this mile in 7:22, I waved to her and gave her a thumbs up as I ran by.
Miles 7-14 were basically through the countryside. Mile 8 was 7:17, I couldn't believe how I was consistently pulling these miles at under 7:30 when my goal was 8 minute miles, "I was wondering did I go out to fast?" Mile 9 was 7:20, just before mile 9 I saw Kara a second time and asked her to get me an S-Cap but she had forgot to bring my race bag. I wasn't mad at here for this because this was the first time I had ever given her a bag to take with her at marathons ( the bag consisted of barefoot shoes, short sleeve shirt, s caps, gels and other stuff I might need along the way). At Mile 10 I think I psyched myself out because I was going so fast I thought I should so down so I was slower at 7:31. Mile 11 was 7:29, Mile 12 was 7:20. At mile 12 it was a short out and back on the road so I could see who was behind me. I had looked back a couple of times before and didn't see anybody. At mile13 I did a 7:35 and coming into the half marathon distance I was at 1:38:14 which I believe is my fastest half marathon time in a marathon race. This was where I was beginning to slow down too and I was really getting worried that I had gone out too fast. Mile 14 slowed to a 7:53 this is where I saw Kara again for the third time and she gave me the S cap that I had requested earlier. I totally spaced at taking one of these before the race and by this time I was expecting to take my second one.
Miles 15-19 were basically on the outskirts of Bellingham. It was kinda boring section and I knew that 16 and 17 were going to be harder because they had some uphills to them and at this point in the race hills can be tough. I did mile 15 in 7:50 which is great because to be 15 miles in and still be under my goal per mile was a great feeling. Mile 16 the beginning of the hilly area I did 8:02 and the first mile over my goal per minute. On the way to mile 17 I started to go through a section where I was kinda getting a second wind and pick me up it must have been the S-cap and I ran 7:41. But then I came crashing back to reality and ran an 8:16 for mile 18. Mile 19 was 8:03.
Miles 20-24 were going through the town of Bellingham which was a great feeling because I knew at this point I was getting closer. At about 19 and a half miles I saw Kara in the park. I stopped and talked to her for a brief second and told her how great I was doing and that I was on pace to do a 3:21 but she thought I said 3:31 so later in the race she almost missed me crossing the finish line. It didn't register to me until after the fact but she said this would be the last time she would see me until the end and I was expecting her at 22, in hindsight I would have changed my shoes for the end and went to my barefoot shoes. It was OK though my feet hurt a little but not horribly. Mile 20 was 8:14. Mile 21 was about the point where the first half marathoner passed me, I kinda expected this to actually happen earlier so I knew at this point I knew I was in a good spot. I did mile 21 in 8:03. Mile 22 had a slight uphill from the waterfront area into the downtown area so it was a little harder also right about 22 you see the final turn where you have like .1 left so it was a little disappointing to know your so close but still have 4 miles to go. I finished this mile in 8:24. Mile 23 and 24 were nice because they were either on a dirt bike trail and through Boulevard park and on the boardwalk that was over Bellingham Bay, it was really beautiful. Mile 23 was 8:44 and mile 24 was 8:16. At the end of the boardwalk we had to go up a severe uphill to get to the road that took us to the finish, I was really proud of myself because I charged up this hill as fast as I could and made it all the way to the top.
The End. In mile 25 I went right up to the edge of the wall and entertained the thought of jumping over the edge but pulled myself back. At mile 25 I walked for the first time but only for about 10 feet because I rallied in my mind and said "no you are so close to the end get it together run it till the end!" I got mile 25 in 8:52. Now I knew I was going to be really close to my best time ever so I tried to push myself a bit. Mile 26 I came in at 8:33 which was a little faster than the last mile. I came around the corner I mentioned earlier and saw the finish line and so I did my best and kicked it into gear. I finished strong like I always do but I didn't catch anyone which is strange for me because I usually pass people at the end. I found out later this was because there were not very many people in front of me. In the end I came in with a time of 3 hours 25 minutes and 56 seconds, which was my best time by about 30 seconds. I finished in 43rd place out of 425 people and was in 7th place for my age group which was not bad.
After the race I celebrated with a nice cold drink and a bunch of food. Had a slice of pizza and I was still hungry. We ran into some people from Seattle we know who were running their first half marathon. It was cool to see them because we had not seen them in awhile and it turns out it was at the finish line. Kara had to park really far away and we had to walk back to the car but usually it is hard but today it wasn't as bad. After we got back to the car we headed over to the YMCA so that I could take a shower. After freshening up we went to Boulevard Park and sat in the amazing sun and looked out at the bay and read our books for about an hour it was almost a surreal thing because hours earlier I had ran through here on my way to the finish and now I was sitting along the path reading enjoying the sun while other people in the race struggled by. After this we went to Fairhaven for food because I was starving, I ate a chicken sandwich until I was stuffed it tasted so amazing. Then after this we went to a place where Kara used to be a counselor during summers and I got to see a piece of her past it was neat but I protested because all I wanted to do was get home to relax on the couch and watch football. After this we drove home.
All in all it was a great race! It was beautiful, it was painful, it was my PR, and I am so thankful to my 100 mile race because it has given me so much back. I am in the best shape of my life and I have a renewed passion for running so look out running world I am coming! I am writing this two days after the race and yesterday I was able to do a 1 hour run on trails in my barefoot shoes and felt pretty great during the run and afterward so that was awesome too. My next race is the Defiance 50K in Tacoma on October 13th, I am looking forward to it, this will be my first official 50K and I am planning on running the whole thing in my Merrell Trail Gloves (barefoot shoe) so that will be a fun new experience. Until next time everyone, go out and run because it is awesome!!
