2008 Napa Valley Marathon

Napa, California
March 3, 2008

Yesterday, on a sunny day in a beautiful part of the world, I completed my first marathon. I worked hard to get to this point, and the payoff is beyond description. Those who have run marathons will know the feeling - an enormous sense of accomplishment, pride, pain and, above all, happiness. I know a lot of people run marathons, but it's still a relatively select group. I am honored to be part of that group.

The temperature was about 40 degrees at 5:30 Sunday morning when I boarded the bus outside my hotel in Napa for the 26-mile trip north to the start line in Calistoga. It felt very comfortable after months of training in brutally cold conditions in the Western Chicago suburbs.

It felt significantly colder when we got off the bus in Calistoga, with a strong wind that fortunately would be at our backs during most of the run. The sky was full of stars and it was clear that a lovely day was in the works.

Patty and I had arrived in Napa shortly before noon on Saturday. We had been looking forward to this trip for months. It's the first extended period we've had on our own since Max was born in 2001 and we'd never been to Napa Valley. We left Max and Leo with Patty's mom, who came to Naperville from Ohio to watch them.

After settling in at the hotel, I went for an easy 3-mile run. It felt good to run in warm temps and wear shorts again. I'm not sure a run was necessary, but I suspect it helped me acclimate a bit to the new conditions and also got my blood flowing after the long trip.

Patty and I had lunch and then headed over to the marathon expo, where I heard some inspiring presentations by marathoning legend and 1984 gold-medal winner Joan Benoit Samuelson, ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes (who had run from San Francisco Saturday and would do the marathon on Sunday before running back to San Francisco) and Dick Beardsley, a two-time Olympian who had a historic battle with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon.

We went to a steak house for my pre-race dinner, which consisted of a salad, 10 ounces of prime rib, a baked potato and a beer. And of course I was drinking water non-stop. I was in bed by 9:00.

I slept reasonably well and was up at 4:00. After a quick shower, I ate an oatmeal breakfast bar and drank about 16 ounces of Gatortade. I had a coffee in the hotel lobby, and I ate a Clif Bar and drank water on the bus.

The atmosphere at the start line was fantastic. The sun was just starting to come up and the views of the mountains were amazing. I was full of nervous energy, but really not any more so than I am for 10Ks. I felt strong and confident.

There was the usual crowd-induced slowness at the start and, even though I wasn't too far back, it took me about 30 seconds to cross the start line. The Napa marathon doesn't use race chips for timing (note - the race did use chip timing in 2009 for the first time), so if you have a time goal you can't afford to start too far back in the pack.

I had set a goal of running a 3:30 marathon, or an 8 minute per mile pace. I wanted to run the early miles a few seconds better than that so I could walk through each of the aid stations and drink water or Gatorade. There were aid stations about every two miles.

I completed the first mile in 8:32, which was fine since I knew I could gradually make up the time and get back to goal pace. My splits for each of the next 12 miles were between 7:44 and 7:59, and at the half-way point I was at an average pace of 7:57.

The first half of the Napa Valley Marathon course treats runners to spectacular scenery, which is made all the better by the early-morning sunshine shining on the mountains and vineyards. I tend to get completely focused on my running, so I kept reminding myself to enjoy the scenery.


The road winds through hilly terrain through the first half of the race, but there's more downhill than uphill. Because of that, I allowed myself to do something I normally don't do during training - run slower up hills and make up the time on the downhills. I maintained a steady effort going uphill and shortened my stride a bit, and didn't worry if that resulted in a slower pace. It was a good strategy, because I felt strong when I crested each hill and was easily able to recover any lost time coming down.

I felt great at the half-way point. The only minor concern I had at that point was some soreness on the ball of my left foot that felt like the beginnings of a blister. I slowed the pace slightly the next few miles, running miles 14-16 at an average 8:07 pace.

One of the highlights of the race for me was seeing Patty at mile 16. She was waiting there with a kiss, a hug and a bottle of water. It gave me a nice boost.

The crowd support at the Napa Marathon is good, where it exists. There's limited access to the Silverado Trail, which comprises 23 miles of the course. So there was crowd support every few miles, and it was boisterous, but there are long stretches where all you see are your fellow runners.

I noticed some tightening in my thighs around mile 18, which I had completed in 7:48. Up to that point I had consumed three GU gel packs, a bag of Jelly Belly sport beans, a banana and several cups of water and Gatorade. I wasn't sure if there was much I could do at that point to avoid cramping. Every step I took after mile 18 was new territory for me. I had never run longer than that in training, and certainly hadn't done my training runs at the pace I was going now.

I managed to complete mile 19 in 8:14 and did mile 20 in 8:09. But by this time I knew my goal of 3:30 was in jeopardy, because my legs were really tightening up. The killer for me was a gradual incline that lasted about three-quarters of a mile around mile 20. It's a hill that you wouldn't think much of early in the race, but deep into a marathon it grabs your attention and it hurts.

I started walking slowly through aid stations at this point, eating and drinking as much as I could. I did mile 21 in 9:30. This was a tough point in the course psychologically, because once you crest the aforementioned hill it's a straight shot for three miles and you can see all the runners out in front of you, and you can't imagine having to run all that distance.

I did mile 22 in 8:33, but slowed to 10:02 in mile 23, owing to a lengthy walk through an aid station. I considered getting some treatment for the pain in my thighs, but decided that I would just tough it out. I knew 3:30 was impossible, but I still had my sights set on 3:40.

The course makes a right turn off the Silverado trail around mile 23 to head into Napa. It was a welcome change of pace. I had stopped enjoying the scenery long before and this signaled to me that the race really was drawing to a close.

In mile 24, though, I had the unpleasant experience of a blister popping, the one that I had felt forming on the ball of my left foot. The pain was so severe that I let out a little yell. I limped along for a few seconds and then started running on the side of my foot so as not to put pressure on the blister area. After a few minutes, I got used to it. I just kept thinking that I had less than 5K to go.

I did mile 24 in 9:39 and mile 25 in 9:18. I walked for about a minute when I crossed mile 25 and then started the final stretch. I did mile 26 in 10:02.

The cheers from the crowd near the finish line provided a big boost. I picked up the pace, particularly in the last 50 yards or so when I saw the clock at the finish line and realized I could still break 3:40 (I'm not sure how fast I was running after mile 26 because I forgot to turn off my Garmin GPS watch until about two minutes after I crossed the finish line.) I finished in 3:39:57.

Every runner is greeted at the finish line by someone from the race who asks if you need anything, if you're in pain, tells you where to pick your sweat bag up, where to get food, etc. The lady who helped me stayed with me until it was clear I wasn't in distress and didn't need further assistance. I'm not sure if that's common at other marathons, but it's a nice touch.

One of the things that most pleased me about this race was that I didn't run out of energy, as I had during the half-marathon I ran in September. Any struggles I had were related to the cramping and the blister. Having not run any further than 18 miles in training, I think I did as well as I could. That's a good feeling.

I am already planning a fall marathon - the Fox Cities Marathon in my hometown of Appleton, WI - and hope to do another late winter/early spring marathon in 2009. Hopefully I'll be doing that one with some of you.

I can't recommend the Napa Valley Marathon more highly. The organization and the course are top-notch. (Good PR potential) And this is a great place for a few extra days of vacation. Patty and I have one more day in Napa Valley and then we're spending a couple days in San Francisco.

NAPA RACE SUMMARY:

My finish time of 3:39:57, a pace of 8:24 per mile, was good for 373rd of 1,759 finishers. In the 35-39 male group, I was 61st of 179. (Dean Karnazes finished in 3:51, and planned to run back to San Francisco, while Dick Beardsley finished in 2:49) Click here for the details of my run.