2009 Hartford Marathon

October 10, 2009

I turned in my worst performance for a race of any distance at the 2009 ING Hartford Marathon. Surprisingly, I'm not terribly disappointed, probably because the lackluster showing didn't come as that big of a surprise.

I hate making excuses and I don't like to over-analyze situations. Neither normally ends up being productive. In this instance, however, I will engage in a little of both to at least attempt to explain why I struggled so much in the race.

I'll start by saying that the Hartford Marathon is a fantastic event, one that I would definitely do again. The organization is top notch, the course is fair, the volunteers are great, the crowd support is strong enough and Bushnell Park is an ideal locale for the start and finish.

I picked Hartford because of its proximity to our new home in New Jersey, and because of the good reviews the race received on http://www.marathonguide.com/. I had hoped to do a marathon sooner in the season, but my schedule just didn't permit that.

In the days and weeks preceding the race, I knew that I wasn't in "marathon shape." My weekly running miles have declined since we moved to New Jersey, mainly because of longer work hours. Various other factors also kept me from being able to dedicate the time needed on weekends for long runs.

My longest run before this race was the Jersey City Half Marathon two weeks earlier. I performed well in that race, but wasn't under any illusion it had sufficiently prepared me for the marathon. Still, I thought that all the running I had done in the past 20 months (I had done 5 marathons and two long-distance relay races) would help me make it through the Hartford race without too much difficulty. After all, I had set a PR of 3:34:23 in Green Bay in May without having trained specifically for 26.2 miles.

Since the Hartford race is on a Saturday, I took the day off from work Friday so we'd be able to drive up as soon as Max got out of school at 300. We managed to leave Cranford by 3:30, but hit horrific traffic, especially once we got to the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. The drive ended up taking nearly 5 hours, about twice as long as I expected.

The biggest problem with that was that we didn't make it to Hartford in time for me to go to the marathon expo. As a result, I wasn't able to stock up on the shot blocks and jelly belly sport beans that I typically use for marathons. Also, since the boys were anxious to go swimming in the hotel pool, it meant that I'd be getting to bed much later than I had hoped.

I remarked to Patty on a few occasions that evening that I felt wholly unprepared to run the race the next day. That said, I wasn't dreading the run, and I still thought I'd be able to turn in a reasonably good time.

I was up at 5:30 on race morning, after a fitful night of sleep. I ate a Clif Bar, had a coffee and drank water and Gatorade. I ate a bagel on the 1-mile walk over to the XL Center, where I would pick up my number and timing chip. The check-in was very efficient.

I got to Bushnell Park at around 7:00, an hour before the start of the race. Things were buzzing already, as the runners milled around and vendors set up shop for the day. The temperature was a very comfortable 60 degrees, and the rain that had been forecast looked as though it would stay away.

At around 7:30 I packed up my bag and headed over to the bag drop area. I also tried starting my Garmin, but it didn't work. There was nothing I could do to get it to function, so I packed that up, put on my Timex and handed in the bag. I was disappointed to not have the Garmin, since I'd run each of my previous marathons with it. But since I planned on running with a pace group, I wasn't too bothered.

I went to the bathroom and then headed to the start line, near the beautiful state capitol building. The sun was starting to peek out as I scoped out the runners and looked for the pace groups. I love the nervous energy at the start of marathons - that wonderful combination of excitement, optimism and trepidation all bundled up.

I wasn't sure which pace group I would run with. I thought briefly about trying the 3:30 group, but I knew that I didn't realistically have 8:00 per mile in me for the whole race. I wavered between 3:35 and 3:40 before settling on the former, thinking I had an outside chance of setting a PR.

The 3:35 group was wonderful. There were several guys between 50 and 55 who needed 3:35 to qualify for Boston, and there were also several women hoping to qualify. The pacer was serving in that capacity for the first time. He would be running his first NY Marathon in three weeks, after running a 3:05 at Hartford a year earlier.

The race started about 5 minutes late, but not many runners were complaining. The temps were comfortable and the camaraderie was enjoyable. I downed another Clif Bar while waiting.

The first mile goes through downtown Hartford before heading over the Founder's Bridge into East Hartford. We completed the first mile in about 8:45 owing to the crowd. We sped up a bit and completed the second mile in about 8:15, still slower than the 8:12 average pace we would need but everyone seemed pleased.

I was particularly happy because the Mile 2 marker was right in front of our hotel, where Patty and the boys were waiting to cheer me on. I gave them all a quick kiss, Patty remarked how sweaty I was after just two miles (temps were in the mid-60s and it was humid) and I was on my way.

Gradually - and quite expertly, in my opinion - our pacer sped up over the next several miles. By mile 9 we were almost on pace for a 3:35 finish and almost everyone in our group was running smoothly. I felt quite good, the only problem being that I really needed to use the bathroom again.

Around Mile 10, I stopped in a port-o-potty. I took care of business and was back out on the course, probably a little more than a minute after I stopped. I was eager to keep running with the 3:35 group, so I sped up - BIG MISTAKE.

I'm not sure how fast I ran, but I suspect it was about 7 minutes/mile, since I was blowing past everyone. I could see my group in the distance and I figured I could sustain this faster pace until I caught up, at which point their pace would feel slow.

I caught the group around 12.5 miles, and I was spent. I knew at that point I would probably struggle. That's awfully early in a marathon to have that feeling.

I passed the halfway point of the race in 1:47:48, just a few seconds per mile behind 3:35 pace, but I was cooked. I took a lengthy walk break right after crossing the mats at the midpoint. Up until then I had walked though most of the aid stations so I could get full cups of beverage. But from the midpoint on, I would be relegated to more-frequent and longer walks.

I was disappointed, but still thought I could finish with a reasonably good time. If I just ran 10-minute miles I would still finish in less than 4 hours. And even though I was struggling, 10-minute miles were going to be simple. Even 9-minute miles were possible.

I wasn't, however, factoring in the cramps that would wallop me in the following miles. Before mile 15, I started dealing with cramps in my thighs and calf muscles, the kind that make you grimace (as I'm doing in the picture) and sometimes scream in pain.

I'd had problems with cramps before - at the Philadelphia and Catalina marathons - but never this soon in a race. I actually considered, however briefly, that I might not be able to finish the race.

I decided I would recalibrate my expectations - as one of my friends says, "the goal in any marathon should be to finish without the need for emergency medical intervention". I also just tried to enjoy the event and the spectacle. The scenery at this point of the race was quite nice, the volunteers were great and crowd support was strong. I also knew I would see Patty and the boys a couple more times on the course.

When the 3:40 pace group caught up with me, I managed to run with them for about three-quarters of a mile before the cramping set it. When the 3:45 group came by, I just let them go. I don't remember seeing the 3:50 and 3:55 groups, but they most certainly passed me.

Patty and the boys were waiting for me around mile 20, as the course once again passed near our hotel. This would have been the perfect opportunity to bail on the race. Six miles is an awfully long way to go when you're struggling as I was. But I figured I was earning this medal, so I shuffled off.

The next few miles were run through an area near downtown Hartford that wasn't very scenic and had relatively little crowd support. I really wasn't enjoying myself at all at this point. Seeing the 4:00 pace group breeze past me was particularly demoralizing.

Then there's a stretch of a couple miles run on a path along the river. This is quite nice, especially the cheering zone at around mile 24 where I saw Patty and the boys one final time. That gave me a bit of sustenance.

The last two miles were a struggle, as I cramped up frequently. When I did manage to run, it was really a "Frankenstein shuffle" because I couldn't bend my legs too much and couldn't lift my feet very high off the ground.

Various people who didn't appear all that fit or capable were passing me. Remarkably, I was also passing a few people who seemed to be struggling even more than I was. For me, the most demoralizing moment came - even as it made me chuckle - when a lady passed wearing a shirt that said, "I'm not fat and slow, I'm pregnant and fast." She must have been about 5 months pregnant.

The home stretch of the race would have been exhilarating had I been feeling better. Crowd support is boisterous and runners pass under the arch just before crossing the finish line to hear their names announced. I finished with a chip time of 4:06:59.

Shortly after I crossed the line, before I received my mylar wrap, I could feel my left calf tightening. Within seconds it was a full-blown cramp that had me screaming in pain. A volunteer asked me if I wanted to go to the medical tent, but I declined since I knew I could rub out the knot and walk off the pain. It was the last reminder of the extent to which this race had humbled me.

I grabbed my medal and a little food. I wasn't in the mood to eat much, which was a bummer because Whole Foods was the supplier and it was a nice spread. I grabbed a bottle of green tea and started the slow trudge back to the hotel.

As I walked back, medal around my neck, several people congratulated me for finishing the race, including many people who still had several miles to go in the race. Just a few steps away from my hotel, I came across runners who still had 6 miles to go. When they congratulated me, I felt guilty for having written in an e-mail immediately after the race that my finishing time was "dismal". Here were people who were going to finish in 6 hours, and their accomplishment was every bit as significant as mine, or as the person who finishes in 2:30. Nothing "dismal" about it.

I showered and we loaded up the car for the drive back to Jersey, which took about half as long as the previous night's drive. We arrived home in time for the boys to play outside with their friends, and we enjoyed a wonderful day on Sunday. I am a huge fan of Saturday marathons for exactly those reasons. So nice to have some time to wind down before heading back to work.

All-in-all, this was an enjoyable marathon experience. I didn't have a particularly fast finishing time, but I learned some valuable lessons about preparation and race strategy that should help me in future races. Next stop on the The Wiz's marathon circuit: New Orleans or a return to Napa in early 2009. Maybe even Richmond in a month!