Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend Race Report

First this first time, we signed up to run the 5K the day before the marathon. This was done for three reasons:

First, I typically do a short easy run the day before a big race. I find it makes running the race easier. So, regardless of running the 5K or not, I would have run 3 or 4 miles that day anyway.

Second, they do something called the “Steel Challenge” where if you run both the 5K and the marathon you get a third special medal and since this is the tenth anniversary of the race, it is a big cool looking X.

Third, by running the 5k at a much slower than normal pace, I was able for the first time to run a complete race with my wife. Normally I run close to twice her speed, so this was a nice change.

We arrived for the 5k with plenty of time to spare, and parking was easy too. Earlier in the week, we joined the local runners club (which is a very big club) called Steel City Road Runners (SCRR). So just before the 5K was to start they wanted to do a group picture. We decided to do that since it seemed like there was plenty of time but turns out it took a lot longer than anticipated. Long enough that by the time we got back to the corrals, the lines for the porta-potties were long enough that I was worrying that if we went we would not make the race. We made it in plenty of time but learned a valuable lesson about timing for future races (hint: the next day).

The 5K got started and we kept with the 13 min/mile pacer. I would normally run a 5K at around 7 or 8 mins per mile, so this was a very easy pace for me. The run was through city streets with very tall buildings that messed with the GPS on everyone’s watches and phones. The pacer was apparently used to this and only used her GPS watch to track time and used the mile markers on the course to figure out the pace. We ended up finishing in the 12:50s pace range despite the various phones and watches all reporting widely different times.

Afterward, we hit the finisher party for a short bit and then went home for a while. Our hotel check in was at 4pm and we did not want to hang around for most of the day waiting on that.

Now, we only live about forty minutes from the race, but with all the road closures and city traffic race morning (news reported “over 40 thousand people” had come in for the events), it becomes a mess to get in. By renting a hotel room on the start/finish line we got to sleep in an extra hour or two and did not have to stress about driving in at all. This was a huge win, well worth the cost.

Joining the SCRR was great because the morning of the race they had a continental breakfast, private gear check, and indoor real bathrooms for members to use. After the race they big tent that was warm, dry and full of food — which was very much welcome. Well worth the price of the club. All of that went smoothly — oh this time we skipped the group picture.

So, the problem that morning was the weather report. It had pretty much gone from great to cold rain for the entire race. When we walked down to the breakfast I was wearing all of the clothes I brought with me and was trying to figure out what I wanted to check, and what I wanted to run in. Since the temp was in the high fifty’s, I decided for my singlet, and shorts, oh and a garbage bag that I had bought the night before. So, I checked all of my gear and we headed to the corrals. This is where things started to fall apart.

First, I had purchased a race timing tattoo that I had planned to use as my fall back plan if (when) I lost the pacer. I figured with the tattoo to help me judge where I should be I would be fine. Great plan, except I had left the tattoo at home. After some stressing, I came up with a fall back for my fall back plan. I took a screenshot of a pace chart and set it as the lock screen on my phone. That way I could whip out the phone, glance at the lock screen at each mile. The only drawback was that only ½ the chart would fit on the phone, so I put miles 13 to 26 on it.

Second, when I arrived at my designated starting corral, I found out that I had been assigned a slower corral than my target pace! That meant the pacer I had planned to run with, which was my primary plan, would have a good 10 to 15 minute head start on me. I briefly considered trying to run the pacer down, but wisely ruled this out as stupid.

My plans were falling apart around me, and it only got worse. Standing in the corral with only the garbage bad to keep me warm I started to get very cold and was beginning to doubt my clothing choice. Too late to do anything about that though so I carried on.

Next, I realized I had forgotten my corral snack. See I knew I would be stuck waiting for the race to start for a good hour, and I normally eat during that time. Those of us that struggle with blood sugar issues will understand why. Well, that only works if you remember to bring your food. All of my food was safely in my gear check bag.

At this point, all of my plans were foiled, and the race had not started yet! Thankfully I remembered that a sub-four-hour marathon was about a 9 min pace and you can do the nine times tables on your fingers at least up till 10. That was enough since I had 13 through 26 on my phone screen. So, I took my s-cap (the only one I remembered to take all race) and hunkered down in my bag to wait.

The race finally started, and I swear the clock read 33 minutes when I crossed the start line, but the official results say I started at twenty minutes after gun time. Whatever, they can think what they like. I know the truth. *smile*

Being in the third corral meant I was in the fifth wave to start and jammed packed in with a large number of runners who were all planning to run much slower than my target pace. That meant I had to fight for every meter of the course for a long time to hold my pace and make my times.

The Pittsburgh Marathon course is in two distinct halves. The first is much easier than the second and they are separated by a big hill. Knowing this I pushed the pace a bit in the first half and ticked off the miles. Mile one — must beat 9 minutes. Done. Mile two must beat 18 minutes. Done. Mile three must beat 27 minutes. Done. By mile three I was finally warming up and starting to get a groove on. I was still in a mess of a crowd fighting for space, but at least I was not shivering anymore.

I fought that crowd all the way to mile twelve where the half marathon runners break off and take a different route. This is also where the big hill is. Or so I thought. I remember the hill from last year being an untamable monster. I spent most of my runs since the doing nothing but hills so that I would be ready for it. I hit it this time and my pace did not even slow as I climbed it. It was nothing like I remembered and much less than many of my training runs.

I was feeling pretty good at this point and had a much clearer course to run. I had to fight hard against the urge to start picking people off in front of me. I knew if I did that I would burn out fast.

Looking at the pace chart, I held the faster pace that I meant only for the easy half well up to twenty miles. The course gets a bit tougher in there, and when I reached it I was starting to feel the effects of pushing too hard too long.

Around mile 24 I was starting to fade badly. My pace chart does not seem to show how bad I was feeling, so you will just have to take my word for it. Well just as I started to fade, Don caught up to me. He was doing the last leg of a relay team. When he reached me, he was doing a good minute if not more faster per mile than I was. This was right at the 24-mile time. When he came up beside me, I remember saying to him “well I just missed a BQ by two miles.”

He replied with “Don’t let me hold you up, I am dead,” and then faded back.

That was just the kick I needed, and I held the new pace he had set pretty much all the way to the finish. Thankfully the last point-2 miles were all downhill and I picked up another minute per mile for them.

I crossed the line with an official time of 3:51:53 — which beats my marathon PR by about TWENTY MINUTES!

Next week… my first ultra! A 50k trail race!

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