Run for the Ranch - Race Report

About two weeks ago, I signed up for the Run For the Ranch Marathon in Springfield, Missouri.  In the previous two months, I ran lots of miles and ran nearly every day, but my two longest individual runs were 16 miles and 20 miles.  All other runs, including every run in the five weeks before the race, were less than half-marathon distance.  In many regards, I was unprepared, but that allowed me to relax.  After all, I had a built-in excuse if things went poorly. .........

I actually planned the race as a substitute for a long run.  Normally, Iowa weather is pretty rough in December and driving almost 400 miles south allows for a nice change of scenery.  In 2010, the weather had already forced me to run the majority of my workouts on an indoor track including a 99-lap run to get in 18 miles.  This year, though, I have only used the facility four times and only two of those were really necessary.  I guess I should have bought day passes instead of the month’s membership.

I left around 8:30 on the morning before the race.  It is customary for me to break up long drives with short runs.  I’m a little crazy.  So, after 100 miles on the road, I stopped in a little town in southern Iowa called Decatur City.  It’s definitely a throwback to a different time.  There is only one paved road in town, the rural highway that passes through and connects it with I-35.  The school building is long gone.  Every house seemed to have a barking dog tied out front.  I ran my two miles and got out of there before anyone had time to realize I was in town.

I continued into Missouri and planned my next stop to be another 2-mile run after 100 miles of driving followed by lunch at Subway.  After finding nowhere safe looking to run, I stopped at Subway and just  ventured on.  I did stop at the 300-mile mark and ran 3 miles.  Once again, this was on gravel roads despite being within city limits.  I continued on and arrived at the packet pickup with an hour to spare.

After getting my packet, I went out to carbo-load at a little place called Pasta Express.  It was about five miles from the race, but still in Springfield.  I got a plate of spaghetti and unlimited bread for about $4.  The food was actually pretty good and it definitely fulfilled its purpose.  I’ll save the full review, but I would go there again.  It was far better than the local fast/cheap pasta joint (Fazoli’s).  My previous experiences with running low on fuel during long races registered in my head so I ordered and ate a second round of spaghetti and left feeling like I did my part to prepare.

The marathon started at 1:00 in the afternoon the following day.  It aims to capture the warmest part of the day, but it also presents an interesting dilemma.  How does one adequately prepare in the morning for a race that starts 4-5 hours after a typical marathon does?  I slept in, ate a much larger breakfast than I normally would before running, and then watched a movie.

I laid my supplies out hours before leaving the hotel.  That way I would feel prepared and not forget anything.  I wore my singlet and shorts from pacing the Des Moines half-marathon.  I ran in LunaRacer shoes, which I had just gotten a few days before the race and barely broken them in.  This was not my wisest move, but they worked out with little repercussions.  My trusty GPS was fully charged and ready to alert me of my splits.  I also had a Gatorade and some food to refuel on the go during the race.

Finally, I made it to the start line.  The race takes place entirely on the Missouri State University campus, which is an interesting quirk.  The marathon is 8 laps of 3.275 miles each.  The half starts 90 minutes after the full and runs the same course, doing 4 laps.  I think it would be absolutely horrible to be on pace for a 3:05 marathon (Boston Qualifier for my age), which would put one halfway around 92 minutes.  That runner would then have to weave through nearly 400 half-marathon runners who had just started.  Fortunately, I was through halfway much sooner than that.  Below is the route my GPS watch recorded while I ran my laps.  By the way, I like the predictability of the laps and the reliability of the aid stations.  The turns and weaving are negatives as was the fact that there was an NCAA basketball game on campus at 2:00 which meant traffic was a concern during the start of the marathon.

Before the gun went off, the usual chatter took place amongst the runners.  What’s your goal?  Have you run a marathon before?  What’s your PR?  Etc…  I generally avoid this hemming and hawing as I have found it to accomplish nothing but mixing up butterflies.  I found out two days before the race, however, that a 2:25 marathoner was going to be there.  He appears to be on a kick of collecting marathon wins, and had won 15 of them in 2011 alone.  He is even sponsored by marathonguide.com, which is the number one reference site for marathon results and schedules.  Yet, he checked in with me to see how fast I was.  A second runner with a PR of 2:32 also wanted to know if I was a contender.  I took those interactions to mean I look fast.  I told them I would be happy with a 2:50, but that I had won the race the year before with a 2:45.

The race started with little fanfare, just roughly 200 people looking to cover 26.2 miles and a few loved ones to cheer them on.  After about 2-3 blocks, it was evident that it was a three-man race.  Not long after, Justin Gilette (2:25 PR) left the 2:32 runner (John Boyd) and myself behind.  After the first loop, Gilette was running almost 30 seconds per mile faster than us.  I ran the majority of the first loop with Boyd eventually letting him go knowing that I could not keep his pace of 6:00/mile with my current training.

Myself and John Boyd on our first lap.

As I neared the end of the first loop, I grabbed the Gatorade I had left on a ledge.  I though I had a good snag while running 10 mph, but then the bottle eventually slipped to the ground.  I juggled it while it bounced back at me, but it rolled away so I had to stop to pick it up.  I guess that didn’t help my goal to save time by avoiding aid stations.  On my second loop, I had started getting a side cramp from going out at a torrid pace of 6:04/mi, which would have been a 6+ minute PR.  So, I grabbed my banana from the ledge.  It too eventually escaped my grasp leading to embarrassment and another stop to pick it up.  I ate it over the next two miles of running and my cramps went away.  On loop 3, I went for the Gatorade again and got a perfect grab.  In my excitement for myself, I ran the next mile in 5:51, my fastest of the race.

Refueling with a flying banana on lap 2.

The end of the fourth loop was lonely.  I came through halfway 90 seconds faster than I had the year before.  I also was within 2 minutes of the leader, but had no way of knowing that.  Boyd eventually caught Gilette at the end of their fifth lap.  At that point, with victory impossible, Gilette dropped out of the race again unknown to me.  I even went to sleep that night thinking I had taken third overall.  In the morning, the results showed I had taken second, which was a very exciting way to start the day.

My slowdown, which is a sign of poor pacing early, began halfway through the race when I started running about 10 seconds per mile slower than my average up until that point.  I would hold that effort for about six more miles before my pace slowed another 10-15 seconds for the remainder of the race.  I found myself digging much deeper at the end than during my 2010 race.  My last four miles this year were 90 seconds faster than a year ago.  I think I grew a lot as a competitor over the year, mostly in part from running my 50-mile race in October.  Also, I still held out hope to catch Boyd.

In the back of my mind, I recalled he had not run a marathon in four years, so I expected the monkey to jump on his back.  It did.  I ran my last three laps faster than him and he was fading fast.  My final lap was nearly a minute better.  If the race had been one more lap, I would have caught him.  I kept at it, though, because you truly never know what will happen in a marathon.  Recall this year’s women’s races at both Boston and NYC.  Also, on a personal note, I started in fifth place in 2010 and did not take the lead until mile 18.  That runner, too, dropped out.  I am disappointed in the drop out rate among top tier runners, but maybe their risk/reward scales operate differently from mine.

After finishing my race, I grabbed a couple cups of Gatorade.  I celebrated the race briefly, congratulated the winner, and hit the aid station pretty hard for some food.

In the end, I suprised myself with a personal best.  I lowered my seed time for the Boston Marathon by over 3 minutes, which will put me closer to the front of the start line.  I also got a little trophy and a plaque.

After the race, my entry entitled me to a personal pan pizza and a soda.  They both tasted pretty good initially, but I soon realized the pizza was slicker than the hair from the cast of Grease and that I was drinking pop.  I finished neither.  I also hit the free massage table.  I think a massage is mandatory following a marathon, but maybe that’s because my last three have been free.

I stayed another night in Springfield.  I felt I could have made the drive back without any problems, and did just that after the 50-mile race in October.  But, after last year’s marathon, I was dead.  I didn’t know in advance which would be the case.  Also, getting back at 3:00 AM would not have served much purpose either.  I was up early enough the next morning for the hotel breakfast and on the road by 10:30.

Once again, Istopped on the return trip for my running breaks.  Clinton, Missouri was the first stop and I ran three miles.  It was actually pretty nice to get out and run despite having done the marathon the day before.  I even dropped a 6:20 mile.  I had lunch and inquired about a Starbucks/coffee shop.  The city of 21,000+ residents had none.  In fact, the closest was more than 50 miles away.

As I crossed into Iowa, I ran again at Decatur City.  This time, there was a loose dog with only half of its hair that chased me.  His owner “reassured” me that he would not bite.  That was a hard sell even to me, the guy accustomed to being chased on gravel roads by random dogs.  In avoiding the dog during the rest of the run, I managed to hit the only hill in town about five different times, which was much worse going down than up.  The pace was 8:29/mile, which is very likely the slowest run I have done all year.

I could write more about the race and the course, both positives and drawbacks. In the end, though, I had a great time and will very likely run there again.