We got on the road at around 9 a.m. and made it to the start point at the Capitol Building in Hartford at around 11:15. I did some warmups and was ready to go by 11:30. I felt a bit bogged down by all the stuff I was carrying, but I had to soldier on. I had my phone (for music and to call Gloria if anything went wrong), my license and insurance card (in case anything went really wrong), my GoPro (to take video of this very different marathon experience), my 20-ounce bottle of diluted Gatorade, and detailed turn-by-turn notes on dozens of pieces of three-by-four note paper.
The latter was the most cumbersome, but the most important. I had spent hours combing over the course map (from certifiedroadraces.com) and using Google Earth to get an on-the-ground look at all the twists and turns, as well as landmarks for which to look. And yet, I still somehow missed a turn in the first mile. It killed my momentum and started me on the road to stressing out (I also thought I had lost my license, but it was buried in my pocket). I had only been running for five minutes, so I walked back to the Capitol Building and started over.
This time, on the right track, I proceeded to run the five turns in the first two miles - 7:29 and 7:59. That was probably too fast, but with the multitude of cars and confusing street signs - and enough pedestrians to make it necessary for me to wear a face mask - I was uncomfortable, I was stressed, I had to pee, and I could not get out of downtown fast enough.
Things went a little more smoothly heading north and into Riverside Park, with my third mile at 7:45. Thankfully, there was a portable restroom in the park, so I made use of it and set out onto the trail along the Connecticut River where I was a bit more comfortable (though I still wore the mask because of the other people walking the narrow path) and was able to get rid of the first bunch of pages of my course notes.
Deliberately slowing down through the rest of the park trail (8:10 for mile four), then back into downtown Hartford (8:05 for mile five), I navigated the next four turns to get me to the Founders Bridge over the river and into East Hartford, with a sixth mile at 8:06. Five more turns in the seventh mile (7:55) on thankfully less-busy streets got me back onto a trail, this time in Great River Park, on the other end of which, at the eighth mile (8:39), Gloria met me with cold water and moral support, both of which I already needed.
In mile nine (8:32), the course started getting a little easier along East River Drive, with a turn onto Route 5 (Main Street), though the busy road did not make for much fun. A turn into a residential neighborhood made things better in mile 10 (8:18), but the straightaway on Prospect Street had me confused and frustrated because I knew I had to turn back onto Main Street, but *none* of the intersections had street signs. Frustration saps energy, so when I finally found Main, my 11th mile time was 8:45 - my slowest yet.
That was fine. I wanted to slow down. The temperature was now in the 70s and it was relentlessly sunny. The next turn was onto King Street, and once again there was a lack of street signs, getting me all tense again. Seriously, East Hartford - you really suck with your signage.
Finally on King Street (8:35 for mile 12), I could relax because there was only one more turn (8:35 for mile 13) and then there would be nine blessed miles on the relatively peaceful Main Street (but not Route 5 - as I said, it was confusing) in South Windsor.
Unfortunately, by this point, I was already losing steam. This was the part of the race to which I was looking forward, but I could not even enjoy it. It was far too early to be running out of gas, yet it was happening rapidly - 8:59 for mile 14, 9:14 for mile 15, 9:27 for mile 16 and, at the turnaround, 10:09 for mile 17.
Nine more miles to go and I knew there was no chance of anything getting any better. My legs were getting leaden and my stomach was twisting in knots. I walked for a while and Gloria pulled up alongside me in the car at around mile 18 (11:35). She gave me some more cold water - I downed two bottles. I was clearly dehydrated. I had gotten accustomed to doing long runs in the heat during the summer, but recent weeks had been cooler and this unexpected spike in temperature caught my body off guard. It was obvious by now that this would be the first time it would take me more than four hours to finish a marathon.
My condition worsened as running turned to jogging in mile 19 (12:17), then a jog/walk in miles 20 and 21 (13:04 and 12:24), and then walking in mile 22 (14:04).
Back on Route 5, after Gloria went ahead to meet me at a later point, I called her and told her I would be walking the rest of the way (and that I was sorry that she would have to wait around for the next hour or so). Along Prospect Street again (15:58 for mile 23), even walking was difficult, as I slowed to a trudge (17:32 for mile 24).
Stopping for a moment to dry heave as my stomach continued its revolt against the rest of my body, I finally made my way to Pitkin Street (20:13 for mile 25) and onto the Founders Bridge, where I finally vomited whatever my stomach could produce. Gloria met me on foot during the last mile (21:14 for mile 26) and helped me slowly meander to the finish line, which I hit at a final time of 4:50:45, almost a full hour slower than my previous slowest marathon.
While walking those last few miles, I spent a lot of time thinking about what went wrong. My best guess is that a lot of small factors compounded into a what turned out to be a difficult and exhausting day. Sometimes, everything - the weather, the mood, the course, the conditions - seems to fall into place (ah, Mississippi, less than two short years ago); but sometimes, nothing does.
At 46 years old, with 24 marathons under my belt, that has to be expected (especially in the weirdest year ever) and I have to be OK with it. It means I am human, it means life throws curveballs, and it means that things can not always go as planned, no matter how much one plans.
Of course, it also means that I will probably be back in Hartford next year, trying again.
No comments:
Post a Comment