Marathon Recap (long version) - by Sam

In October 2001, I saw my first marathon. My friend Susan was running in Chicago and I went to watch her but didn’t really have any idea what to expect. We had fun cheering her on as she was running, but what really stands out in my memory is seeing her after she finished, wrapped in a reflective blanket, covered in dried salt, slightly hunched over, half-smiling half-wincing in pain and laboring with every baby-step, it was the only time in college I saw her turn down a beer (which I happily accepted). For the past 5 months, I could not wait to have these feelings.

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As our flight descended below the clouds in San Diego, I saw that there were more clouds. So much for the beautiful weather I’ve always heard about. On my flight, was a large number of my Team In Training teammates, an announcement by the flight crew told us that we had collectively raised over $450,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This is an incredible accomplishment that we are all very proud of and worked very hard to achieve. Just the running was left now.

Friday, the day we landed, is a giant blur. Our hotel was located next door to the San Diego Convention Center, where the expo was located. San Diego is worth visiting just to see the Convention Center, it is a huge long multi-level building that is probably capable of hosting a dozen events with 5,000 attendees apiece. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and then went to the expo to pick up our race bibs & chips and our T-Shirts. After that there was a blur of schwag, free samples, flyers, sales pitches, models hired to sell merchandise, protein shakes and $1 beers. I abstained from the beer (there’d be plenty of time for that afterwards) but was consumed by everything else. The highlight of the expo for me was seeing a speech by the guy who ran 50 Marathons in 50 days. (He answered my nagging question by explaining that for about 41 of the marathons, he had the race committees recreate the official marathon for him and some other invited runners and they ran the marathons within the bubble of a police escort.)

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The next morning our TNT group did a quick 20 minute run. My legs felt lousy. After the run we stretched out as a team and went through with our names and where we’re from since many of us didn’t know each other. There were three training groups, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island plus the people that never came to practice. Towards the end of the stretching the sun finally peaked through the clouds!!! The intensity was high, it felt like being under a heat lamp on a cold day. Unfortunately, it didn’t last; after 5 minutes we never saw the sun again during our stay in SD.

The infamous TNT Pasta Dinner followed later that night. It was a surreal experience where we were greeted by cheerleaders and our coaches. We were cheered on as if we were heroes or dignitaries. If I wasn’t so shocked, I would’ve been choked up with emotions. We all enjoyed an excess of carbs (plus butter for me) and then listened to several speakers. One of which announced that nationwide for the San Diego Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, TNT had raised over $8 million for LLS!!!

At 3:15 AM, the wakeup call and alarms started. So much for nothing new on race day…I never wake up that early. We met our team around 4 AM, posed for a team picture (someone please send me a copy), and then boarded a shuttle bus to the starting area. Again, the always beautiful San Diego weather was nowhere to be found, it was cold but tolerable when the wind let up. We had a little over 2 hours to kill before the race started so we just sat in the wet grass mulled over our fates and took turns waiting in line for the port-o-potties.

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At the start of the race, I entered my coral, but my plans were a little messed up. I was planning to run with two people S. whom I trained with regularly at TNT practices and B. a friend from CT whom I have never ran with, but who already has a marathon under his belt. We all were hoping for a 9 minute pace and to finish just under 4 hours. A late bathroom trip forced me to miss meeting up with B., so I just ran with S. The start was just surreal, I was excited, I had goosebumps when they launched the wheelchair racers and then sang the national anthem. I forget who sang, but she had a beautiful voice. It felt strange to be an athlete again (especially since I secretly looked down upon runners back in my high school football days).

After a few minutes we were off…but not really. We had to walk, then slightly jog, then walk some more for about 3 minutes, until my coral reached the starting line. Then we were off. The excitement of the moment made you feel like you wanted to kick it into overdrive right away, but our coaches drummed it into our heads to start slow, really slow, painfully slow. S. and I held back a little and kept pace with many people around us. We started off just behind the 4:15 pace group, so we needed to get significantly ahead to make our time. The first water station was a mess and intimidating, once the race thinned out a little and desperation took over they became very easy to navigate.

The race started through the Gaslamp District. I saw my parents at mile 4, I still had energy and a positive outlook it was a good time to see them. Still winding through the Gaslamp I saw another friend from back home at mile 5. There was no stopping, at those cheering sections, you just smile wave and keep going. Next I was supposed to see my parents at mile 7 and then again around 13. I was a little disappointed as I passed mile 7 since somehow missed my parents and they missed me. I then felt a rush of guilt from the second marathon I saw Susan run, she qualified for Boston and since that marathon is a straight shot you have one chance to see someone and we missed her at Heartbreak Hill. SORRY SUSAN.

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I’ve spectated at several marathons, I saw Susan’s two plus several NYC Marathons since I’ve lived there. In my humble opinion, they are one of the most enjoyable sporting events to see. You don’t have to pay an exorbitant entry fee. You aren’t watching overpaid spoiled athletes. You are largely watching regular people that have busted their asses for the previous 5 months to accomplish something that only 1% of the population ever does. Runners wear team uniforms and/or write their names on the shirts and arms so that people can cheer them on without knowing who they are. Whenever I see a University of Notre Dame singlet I yell out “Go ND!!!” It doesn’t matter who the runner is, they appreciate the random support and boost.

I wrote my name on my shirt, so that people could cheer me on. I also received a lot of “Go Team!” cheers and “New York!” All of them gave me a little boost and forced me to smile even when I felt lousy.

After leaving the Gaslamp, we got on a highway. This several mile stretch from approximately mile 8 to 12 was unequivocally the lowlight for me. The freeway was desolate, with few spectators and the largest hill in the race was at mile 10. The overpasses were crowded, but there were few people on the streets. There was only one band here but they rocked, it seemed to be a Japanese women’s drum troupe. The freeway was also the worst part of the run because the road was uneven, it started with the right side slanting down to the left and then switched and then switched again and again. You couldn’t get your footing even at any point on this stretch so at mile 8 I started to get pain in my left hip! Usually I start getting pain around miles 13 or 14, so this was unsettling to me.

It was around here at a water station that I realized that each one had a different theme. The one in particular was Santa’s water stop. They didn’t give us water but “melted snow”. They were dressed as Mr. & Mrs. Clauses and maybe as elves too. Later themes included Hawaiian, 80s, back to the Future (they actually had a Delorian parked on the side of the road !!!).

Near mile 12, the crooked road, lack of spectators, nagging hip pain and building pressure in my bladder got the worst of me and I had to make my only stop of the marathon. S. kept going but made me promise to catch up to her, “I will” I said, “yea right” I thought. There was a row of port-o-potties, but I still had to wait 2 or 3 minutes in line. I needed to stop for a few minutes to catch my breath and regroup. When I resumed my race I saw a lot of people I had passed earlier. In particular, I saw the 4:15 pace group again, S. and I had already passed the 4:00 pace group by the time I stopped so I had a lot of ground to cover to catch her.

Exiting the highway, was good for several reasons. It was the first place where I saw Coach Ramon (our crazy, energetic head coach with a cowbell), the roads were even after this and the largest hills were now behind me. Ramon gave me a little boost and I proceeded on through the city streets. Within a mile I passed a TNT cheering section and saw our event coordinator Kaitlin and others. Shortly thereafter I saw two of my other friends that came to SD for the weekend to cheer us on. This was a nice boost, plus the streets were lined with other people so there was a lot of energy in this area.

For the next several miles we were running between some main roads with lots of people and some smaller neighborhood roads with enthusiastic residents passing out fruit, ice pops and pretzels. My thoughts were very much in the moment, I tried to think about the people I was running in honor of, but my thoughts kept wandering to things I was seeing around me like other runners, spectators with interesting posters and giant hills that we turned away from just before they started. I kept going back to what S. said when I split from her, that I better catch up with her. I kept pushing myself to find her though I knew it was highly unlikely that I’d find her.

At about mile 17, I found Coach Christine. She said I looked great (Liar!) and that I just missed S. by about 30 seconds. She ran with me for about a minute giving me all kinds of tips, advice and encouragement. A few miles later I saw Coach Steve H. he said I looked great (being a good liar must be a requirement to be a coach) pointed out what was ahead and gave me some salt. One of the truly smart things I did on this course was wait for a water station to empty my salt packet into a glass of water and drink that rather than just pour salt in my mouth. Right after I left Steve, I saw the 21 mile marker.

21 miles!!! I was paying close attention to the mile markers early on, checking my time, trying to keep pace, doing some math, etc. I had stopped caring about where I was for a while, at one point I saw a beach about 100 yards off the road and I just wanted to go for a 5 minute swim and then (maybe) resume running. At 21, I was approaching uncharted territory, I never ran further than 21.5 miles in training. What I realized at mile 21 was that I had less than one Central Park loop to run! Amazing things happened here, my hip stopped hurting, my legs felt lighter and I was overcome by happy positive feelings. The adrenaline rush I got at that point got me through the finish line with energy to spare. The next band I came upon was playing a Dave Matthews cover so that got me pumped up too. I was in cruise control and felt better than most people that I was passing on the course.

Although every once in a while, I was being passed by a runner that looked incredibly fresh. No signs of fatigue and they weren’t covered in sweat, were they super men & women? No, these people were running a relay race and only had one 5 mile leg to run. It was took me a few minutes to put all of this together, but I was glad I did b/c it was discouraging to see them, thinking that they looked so good after 20 miles.

I saw Coach Mike from Brooklyn and he said I looked good (finally a coach that was telling the truth, maybe I’ll train with the Brooklyn group next time). I told him I felt great and I was not exaggerating. Maybe it was my first runner’s high, maybe it was just some mind over matter zen trick, but I started passing some teammates that I should not have been able to finish ahead of. I was talking to these people offering them support, but there was nothing I could do, they had cramps they needed to power through or they had fallen and just needed to suck it up for another 3 miles.

Finally, I saw Coach Steve M. at around mile 23 or 24 and he was running with S.!!! I finally caught up with her, but she was in trouble. I had to slow down and run with her and make sure she finished. Being one of the most energetic and talkative people I have ever met, it was disconcerting to see S. so exhausted. In our training long runs, she usually talks constantly right up until we finish. This time it was my turn to talk. I had learned a lesson not to ask any questions, so I just started talking about anything that came to mind. I also tried to get some spectators to cheer for S., but they just looked at me like I had 5 heads so I didn’t do that again. As bad as she was we were still able to keep a pretty decent pace at around 10 minute miles or so and unbelievably we were still on pace finish under our goal time of 4 hours!

The last mile plus was lined with people, it was exhilarating to get to that point, I wanted to just take off but I had to make sure S. finished too. We saw Coach Ramon and his cowbell again. He gave us a last bit of encouragement and left us to finish on our own. As soon as we crossed the finish, S. just about collapsed and needed to be helped by medical volunteers and my legs just stopped working. The pain/stiffness was incredible. It’s amazing what the mind can do to keep the body moving.

Two medical guys supported S. through the finisher area and I hobbled along behind, getting my medal and then smiling for a photo. We got some ice, reflective blankets, tons of fruit, energy bars, drinks and whatever else they were giving away and finally met up with our family and friends that came to see us.

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The most important thing that happened during the marathon, that got me to finish in a decent time, was when I took my pitstop and S. told me I have to catch up with her. Many times after that as I was chasing her, I would think how nice it would be to walk for a little while, but I knew I would probably never catch her if I did. Knowing that I had to catch her, kept me going. When I finally did catch her, I needed to stay with her to keep her going. There was a very good chance that she wouldn’t finish if I didn’t distract her and help her in any way I could. Since we had trained together it was only appropriate that we crossed the finish line together at 3:57:55.