Race Report- Carmel Marathon

     It was a dark and stormy early morning. Suddenly, a shot rang out! Hundreds of people ran away from the scene. This is their story. Or, mine at least.

     I stood in a crowd of a little over 1,800 people gathered for the Carmel, Indiana full and half marathon, 'listening' to the mostly unhearable pre-race announcements. "Blah blah blah, wonderful Carmel, wokka-wokka-watermelon, Carmel office holders, blahdeblahdeblah, Ready...GO!"  And ready or not, my third marathon was underway.  I like to start further back in the slower corrals and work my way up during the race as this gives me a helpful sense of forward momentum, and assures a reasonable starting pace also, but I was itching to run. I felt, as they say, full of running.

     Training had gone well, and while I could have and probably should have done more long runs I felt ready, excited, and eager. I had a reasonably challenging goal of 4 hours, the experience of a previous marathon for reference, and red shoes. The weather had improved some from the predicted rain and cold to at least partly sunny and chilly, but it had been puzzling to figure what to wear. I settled on singlet with a thin jacket I was prepared to toss away at some point. I had used this jacket for years and never really liked it. The collar lining material rubbed my neck, the zipper pull had broken and offered only a little nub to pull on, and the wrist elastic had long ago given up the ghost so the sleeves would ride up and flop around annoyingly. So yeah, I'd wear it until the temp warmed and then leave it at a water station trash can, and good riddance.

We who are about to die salute you!

      The first several miles were pretty slow, from working my way through the crowd and (literally) warming up. I loosened up and settled in for some miles, taking in the scenery, conversations around me, and as always, monitoring and adjusting my form and stride. Around mile 8 I started running pretty well and was happy to see sub 9 minute pace on the Garmin. My goal time required a 9 minute pace, so anything under that would both make up for the slow first miles and put a little time in the bank for later. My perceived level of exertion was fine, I felt steady and relaxed and was running easy.

How's that for hitting my goal pace of 9:00!

     In fact, other than for a super quick pit stop at  mile 16 to, er, unhydrate, I was under my 9 minute pace right up until mile 23, when I stopped to wrestle with the stupid jacket that had by now become my nemesis. I had taken it off somewhere along the way, then realized I might want it later since it wasn't really warm and at several places the gusty wind was downright cold, so had reluctantly tied the thing around my waist. It flopped around, nipped at my arms, the sleeves came loose and flapped against my legs 9,457 times, and eventually the whole soggy burden it had become unravelled and started sinking lower from my waist, threatening to leave me hog-tied in the ditch. So I stopped during mile 23 and walked as I redid the knot and explored the depths of the bluer portion of my vocabulary. At this point I realized I'd need it after the finish, so this combative remora had gained a free ride. Note to self: use gear check next time, duh.

     At Chicago I had started slowing steadily after mile 18 and was in trouble after about 22, but I continued to feel mostly fine pretty much the whole way this time. No 'Wall', no great crash, no wheels coming off. I was over 9/min after mile 23, and the last couple of miles were a challenge as I was starting to lose it then, but I was far too determined to lose sight of my goal and I actually picked it up as the finish neared. I had run by how I felt and had settled into my most natural speed just as I had trained for, running by perceived level of exertion, nudging but not pushing past going just a little too fast. I only used one gel at mile 10 and only took water at a few stops since I don't like Powerade, the house special that day.  Overall I'm very happy with nearly every aspect of this race and encouraged for more marathoning. Time now to learn what I can from this and plan training for Summer and Fall races. More miles and less weight and maybe I can hope for a 3:45 some day?

     My official time was 3:57:52, but my Garmin had measured 26.45, and at 26.2 my time was 3:56:15. But official is official, so 3:57 it is. A 20 minute PR from Chicago and a green light for more progress, I say.

     It was great to have friends there also, and it's hard to explain how much those high 5s and cheers meant to me at mile 24. Thank you so much for that.

     Other more random memories: getting to ride to the start in the empty "Elites Van" because a few of us were in the right place at the right time, calling out "High 5 to the runner you don't know!" (a la Jon L.) to a string of local runners going the other way and getting very enthusiastic response, a short convo with a woman about shoes ("I have 11 pair of Newtons!") that made me happily realize my own shoe problem pales to a broader comparison, and as always, seeing and high 5ing little kids along the way.
     I've read the percentage of the general population that runs is only about 1% or so, (I think?) but it is one that is richly steeped in humanity and while we all run alone, nothing seems to pull us together like a race, where the shared effort and enthusiasm turns a crowd into a sort of family, if only for a few hours.

     And the jacket? I was glad to have it after the finish, where I got chilled pretty fast again. The stupid sweat soaked smelly nasty heavy necessary parasite got the last laugh too- as I write my neck is still healing from where the flopping zipper rubbed a raw spot. It's washed and hanging in its lair, and one happy day I will rid myself of it. Probably.