Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon #3

I finished my 3^rd Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Saturday. I wrote about my first marathon in this blog two years ago, but I didn’t write about my second one. I should have in retrospect, because my memories of that run were fabulous. I remember feeling strong, confident, and I had a blast. I finished that run and I could have kept running. Anyway, that was last year and now on to last Saturday. (official times of race from the Competitor website: 2011-3:52 and 2012-3:53).

  

The run starts at 7am and the route had changed, for the better, from previous years. It really felt like a Seattle marathon because almost the entire race was in and around Seattle, whereas previous years you started further south, in Tukwila, and then you make your way north.

After getting a few hours of sleep, I woke early (5:15am) to have some eggs and juice smoothies. I took a warm shower, grabbed my stuff and headed for the bus stop. With a small Starbucks coffee in hand, I waited with other runners at the bus stop for the bus that wouldn’t arrive. The route was closed for the morning due to road closures. Though I had checked the Metro website the night before and one other runner said she even called Metro Transit and spoke with someone confirming the buses arrival, we were caught off guard as the time ticked away and no bus showed. Taxi cab to our rescue.

I arrived at the Seattle Center, the start line, at around 6:45am, only 15 minutes before the gun goes off. With over 25,000 runners and about the same amount with volunteers and spectators, the Seattle Center was a mad house. It is pretty exciting knowing you are about to embark on an epic journey. You can see the fear and excitement in other people’s faces all around you.

My coral number was 8 this year which was nice being near the beginning. With wave starts and 500-1,000 people roughly per coral (not sure of exact number), it can be a long time before you actually start running. As 7am drew near, I took off my Goodwill purchased sweatpants and tossed them into the donations pile. The past several days had been very wet and hazy, with this morning being no exception. The air was cool and for the time being there was no rain, making it perfect running weather.

The gun went off and my 3^rd marathon was underway. I ran through downtown as early morning tourists and spectators cheered me along. The miles simply dropped by the wayside as I made my way across Seattle. Much of the new route was already familiar to me but one nice addition was the loop around Seward Park. As the sun would peak out at various times, it would reflect along the water of Lake Washington.

Miles 15-20 take you out of Seattle and onto I-90. This was the toughest part of the run because it is a long stretch laid out directly ahead of you, giving you the appearance of a never ending road on a massive floating bridge. Once you get to Mercer Island and make you way around a barrier, you then head back across to do it all again. As I was nearing the end of this stretch, at mile 19, I took a dive, tripping on a large bolt attached to some sort of metal sheet or grate. The jolt was so unexpected that I didn’t have time to really brace myself as I took a Superman-like fall. I landed on my right shoulder, jamming it and also tweaking my neck. A lot of runners that witnessed this fall all shuddered and expressed their concerns. The guy behind me kindly extended out his hand and helped me up while asking if I was ok. I assessed the damage and besides the tweaked neck and sore shoulder, I didn’t notice any real damage, surprisingly enough. A rush of adrenaline was released into my body and so I took off running again. The only way to really know if I was hurt was to start running again, for only time would tell.

I finished the run and it was a wonderful feeling as I made my way across the finish line. I was happy to have completed another marathon, but I was also very happy to be done at that particular moment. I grabbed some snacks (banana, fruit smoothie, and a bagel) and took some photos.

 I am already thinking about my next marathon.

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon 2010

I woke up this morning, earlier than you should ever have a reason to, and put on my race number and running shoes. Gobbling down raspberry yogurt, a banana, an orange, and toast with jam at 4:30 am is not an easy feat, not when your body is screaming at you "Go back to bed or at least give me some coffee!" It was time for me to embark on a journey, one that would take me 26.2 miles over 4 hours and 16 minutes.
I made my way downtown where there were shuttles taking runners to Tukwila's start line. Once I navigated the maze of road closures and was on the shuttle, I started getting the little 'day of race' nervous feeling, which is such a strange feeling. I am not concerned with how I will do; I will simply give it my all as I always do, so why the nervousness. Who knows?

A retired school teacher sat next to me on our little field trip. Wow, she was sure chatty at 5:30 am. I think I can write her memoir, if only I could recall her name. She was really sweet actually. One of the first things she did was pull up her pants to show me her scares from a recent knee surgery, one that has enabled her to move better than she had in years. You could just see the sheer joy in her eyes as she was telling me these things and I couldn't help but be inspired. It turns out she is an avid book lover, former high school tennis coach, and voracious audio books listener. Sounds like my dream girl right, only 40 years older :) She was running the half marathon, having only recently run her first 8 miles with her new knee. I wonder how she did for she was truly delightful.

Fast forward (you don't want to hear about all the waiting in lines and pre-race stuff).
I am in my corral. Corral #20. There are about 500 other runners in there with me, all with the goal of running a 4:30 marathon (that is about 10-12 minute miles but I eventually didn't like that slower pace so I ran harder and made my way to the 4:15 group, hence my time) The gun went off at 7am sharp, and off in the far distance I could see the trickle of people stripping off their layers and tossing them into the clothes donations bin as they start the race. It would take 25 minutes for the trickle to reach my corral. At 7:25 am I started running. I never stopped.

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon sold out months ago and had 30,000 participants from all over the country and all of whom have a penchant for running (well that may not be entirely true, let's just say most of them do). I met some girls from Massachusetts, a man from Florida who was loving the cooler 65 degree weather, and some other girls from Canada. This is something I love about these sorts of races; the opportunity to meet people from all over and from all walks of life.

Oh by the way...I am sitting in a coffee shop in my dear beloved Ballard, sipping that Tall Americano I should have had hours ago.

At mile 12 I saw my favorite Josie St. Peter! Love her! That was wonderful and I sort of surprised her too even though she was looking for me and her friend Erin. Despite my sweat she gave me a wonderful and loving hug and well, it just felt nice.

Most people know that I always smile. I can't help it. It just happens. So of course I am smiling all race long and several spectators commented on this as I ran by them. I heard one woman laugh at me saying "that guy is actually enjoying this." I found that so funny because it is true. I was enjoying it. So I waved at her. I mean, why in the world would you put yourself through this if you didn't enjoy it right? That just seems crazy to me. I find that smiling puts me in a different frame of mind...I don't think it is possible to be smile and not be happy. So I smile.

Each mile had a different band playing. I am pretty sure I heard 'Don't Stop Believin' like 3 times. Don't get me wrong, that is a great song and it is the universal karaoke song, but 3 times was plenty. I loved the energy the bands gave off, as well as their time and support. I didn't really have a chance to truly enjoy them but the little glimpses I got were good enough. As one band faded from view another appeared over the horizon. It was lovely.

For all my barefoot runners out there...I saw 3 pairs of Vibram Fiverfingers. Yay. Two girls and a guy. I didn't wear mine today, since I was not on a trail, but I was envious when I saw them.

People often ask me what I think about when I run. Usually it is my time for reflection. I think about a lot of things. I think about my family back in California and about Angela and Jason here. I think about my friends Sarah, Ian, and Sylvie and how they are all leaving so soon. I think about Jimmy and Josie and how they are leaving even sooner. I think about Portland (not the city). I think about Portland (this time the city). I think about how nice it was having a cat and if I ever got a new one I would name him or her 'Stevens' and refer to it as 'my cat Stevens.' I think about how nice it is to be able to run and how I should be grateful. I am grateful.

So now I am done. Post race I took my photo, had a free beer (which was god-awful MGD and made me gag, bleh) and hoped on the bus back to my car. Once I got home I took a shot of celebratory Tequila, hopped in the shower, and tried to nap but really I just laid there thinking about what I had done. It was worth it.

ps. please don't worry about any grammar or spelling errors. I just ran a marathon. Cut me some slack :)