Experiences running the PF Chang RNR Arizona Marathon 2008
Last week, about the same time, I was sitting in the same couch as I am now, with paining knees and quads, but with a sense of achievement. I had just completed the PF Chang RockNRoll Arizona marathon, 2008 (http://www.rnraz.com). Running a marathon had been a life-time ambition and completing it was a really good feeling.
The day (13 January, 2008) started with my cousin dropping me at the start area at around 6:30 AM. It was dark, cold and buzzing with activity. People were there all over the place, in stalls, in those temporary rest rooms, everywhere. Because I was hitchhiking a ride (I do not have a car), I was alone without any family or friends, but just being there at that point of time gave me a sense of exhilaration and excitement. I kept repeating to myself that I should take in as much of this atmosphere and ambience as I could and not let the nerves of running my first ever marathon overwhelm me.
I had a banana and a sports drink about 45 minutes before the run and just walked around the place trying to soak in the experience and most importantly to keep myself warm. It was about 40F and I knew I would do better to keep myself warm. In fact, in my determination to keep myself warm, I kept on my jacket and sweatpants till about 7:20AM and then deposited them to the UPS counter. I later headed out to one of those temporary rest rooms only to be surprised by the huge queues. By the time I was finished, the race had already started and I had to run to join my corral. I was slated to start at corral 8 as I had indicated a projected finish time of 4:30 in my application. My corral started moving about 4 minutes after the official gun shot and so I just managed to get to the start in time.
Once the race started, the first mile went off without my realizing it at all. I was determined to run the first few miles slowly so that I do not run out of gas towards the end and even though I was doing that, the crowd and excitement did not make me realize that about 10 minutes had elapsed since the start. I was targeting a steady 6mph speed through the race (10 minutes/mile pace) so that I could finish around the 4:30 mark.
The next few miles were steady and I reached the 10K mark close to the 1 hour mark. Since this was my first marathon, I was still unsure on what my strategy should be towards using the sports gel. I had read in a lot of posts that on an average, the body can consume the carbohydrate content of about 30 calories every hour and not much more. The average gel contains about 25 calories and so a good rule of thumb would be to consume one after the first hour and one every hour since. Since I had not tried using these gels before (which is actually a stupid thing to do), I was planning to use only 2-3 gels for the whole run and not more. So, I consumed my first gel at around the 9th mile mark (approximately 90 minutes into the run). I ensured that I took it with a lot of water as carbohydrates are better assimilated when taken with water. I was not actually feeling tired, but then wanted to make sure that I do everything needed to complete my first marathon.
Around the 1o mile mark, I was feeling a slight discomfort on my right knee and also felt a slight twinge of pain in the right thigh. I was not sure if the pain was real of if my mind was playing games with me. I had run up to 19 miles in practice, but then in the actual race, the mind can really start playing tricks. I decided that I will run a couple of miles and then walk for five minutes if the pain did not subside. But luckily for me, after about the 11th mile, I started feeling pretty good and the pain (or the imagination) disappeared. I was still continuing the 10 minute a mile pace and was doing well. I crossed the 13 mile mark at about 2:10, almost bang on target.
I ran steady for the next 6 miles but at the 19th mile, out of nowhere, both my knees and quads started paining. It just hit me very suddenly and I was taken aback at its onset. I tried stretching, but it only made things worse. The crowd was egging and cheering, but this pain was something pretty different from what I have endured during the practice runs. I crossed the 20 mile mark by 3:25, still pretty much in target for my predicted finish time.
However, the last six miles changed the equation completely and I was alternating jogs with walks now. I was no longer enjoying the run and it was getting increasingly difficult. I consumed another gel at around the 21st mile and at that point I kept telling myself that if I manage to touch the 24 mile mark, the adrenalin will carry me through the last two miles at a reasonable pace. However, that was not so. If I were tired, that probably could have been true, but the problem here was with the painful knees and quads and no adrenalin could possibly tackle that. My frequency of walks kept increasing and even the sight of the 40K mark did not make me do the last sprint to the finish line as I had expected to. I however started jogging slowly and when I finally crossed the finish line, it was more a sense of relief than accomplishment or euphoria.
I had clocked 4:44, not very off from my predicted finish time, but the last six miles were certainly not something I had planned for. Nevertheless, I had completed a long cherished dream and garnered plenty of pleasant memories to savor for the rest of my life.
