To say 2012 has been anything but a roller coaster for my third year running is probably the understatement of the year. Between another PW marathon at RnR DC with a bum ankle and a DNS for a early summer half marathon with pneumonia which sidelined me for most of the summer I looked to my 5th marathon in Harrisburg to end the year on a high note.
The Harrisburg Marathon has been on my short list to run ever since I completed my first 2yrs ago and hard to believe here I am planning #5. Billed as a flat and fast course I was hopeful for a good showing after a strong training cycle if not my best of all my marathons, but you never know what the marathon will throw at you come race day.
With the race practically in my backyard decided to drive up from Chambersburg race day morning. Something to be said about sleeping in your own bed vs. a hotel. Probably got to race a bit early, but wanted to make sure I got a parking spot on City Island. Field nearly doubled in size the week before with cancellation of the NYCM due to Hurricane Sandy. The race got a nice bump from that with nearly 2,100 runners. Normally Harrisburg nets out at about 1,000 runners. Nice small local marathon. Picked up my packet and pinned my race bib on and was ready to go. Met up with a friend who was running his first and some RWOL friends as runners started to lineup for the race.
Felt confident about a 3:30 time or just below. Lined up with 3:35 pace group to ensure I would not go out too fast to start and be really hating life before mile 20. Lot of displaced NYCM runners in group wearing some type of NYRR gear from shirts, arm warmers, and caps. All were happy to have a race to run.
Miles 1-4 – Start of race was really odd. No announcement from race director beforehand or signal that race started. Runners ahead just started running. Crossed the start mat, clicked on the Garmin and I was off running my 5th marathon. Ran alongside pacer named Mike the first few miles. A chatty fellow who has run 19 marathons. Did a good job of warning runners of storm drains, motivating us on some upclimbs, and keeping everyone pumped early on. For these first few miles, mile markers were off as expected by .08-.12 on average. Considering I was shooting for a 3:30 which is a 8:00 pace I relied on not so much what the my watch splits said but more of what time was when I hit mile markers. These first few miles went thru downtown Harrisburg passing by the capitol building and running thru the Greenbelt Trail. Splits averaging 8:13-8:16 thru 4 miles. Passed thru the Greenbelt felt this was right time to settle into my race pace and venture out on my own as we approach the riverwalk. Approximately about 45 seconds behind goal race time at this point.
Miles 5-10 – Course runs back towards City island along riverwalk. Lot of crowd support here which keeps you going for sure. Best sign I saw was “Chuck Norris Never Ran a Marathon”. Thought that was funny along with a sign that read “You should get a bike”. Feeling really lite on my feet running back down Market Street bridge and around City Island. Course crosses Walnut St bridge which is where finish is down to lower riverwalk. Feeling good and running strong. Picked up some time as miles clicked away very effortlessly. By mile 10 I was just above my target time and happy with how race was progressing to this point.
Miles 11-20 – Still running along the riverwalk as race progressed and feeling good staying at my race pace. Course runs thru some neighborhoods and not as flat as earlier with some minor rollers. Hit 13.1 point just under 1:44 which was right about where I needed to be. Miles 14-16 things started getting tough as we ran thru an industrial area (not the nicest part of course for sure) leading up to the local community college. Felt like feet were rubbing a bit in some places and felt a bit raw, but not to a point I couldn’t keep my pace though. Passed the college with turn-around point and headed towards Wildwood Park which I knew from course map and elevation profile would easily be the most challenging part of the race. Thru 16 miles right on target for a 3:30 right on the nose or a few seconds above that time. Miles 17-20 – Looking back this was clearly the turning point of the race for me. Right after mile 17 course goes on a path leading to Wildwood. I guess they were re-paving part of the path as some crushed stone was layed. To be running on a paved road to that kind of surface suddenly is a big difference. Did not really help my feet and feet hurt to run on it and lost all my running rhythm. Pace slowed as a result as we entered Wildwood. Think it even made my feet worse as when I got home socks were bunched up. With slowdown found it hard to get back on pace as we entered hills around lake in Wildwood. Feet really bothering me going up the hills and downhills. I was really struggling but felt if I could get thru hills maybe 3:30 was still doable. Passed the hills with mile 20 and was 2 minutes behind a 3:30 pace and knew today was not the day for that and switched gears starting to think about a 3:35.
Miles 21-26.2 – By mile 21 I was hurting barely running a 9:00 pace. Never really thought about walking. Mile 21-22 marker and 3:35 pace group sped past me and knew I was sunk. At this point I felt I just had to keep moving to finish. I knew a PR was still in reach and if it was not going to be my day for 3:30 a goal I trained so hard for, I was going to at least make an attempt to get some sort of PR and finish this race as strong as I could. Just kept moving as miles clicked off at a pace I could manage in 9-10 minute range or maybe even slower than that. Passed mile 24 and was feeling really beat-up now. Decided a run/walk strategy was for the best even with only walking intervals of 15-20 seconds as I knew a PR was going to happen now. Mile 25 ran rest of the way to finish. That upclimb to the Walnut Street bridge was absolutely brutal but kept moving. Good crowd support here and kept me motivated as I got to bridge. Gave it all I had left to the finish. Crossed the finish raised my hands and was just so relieved this race was done.
Crossed finish in 3:47:47 for a new PR of barely 4 minutes, but I’ll take it. Finished 515th out of 1514 finishers and 67th out of 149 in the 40-44 AG runners. I finished my 5th marathon maybe not exactly as I hoped, but it’s another one in the books and a PR. End of the day that’s a good marathon. That’s not to say I am not frustrated with my marathoning right now. Very hard to train for a specific goal and feel really good about your training to not to reach it. I know I am better than this time indicates and eventually I will get this right. What do I need to do to have that great breakthrough race? It’s a question I will have plenty of time to ponder before I toe the line again for another 26.2 journey. That said with my track record of spring PW marathons going to focus the first part of 2013 on shorter distances and getting faster, but have not fully closed the door on a spring marathon just yet.
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