Mardi Gras Marathon 2011

I love my father. He's a great guy, and a big fan of mine. He's travelled to almost all of my out-of-state races, and even stood by and cheered and supported me during my disastrous Denver marathon in 2007. When he heard I was going to run in New Orleans, he said he wanted to be there, and that he'd even make hotel arrangements for us. I love my father.

What I don't love about my father, however, is his snoring. He's always been a snorer, and I know it drove my mother crazy too. He had the surgery that's supposed to correct it, but it didn't take. I was nervous about sharing a hotel room with him, afraid that his snoring would keep me awake on Saturday night. But, I convinced myself, the lower altitude might have a positive effect: the extra moisture in the air might soften his passages, make him less likely to snore.

I could not have been more wrong. If anything, his snoring was even louder than usual! His uncanny impersonation of a rusty chainsaw attacking a petrified forest kept me awake half of Thursday night! Even my earplugs didn't help--I swear he only got louder to compensate! Finally in sheer desperation I dragged all my blankets and pillows into the bathroom and lined the bathtub with them ("God bless the Westin for giving you 17 pillows, right?"). Only then, with my earplugs in place and the door shut, was I able to get any sleep at all.

On Friday my Dad and I went to Cafe du Monde for breakfast. I had been told many times to be sure to try their beignets, and I did. They were delicious, like sweet sopapillas buried in a mountain of powdered sugar ("Excuse me, I believe I ordered extra powdered sugar?!"). Then we scouted out Decatur Street to find places for him and my sister Vicki and her friend Jenny to spectate. We found a good one on mile 14, at the giant gold statue of Joan of Arc. I would just have to remember to bear left ("Right, frog!" "Wow, that's a pretty dated reference. Wonder if anyone'll get it...or comment about it.").

After that we went to the Expo, then down to the start area to see how long it would take to walk the two miles from the hotel. I also stopped at a Walgreens to get some Tylenol PM..... After that we met up with Vicki and Jenny, then headed over to Bourbon Street. Had some drinks at the Absinthe Palace, International House of Beers, and hurricanes at Pat O'Briens. We finished off the evening at Preservation Hall, listening to Leroy Jones and his sextet. That was indescribably fun! I love N'Awlins jazz, and this group was epic. Really, other than the marathon, this was probably the high point of the weekend.

Saturday was spent relaxing: we took a walking tour of St Louis Cemetary #1 in the morning (after breakfast at Cafe du Monde, of course), then I returned to the hotel to put my feet up till dinner time. Dad and I watched the online course tour. Dinner was at Muriels, where we joined fellow Runner's Edge of the Rockies member Lori and her mom. I ordered two of the eggplant pasta appetizers (they were small!) and a side of rice. It was a pretty filling meal, if not my usual pre-long run fare. That night I got all my gear in place and popped a few Tylenol PMs to put me out. I spent a few more minutes before sleep reviewing my race strategy:

Miles 1-4: hold back, settle in
Miles 5-13: be aggressive and bank time!
Miles 14-20: ease back slightly, stay strong
Miles 21-26.2: keep going, don't stop now!

We made it to the start line in plenty of time--just as the corrals were opening, in fact! I said good-bye to my dad, made one last pit stop, and then it was time to race!

I felt strong and fast at the start (in fact my first mile was about 45 seconds too fast). The first band, at mile 0.5, was playing Stevie Ray Vaughn, which I took as a good sign. Shortly after that, I passed two runners wearing Biggest Loser tshirts: turns out it was a couple from the 2010 season running together!

I hit the halfway point at 1:57:43, 9 seconds slower than my half split at Chicago! That's very interesting, because a side-by-side comparison of my splits for those two races show some pretty wide differences in certain miles. In any event, I was still feeling pretty great, although I did have to stop for a quick potty break just before mile 14. Taking the main lesson from Chicago, where underhydration had very nearly wound me up in the hospital, I'd made it a point to drink two cups of fluids at each aid station. The difference here was that it wasn't as hot as Chicago (certainly at the halfway point it was still very cool, somewhere in the 50s I'd guess). So, I wasn't sweating as much, hence the needed stop. I still kept that mile to about 9 minutes, though...

I saw my Dad, Vicki, and Jenny right on cue. I was still feeling solid and keeping to my splits and my mental plan of attack. The next five miles went by easily enough, but then my pace started to slip a little. I hit mile 20 just under the 3-hour mark (with seconds to spare, in fact). I knew if I could keep my pace below a 10 minute mile I could hit my goal, or at the very least PR. But it was starting to get warm, and unfortunately the last 10k of the course--unlike most of the first 20 miles--offered no appreciable shade whatsoever. When I passed the medical tent at that point, I asked if they had any BioFreeze. I remembered how that stuff had revitalized my tired legs at Disney World in 2009. Sadly, they did not; so my lesson for next time is to carry a couple small packets with me at my next marathon.

Another lesson is to fine-tune my drinking. At about mile 21, in addition to feeling myself slowing down, I started to feel like I'd need to make another (!) pit stop. I tried to fight it, and managed to make it to mile 24 before I had to stop again. I've heard of runners who can let themselves go and, well, go...without having to stop, that is. I am not one of them. If I were winning a race, and a quick potty break literally meant the difference between first-place and second, then I might be able to let myself go; but under these circumstances I could not. Running, even as slow as I was at that point (11 minute pace), was becoming too painful. So I stopped.

The last 5k of this race really kicked my butt! Slow, slow, slow! Although thankfully, not as slow as Chicago (not as hot, either, by a long shot). I tried so hard to keep running but just couldn't make myself do it. I saw my cheering section again at mile 25 as planned, and rallied for a moment; but alas, only for a moment. I finally jogged across the finish line in 4:12:15, which I'm happy to say is my second-fastest marathon time.

So, what takeaways do I have from this race? First, New Orleans is a heck of a town. The music scene is very lively and fun. I lost count of the number of small jazz combos I saw on virtually every street corner! And Preservation Hall is a place I'll have to return to soon. Second, I do extremely well running flat races in cool temps at low elevation. I credit that to my high altitude training and all the challenging hilly courses that Coach David of Runner's Edge of the Rockies has us run. Third, I don't run as well in the heat. Granted, this isn't exactly a fresh takeaway from this race (neither is the second, really), but it was certainly reinforced during that last sunny 10k. Fourth, I should drink between a cup-and-a-half and two cups of fluids at each aid station--more if it's warm, less if it's cool. Determining what can be considered "warm" and "cool" is something I should work on. Last, a few packets of BioFreeze to give myself fresh legs near the end of my marathon would be a great idea.

Oh, I do have one other takeaway: drinking and dancing until 1:30 AM after running 26.2 miles is for those creatures more superhuman than me ("Seriously, when my alarm went off Monday morning, I tried to get out of bed to turn it off and promptly fell on the floor because my legs weren't working.").

Official Time: 4:12:15
YTD Race Miles: 41.2
YTD Total Miles: 211.6
Number of separate bands that covered Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" on Sunday night: 6