Down With the Sickness - Hyannis Marathon Race Report

Sunday's Run:  26.2 miles through Hyannis, MA
Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes, 34 seconds (8 minutes, 37 seconds per mile)
Type of Run:  Race
Splits:  Miles 1-5:  37:28 (7:30 pace)
Miles 6-10:  38:19 (7:40 pace, 1:15:47 overall)
Miles 11-15:  41:26 (8:17 pace, 1:57:13 overall)
Miles 16-20:  50:07  (9:01 pace, 2:47:20 overall)
Miles 21-26.2: 58:14 (9:22 pace, 3:45:34 overall)

I'll shed a little background on the 48 hours leading up to the race.

I had a good run on Friday in what felt like beautiful weather for a February - 45 to 50 degrees, sunny, and a light breeze.  After showering and returning to work, however, my body started to feel weakened - that feeling that washes over your body with the onset of the flu.  I began to worry a lot about what that meant, and as soon as I got the chance, put cold/flu medicine in me.  Saturday morning, the weakness was gone, but fever had set in.  For the entire day my body temperature was elevated and I was constantly tired.  All my body wanted to do was shut down and I had little time to do so.  I got to bed that night and slept nearly 10 hours, and I felt a lot better, so I had thought that maybe I had kicked it enough to not affect me.

Now to the race.

The weather was probably the best of the three years that I have run it - upper 30s to about 40, calm winds, lightly overcast but no precipitation.  The sun even tried to break out in part of it.  It seemed like a good sign and that I would have little problems with nature, contrary to what I thought was going to happen (mid-30s, snow/rain, high winds).

The first 5 miles of the race felt smooth as I started with most of the 8-minute pace people and casually weaved my way forward.  Mile 1 was 8:05 but I chipped away at it until I maintained a steady 7:25-7:30 pace by mile 4 and continued that way through 6.  My strategy at that point was to start accelerating until I could start going at about a 7:10-7:15 pace, then pick it up a little more past 10. 

Remember those last 48 hours?  My body did.

In the space of 5 minutes, my body temperature increased dramatically and my legs were already giving me fatigue signals.  It had already felt like I had run double the length I normally did.  Mile 8 was at 7:45 and 9 was at 7:56 as I started moving slower.  I gritted my teeth and pushed with a bit of effort through mile 13, still staying under the 8-minute per mile mark and 1 hour, 40 minutes through half.

Once I left the rotary after the first loop, my legs and body started to fall apart.  Keeping the sub-8 pace was actually making me breathe heavy and my legs were aching as if I were at 20 already.  I had never experienced these conditions so early in a Marathon before.  By 15, I was worried that I may not finish the race and for the next 6-8 miles, it dominated my thoughts.  This alone suppressed my adrenaline and brought me way below the 9-minute pace mark.  Add to that the suddenly bitter winds that picked up after the 2-hour mark and a sudden temperature drop.  21 and 22 tipped past the 10-minute mark, something I haven't done since Hyannis and Maine in 2008.  I was fatigued, both mentally and physically, my head and legs were aching, my eyes were half closed and I could not get my breath even. I was afraid of not making it to 23.

When I hit Main street on that mile, I tried a psychological trick, something that I could have never done to myself in those early Marathons.  I started picking up my legs as I took each step and told myself that I was guaranteed to finish.  There would be no room for a DNF in my mind.  I had run 6 Marathons before and didn't quit any of those, so there was no way I could possibly stop now.

Amazingly, it worked.  Picking up my legs helped solidify the mental fortitude; I felt like I was gaining speed (and I was).  For the rest of the way I managed to stay under 9 minutes per mile and finished strong.  I crossed the line with the timer at the 3 hour, 46 minute mark, faint, limping, and half-conscious - but I had done it.  I had finished my seventh Marathon, and even sickness could stop me.

I'm not sure what I could have done differently.  I certainly couldn't have done better not being 100% and still in a semi-fever before, during, and after running, but I still wonder if it was the wisest of choices to decide to run it in the first place.  (As a side note I still have a slight fever through today though symptoms haven't worsened at all since the race finished.) Though it probably flies in the face of any medical expert's advice, I'm glad I did run it.  It was partially an exercise in humility. Mostly, though, it was an exercise in psychology - proving to myself that at this point in my running life, the race is just as mental as it is physical.  Even if one isn't working to where it should be, sometimes the other can carry you through.

No BQ for me in this race, but I'm not worried.  5/16 at Sugarloaf is the one that will really count.  This is merely a step closer to that race.