A Spontaneous Island Marathon in the Pacific Northwest

Date: 4/20/15
Current Weight: 180 lbs
Miles Run Last Week: 35
Long Run This Week: 26.3 miles @ Whidbey Island Marathon 

A few weeks ago my fiance, Isabel, and I decided we wanted to see if it was feasible to take a short vacation in late April. After looking and getting some advice from a friend regarding affordable vacation destinations, we decided on Seattle. Isabel loves Seattle and was very excited to go back after not having been there since her Aunt and Uncle called the city home about 10 years ago. 

Originally I had planned on this week being down time after an intense training schedule leading up to the Zumbro 50-mile last weekend. However, about half way through last week I ran across the Whidbey Island Marathon while browsing the internet for spots to visit. Of course I couldn't resist, and signed up for the event since it was being held while we were in town. It may have been one week since my last race, but I love experiencing new places on foot, and an organized event like the marathon is a great way to do that. I decided to run it with good effort but had no solid expectations for finish time going into the event, as my legs were far from fresh and I had no idea what to expect with the course. Another reason for doing this early season marathon is to have an idea of my baseline starting point in my training for the Twin Cities Marathon in October, as I've done barely any speed/tempo training up to this point this year. 

Deception Pass

We drove to the island the day before to the event. Whidbey Island is the only island off of the Washington coast accessible by road. It is on the Puget Sound, a body of water that has two opening into the Pacific, and is formed by a series of islands around it that separate it from the the open water of the ocean.  It is a beautiful area that includes a popular state park called "Deception Pass," which was where the race start line was. I always like to keep moving the days before a hard running effort, so we took advantage of the opportunity to check out the park the day before and take in some of the sights. It is a beautiful park with a long series of beaches, dense forest with rooty and rocky trails, and of course great views of deception pass itself. 

Isabel and I

The day of the run we started our drive to the island at 4:00am, as it is about 1.5 hours from where we were staying in Mukliteo, WA. I arrived at the start line at about 6:30am and waited it out until the start at 7:15am. I couldn't have been much less prepared, which was okay considering I can run the marathon distance on no nutrition and very little water, but it came back to bite me a little during the run. I had planned on depending on the aid stations on the course which were supposed to be stocked with an ample supply of GU energy gels and water. The race started at 7:15am, just as the sun had finished rising. The race starts with a big climb up to the Deception Pass bridge, which is a stellar way to start the race as cross the bridge provides beautiful view in the morning. The marathon itself was a about the opposite of my last road marathon, which was Grandma's in Duluth, MN. Grandmas is flat, with just under 180 feet of climbing during the whole race. Whidbey Island is hilly with 1733 feet of climbing. It hits you pretty quickly just how different maintaining a pace feels on this type of course. 

I started the run with the 4-hour pacer, a guy named Ian, whom I ended up getting to know a bit and talking to throughout the run. Within the first two miles, I felt the pace was faster than the 9-minute mile that the 4-hour pacer would be shooting for. I didn't have my GPS on (on purpose, I wanted to go off of feel and use the pacers), but knew that something was off. As we approached mile 4, he realized that his watch was nearly a quarter of a mile off. Which means were were running closer to an 8:30 for the first four miles. In addition, the GU gels that were expected at mile 4 were non-existent. It turned out that there were only GU's at two aid stations, when they were originally supposed to be every 4-6 miles. We continued following the pace of Ian's watch for about 8 miles before he switched to manual calculations to figure out what pace we were actually running per mile. After a few monster climbs around mile 10, I was still feeling quite good, surprisingly good for having started quite a bit faster than I had intended. There is almost no doubt that the fast start came back to bite me, though. As we got closer to mile 20, I was feeling gassed. My turnover and stride length were becoming a struggle to maintain, and I held tight until mile 21 where I had to stop to use a porta potty at the aid station. 

Just before crossing the finish line @ Whidbey Island Marathon

I try to avoid is having to use the restroom during shorter races (anything between a 5k and a 50k), but I am yet to get lucky enough to not have to during the three road marathons I've completed. Having to take the break is a time suck itself, but the bigger time suck is how your legs feel after you have sat down for a minute and have to re-start. 

My pace after using the restroom slowed significantly and I never quite recovered. By mile 22 it was a real grind to keep running. Many participants on the course were beginning to walk, but I was determined to keep running, even if it was not the pace that I wanted. The miles of constant hills really do a number on your legs, and mine felt as heavy as can be during the last miles of the race. Luckily, the race finishes with the three flattest miles of the whole course right along the beach leading into the town of Oak Harbor. I crossed the line at 4:05, just shy of my current road marathon PR of 3:59. As far as effort is concerned, I cannot say I didn't give it 100% and I am happy with my experience and finish time.

Now I'm setting my sights on the next big goal for the year, which is to complete 100 miles at the FANS endurance run in early June. There is really not enough time to do very much more training, but I'm going to focus the time I do have on structured workouts with a more moderate volume. I found doing structured hill/tempo/speed workouts paired with a good deal of slow and easy miles had me running my absolute best at the tail end of last fall - so the plan is to replicate that as much as possible in the next three weeks before I taper down prior to FANS. I also intend to drop 10 lbs over the next six weeks to be a bit lighter on race day. I'll be tracking diligently on MyFitnessPal to make that happen (friend me @ BoikePT if you're on MyFitnessPal).  

Crossing the finish line

w/ Isabel at the finish