One of CB's Online Clients is Sgt. Z. Strope, stationed in Iraq. Last month he participated in the Iraq Boston Marathon...and here is his story...
The race was put on by the Boston Athletic Assosciation, the same Association that puts on the Boston Marath, a 26.2 mile run. They set it up at Talil Air Base in Southern Iraq-even OLN was there to tape it. There were two different events to run- the full 26.2 mile individual run or the 26.2 mile 4 person relay. I obviously chose the relay since I hadnt ran more than 4 miles in about 5 years. I had received the first leg of the race which was 6.7 miles, the second longest leg, but definitely the most interesting.
We flew out the day before on an Army Sherpa plane. If you don't know what it is, imagine a small bus with wings and propellers the flies anywhere from 200 ft to 6000 ft off the ground.
The morning of the race I chowed down a protein bar and about a litre of water. I was the sad to find I had forgotten my best running tool, my iPod. I figured this was going to be one boring run. We then hopped in our humvees and we convoyed for about 15 minutes to Talil Air Base where I immediately began stretching for the race. The race start promptly at 6 AM and it was a perfect 75 degrees. Great running weather. Four miles into the race, I was feeling great. I hadn't felt this good running in a long time. I began to run a slight incline to one of the most beautiful spots in Iraq, the Ziggaraut(sp?) of Ur. For those of you who don't know, the city of Ur was the home of the prophet Abraham when Iraq was known as Mesopotamia. Needless to say it was an awe inspiring mile run. At this point, I grabbed a quick glass of water and took advantage of the downhill run back with much more energy than I thought I would have at this point. I had brought my Garmin Forerunner to keep
track of my pace and I was pleasantly suprised to find my pace increasing the last 2 miles of my portion of the race. I even continually passed people who had been ahead of me for a while. It felt great! At exactly 51 minutes and 6.7 miles later, I passed the baton on to my partner.
Overall the race had 91 relay teams and about 125 individual runners. Our team placed 16 out of 91 with a total time of 3 hours 27 minutes. Sadly, if we had actually trained for the race, I feel we could have done a lot better. What suprised me the most was I havent ran more than 3.5 miles since I've been in Iraq, about 6 months, and mostly just HIIT for 15-20 minutes 3 times a week.
If you had happened to watch the real Boston Marathon, there was clips of the Iraq Boston Marathon through the real one.
*************************************************
A good friend of mine, Brad Cunningham, recently completed his first marathon. While I'm not into distance running anymore, I certainly can recognize an impressive accomplishment when I see one.
Here's Brad's motivating story of one man's triumph and tribulations with what many people consider to be the ultimate in human performance. Brad's story is an incredible read that anyone with a competitive spirit will enjoy and admire...
******************************
For my first marathon, it was a pretty memorable experience. As we get older, we have fewer chances to do things for the first time, so I relished the chance to explore the unknown. In the past few years I have coached many people through the race, but until yesterday I had not taken up the challenge myself, mostly because I think it is crazy. I guess I am getting a little crazier.
My longest run had been the 34k with three weeks out, so it was going to be interesting to see what was in store for me after 20 miles. My training had been great all summer and I was very pleased with the way my last hard workout had gone (10x 800; holding
And then I went canoeing.
For two weeks.
During my taper.
Not the smartest of decisions, but spending time in the
Since we were one a small island, with no amenities to speak of (save the two outhouses) this meant that my taper now consisted of 5 water runs in the ocean in a wetsuit. Ideal it was not, but I got through it. I was also able to fit in two runs when I was home for a night (we brought home the first of the two canoe trips after one week, and took the second one up). I arrived home for good on the Tuesday before the Sunday race, so I also got in four light runs in order for my legs to remember what roads were.
The days leading up to the race I felt good and confident that I was going to be able to achieve my goal time of
Gold (a great day, an ideal race) -
Silver (a good day and what I thought definitely achievable) -
Bronze (if there were some issues, I should still be able to achieve this) -
I set my goals up like this because race day is an enigma, and there are so many variables that can affect the day that it is nice to have back up goals in case things need to change midrace. That way I am not tempted to pack it in if I have not achieved my most ideal goal. This scaffolding of goals would serve me well.
I had slept well the night before the race, if not a lot. I awoke at
I ended the facade of sleep around
The clouds hung low, but the wind was calm and the air moderately warm for this place (10 degrees). I pulled my warm up gear on over top of my race gear and headed out the door for my warm up. I watched the early part of the half-marathon race go by as I rode to the start and was inspired to see friends doing so well.
My warm up was good and as I gave my clothes to the baggage check, I almost forgot my gels for later in the race.
I finished jogging over to the start and caught with some friends just prior to the gun. It was a good size crowd (over 2000), and there was a great energy hovering. If you haven't been to a major race before, the feeling at the start line, for both spectators and athletes alike is unlike anything else. I highly recommend it for those feeling low motivation.
The gun went off and we were away. The start of a marathon is different because it is all about pacing. If you go out too fast, you come home very slow. As a result, there was a lot of chatting between runners because we were running at a relatively easy pace; relative to the time in race. The pace we running would later become very hard to maintain, thus the importance of not going out too fast. My goal pace was
1km -
1 mile -
This was not a bad thing, but this being my first marathon, I was not sure what to expect. I have been told a variety of different theories on your time when you go out too fast, but they basically boil down this - for every second you are too fast in your first mile, you will be 10 seconds slower than your goal pace for the rest of the race.
Mathematically, this meant that instead of running
After the first mile I eased up and settled in, actually running slower than my goal pace in an effort to be conservative. This strategy worked well and I felt very comfortable through 5k. I was a little behind my goal pace, but that is ok.
The support that I began to receive as we started to get into the race was unbelievable. From runners and spectators alike, there were people cheering for pretty much the whole 42.2k. And for me it was very special as it seemed that every person that I knew in
Through 10k (39:50), I was feeling good and still slower than goal pace. This is important because everyone says that there are essentially two races in the marathon. The first race is getting to the 30k (or 20mile) mark, and the second one begins at that point and lasts to the finish line. If you race the first one too fast, your second one will be very slow.
I was proud of my race to this point. There were many people in front of me, but I was quietly confident that I would be able to bring them back later in the race.
I went through the halfway mark at
Through the next few kilometers I started to pull people back to me. I was running relaxed and smooth, and felt no real strain from it. My heart rate increased a little, but nothing that would be cause for alarm. I hit the turnaround and started the run back feeling a little more effort, but nothing more than I expected.
I had taken my first gel at the halfway point and was planning on taking them every half-hour. I had been drinking water at every aid station and was now taking in Gatorade as well. I was back on my goal pace time of
It was about 27k that I really started to feel the first signs of fatigue. My focus had increased and I was going into a "the zone" more than I had before ("the zone" being the place where you don't acknowledge the outside world as much as all your concentration is needed to keep you going on the task at hand). I had a student, James, meet me at different intersections on the part of the course that went through the community of
They pulled up beside me on their bikes and cheered me on a little. I asked them if they had any Gatorade. They said yes. I drank it. All of it. Well, not quite, but I took a lot of it. I had started to feel some twinges in my hamstrings at that point and I was concerned. My pacing was starting to fall of pace, floating back up over
It was about two minutes later that I saw James again, but this time he was with three other of my students, Aidan, Dustin and Rayner. The four of them comprised my cheering and support team for the rest of the route home. These were the same students with whom I had paddled around the
They rode with me as I struggled to stave of the cramping that was now occurring not only in hamstrings, but also in quads. This was now the battle. I slowed down quite a bit and at points came to complete stops because I was experiencing complete cramping. This is not new to me as I had issue with cramping in triathlon, but I had not cramped at all during any of my training and it was a cool day, so I had assumed that my sweat rate would have been lower. But alas, there I was, standing still, watching my goal time pass on my watch as I was still over 2km from the finish. I had realized earlier that I would not achieve my
The last 300 meters are long and straight. On the left side is the Inner Harbour of Victoria, and on the right are at least 1000 cheering spectators. In front is a huge FINISH banner and the announcing booth above that, calling out all the finishers and talking to the crowd.
I soaked it up. I knew that my first Gold and Silver goals were not realistic on the day, and that the Bronze goal was achieved. I wanted to enjoy the moment and seeing the finish and seeing that I had a minute left to the three hour mark gave me a sense of relief. I jogged in, a smile freely flowing forth and the knowledge that this day was the celebration of all the people that had supported me throughout the summer training.
As these thoughts danced in my mind, as I absorbed the energy of the crowd, and as I reflected on completing my first marathon, time kept up its march, with perfect rhythm. I glanced at the clock and the time was
100m left
Steve King gets my number and announces my name to the crowd, who continue to cheer louder. The wave of energy is pushing me. I am smiling.
50m
40m
It was only at this point that I realized that I was going to make it in time. The crowd, unaware of the time that only minutes earlier I was standing still on the race course try to coax my body into working for me, wasn’t so sure. I ran toward the finishing mat, jumped and touched the timing clock and crossed the line.
The crowd, aware that it was as much their cheering as it was my legs that got me over the line under three hours, erupted. I walked into Rob Reid, the owner of Frontrunners, the running store I work at, and Jim Finlayson, a friend and the winner of the marathon on the day. I gave Jim a hug as I had heard on the course that he had won, and was subsequently interviewed by the local paper’s sports writer. He thought that I was someone important as people were getting me drinks and I was being congratulated by the event champion. Look for me in the Tuesday Edition of the Times Colonist (www.timescolonist.com) We’ll see if I make it in.
After drinking some Gatorade I walked along the finishing chute, which had fences along side so that the crowd would swell into the area where the finishers were. This made talking to the many friends who had supported me throughout the day a little awkward. Hi-five’s were exchanged through chain linked fence and handshakes came from above. It was wonderful to see their smiling faces and to see the energy that they had on that day. I caught up with the 10 or so students that had taken their whole Sunday morning to come and see me run and chatted with many other racers and spectators. Gord, and his daughter Sarah, who live above me (or should I say, I live in their basement), had driven back from out of town just to see the end of the race. They graciously waited for me to say my thanks to people before they put my bike in their truck and drove me home.
So, as I sit here, a day later, about to go for a massage, and eating victory brownies that Sarah made me this morning (they are so good, and she is only in grade six!), I am basking in the “high” that I have heard marathoners speak of. It wasn’t a good race, but it was a pretty spectacular experience. It was humbling and motivating. It is the longest I have ever run, but not likely the longest I will ever run. It is hard to stand up, and I feel a little weak in the legs, but I am thankful for the chance to participate, no matter the result. It is all a learning experience. And the chance to learn something new is always exciting.
And I figured out that for every second under pace in the first mile, you will not go 10 seconds/mile slower for the rest of the race – you will only go 10 seconds/mile slower for the last 10 miles. At least that is what the math says.
Home Page and a link to photos (eventually – my bib number is 2078)
Results
http://www.royalvictoriamarathon.com/results.php
