Chasing My Youth

2014 Army Ten-Miler

In 1999 while working on my PhD at North Carolina A&T I decided to tackle the Marathon.  I had been a competitive middle distance runner in High School, but I set that aside when I headed to Georgia Tech in 1987.  In my 30th year I went to Chicago to run my 1st marathon.  It was a spectacular day, mid-40s to start warming to mid-50s by the finish, with sunny skies and no wind.  I ran the first half in 1:30 and the second half in 1:26:38.  Until 2013 the second half of Chicago was my Half-Marathon PR.  In my 1st Marathon I broke the 3 hour mark and qualified for Boston (which I ran in 2000).  The next year I finished my PhD and headed off to NASA's Langley Research Center.  My wife and I started a family and I put my running shoes away for another decade.

In 2009 I decided to reinvent myself as a Triathlete.  That first event didn't go so well, but as Monty Python once said "It got better."  I still wanted to go back and beat that Chicago time.  I had thought I could do it in Boston in 2000, but came up a couple of minutes short.  Then in 2013, after falling apart in Louisville in the Ironman marathon, I tried again.  Richmond 2013 I held 6:45 pace with Bryan Frank, one of my Snapple teammates, through mile 17 only to give it all back over the next 9 miles and finishing in a disappointing 3:02.

The 2014 season went well.  I ran a solid marathon at Ironman Lake Placid.  I went after the 10 mile and broke the 1 hour mark at the Army Ten Miler.   I signed up for the Newport News One City Marathon - an inaugural event in the city next door.  It was time to chase my Marathon PR.

I took a short break after the Army Ten-Miler to regroup.  Then It was back to training.  Two of my Snapple Teammates, Adam Frager and Jason Bridges, were training with me.  Jason had just won a local Half-Marathon in a smoking fast 1:19.  We started running on Sundays with Michael Leech a very talented local runner who coordinates runs for the Peninsula Road Runners.  My coach told me that we would be working to make me more and more comfortable being uncomfortable on the run.  The tempo runs were brutal 2 x mile, 3 x 2mile, 8 x 1K, 2-3-4-3-2 mile, 2 x 5 mile, 8 x (1K over/under), 20 mile fast finish.  If you want to run a marathon at 6:20 pace, you need to run a lot of miles at 6:20 or faster.  Michael, Jason, Adam and I fairly wore out the trails at Newport News Park, First Landing, and the neighborhood around the Mariners Museum.  I met and trained with a lot of local runners I had never met training as a triathlete.  It was hard work and great fun.

Hampton Roads Snapple (L-R Jason, Adam, Steve)

The plan was to run the Colonial Half Marathon as a test run.  This was my third attempt and one day I will get to run it.  Unfortunately mother nature had a different idea this year.  The snow storms that pummeled the east coast left Colonial Williamsburg under a foot of ice and snow.  The race was converted to a 5K.  we made it a long workout day.  3 mile warm-up, 5K Race, 3 mile cool-down, awards, 2 mile warm-up, 2 x 2 miles at 6:20 pace, 2 mile cool-down for a 17 mile day.   It was cold, the roads for the race were clear, but everything was icey and wet.  I had no idea what to expect so I went out hard and held on - 5:20, 5:40, 5:35 for a 17:26 and a Master's PR.  It was a good enough for 5th overall and 1st place Master's division.  It was also my fastest 5K in over 15 years.  The rest of the workout went well, but on the snow and ice coming back into town on the cool-down I tweaked my calf.  It was wasn't severe, but I had to go easy for two weeks and I couldn't run two key quality workouts. 

One City Marathon Start (That's me in the middle)

Race day was approaching.  I did get two 20 mile efforts in, but not with the pace work I had hoped for.  I was running strong, as strong as I ever had, but I felt like I was a little off going in to race day.  The day before the race my kids had Lacrosse games, so we spent the morning at the Warhill Sports Complex in Williamsburg and then headed over to packet pick-up.  There is a Carrabas conveniently located nearby and that made for the perfect pre-race meal.

I stuck to my normal pre-race routine.  Up 3 hours before the race.  I ate a bagel with butter and cinnamon sugar, a bonk breaker bar, and a cup of coffee.  Took care of the necessaries and headed out to pick up Adam, Mike Leech, and JP Caudill.  It was a cool damp foggy morning.  Absolutely perfect race conditions!

I had been training to run a 2:50 marathon.  My target pace was a 6:25 to 6:30 mile.  I wanted to run 6:30s through 13.1 and then press.  I knew Jason and Michael would go out faster, around 6:20.  The first two miles were warm-up - 6:45, 6:35 - a little faster than I wanted, but my adrenaline was surging.  There were two or three runners that got up and away, but there was a nice group of runners right at 6:25 to 6:30 pace.  This was the first year for the Newport News Marathon and the field was small.  My coach had warned me that most likely I would end up running large sections of the course alone.  Running alone late in a race takes a lot of mental toughness.

The Chase Pack at Mile 2+

The crowds were great.  Spectators were at every intersection.  My wife was leap-frogging ahead of the lead pack and I got to see my family multiple times over the course of the race.  The first time at mile three when I heard my daughter yell "Daddy" and run up and give me a high-five.  That was a pretty cool moment, but I had a problem.  I had to pee!  At mile 4 I had no choice, I had to stop.  It was a crucial decision.  I had been running slightly faster than plan and by losing touch with the chase pack, I settled back where I wanted to run - right at 6:30 pace.  If I had stayed with the chase pack, I think I would had significant problems later in the race.  I had one other masters runner and a young guy just in front pulling us along right at 6:30s.

Mile 13 Just before the turn on to Warwick Blvd

Miles 4 through 13 were uneventful.  It was a beautiful rhythm.  My legs felt fresh, I was eating a Gu Chomp every 2 miles and sipping water at the aid stations.  The other Master's runner and I were working together and slowly making ground on the young guy slightly in front of us.  At mile 11 the young guy blew up and dropped to 7:00'ish pace.  At mile 13 the Masters guy fell off pace and then I was alone.  Miles 13 to 19 were lonely miles.  I couldn't see any other runners.  Down Warwick Boulevard past CNU, to the Mariners Museum, the Lions Bridge, and back up to Warwick Boulevard.  At the turn back onto Warwick Boulevard I got to see Emily Baumgardner, a lovely young lady who was our sitter when my children were younger.  She was screaming like crazy that there was another runner just around the bend and I was back in contact with the race leaders.

Making the turn at CNU

Now I could see the competition.  I was still holdinng 6:30 pace and I was starting to roll up the competition.  The last 6 miles are where you make or break your Marathon.  I picked up John Piggot at mile 19.  He had been the pre-race favorite.  I picked up one more before River road and then I could see three more runners working just in front of me.  They were coming back to me.  I had slowed, but this gave me a surge.  I worked up to and passed two, but one guy was still working just ahead.  It was my training partner Jason and he was hurting.  I caught him at mile 23 or 24 and passed him twice.  He would surge and then have to stop and surge again.  At mile 25 he started pushing and I tried to chase.  I didn't have the legs.  We were in a race for 3rd place in the marathon and my 46 year-old legs didn't have zip he had in his 31 year-old legs.  Missing two qaulity runs down the stretch matter when you are racing a marathon. I let him get 100 yds too far before I started my kick and I couldn't make up that distance.  I ran as hard as I could to the finish arch and crossed the line at 2:56:57.  I missed my PR by 21 seconds!

I left nothing on the course.  I gave it my all and ran the best race I could have run on that day.  In the end I finished 4th overall and was the 1st place Masters finisher.  I didn't catch my younger self, but if he had been running that day, he would have heard my footsteps.  Thank you to Snapple Triathlon for helping me set the bar high, Osmo Nutrition for keeping me hydrated on the course, and Sugoi for letting me represent them as a Brand Champion.  I don't quit and neither does my Sugoi gear.  I could never have done it without Adam Otsot.  I've been running for over 3 decades and he's still managed to teach me some new tricks.  Thank you Adam!

#Snappletri
#teamsugoi

Steve, Jason, and Michael - 4th, 3rd, and 2nd Overall

Hampton Roads Snapple Tri (Jason Bridges, Steve Smith, Adam Otstot - coach, Adam Frager - BQ Baby!!)