Seattle Rock and Roll

The crowd - 25000 runners, about 7500 of them were marathoners, the rest did the half.

Well, I did it. It was 49 degrees when we got up this morning, and 79 degrees on the drive home. Forecast was a high of 77. Okay, okay. I knew I was taking a risk, but the weather has been varied here lately, and doesn't always match up with the forecast (surprise!) so I worked out a plan, and got it okay'd by Eric. My plan was to run while it was cool, and when it got hot, walk. Before I go any farther though, let me back up and tell the story from the beginning...

On Wednesday afternoon, Eric and I headed north to Seattle. I had a conference up there on Thursday, and Margaret very graciously offered us a night in her condo. We had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon and evening, and I attended an absolutely amazing eight hour lecture on Brain Rules. Wow! I got out of the lecture at 4:30 and we headed straight for the expo - which closed at six. Not so bad, it's just on the other side of town...wrong! Traffic. Seattle traffic compounded by the marathon expo and the Mariners game that had just finished up. At 5:20, I hopped out of the car in the midst of traffic and walked the rest of the way to the expo. Eric finally got to an area where he could park and met me shortly after. He had picked up his bib earlier, but of course, the Rock and Roll people wouldn't let him pick up mine. If there is any complaint about this race, this is it - the expo ended too early for working folk to get there amidst Seattle traffic and they wouldn't let anyone else pick up for you. Better change that!

We fought traffic to get out of Seattle as well, but finally got home. Friday was a kick-around day for both of us. I went for a three mile run to loosen up my legs, and then just puttered around all day.

We were up at 4:00 this morning, Laurie was here by 4:45, and Cat and Larry picked us up shortly after. We stopped to get George and headed north again. Larry was able to get us right to the drop-off point, then we had about a half mile walk to the corrals. I was in corral 28, Eric in corral 6. Once the gun went off, it took us 45 minutes to make it to where Eric's corral had started! Dori was up for the race, so she, Wendy, Tammy and I started together. Wendy, Tammy and I ran together for the first 13 miles, sometimes with Dori, and sometimes leap-frogging her.

At the half way point, Wendy was feeling good, so she and Tammy kept going. By this time, it was getting warm, so I decided to be proactive in my battle with the heat. I had filled my hydration pack with ice and water this morning (6.5 pounds) to help me stay cool, which was part one. I was applying sunscreen regularly to fight sunburn (did I mention I had a reaction to the sunburn I got in Spokane?). And finally, I decided to shift in to the old and familiar post-to-post method of running before I got into trouble. I pretty much did that from mile 13 to the finish. I figured it would keep my pace down, keeping me cooler, and hopefully, prevent some of the issues I had in Spokane. Doing that, the slight breeze in places, and the ice water at the aid stations in the last miles saved me. I finished in 6:04:40 and feeling good. Dori and I continued to leapfrog, with periods of running together, through out.


Heading to the stadium.


Finish line - remember to subtract the 48 or so minutes it took to get to the start line.


Dori and I.

It was a pretty good race for an inaugural - I didn't experience any mishaps or inconveniences. It was a pretty course, though the three out-and-backs seemed really, really long. I feel great now, and am pleased at my ability to manage the heat today. Wendy finished well, pulling in marathon #2, and Laurie did great with marathon #3. Cat ran a good race and so did Eric, and George in the half. All together, I think it was a good day!


The Happy Finishers.