After my Disney disaster (see part III) I went back to training through the winter months. This time I used Pfitz's book and carefully followed both the workout, and rest and recovery schedule to make sure I avoided any injury. Doing this my times improved through the winter. A 30k that I ran last year at a 7:40 pace I ran this year in a 7:24 pace! After my last two marathon collapses this really helped reduce my trepidation level going into the NJ Marathon (NJM). But, then, I felt pretty confident prior to the Disney marathon and that ended without a BQ time.

I am apparently a glutton for humiliation and so managed to convince a number of my friends to come down to NJ for the race. My DW and three of our friends ran the relay race. Another two ran the half marathon. One came down to run support.

Race Day: The weather was pretty good but not great. Cloudy, 57 and with humidity in the 60's. Still a lot better than Disney! At the race hotel my DW and her team get themselves organized. DW will run the first leg so that she can catch me a the half way mark.

A few minutes before the gun I get ready to head off. My "fan base" and I all wish each other well. I find the 3:30 pace group (my BQ time). The problem is they are on one side of the fence and I am on the other. Between us is an ocean of people that make it impossible to get to them via the official ways in. Heck, if you cannot hop a fence you certainly cannot run a marathon! Over I go. A few minutes later the gun goes off. This year I remember to hit the start button on my Garmin when I pass the starting mat. Well that is one small victory.

While the NJM does not get a huge crowd it is big enough to create runner jams at the start. My Garmin says 7:55. Based on the mile marker it took a bit over 8:10. I am going with the mile marker.

My plan is to BQ. No heroics. No trying for the best I can possibly do. Just BQ. Weeks prior to the race I decided that my best chance would be to run with the pace group to the half way mark. If I am feeling really good then I can pull away a little until about mile 22. After that I would adjust depending on what I had left. Then the race started.

I ran just behind the pace group for about three miles. My plan is to down a gel at mile 4 and every 4 thereafter. But I also want to walk those water stops to make sure I get enough fluids in me and to give my legs a quick break. On the other hand I do not want to lose the pace group. So after mile three I speed up enough to give myself a few second cushion at the mile 4 water station. After the water stop I am still a slight bit ahead of the pace group. When I start up again I find that I am comfortable running a slight bit faster than them so I go with it.

At mile 5 I pass the relay handoff and my DW's team cheers me on. I am going to go out on a limb here and speculate that the NJM may be one of the best races in the country for ordinary runners. It is brilliantly managed. Everything goes smoothly. There are enough runners so that you are never alone but not so many that you cannot really run. Aid stations are well staffed and supplied. The course is flat (although this is good or bad depending on taste). More importantly though, it is an oval that allows your fan base to see you at the start, mile 5, half way, mile 18 and the finish. While throngs of cheering strangers are nice I would rather have my friends and family pop up repeatedly. If you are in the NJ area I highly recommend this race.

Back to running. About 6 miles into the race I am a bit ahead of the pace group and notice a woman just ahead with a Disney Marathon 2007 tank top on. I catch up to her. For anybody that ran Disney this year just mention the weather and there will be a LOT to talk about. I may never see Stephanie again but she really helped the next 7 miles pass quickly. Since she was running the half I lost my pace partner at mile 13.1. I think she finished a couple of minutes ahead of her goal so I hope she got to celebrate afterwards. As for me, my split was 1:44:03. Things were going well but the same was true in the 2006 race at the half way mark.

When I passed by DW and her team at the 13 mile mark they all yelled me on. I yelled back two Gu's and Shot Blocks at 18! I thought that I had packed them in the bag her team was carrying with supplies. As it turns out the Gu's were there but not the Shot Blocks. (See the end of part III about my memory.) Unbeknownst to me, this sends DW off on a one mile sprint to the car to get the Shot Blocks and then another mile back to meet me at 18. Good thing I married an athlete! At 18 she hands me the two Gu's the ShotBlocks and asks how I am doing. To be honest I feel like I felt in the 2006 race. My legs are a bit tired but I am not dieing. My fear is that this is a repeat of 2006 where I will collapse with leg cramps around mile 24. I tell her none of this and instead say I am doing well. Off I go.

At mile 22 my 2006 race looms its ugly head. I feel the first twinge of a cramp in my left calf. Fortunately, I have been reading CR since then and picked up some hints. Another poster once wrote about suffering a similar problem and that by backing off a bit the cramps went away. I am still a little ahead of the pace group so I try to slow down. No luck. I find running slower does nothing, maybe even makes things worse. I stop and walk to the count of 10. Good that works. I continue on. A bit later I feel the twinge again. I walk again. A few more rounds of this and the pace group passes me. I look at my Garmin. Huh? I am still a bit ahead of pace how come they just blew by me? On the other hand I forgot my pace band. Am I now slightly behind pace? Maybe I can just keep the pace group in sight. The race actually has two people pacing 3:30 and eventually the second one (running alone) catches me. I ask if he and his colleague are ahead of pace. He says a bit. Good, my BQ is not yet doomed.

At mile 24 the twinges become more frequent and severe. I am about to relive 2006 when I collapsed two miles from the finish. Now I walk to the count of 20 before going. It helps. Somewhere prior to the mile 25 marker I reach a point that feels like exhaustion. My legs are tired and in pain. There was a prior thread about running mantras. I pull mine out and repeat over and over, "Go, go, go." Not very creative but it is all I have. Interspersed I add in, "No cramp, no cramp, no cramp." You are supposed to repeat mantras in your head. I must have been saying it out loud because I got some really strange looks! I see the 25 mile marker and look at my Garmin. I can still make my BQ time. Maybe. I forgot my pace band in the car. Math is too hard at this point. I am really just guessing.

A couple of minutes later the final race marker appears. One mile to go. The Garmin says that I have over 10 minutes before my BQ dies. Still, if I cramp up it could take me 20.

I have no idea what kind of magical energy is in that final mile to go sign but all of a sudden the twinges signaling the onset of a cramp go away. My legs are tired but moving. For the first time in the race I really think I may get my BQ time! With about a tenth of a mile to go I see my DW screaming me on! I am so happy to see her. I thought I waved. Apparently not. I plowed forward.

Training in the winter is not much fun. Outside it is cold and inside there are treadmills. Anytime I wanted to stop I planted in my head a vision of the finish line clock. As I approach it says 3:28. Who knows how many seconds. But I can see 3:28 on it which means my BQ is in hand. As I approach the clock at the NJM it really does say 3:28! The seconds are ticking by but I am going to make it! I cross with gun time of 3:29:01 (chip time 3:28:18). My DW is screaming! I am so happy! You would think I had just won a Noble prize. M

Now I just planning on being happy for a month.