Tunnel Lite Marathon Race Report

It's been an incredible year of training and racing in celebration of turning 50 last December. Last Sunday's Tunnel Lite Marathon concluded a 12 month stretch that included three full marathon training cycles (December 2015 Honolulu Marathon, April 2016 Boston Marathon and the September 2016 Tunnel Lite Marathon),  two half marathons (Rain Day Half January 2016 and Seattle Rock-n-Roll Half June 2016) as well as the Ragnar Relay in July (Sub-Masters team win) and an 8K and 5K for good measure.  In total the last 52 weeks of training was just short of 2000 miles at 1940 total -- which included limited mileage in the winter due to a nasty lower right leg tendon injury I fought from February through April.    Suffice it to say that my run last Sunday was coming on tired mind and body -- knowing full well that I'd also managed to hit peak fitness/speed sometime in late July and was starting to fall off my top training times and heart rate levels.    

Somewhere around mile 15 of the Tunnel Lite Marathon.  My quads were starting to take a real beating from the downhill here as I passed the photographer trying to look strong and knowing I had another 10 miles in front of me.

I loved this marathon for its beauty, simplicity and that it was just 600 total runners and executed like a finely oiled machine.  And lest I forget the primary selling point -- it's a 2000', vertical drop for 23 miles or about a negative 1.6% to the finish line just east of North Bend, WA from mile 3.    The other main feature of this race is that at about the 1/2 mile mark, you enter into an old railroad tunnel that is devoid of light (other than hundreds of headlamps and flashlights) through which we ran 2.3 miles to the light (hence the name of the race -- "Tunnel Lite Marathon").     My goal was to run a sub 3:30 BQ here and get back to Boston for 2017 (as the race fell right in them middle of the 2017 Boston Marathon entrance window) -- but realistically I knew that I had peaked a few weeks earlier and had been suffering the last month or so from some cumulative fatigue that had set in which would make a great time on this downhill track an uphill challenge.   I was however resolved to see if I could dig it out and decided to run an aggressive opening half to see if I could hang on over the back half of the race.

It was nice simply getting up around 4:30 AM for an 8:00 am race time, fueling about 150 grams of carbs which included a "roadie" smoothie" -- and driving the 25 miles on the freeway to the bus pick-up point just east of North Bend.     I parked my car in a non-descript parking lot before sunrise and simply walked over to a waiting yellow school bus which in turn took off and drove another 25 miles or so eastward up and over Snoqualmie Pass to Hyak (just short of Keechelus Lake) off Interstate 90.

Of my 9 marathons, this was my 3rd fastest time -- and easily the best racing weather I've experienced.  7 of my 9 marathons have featured simply terrible to non-ideal weather so it was great to catch a weather break this time.

In terms of racing strategy, if I was going to run below 3:30:00, I believed I had to get out strongly and take advantage of the downhill, building a time buffer and then hold on over the last 5 miles -- ideally running 8:00 pace or at least nothing slower than 8:20's for the final 5 miles.    

The terrain for the course was a converted railroad track that was mostly compact dirt and rocks becoming gravel over the latter stages of the course.    Nearly half of my training this last year has been on the Cross Kirkland Corridor trail which is also a converted railroad track composed of soft gravel and compact dirt - so I felt comfortable that I'd be fine on the terrain.     As it turns out, the first 10 miles of the trail was actually quarter or larger sized rocks, some gravel, dirt and smaller ruts and undulations -- that were easy to navigate -- but really made the run more jarring on the quads.   I knew was going to be a problem later in the race (in comparison, running on a smooth asphalt or gravel trail is less jarring and one is able to glide and be more economical with muscle movement which conserves energy that's required for the last 5-6 miles of the marathon).    

I got through the first 5 miles (which included the 2.3 mile jaunt through the tunnel which was a little harder to run quickly than anticipated) in 7:46 pace and 38:51 and 10 miles in 77:38 and 7:45's.   At mile 10 I was feeling a lot more quad weariness than I expected (it felt like I'd already gone through 18 miles or so in fact) from the jarring but I was able to press on and get to the half marathon point in a great time of 1:41:30 and 7:46 pace.   I was right on my race strategy and within 7 seconds per mile pace of my PR at 3:20:00.    However, the quad soreness and fatigue was mounting and I knew I had to back it down a bit.   

At mile 14 I had been running with a group of men all shooting for sub 3:25:00.  We were running comfortably for 10 or so miles together, chatting and just getting into the groove as the miles passed by.   However, I stopped to walk the water station before mile 14 to see if I could gather a bit and decrease the quad fatigue before resuming running -- cutting my pace back to around 8:00 or even a little slower as I had a good buffer of time built up.    I ran miles 14 - 20 in about 50 minutes or 8:17 pace and got to mile 20 in just under 2:40:00 (which is 8:00 pace).   I was still in the game late in the race for a BQ -- if I could simply just muster and rally through the quad fatigue.    In my training in the summer,  I consistently ran fast-finish long runs where I'd cut-down miles 16 - 22 below 8:00 pace and even miles 21-22 in around 7:40 pace to practice for this exact moment.      

But the downhill grade was really starting to take a toll on me.   I slowed running mile 21 in 8:36 and then the dreaded 9:00's set in and I ran 9:15, 9:11, 8:55, 9:16 and 9:05 in (20-30 seconds of each mile was walking trying to re-focus and then rally to something below 8:00 pace).  But as the final miles clicked off I realized I was out of reach of a BQ and I relaxed and got through to the finish line in 3:35:39.     I was very very pleased with my race outcome given the fact that I'd peaked in late July, been feeling run-down the last 6 weeks but still at mile 22 had a 3:30 in my gun sights.  

I also realized on the back half of the race that racing Boston in 2017 would require me to get back into marathon training in early January which felt overwhelming giving I've come off 3 races in 9 months and 5 marathons going back to Portland in October 2014 over 23 months.  

My opening half was 1:41:30.  I then faded running the concluding half in 1:54:00 or so which is a large positive split -- but I made a conscious decision to go out hard and try to hang on -- and this is the sort of thing which happens with aggressive race plans.   I wanted to win big or blow up trying. I had nothing to lose anyway, right?    

Subject to my next blog posting -- the leg pain from Monday-Thusday this week was incredible.  It didn't help I jumped on an airplane and flew all day Monday morning after Sunday's race, but suffice it to say running a downhill marathon requires a little more specialized training than I anticipated.   

I can't wait to do this race again.  The next running of it is June 2017 and I will be laced up and ready to go!  Can't wait. 

Looking to the SW at sunrise from Hyak.   The full moon is visible through the wispy fog/clouds at 2500' elevation.

Sunrise with a full moon over Hyak at about 7:00 AM.   Pre-race temperatures were in the upper 40's and a little cool -- but absolutely perfect for racing a marathon.

Looking at one of the ski runs at Snoqualmie Pass at about 7:30 AM.

The race route feather 4 high elevation overpasses that were breathtaking. I tried to run as close to the side as I could to see down and distract myself from the growing pain in my quads as I ran towards the finish line which was still some 10 miles away at this point of the race.

2015 Honolulu Marathon Race Recap

As I wrap up training week 6 for the 2016 Boston Marathon, I am thinking back to the 2015 Honolulu Marathon which as already 11 weeks ago today.     I was originally planning on racing the Chicago Marathon in October; however, a glute injury in late June derailed my marathon training for about 6 weeks last Summer leading to me taking a deferral out to October 2016 for Chicago and pushing out to the Honolulu Marathon this last December.   I've wanted to run Honolulu in December for a couple of years now as it seemed like a fun way to wrap up a year of racing and finish strong before the holidays while tacking on some down time enjoying the surf and sand.    The one issue I had with Honolulu is that it would be tougher to run any sort of a good race time given the temperatures and humidity would climb towards 80 by about the 3 hour mark of the race.

Race morning was my typical pre-race routine getting up a couple of hours before race time  (3:00 am) and loading up on carbs and getting mentally ready.   Since I wasn't going to have any support on the course from the family, I carried my own fluids (two 8-oz casks loaded each with about 25 grams of Enduromax and water) and took on about 150 grams of carbs in the hotel room before heading to the starting corrals (in comparison for the 2014 Portland Marathon I loaded about 125 grams race morning).    

After a short cab ride to the starting area, I noticed right away just how warm and humid it was (about 4:30 am).    There were probably already 15,000 people or so in the starting area (I believe the race had over 25,000 runners in total) creating a hot, sticky and soupy feel in the air.    There was absolutely no wind on race morning adding to the humidity (normally there's strong trade winds this time of the year which keeps the humidity down).    

The race started right at 5:00 am after the National Anthem which gave away to 3 minutes of fireworks going off directly over head as the race got underway which was spectacular.    I started at the front of the 3:15 corral thinking I could get out in front and not have to do a lot of navigating around slower runners; however thousands slower runners right before the start of the race jammed in up front and completely clogged up the first mile of the race.  

I trained to run a 3:30:00 for Honolulu but would need an A+ day to achieve that in the heat and humidity.   In the minutes before the start of the race I re-set my expectations thinking anything in the 3:30's would be fantastic given how hot and humid it already was (as a side note, Fall marathon training in Seattle is fantastic as temperatures rarely rise above 60 degrees and are often in the 50's which is a perfect racing temperature; the only downside is it leaves you woefully unprepared to run in anything above 65 degrees -- which I knew would be a factor in Honolulu).    

I knew right away 1/2 mile into the race that heat and humidity had me and were going to impact my race performance even more.   I hit my first mile in 9:00 flat with my heart rate in the low 160's which was a tell-tale sign that anything even in the 3:50's would be good on this day (under normal conditions I would be running 7:30 - 7:40 in my first mile of a marathon with an HR in the low 160's).   I continued to dodge and run-around slower runners which seemed incredible given how slow I was running and hit the 5K mark in something like 28:00 -- which is by far the slowest I've ever run an opening mile or opening 5K in any race ever.  

From 5K through 21K I just settled in and relaxed to see if I could find anything groove-wise in the 8:20 range and lock in.  I was at times able to settle in but the combination of hills, humidity and a somewhat unsettled stomach (remember I took in 150 grams of carbs which proved to be too much) kept me from finding any sort of comfortable groove.    At about mile-12 I had to hit a porta-potty which added 2:45 of lost time leading to a half marathon split of about 1:55:18.  

From miles 13 through 17 I was running 8:30 splits and just getting into a decent groove (the sun was also rising out of the east and I was trying to make the turn and head back to Diamond Head to get the sun on my back and out of my face) thinking maybe I could pull back down towards the mid 3:40's.   I was feeling mentally strong although my body was taking a beating from the humidity, sun and hills.    Right at mile 17 an older Japanese runner was a few steps in front of me when he took an awkward looking stride and then fell unconscious and directly onto his mouth on the asphalt knocking out 2 teeth and an instant pool of thick, dark red blood oozing from his mouth.   It happened so quickly that my instant reaction was to stop and render aid.  Fortunately several other runners stopped and helped move him to the curb and get him on his back.  I direct someone to immediately call 911.  He was completely unconscious.   I wasn't sure for the first 30 seconds whether he was breathing but he slowly gained consciousness.  I had a sponge I'd been using to cool myself and was able to clear his mouth and face of the blood and help revive him.  After about 6 - 7 minutes cops arrived and an ambulance siren could be heard.   The cops had the situation under control and all of us took back of running.     After mile 17 I decided to just slow down and jog in the rest of the race given I'd now lost about 10 total minutes between a bathroom break and the aid break -- coupled with being a little freaked out about what I'd just witnessed.    The last 8 miles were uneventful including the hill climb back and over Diamond Head starting at mile-24 which was fairly easy.  

Mile 25 caught me a bit off guard as I wanted to run a good final 1.2 but actually started to cramp up in my stomach with about 1/2 mile left and the finishing chute in sight.   I've never cramped before in a race and realized that at about the 4:00:00 mark I was probably just at my overall limit based on my carb and fluid intake.   I jogged the last 1000 yards in about 10 minute pace looking for my wife and daughter Jayden who I found about 50 yards before the finish line.  I stopped and grabbed my daughter giving her a hug and kiss before trotting across the line in about 4:01:34.  

It was my second slowest Marathon behind the 90-degree 2012 Boston Marathon; however, I was happy with just getting across the line on what proved to be a more challenging race than I had anticipated.    

Overall I enjoyed the Honolulu Marathon and would race it again.   The heat and humidity (especially if there are no trade winds) can be more of a challenge than one might think; and the course is far hillier than what the official marathon elevation guide indicates.   The climb over Diamond Head at mile 5 and then back at Mile 24 is also not as hard as the elevation guide indicates.  My recommendation to anyone considering Honolulu is to not make it your "A" race in the Fall but run it as a second Marathon 4-8 weeks after your A race and just have fun.

4:15 am selfie after about 150 grams of carbs 

I am quite sure I've never had a race bib number that's a palindrome (same number forward and backward)

Sunday race time 5:00 AM and 75 degrees with good humidity.  It rained about an hour before the start of the race and there were no trade winds making it warm and sticky. 

Finish line on Saturday less then 24 hours before race time. 

The finisher's medal really captured the "ohana" of the whole event

And the best part of every marathon training cycle are the drinks after the Marathon.  Enjoying a very strong Mai-Tai at Buzz's in Lanakai.