Fly Fight Win---US Air Force Marathon

I am returning to try to finish up this report weeks after the actual event. Maybe I have to write real fast and not in complete sentences or it will never get done.

On Saturday, September 21, I ran the first race of my little four race fall marathon challenge. It went pretty well, overall, and I am recovering quickly and not worried about the next one. (Well, as of today I am actually looking forward to # 3 already because I am way behind on these reports). I knew that once I got through the first race I would feel better about things.

I have to admit, I did sort of lose interest in this project once I realized that it was not going to work out for me to do it as a fundraiser. I've kept running all summer because that's what I do, but I pretty much gave up on the training once it was time to get serious about long runs. Also my knee was bothering me so I also gave up on the speed work. I concentrated on just staying healthy and not getting any more decrepit.

As the day of this race approached, I was really regretting my choice of this event. This was due to a combination of factors. I was bummed about missing a lot of other things that I could have done this weekend instead. Like the Hamilton agility trial. Like the Hudy 14k race. I have to do that one next year. But one of the biggest things bothering me was the stuff I was reading on the race's web site and Facebook page about how early they wanted us to arrive to avoid congestion driving in to the Air Force museum site. They were saying you needed to arrive an hour and a half before the race. This did not fit too well with my idea of this race being an easy way for me to get a marathon in without traveling too far from home.

I know, I do tend to want to arrive early for things. So what was I complaining about? Well, you know, if you tell me an hour and a half, then I start thinking maybe I need to be there two hours ahead of time, or three hours. Because I like to be early. So if 90 minutes is recommended, what is someone like me supposed to do? If I had not other info, I probably would have tried to get there an hour before.

Anyway, I was stressing out about it and thinking that even though this race was the closest to home and should have been the easiest logisitically, it was actually shaping up to be the toughest because of these warnings about the need to get there so early, blah, blah, blah.

Since I am now hurrying to write something about this before it disappears from my memory banks, here are a few quick thoughts:

With the lack of training and the focus on the long range (four race) goal, I had an excellent race. I managed to keep the same slow but steady pace the entire way, finished feeling fine, and felt fully recovered within a couple of days.

What's Cool About This Race

The military thing. The course marshals in military uniforms. Running through the Fairport "Fly Zone" and the residential area with the alien theme.

What's Boring

The course itself is kind of boring but you don't mind so much because there are so many people running. If you were all alone out there it would be different.

What Makes It a Good Race

Very well organized. Aid stations where they say they will be and fully stocked. Decent crowd support in sections. Lots of people to run with. Good expo with nice assortment of stuff. While it is not the most scenic or exciting course in the world, it is not bad to run on. A few hills but mostly fairly flat. I would recommend this one highly.

Why I Probably Won't Run It Again

I don't have any particular connection to the Air Force and there are always plenty of other things happening on this particular weekend. It is just a little too far from home to make it an easy choice to do repeatedly for me. I wouldn't rule it out, though. If I had some friend or family member who wanted to do it, I'd go back. If I suddenly developed some connection to the Air Force I'd go back. If it fit into some larger plan, I'd go back.

What I'm Sorry I Missed

The pasta dinner, which I understand is something special. I didn't find out in time and by the time I did, it was sold out. Almost sounds like it would be worth just signing up for the pasta dinner and skipping the race next year.

And here are some more details:

Thursday Afternoon at the Expo

I drove up to the expo on Thursday so I wouldn't have to make that drive (an hour and ten minutes each way) two days in a row. The expo was held at the Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University. Funny that I've been living in this area for like 28 years and I had never been there before. Wright State, I will say from my limited exposure, has a very community college sort of feel about it. Sorry if I am insulting anyone.

Anyway, from all the pre-race hype about crowds and arriving early and on and on, I was surprised that getting in and around the expo was totally no big deal. I could park right in front of the Nutter Center, walk right in (nobody checking our bags for weapons or explosives) and get my stuff.

Just like they do at so many expos, you had to walk by all the vendors before you could get your packet and bib. The vendors were arranged in the lobby running along the outside of the arena. They had a good assortment of all the usual running gear. If you had traveled to this race from out of town and forgot something, you would be able to pick it up here. In my case, this was not an issue. So I was just looking for unique items and great deals. I made a quick tour of the shops and headed down to the arena floor to pick up my packet. Again, no big deal, just had to show ID and pick up your stuff. The race shirt is in a long-sleeved tech fabric and ok looking. I was very excited to see that our packet also included a hat. Unfortunately, the hat was too large for me so I have given it to Tommy.

After I got my packet I went back through the vendors. There were not really any deals to be had. I did pick up a new pair of Snuggbudds because they were there and it would save me from having to order them online and pay shipping. One of the dogs had just ripped apart my favorite pair the day before. I don't wear them when I run outside, just on the treadmill, or when I am out in the backyard playing with the dogs. I don't listen to music with them, either. I listen exclusively to podcasts. I know, I'm weird.

I also stopped at The Boeing Store and bought shirts for me and Tommy. Because how many other races have a Boeing Store?

Getting in the Marathon Mood

Friday night I made Tommy take me to Bella Luna for pasta so I would get more in the marathoning mood. It's not like I particularly need more carbs. It really was more of a psychological thing. I had the lobster & crab ravioli and Tommy had the steak canneloni. We had pumpkin bread pudding for dessert. I even managed to try a new brew that I could log on Untappd.

I got up at 4 am for coffee. Also had some plain yogurt mixed with wheat germ and a banana. It was going to be a long morning. Left the house a little before 5 am in heavy rain. I was glad I had picked up a plastic rain poncho. The temperature was in the 60s but it was supposed to rain pretty much all morning. Great.

I wore my new yellow Marathon Maniacs singlet and fairly new pair of black shorts. Had to go with two belts, one for my race number with the little pouch on the back that holds a car key, and the other one to hold my GUs. I was planning on GU every 3-4 miles depending on where the aid stations were.

The drive up was not bad but as I approached the base, I became glad that I was arriving early. It was already getting fairly congested. I was trying to read the printed directions I had to what looked to be the most convenient parking area, but ended up just following the cars ahead of me. Ended up parked in a grassy field that was quickly filling up with cars. It was still pouring down rain. I sat in the car in the dark for a few minutes. No reason to go out and stand in the rain any longer than I needed to. I was still having those feelings of regret about having selected this race to run, not wanting to be there, just wishing the whole thing was over with.

Time to Stop Whining

I got out of the car for a second and asked a bunch of guys who were parked in front of me how long a walk it was to the start. They were a big vague but said it was maybe a quarter mile. I noticed that one of the guys was a double amputee. At that point I decided it was time to stop whining.

It still seemed a little early to be heading for the start, but everybody parked around me was going, so I did, too. I was a little chilly with just the rain poncho on over my singlet, and was wondering why I didn't think to bring throwaway clothes. I decided to carry my shoes and vasoline up to the start, so I would maybe be able to at least start out with dry feet. I had worn something else for the drive up. I didn't know how far we were going to have to walk in the wet grass.

I saw some flags and tried to remember the number that corresponded to where I was parked.

The walk to the start was closer to a mile than a quarter mile, but we did hit pavement fairly fast. I could have worn my race shoes and left the other ones in the car. Oh well. About halfway to the start we hit the museum, which had some benches outside where I could sit down to put on my shoes.

Even though it was dark and raining, the mood of the crowd was light and positive. It was hard to stay in a bad mood for long. Soon I too was looking forward to what the day would bring.

After what seemed like forever, I arrived at the start area. First thing to do was get on the portapotty line. Hardly any line, plenty of portapotties. Then I went off to check my gear bag. Met up with a fellow Maniac and chatted a bit. Saw some more Maniacs but did not get in a group picture.

The Danger Zone...Or Not

Joined a bunch of other people standing by the Northrup Grumman trailer, which had a video monitor on one side which was showing some sort of homage to the B2 Bomber. Basically, it was that "Danger Zone" theme from Top Gun with footage of the B2 dropping bombs on stuff. The explosions coincided with crescendos in the music. I'm really not that much of a liberal anymore, and I support our military, and as we always say in my family, the military-industrial complex has put food on the table for a long time, but...this film was a little off-putting. And the B2 is a seriously ugly thing, anyway.

The second half of the video was an episode of that show about the guys who make the custom motorcycles, in which they are hired by Northrup Grumman to make a bike that is also an homage to the B2 Bomber. The end result looked to me like a giant kid's cycle with a big plastic hunk of B2 Bomber (again, ugly!) bolted onto the handlebars.

So I stood around and watched this, periodically looking around to see if anybody else felt the same way i did about it, but if anybody did, I couldn't tell from looking at them.

And then it was almost time to go. Funny how fast it is fading from my memory. I tried to line up in the back with the slowest pace group. Somebody sang the Star Spangled Banner. I think it was a creditable job. We started without too much more fanfare, as I recall, and it took me a bit to cross the start line. The rain had stopped, but it was still a bit cool so I kept the rain poncho on for awhile.

Five Hours of Cruising Around

My plan was to just jog at a very comfortable pace, whatever that turned out to be. Oddly enough, I was assisted in this by the fact that my GPS watch died before we were even a half mile into the race. I thought it was fully charged, but apparently not. Oh well, it would just be a good test of my ability to judge my pace. This did not stop me from occasionally looking down at my watch anyway. And every time I would think, duh, fooled me again!

My goal was simply to finish the race under the allotted course time and without sustaining any lasting damage.Since we had seven hours to finish, I wasn't really worried about that part.

The first few miles of the race follow the Loop Road in Area B of the base. Although most of the race has only slight changes in elevation, the second mile seems to be entirely uphill. This did not bother me. Since my watch wasn't working, I instead counted out the seconds to myself as I took my walking breaks each mile. I found that I didn't need the constant feedback from my watch. It was enough that they had clocks at each mile. As a result, I've decided that I am going back to using my old chronograph watch for racing, at least for the longer events. I don't need to know my pace continuously. And I don't need to know the distance, as long as there are mile markers out there on the course. I'm better off just checking on my pace once a mile, which I can do with the chronograph and the mile markers.

I could tell from the clock times that I was holding a steady 11-minute pace.

Okay, even more time has gone by now and I still haven't finished this, so let's go stream of consciousness about what else i can remember, and then I am going to do the same thing to write quickly about the other races. Because it is nuts try to write a book about each of these things. No time for that. It is supposed to be a blog post.

So what I remember is that there are a few hills but nothing too bad, and its not especially scenic but you do run by a lot of green spaces (like a golf course), and some military buildings that probably mean more to people who know the area than they did to me.

One of the most fun parts of the race is just before the half, when you run through the downtown Fairborn area through what they call the "Fly Zone." This is the main place that you see spectators to cheer for you. It's an out and back along the main drag. And the middle of the race contains a fairly long out and back and it was fun to cheer for the other Maniacs and get cheered on myself.

The other fun part of the race was going through a residential area where they had an alien theme to the aid station. People dressed up in alient constumes, signs that said things like "Aliens Crossing here" and "Humans Crossing Here," just a wry little nod to the rumor about the aliens being housed in the infamous hanger at Wright Patt.

As the miles clicked by, I began to realize that I was possibly going to break five hours, which would be a pretty good result considering my lack of training. Somewhere around mile 18 my watch mysteriously turned itself back on---just the clock part, not the GPS---and this helped me as i tried to keep my pace under 12 minutes per mile. Helped my psychologically. They did have a clock at each mile (much appreciated) which was more helpful in controlling my pace, but with the watch working I could look at it and say, okay, maybe a half mile to go until the next mile marker, let's see.

The last few miles retrace our steps from the beginning, and it was nice to run back down that hill from mile 2. There was another fun aid station in here with a "minions" theme from Despicable Me. I guess it was there in the beginning too but I didn't notice it then.

And then we finished back where we started, outside the museum. Don't remember too much about that now but the sun was out. Got my medal and my space blanket, picked up my gear bag (why did I bring all that stuff with me?), thought about going to the beer tent but I didn't see it right away and knew that I was facing that long walk to my car and also I had to drive home, so I skipped the beer.

I found the field where the cars were parked but it took me a bit to figure out where my car was. I had to go back in my head to before the race and try to remember which direction I was walking when I left the car in the dark. Yeah they had those number flags but I now realized that they had multiple sets of flags that were color coded, and I had no idea what color my flag was because I didn't notice that in the dark! Anyway, it didn't take me too long.

I changed out of my wet singlet and sports bra but otherwise did not change because there were too many people around. No problem with traffic exiting the parking lot and an easy drive home.

In the end, my time was 4:59:23. I think I probably ran 11s the first half and 12s in the second, which is pretty even for me. I ws 30 of 90 women in my age group. Not sure about the other placements, but there were 1047 women in the race and 3126 marathoners. About a third of the marathoners were active military, which I think is pretty cool.

I would do this one again if i had a reason but otherwise probably won't, mostly because of the need to get there so early. It is a very well-organized race and I'm glad I did it.