My Pittsburgh Marathon Review

Definitely the Attire of the Weekend!

So it's just about two months since the marathon.  Definitely time to soak in my PR!!!

So the day before was a great day for relaxing and soaking up chi.  We went down to the 'Burgh in the early afternoon and headed straight to the Convention Center to pick up my packet.  What a crowd!  They had you pick up your bib and bag, then go to the other end of the main room for your shirt.  And just coincidentally go through the Dick's Sporting Goods store.  CROWDED!  We did have a good time just going through the booths and seeing all the various running things.

Myra and I love milk!

After leaving the convention center, we went out by the river, saw the three sisters, two bridges that I would run the next day, and got some good pictures.  We then packed up and went up to the Strip to look for some Penguins attire.  The playoffs were getting ready to start!

Then we went up to Granny's for some good food and good times.  We spent a lot of time at the park across the street.  Myra loved the swinging!  All too soon, we needed to get ready for bed.  While Aunt Cheryl, Dad, and others plotted their strategies to see me the next day, Myra and I headed for bed.  Much cooler than the last Marathon in 2010, for sure!

I woke up early, got dressed, and went downstairs to wait for my dad.  We got to the truck, and headed for Downtown.  So dark and quiet that early in the morning.  I loved seeing Pittsburgh at night with all the lights.  He got me as close as he could, then had to drop me off.  I walked a few blocks, looking for my corral.  I walked parallel to the street the marathon would start on.  They did a good job labelling the side streets to make it to your corrals.  Not sure if they had this in place before the Boston Marathon, but it really made sense.  I made it to my corral, and just found a spot on a wall to sit, eat, drink my tea, and read my MAD magazine.  My sweet, sweet wife posted all kinds of notes through it.  Definitely got the good vibes going.  Made a few trips to the portapotty to settle my stomach, and just got my head clear.

Eventually I made it toward my own corral.  I was one of the first in it, so I sat, covered myself in the long sleeved shirt (it was chilly), and waited.  A few more stops to the portapotty, and the corral began filling up.  Lots and lots and lots o' people.  We had a brief moment of silence for Boston, then it began.  Or at least for the folks in the first couple Corrals.  I really liked how they released one, took the next to the starting line, released, and continued.  I started getting pretty excited as we walked to the starting line.  I was about 2 or 3 from the front!  Time to get going!

My goal definitely was to start slow.  No rain at the beginning, so I liked that as well.  Felt pretty good starting, then I got to the first mile in the Strip and had a sub nine minute mile going.  Ooops!  Needed to slow down in a hurry!  So I focused on my Chi methods and focused on slowing down.  Next mile, just slightly over 9 minutes.  Ooops again.  No way I could keep this up.  Continued to try to slow down.  Headed over our first bridge, and began looking for Aunt Cheryl.  Knew she would be somewhere on the North Side, but no idea where, so I hugged the right side.  Still felt really good.  A little sweaty, but good.  Had my first chew

Coming Back into North Side

and water stop, along with the sodium tablets.  Took longer to go through a stop, but wanted to make sure I got all of that.  Came through my favorite part of the marathon, bridge one of the 3 Sisters into Downtown and the people were thick on both sides.  Loved running through it, they just crushed in on us, lots of chi there, made a sharp right, another right, and back over the 2nd sister back to the North Side.  Finally saw Aunt Cheryl and John, they were not expecting me that quickly (nor was I), so I surprised them some!  About six miles in, and still running low nine-minute-miles, so I figured oh well, and continued.  Legs felt great.  Chi techniques no doubt helping.  Vibrams as well.  No heel pain.   No toe pain.  And we began over the West End Bridge.  Starting needing to use the portapotty again, but lines at all of them were so long.  After crossing into the West End, lots of men peeled off...to the woods.  I figured I would as well, and felt much better.

Liked the West End loop, and we came back to Carson Street.  Knew this would be my tough area, like last time.  For some reason mile 8-12 is my wall.  I guess Carson Street is pretty rolling, but I just struggle.  Went under the inclined bridge, through Station Square, and through the towns and stores/restaurants.  Really struggling there.  Not sure how to fix that, but if I could keep pace through that, I would've finished even faster.  I really had some doubts here, if I was so slow now, no way I could get up the Birmingham Bridge.  Energy fading quickly.  Lots of doubt creeping in.  Should I just quit?  Run back the 1/2 course?  Made the turn onto the bridge, and sure enough, I rebounded and made it up the Bridge and up Forbes Avenue (the HILL into Oakland) pretty well.

Apparently I Ran By Someone--Who Knew!

Got into Oakland and started through the University of Pittsburgh campus.  Saw Jen, Hope, and Uncle Gary.  Definitely another good boost going forward.  Continued on, made the Starbucks turn at halfway, and then began up Fifth Avenue, the last big hill.  Turned into Shadyside, and saw Aunt Cheryl and John again.  Thought I would see Jen and them again, and that kept me going.  Never saw them, but that kept me occupied until I turned back to the City.  Had Bloomfield coming up soon, so that really got me motivated, as I knew the family would be there.  Couldn't wait to see them, especially Myra!!

What a Motivation!  Seeing Your Daughter!!

Coming down Baum, I actually saw Aunt Cheryl and John again, that was a surprise!  After seeing them, I flew down Liberty Avenue into Bloomfield.  Definitely lots of Chi there.  When what to my wondered eyes did I see, but MJ running to me with a bottle of water.
Talk about a HUGE boost.  Saw Mom and Dad and others too.  No shoe change this time, just took the water and continued on.  Had a nice hill to go back down into the Strip.  Saw Aunt Cheryl and John again, and she ended up running a few blocks with me.  She said 'Good pace still Chris' and whether she meant it or not, it had the psychological impact, and I kept going.  Past Pittsburgh Brewing, but did NOT want a beer.  Ugg!  Then we made it back down to the Strip.  Sun and heat started bothering me, so like all the others, we hugged the stone wall and ran in a narrow strip of shade.  I hung with the 4:30 pace group.  Just could not believe, if I kept it up, I would set a new PR and be average!  What I always pretended when running.  But...I had to make it twoish more miles.  I was running out of steam in a hurry.  Kept going, the Strip is LONGGGG!  Finally made it down into the start of Downtown.  That last mile was a killer though.  Kept going, fans deep on both sides.  Finally, finally made the turn onto the Blvd, and while I could not see the finish line, I saw the building that marked the finish.  Really took a lot of focus to continue, but the finish was close.  And finally, I MADE IT!  I didn't know my official time, but seeing the clock time of 4:50, and knowing my chip time was at least fifteen minutes before that, since the corral/wave send off, I knew I had completed a PR.  Wow!  So excited.  Got my medal (it was so heavy, it almost pulled me over), and went looking for my folks.  I was VERY frustrated to see the Smiley Cookies and pretty much everything was gone.  Got a fruit cup, bag of chips, and a water.  Rumor later was the folks let halfs take as much as they wanted.  Serious, serious issues with this.  People need that sustenance at the end.  I was ok, but many need that.  To not have even a banana, with A TON of runners still behind me was a black eye on the marathon and the organizers.  Unacceptable.

Post Race Birthday Cake

Anywho, I went into Point State Park and called my Dad.  They hadn't made it down yet, so I started walking up Liberty again to meet them, and finally Aunt Cheryl, John, and Dad picked me up.  Went back to Granny's for awhile, showered, and we headed back to the airport to head back home.  Overall, a GREAT marathon and weekend.  I quickly said no more Pittsburgh Marathons, but definitely have since changed my tune.  Maybe Kerry and I will do it together someday!