photo credit: Noel Feans

Mark Tominaga

Marine Corps Marathon, Washington DC, 10/30/2011

Race Website: http://www.marinemarathon.com/

 Overall Time: 4:02:20 PR

Goal Time: 3:56:00

Background:

My running (jogging) began in Jan 2010 after I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 51. I learned that aerobic activity combined with a low carbohydrate diet helped me reverse my diabetic condition to the point that I no longer need any medication to control my blood glucose level. Some of the other positive side effects from this chronic disease self management include increased metabolism, weight loss (50lbs.), lower cholesterol, and improved fitness. I jogged 2-3 miles 5 days a week until Sep 2010 when an old friend who noticed my fitness and dared me to run the Honolulu Marathon once again after 25 years. I began my own training and ran a 10 miler and half marathon to test my fitness and decide whether I could survive the marathon…I tricked myself into thinking that I could and I ended up bombing the run at 5:30. Even though most would think it was a bad choice, the positive outcome from this failure was it fueled my desire to run like I’ve never run before in my life…with each half or full marathon race since then, I’ve realized small gains and the “need for speed” has grown on me. My membership with MN didn’t begin until I registered for the MCM and joined the Diabetic Action Team charity who offered complimentary membership with MN. The last distance race I ran before the MCM was the Run for the Dream half marathon in May 2011 at which I broke 2hrs and gave me hope of breaking 4hrs at a full marathon. I’ve been constantly training and running races since Dec 2010 and the longest recovery period between races and training has only been 2 weeks.

Pre-Race:

After completing the half in May 2010 I did the 8 week intermediate get fast plan but only realized a 1 point vDOT gain. During this same period I also started doing P90X for the first time but realized the intense workouts were overworking my legs so I stopped doing it after 45 days. After 2 weeks recovery from the get fast plan I rolled into the 12 week marathon training plan to get ready for the MCM. Some of the challenges I faced during this training period was the heat of summer and being away from home on business travel which resulted in substituting many of the runs on treadmills. My vDOT increased 2 points during this training period, but I couldn’t maintain the new paces a month out from the MCM so decided to drop back 1 point to get better quality workouts. During the height of my marathon training I found it fairly easy to hit my target paces on the tempo runs, interval runs, and skill runs during the weekdays, but I struggled with the long runs on the weekends which really had me worried but I kept pushing myself. Being from Yorktown VA, it is normally a fairly easy commute to Washington DC and my plan was to arrive the day before the MCM to pickup my race packet at the expo, meet up with the MN gang and get bedded down at Fort Myers VA. But this turned out to be far from a normal Fall weekend, instead we had cold rain, sleet, and snow from a record breaking nor’easter which foiled my plans and tested my ability to adapt to the situations. I arrived in the DC area 2 hours behind schedule and missed the MN gang at the expo but I did have the pleasure of meeting Adam Lesser at the Clif booth. After the expo I got back on my schedule and checked into the lodging at Fort Myers, and then I surveyed the route from my room to the starting area and went for dinner at the scheduled time. After dinner my wife and I returned to our room only to find that the lodging facility was in a power outage condition from the unexpected weather. Again, I found myself in a crisis management situation as I tried to find and sort out my running gear for the next day using a tiny LED keychain light. After about 2 hours of working in the darkness the power came back on and I was only about 45 minutes behind schedule as I began to relax and stretch before going to bed…one more distraction I need to mention was the main heating in the building was down for maintenance and a small space heater was placed in the bedroom and probably if it was a normal Fall night it would be adequate, but it wasn’t normal and the conditions were wintery…I ended up sleeping with several layers of clothes and my warm up suit on. Amazingly, I woke to a clear, crisp and cold morning with temps in the 30s…I tried to follow my schedule but either I was nervous or I didn’t give myself enough time to do the things I wanted to. I did warm up running for about 20 minutes with some strides as I waited for my wife (support team) to get ready. I was falling behind schedule as we headed to the starting area and I left my drop bag with my wife as I jogged to the starting line with about 30 minutes to go before race start. As I found my way to the 3:59 corral, it was luckily located near to a porta-potty where I could answer nature’s call and it was also time to take my pre-race nutrition gel, then line up for the start with about10 minutes to go…I felt so pumped as I thought about all the challenges I overcame to make it to starting line and here I was feeling the moment.

Race Beginning: Mile 1-8 Pace Goal 9:15 +/- 10” up/down hills

It took me about 3 minutes to cross the starting line after the gun start and I was in a pack moving close to my target pace so I didn’t need to waste any energy trying to maneuver into my zone. During the first few miles it was difficult for me to settle into any kind of pace as we negotiated the slopes of the first 8 miles while also fending off the urge to run too fast from the adrenaline rush from all the excitement going on. My hydration plan was to drink water provided at each water station which were about 2 miles apart throughout the course and at every other water station which is about 4 miles apart I was to take my nutrition gels along with the water. At my first nutrition station I discovered that I must have dropped one of my gels from my iFitness belt as I searched the empty elastic loop that held it in place. So I started thinking about how I was going to make use of the nutrition gels provided later on the course about mile 19…little did I know that the Clif Shot gels were only provided near mile 13 while only Sports Jelly Beans were being provided at mile 19. Anyway at this point I wasn’t going to let it bother me too much and I could substitute the nutrition being provided on the course, then as an option I would start drinking Gatorade if  or when I ran out of my own Gels. Anyway, through the first eight miles my pacing fluctuated quite a bit with the up/down slopes as expected. Near mile 8, I decided to make a pee stop and lost about 2 minutes waiting on the porta-potty.

Race Middle: Mile 9-21 Goal Pace 8:55

After exiting the slopes I was feeling good with no signs of fatigue or stress. I tried focusing on my rhythm and settling into a good steady pace. Around mile 12, I decided to make another nature call but this time I wasn’t going to waste any time on a porta-potty and found a convenient bush near the Potomac golf course. Near mile 13, I came upon the food station offering Clif gels but I didn’t accept any even though I knew I was one short because I thought that the next food station around mile 19 would offer the same nutrition. Instead, I found out that at mile 19, they were only handing out Jelly Belly Sports Beans so I grabbed two packages of those for the home stretch. At this point I was also doing a self assessment/mental check because on previous marathons I would be feeling fatigue and tightness in my legs by this point. Near mile 20, I didn’t have the option because we were in the National Mall area but I had to use the porta-potty for my final pee stop where I lost another minute waiting. After exiting the Mall and crossing over the bridge heading towards Crystal City on I-395, I began feeling hopeful about myself as I was beginning to pass people who seemed to have hit the wall but I still had my legs and my breath!

Race End: Mile 22-26.5 Goal Pace 9:00 or better

For some reason mile 23 and 24 must have been the toughest mental challenge for me as some doubt played in my mind and my pace dropped a few seconds while running through Crystal City. But, once I exited the city and saw the Pentagon I was able to regain my focus and at that point I felt confident that my legs weren’t going to quit on me this time. I also felt I had a slight chance of breaking 4 hrs if I could pick the pace up on the home stretch. I kept pushing myself but couldn’t really get the speed I needed to make up for some of the time I lost earlier in the run. By the end of the race I also had about a .25 mile deviation from my Garmin to mileage markers on the course. My Garmin hit 26.2 at about the 26 mile mark…so by my Garmin I was actually very close to breaking 4hrs. After passing the 26 mile mark and knowing that I wasn’t going to break 4hrs I felt a little deflated and when I turned up Marshall Dr on the final uphill climb to the finish I cautiously started negotiating the hill like everyone else around me. But suddenly my wife jumped out at me from the crowd and gave me a high five about 200 yards from the finish…Wow! that turned out to be such a boost that while most folks were jogging up the hill, I kick myself back in gear and ran up the hill as fast as I could to the finish.