Marathon, Sunday June 3, 2001
by Jennie Phillips

Subject: FW: Dyin to know!!
From: Phillips, Jennie
To: 'Kim Carr'
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 9:36 AM

The marathon was good and bad...I started way too fast and paid for it dearly in the last 10 miles. But there's some great news to report also...see below for details!

(In hindsight, I think that Davis took more out of quads than I realized. I've only run one other marathon - Napa in '99 - and I don't remember my quads burning so early in the race. Guess I didn't fully recover during the 2 weeks between Davis and the marathon. Oh well...)

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: Dyin to know!!
From: Jennie Phillips
To: Karl Schilling; Pete Klein; Dan Pappone
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 10:36 PM

Well, I took today off (thankfully) and have been just moping about the house...with a cry or two thrown in as well. However, things just might have just made a 180-degree turn from total sadness to possible joy.

I was feeling so good before the race. I've never been so keyed up for a race before (riding or cycling!). On my 2-mile gentle jog on Saturday, the legs felt good and loose. The day of the race (Sunday) was overcast, not cold at all but incredibly humid. Actually, it was humid the entire time down there...due to the 'June gloom'.

I was able to change starting corrals at the Friday expo. I switched from a 4:00 goal to a 3:45 goal, which meant that I moved from corral #9 to corral #4. Yes, that's a huge jump in corrals! Turns out that 4-hours is a VERY popular goal and there were over 5000 people assigned to corrals with a 4-hr target. So, it was great to switch corrals and get 5000 people behind me.

The result was that when I crossed the starting line (only 35 seconds after the gun went off), I was able to have a good stride right off the bat...no shuffling required. But then again, maybe this was bad because...yes...I went out too fast yet again. I tried and tried to slow down but I just couldn't rein it in. My legs felt great, spectators and bands and cheerleaders were all over the place and I was just loosey-goosey. I was truly trying to pull back but with all of that adrenaline flowing, you just really lose touch with how that 'right' pace feels. Here's a quick synopsis:

• 1 mile - 8:06 - Cool! I got into a good stride from the beginning, so I didn't start 'in the hole' (e.g., 9-min mile).
• 2 mile - 7:55 - Uh-oh, slow it down
• 3 mile- 7:43 - Dammit, slow it down
• 4 mile - 7:36 - OK, still too fast but this was a fairly downhill mile
• 10K mark - total time 49:06 (7:55/mile) - I was feeling good, relaxed, effortless. Unfortunately, I was well off my 8:20 target pace
• 7 mile - 8:17 - OK, that's better
• 8 mile - 8:14 - good job (in hindsight though, miles 8 and 9 were uphill, so I should I had an even slower pace!)
• 9 mile - 8:03
• 10 mile - 7:56 - where the heck did that come from?
• 11 mile - 8:22 - a bit of an uphill
• 12 mile - 8:07 - yep, all over the map with my pace!
• Half marathon - total time 1:45:45 (8:04/mile) - way too fast, dammit
• 14 mile - 8:25 - huge slow down, starting to pay for the first 13.1 miles!
• 15 mile - 9:27 - OK, so I had to stop and pee during this mile!
• 16 mile - 8:45 - ugh, this is getting painful...who's hammering nails in my quads?!?!
• 17 mile - 8:59 - not another overpass? My legs are on fire and my calves are not feeling good.Walked at least 15sec during this mile
• 18 mile - 10:02 - legs were really really hurting. I started what became a routine for the next 7miles: walk at least once, maybe twice, during the mile...each time for at least 15 seconds. What hurts more: the potential cramping or those first few running steps after having walked?!?!?!
• 19 mile - 9:21 - that's better...but where the heck is that 20-mile mark? Yes, I was scanning the horizon for each mile marker at this point
• 20 mile - 10:19 - ugh, things aren't any better and some quick math tells my that I'll miss 3:45 target is shot (heck, my 3:40 goal felt wiped out at the 16mile mark!)
• 21 mile - 9:28 - same old pain, same old walking/running combination.
• 22 mile - 9:49 - ditto, except that suffering is even harder when you're mentally deflated about missing the goal that you knew you could run if you had run SMART!!
• 23 mile - 9:59 - just hang in there for a few more miles. Try to picture my 3-mile gentle loop while I was tapering (the mental image didn't work!)
• 24 mile - 9:47 - not much else to say...more of the same
• 25 mile - 9:53 - thank god this is almost over
• 26 mile - where the heck is the finish line? I should see it by now? Just around the corner, eh? It sure as hell better be!
• 26.2mile - TOTAL TIME 3:50:28

I raised my arms just barely as I crossed the finish line. It was not a triumphant raising, just a 'hallelujah it's over' raising of the arms. I am incredibly disappointed in not making my 3:40 goal. I felt that everything in training went beautifully: I stayed pretty injury-free, felt good after my long runs, did that yucky track work, and was able to keep biking through it all (OK, without the major climbing rides though). So training was great...I just basically screwed (another word comes to mind) up the race.

I'm trying to be positive about it now for the following reasons:

• 10,780 - total women registered for the marathon - I'm not sure how many actually ran the race but hope to know that soon
• 435 - where I finished among all women runners
• 75 - where I finished in my 35-39 women's age group

I drank early and often during the race and never felt dehydrated (a big lesson learned from Napa...and corrected yesterday!) Besides I can't waste any more energy on it 'cause I have to get ready quick for Death Ride.

And now for the news that's possibly turned my extreme sadness into joy:

I was checking the Boston Marathon web site tonight to figure out what other marathon I could do to qualify for Boston. During my walk tonight I was figuring that running another marathon between now and Boston 2002 would be nearly impossible. If I did Cal International in December and IF I qualified then, that leaves me only 4 months 'til Boston (way too early, would be looking a big-time injury possibility for me) I found some very positive news, however, on the Boston Marathon website...and check out the details about qualifying times:

To qualify for the 106th B.A.A. Boston Marathon, athletes must meet the designated time standard below which corresponds to their age group. Qualifying times are based upon race day age (April 15, 2002). All qualifying times must have been run between October 1, 2000 and February 1, 2002, at a certified marathon. Entries from athletes meeting the qualifying times will be accepted until February 1, 2002 or until the maximum field size is reached.

Age on April 15, 2002 determines your qualifying time. Age group on the day of the qualifying race may differ. This means that since I will be 40 years old on April 15, 2002 (heck, I felt like an 80-yr old out there yesterday), my qualifying time for Boston is 3:50. When I ran 3:45:26 in Napa, I thought I had missed my 3:45 qualifying time (for 35-39 yr olds) but it turns out that as long as you run LESS THAN 3:46, you qualify. So....assumes that also applies to the 3:50 qualifying time, that should mean that my 3:50:28 time should qualify me for Boston!

So, yes, I ran a really good first half marathon and a really SUCK-O second half marathon, but it looks like my becoming an old fart in the very near future may have saved by butt!

I sent offf an email to them tonight, asking them to confirm (please) that my 3:50:28 still qualifies me for the race. I hope they're quick in responding to email 'cause I don't know whether to be happy or sad right now!

- Jennie Phillips