Doubling up Seattle

In 2005 I started running marathons. After my first in June and my first ultra in July. I was hooked! I was looking ahead to the rest of the year, and planned to run Seattle. After a bad run at Tahoe (or a least I made so many rookie mistakes). I ran Seattle, looking for a strong run. I PRed by 26 minutes. I have always enjoyed Seattle. Last year was a bad weather year, but being a late November marathon, what should you expect.

Last year I found out about the "Ghost of Seattle marathon". I wanted to run it, but I realized I wasn't ready for a double. So I trained for my first double in August, which was Crater Lake and Haulin' Aspen. That double is considered by most to be the hardest you can find. (at least in the northwest). After running that double I decided to train for a 50 miler, which I did (Autumn Leaves). And now just three weeks later looked to do the "Seattle Double".

My sister, Julia, and I drove up to Seattle on Friday afternoon. We stayed at the Green Tortoise hostel at Pike Place. It's an okay hostel, but just a little loud at night. We went to the expo so I could get my stuff on Friday evening. We had little dinner and got a good nights sleep.

I woke up at 6am, had my devotions and got ready for the first marathon of the weekend. Julia came with me. She wanted to run the half, but was not doing it in an official way, instead just wanted to run on her own. We left at 7am, and arrived at Mount Baker, by 7:30am. Not too many were there, but I did see Monte Pascual and Brian Pendelton.

It was chilly with temperatures about 37°, I started off by running with Eric Barnes and Jon Mahoney, we ran around Seward Park, and I let them run on ahead. I was looking to run a nice slow steady pace. It was my first marathon running with my heart rate monitor. It was fun to see so many Maniacs enjoying a nice day on Lake Washington. I saw Ray Shaw, Jon Yoon, Eric Barnes, Michelle Barnes, Jenny Appel, tc, Robert Lopez, Van Phan, Jon Mahoney, Jess Mullen, Monte Pascual, Brian Pendleton, and Stan Nakashima.

In the first time around I ran the first half in 1:51:51, which I thought was a half marathon. Later I found out the course was about a mile short, so this first half was only about12½ miles. In the second half I felt pretty good, I finished the 25 mile marathon in 3:47:17. Being that the course was only 25 miles, should I count it? Well I do. For two reasons. First, it's marketed as a marathon, so that is what I take it to be. Secondly, The original marathon in 1896 was 40k or 24.8 miles, so a 25 mile run is the old marathon distance.

So to recap this first day, I ran a 3:47:17 in 25 miles, this is about a 9:05 pace. So that means my marathon time would be about 3:57:59. My heart rate averaged 147, with a peak of 165, and a low of 100. I also burned 3,590 calories. The best way to describe this is that it feels a lot like a training run. It's a fun run, and very well organized.

My sister got confused with the course and ended up pulling her butt muscle. So waited around for me and We drove back to the hostel. My parents drove up on Saturday afternoon. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I was quite tired and ended up going to bed by 10pm.

On Sunday morning, I once again got up at 6am, had my devotions and got ready. I got my stuff together and checked out by 7am. I then walked over to the Seattle Center for the race start. I left the hostel by 7:30am. I met someone at the hostel who was also doing the marathon. He was a nice guy. I ended up walking with him to the start.

It was chilly but not as bad with temperatures about 43°, with clear and sunny skies. I wanted to finished and have a good time. But I also wanted to run under 4 hours if possible. So I started out with the 4 hour group. Just before the start I had a chance to talk with Marilou Russell for a few minutes.

When the race started I just took my time as we headed out of downtown Seattle. I was running a very good pace, and didn't feel that bad. I wasn't that sore and was able to run 8:30 miles. During the I-90 out-and-back, I saw many Maniacs. It was nice and took my mind off the race. I saw the following Maniacs, Bob Dolphin, Ray Shaw, Barefoot Jon, Mary Latta, Robert Lopez, Little Leslie, Monte Pascual, Steve Yee, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi, and Annie Thiesson.

By mile seven I came up to a pacing group and decided to stick with them for a while. I realized that it was the 3:40 group. By mile 10 I knew that I could not stay at this pace, but I wanted to stay with them as long as possible. I ran the first half in 1:51:21 (8:30 pace). I knew the second half would be a different situation. My goal was still to run a 4 hour marathon. By mile 16, (with 10 miles to go) I was at 2:17:39, I was looking to run 10 min/miles or faster. I was running 9:00-9:30 paces. I finished with a time of 3:53:41 (8:55 pace).

I was so happy to have finished in under 4 hours. I still have not run a road marathon in more then 4:00:30. I had an average heart rate of 144, with a peak of 162, and a low of 121, and burned 3,560 calories.

I walked back to the hostel and we drove home. We ran into a lot of traffic on the way home, but really enjoyed the weekend. The Seattle Marathon is one of my top two favorite marathons. I look forward to doing this again next year.

Saturday = 3:47:17 (9:05 pace) for 25 miles, but 3:57:59 adjusted time
Sunday = 3:53:41 (8:55 pace)
Total = 7:40:58 (9:00 pace) for 51.2 miles (adjuested time is 7:51:40)

Check out my splits. [page 1], [page 2], [page 3]