The 2008 Harrisburg Marathon Report

(Kelly and Melissa holding me up after the Harrisburg marathon)

First of all, I want to thank all that wished me luck before the race. I am always grateful of people, who only know me through this blog, who still take the time to think about me and wish me good fortune.

Second, I want to congratulate my Blue Dawg friends, Melissa and Kelly, who went out to Harrisburg with me and kicked the course's butt. Melissa set a new marathon PR by almost 10 minutes and Kelly broke 4 hours for the first time and lowered her own marathon PR by over 20 minutes!!!! Just a great effort from both.

At the bottom, is a short video clip of the start of the 2008 Harrisburg marathon. I want to thank Melissa's husband, Garth, who shot this video, the pictures above and below and for his support this weekend. We really appreciate it. (The first picture below is Melissa's finish. My finish is the second picture.)

Highlights of the race:

• The Radisson Penn Harris Hotel, which was the host hotel for the event. The expo was right across the driveway. The pasta dinner was about 10 yards from my room. Good food as well. (The people we met at our table were very friendly.) The shuttle was right outside the lobby which took us to the start and back from the finish. And, we had a late checkout so we could shower after the race. They did an excellent job overall.
• The event was very well coordinated, and on a brisk, windy day, the volunteers out on the course, were cheerful and supportive even for us back of the packers.
• The day was beautiful. Could not ask for a better temperature to run a race.
• Parts of the course ran along the Susquehanna River, which overlooked fall foliage in the distance, and we ran past the Governor's Mansion and other historic sites.
• It was the best I've felt after a marathon. My cardio was fine. I usually feel sick but felt fine afterwards. Probably due to the temperature.
• The price. $45 entry fee. And the pullover jacket that was given to all participants.
• The start/finish line. It was right next to where the Harrisburg Senators (minor affliate of the Washington Nationals) play.
• Nobody was wrong and everyone was right on what to wear. I opted for short-sleeved shirt and shorts but started with a long-sleeved shirt on top. I carried that and wore it off and on for 15 miles before ditching it. I was a bit chilled at the end.

Lowlights of the race:

• It was VERY windy after mile six. The Susquehanna River was beautiful but ran into a headwind for about 4 miles.
• We ran through an industrial park which was kind of bland. On a hot day, that area would have been a killer.
• Miles 17 through 19 which was through a wooded area and loaded with hills.
• My left ankle. It felt better than previous weeks but still was sore to run on.
• Cramps in my calfs and thighs. It hit me at mile 21 and I could only run as far as the cramping would take me.
  
  

This was the perfect race for me this year. It was a low-key event that felt like a 5k. And it felt there was a 2:1 ratio of volunteers to runners. The people there were tremendous and I can't thank the Harrisburg people enough for their goodwill.

I thought about running with Kelly until she told me her plans to run a 4:10 marathon. Yikes!!! And, after the first 5 minutes, I knew my ankle was going to remain sore for the race. So, I ran/walk the course. I ran the first half in about 2:27. I was on pace until I hit the hills. Trying to run up hills was an impossibility as my ankle was screaming at that point. And, then at mile 21, my legs were cramping up, probably due to the wind off the river.

At the end there were about 6 of us pushing each other along. At mile 25, Melissa, Kelly and Garth, started to cheer me up on the bridge I had to get up to and cross. What a lift that was!!!

This was the 36th running of this event. We were surprised because of the small number of participants in comparison to Marine Corps, Philadelphia and others. But, in speaking with people there, that was precisely the reason they entered. The 10,000+ participant-marthons can be overwhelming. This was not. I would recommend it to anyone.

Project: Harrisburg Marathon

As a project manager, there is one thing that usually gets overlooked when setting up a project. How do you define success? Easy, you say? OK. You might say, 'make sure it works.' If it works but it is so cumbersome for the customer that they won't use it, is that success? Then, you might say, 'make sure the customer is satisfied.' But, if it costs twice as much as the customer is willing to pay, is the customer satisfied? No, defining success is not as easy as you might think. So, it is important to define success upfront of any project that you are doing.

And, if you think of it, everything you do is a project. Don't think so? Going to the grocery store is a project, you just don't give it much thought that it is. There are a set of tasks that you must do in order to meet your objective. The tasks could be as simple as get the keys, bring the wallet, drive the car, park the car, get a shopping cart, etc. Again, you probably don't think of it as a project but, at the end, success is probably defined as having enough food and things in the house that will get you through the week.

So, this weekend, for me, is project Harrisburg marathon. And, how am I defining success? Easy, right? Break my PR. Except I can tell you I didn't follow a training schedule close enough that I would feel comfortable to say I have a shot at breaking a PR. Would it be nice? Absolutely. But, I can tell you that I currently am dealing with an inflamed Achilles tendon and some other nagging pains going into this race.

Well, that's the wrong attitude to take into this race, mister. Ahh! But there are some positives I am taking into Harrisburg. I can tell you, in each of the four past marathons I have done, I was intimidated, not only doing the 26.2 miles, but the long runs leading up to it. But, for this race, I didn't feel that type of pressure. You would think I would considering there are only 620+ people in the race. Yikes!!! (If you look for me in the results, start from the bottom up. It will be easier.)
This feels like such a laid-back event that I am looking at it as just another long run and not a race. The fact that friends are doing the race with me helps in that mindset.

Plus, and this is where success is starting to get defined by me, I am changing some of the things I do leading up to the race. I've hit the wall, big time, in each of the marathons I have done. I don't think it's all conditioning. I think it's part nutrition and part hydration. So, this week, I am carbo-loading more than usual and I'm drinking two bottles of water everyday leading up to the weekend. And, I'm also planning on bringing a Powerbar with me in the race. I haven't done this previously. I drank a lot of water a day or two before and used gels during the race. I will tell you honestly that I have been plagued by constant bathroom breaks at first few miles of each marathon I have done.

The one thing I am unsure of is whether I am doing Galloway run/walk or try to run the whole thing. I have trained for Galloway but, I've had some good runs in the past few weeks that I am thinking about ditching that. Scary? You betcha!!! As part of my mental approach of a dealing with the enormity of a project marathon is to break it down into smaller increments and don't look at it as a whole. For instance, when I run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute, I look at as only running 5 minutes at a time. Not running 5 hours!!!! It helps me not get overwhelmed.

So, what will I consider a successful project Harrisburg marathon? First, have fun with my friends. If nothing else, enjoy the time and stories that we will have for this race. Second, to finish the race. I didn't train for nothing, you know!!!! If I break 5 hours, all the better. Third, see if, or when, I bonk. One marathon, it was as early as 17 miles. Last year, it was at 20 miles. Can I get past that point? If I do, then I am heading in the right direction. And, lastly, see if I can reduce the number of bathroom breaks (hey, I aim low when it comes to expectations. Some people what to BQ. I want to reduce bathroom breaks. Everyone has goals.)

I truly am looking forward to this marathon. It will be such a departure from Philadelphia, Marine Corps and Disney. Just me and 600 of my friends going out for a little run on a beautiful Sunday fall morning in central Pennsylvania. Indeed.

My Definitive 2008 marathon plans (maybe)

Marathon plans recap--for those of you who haven't had a chance to follow along.

In the beginning of this year, Steve (Runner) and I decided to do a fall marathon together. Then, Steve (Runner) got injured and the plans were scraped. So, I decided to aim for the Columbus marathon in October. After all, my wife has a friend out there that we could visit and she could spend hours about hours of quality time with her friend as I'm out there having fun running a marathon. Then I got injured.

Then I got better. And Steve (Runner) got better. So, he wanted to do a marathon together again. He preferred Philadelphia, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I didn't want to wait that long so I suggest OBX marathon, the beginning of November. He agreed that would be a good possibility. A week later, he contacted me and said, the ankle was still bothering him and, maybe, it would be a good idea if he just did one marathon this year, Bay State. It made sense he didn't push himself and we would wait until next year as we look for a special marathon next year to celebrate my 50 years of existence on this earth. So, by mid-August, I was a man without a marathon. All caught up? Good. I will continue my saga.

The more I thought about it, the more intrigued I was about doing the OBX marathon. (http://www.obxmarathon.org/site3.aspx). My biggest hestitation was how much shade there was going to be on the course. I assumed the course would be hugging the shoreline and, last time I checked, there weren't too many flowing palm trees lining the beaches of North Carolina. But, I did some research and it looks like the marathon is not totally run on the shoreline. But, without someone sharing the cost of accomodations, it may be more expensive than I want to pay at this point.

So, I looked to see if there are any other marathons, around the same time, in my general area. Sure enough, there is the Harrisburg marathon (http://www.harrisburgmarathon.com/) run on the same day as the OBX marathon. Harrisburg, PA is about a two hour drive from my house. I would just need a one night stay the night before the race and the price of entry ($45) was right. Plus, Melissa, a fellow Blue Dawg, is thinking about running this race as well. It would be nice to relive the marathon with a friend. Still, I love the beach. And going down to the Outer Banks for a long weekend does sound nice. And, I have gone down to NC for business so maybe I can tie that in somehow?

So, as of now, I plan on running a marathon on November 9. I am training to run a November 9 marathon. Which one? Umm, I'm still not sure. Both are smaller marathons. OBX has around 3500 people, Harrisburg has 800 people. 800 people? The Tex-Mex 5k race in North Wales, PA in June had over 1000 people!!! I've only run one small marathon, and that was the Cape Cod marathon, which had around 1500 people. Everything else has been 15,000+ people. So, no matter which one, I will still get pretty lonely out there.

As of now, I am leaning towards Harrisburg. Until I do the math of how much it would cost me to go to OBX. I don't have to make a decision today. (As a matter of fact, if I read this correctly, I can sign up for Harrisburg, the day OF the marathon!!!! Who the heck gets up in the morning and says, 'Hey, nice day! I think I'll run a marathon before raking the leaves!)

So, definitive decision--I will be running a marathon on November 9. I have given myself until October 7 to decide which one.

(Notes: I posted a new poll this week asking 'what is your deciding factor in purchasing a new pair of running shoes?' This was based on a conversation with Melissa when we were running 6 miles around Lake Galena a few Sundays ago. It got me thinking how people choose their running shoes.)