Baltimore Marathon Race Report

As I begin this report I am pleased to announce that I met my goal-finish.
2nd Goal-Have fun.  I cheered the spectators on, high-fived all the kids who had come out of their row homes to see these crazy people running and I ate as much as I could.  I also gave the 'Maopalski' fist pump to as many people as I saw! :)
I was admittedly worried in the day leading up to this race, but I have an awesome group of friends who are also runners who had nothing but encouraging things to say to me the week before.
I arrived at the expo on Friday and after picking up 4 Hammer gels and 2 gu gels I went to get my bib.
The atmosphere was very exciting.  It seemed that every vendor was selling the same stuff just in a different spot. My sister and I went back to her house where Brendan had prepared a nice salad a monster steak and a baked potato.  Through my study of the paleo diet and how my body responds to the challenge of endurance sports I have found that loading up on lean protein the might before a race works best for me.
I looked over the elevation map for the race and put together a rough nutrition plan for the race.  As a bigger guy this is a pretty important aspect.  My smaller friends can eat less and perform well.  I like to think of them as compact cars that are very efficient-I on the other hand, am a Humvee.  If I do not refill the tank every couple of mile things don't work out.
Before I went to bed I finished up the last of my inspirational reading-Dean Karnazes-Ultramarathon Man.  The last story in the book is about how he ran 200 miles straight-kind of puts things in perspective.  That night I slept like a log.
The next morning I got up  and ate a bagel with almond butter and a cup of coffee.  We arrived at the race village around 7:15 I made a quick pit stop, confirmed with my sister where they would be so i could look for them along the way and got myself lined up.
The race starts on the side of Camden Yards where the Baltimore Orioles play.  I got into line and struck up a conversation with some of the guys around me.  Being my first marathon they were excited for me and gave me a couple of pointers.  The best one was-take it easy in the beginning.
They played the national anthem and as is customary in Baltimore when they get to the lyric 'O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave.' the whole crowd roared 'O.' It's an Oriole thing.  The gun when off, the confetti flew and we were off.
The first three mile is a 250 foot climb.  It is really not a big deal with where I train.  I took it easy running at about a 11 min pace the whole way up.  One side note-as I was driving through Wiles-Barre on Friday on my way to Baltimore I realized I had left my Garmin GPS unit at home.  I train with it all the time so running without it was going to be different.
Around the mile 1 there was this scraggly old guy guy yelling "Go Runners" over and over again.  I found it funny.  By the time I reached mile three I had fallen in with a couple of people that were talking runners.  I get pretty bored running for so long so it is nice to be able to talk so someone along the way.  Plus it make it more fun.  They were Debbie from Westchester, NY and Sean from Virginia.  We had some good laughs but i had to make a pit stop at mile 5 and lost them to the pace.
After my pit stop we ran through the beautiful John Hopkins campus and Druid Hill Park.  This was also where we picked up the first relay exchange.
It was downhill to Federal Hill after that.  I grabbed some skittles at Mile 7 and kept booking along.  I met a guy who was about 6'7".  I made some comment about his height and he laughed.  We got to talking about how his Dad had died ten years ago to the day.  He was kind of commemorating his life with the run.  He had been a marine at Iwo Jima and a Baltimore City School Principal.  They were very close.  As our conversation we parted ways with me pulling ahead.
Entering Federal Hill there was a huge cheering section and some girls with Swedish fish so I decided to get some of them too.  Running while trying to chew Swedish fish is harder than you think.  I spent the next mile trying to get them out of my teeth and wash them down.  Federal Hill is also home to the Under Armor factory who was the primary sponsor of the race.  This was mile 12 and they were handing out power gels.  After this a girl ran by me who had a very springy stride.  we got talking and someone overheard me saying I was for North East Pennsylvania.  We all got into a conversation about Lake Wallenpaupack and the town of Hawley.  This was pretty unusual because where I live is pretty obscure.  It was during this conversation that I also came across an ipod on the ground.  I picked it up and later returned it to the lost and found after the race.
At the half Marathon point I found myself running alone again and it stayed this way for a good time.  we ran by the Inner Harbor and the Aquarium then to Fells Point.  This was were my sister was going to be meeting me.  At about mile 15 I spotted her.  She had bought me a shot of espresso and filled one of my other water bottles with HEED.  I took my shot, ate a banana and I was off again.  By mile 16 I was still feeling great.  This was pretty significant because this race would mark only the third time I had run farther than 16 miles.
I kept my pace up, passing through another realy nice park section and into what I knew would be the most challenging part of the course.  It is at mile 16 that some pretty big hills come into play.  I was so excited to the way body was feeling.  I was getting tired, but i knew it was nothing I could not work through.  as I neared mile 18 I caught up with my friends Debbie and Sean.  After the first big hill Sean dropped off and Debbie and I pushed each other up the following hills, making conversation as we went. 
When we came to the mile 20 marker things started to go south.  My body and legs started to just shut down.  At mile 21 someone was handing out candy and I was so beat I couldn't even open a twizzler wrapper.  I kep pushing on hoping I would make it past, but the more I pushed the worse it got.  My quads began to cramp so bad that I almost fell over.  I stopped at a lamp post and stretched things out and it got better then worse again.  This is how the next 4 miles went.  It was the longest 10k of my life.
Finally as the hill crested at Mile 25 my body got a second wind.  I don;t know what happened but my muscles stopped cramping and I was able to keep a pretty steady pace.  What is great about this course is the last mile is all downhill.
I was going of sheer will at this point.  My body and mind were completely spent.  As I cam running in my thoughts drifted to Renee and Liam who were not able to be there.  I was missing them badly.  The crowd got thicker on either side of me.
The last 500 yards of the race goes through the brick path of Camden Yards.  As cool as this is, it is also kind of anticlimactic because no spectators are allowed in this area, so you have about 100yds of just you and the brick.  As I broke into the final stretch I could see the finish line.  In my mind I heard Liam saying 'Go Daddy Go!'  My Sister and Brendan were there cheering and as I came in I thanked God for giving me the ability to do this.
My official time was 4:39 (that's hours boys and girls)
I received my medal, solar blanket and stood in line for a dry bagel and some granola bars.  I asked  half marathoner who had already finished if he would help me to the ground.  I was afraid of what would happen if I tried to do it myself.
After I met up with Emily and Brendan we went to Fells Point and got some pizza.  Consequently enough I met up with my Federal Hill crew there.  Who knows, maybe I will see them while they are on vacation this winter at Lake Wallenpaupack!
I left this racing feeling very happy with how I did.  I wanted to cap off the most active year of my life with a marathon.  I also know that I can do it faster.  Going in I said I would not be doing another marathon next year...I lied.  I want to do it again with a faster time goal, because i know I can.  I look forward to the challenges to come.

Thanks for reading and for all your support!