NODM 2009

In December 2002, Larry Little rode the bus from his home in Port Angeles to the neighboring town of Sequim 15 miles to the east, got off the bus, and ran home on the newly connected Olympic Discovery Trail. During the run, he thought "there is no better place for a marathon than along this beautiful trail." He called his friends together that night to share the idea and the rest is history.

The North Olympic Discovery Marathon and Half Marathon are run on a unique point-to-point course that incorporates the Olympic Discovery Trail with stunning views of the Olympic Mountains and a five mile finishing stretch along the shores of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I ran my second marathon a few days ago. It was on a beautiful course and the support at the NODM was incredible. I would recommend this little "boutique" marathon to anyone considering the insanity of running 26.2 miles. Save the date: June 6, 2010.




My sophomore marathon effort was a huge personal disappointment. I basically repeated much of the same agony as my disastrous first marathon in Vancouver last year. I have tons of excuses for my poor performance this time around but I'm not going to bother stating them. I'm just not a runner. Plain and simple. In fact, I might not run again. Ever. Seriously. I mean it this time.

On the good side of things, I did manage some minor improvements over last year:

• My nutrition was better! I did not have an energy bonk nor did I experience *extreme* cramping (only *major* cramping)

• I literally "ran" the whole way, except for the brisk walking through the various water stops; at no point did I capitulate to my pain and walk through my tears of agony and frustration

• I ran a conservative first half (2:03 instead of 1:52 like last year), which delayed the inevitable onset of my late-race meltdown

The NODM is quite small, with about 300 marathoners. It was a strange feeling to be "racing" in an event which felt about the same size as some of the group training runs I've done in the past. I loved not having to jostle for position at the start line and spend an entire mile running sideways to avoid the crowd. Big plus for the boutique!

So, here are some of the embarrassing data points:

• I finished 26th in my age group! Sadly, there were only 32 people in my age group.

• I finished 140th out of all men! Sadly, there were only 193 men.

• I finished 206th overall -- my highest overall finish ever! Sadly, there were only 310 runners.

Perhaps the most comical embarrassment occurred 20 yards from the finish line, when I was passed by a 5-foot tall elderly Asian woman. As she passed me, I read the following script on the back of her shirt: "Go Grandma Lee!". And I heard her grandchildren cheering wildly as she loped down the lane to the finish line. Meanwhile, I tried not to trip over what little remained of my depleted ego.

Sigh.

OK, here's the numbers:

Distance: 26.55 miles (according to my GPS watch)
Time: 4:28:43
Avg Pace: 10:07
Max Heart Rate: 195
Avg Heart Rate: 169 (<-- TOO HIGH!!!)

Check out this chart of my average pace per mile (in the blue columns) and my average heart rate throughout the marathon (click on image to enlarge):



As my muscle soreness fades and my ego rebuilds and the shameful memory of Grandma Lee retreats into simple comedy, I tease myself with the possibility of giving this running thing another shot. But not for awhile.

Next up: RAMROD!!!!