Track and Field Blogs - Ryan Hall

As has become my custom before all my best races, my travel to London was crazy. Before breaking an hour at the Houston Half Marathon it was a monster snowstorm that left us in a ditch and literally snowed in, before London last year it was nearly missing my flight as I realized that the train from San Diego would not drop me off at LAX like I had thought (although my tardiness did result in me getting the last available seat on the plane...in first class), before the Olympic Trials it was the fires and smoke that made for a juggle in travel arrangements and then an earthquake to shake things up just hours before our flight. So when travel got crazy heading to the London marathon you would think I would be excited to know that a good race was on schedule. However, I had a hard time seeing it that way.

"Its over, all that hard work for nothing," these were my words by 1 am as we waited for our delayed flight to depart. A seven hour delay was more than my patience could handle. I find that the last week leading up to the marathon is the most challenging for me mentally. It is very difficult to remain confident in my fitness when I am accustomed to training so hard. It is also really challenging to not over analyze how I am feeling. Usually, when I am training hard, I just expect to feel normal or a little tired but the last week I am hoping for some euphoric feeling that usually never happens. I remember jogging the day before the race and thinking to myself, "is this how Kalid felt when he set the, then World Record, and now American record of 2:05:38?"I have learned that the last few weeks are really important to let my legs recover and adapt to all the months of high volume and intense running and that I should not doubt my fitness or pay attention to how I am feeling because I know things are going to feel really different on race day. I have also learned to trust my coach. I have said this before, but I really do believe I have the best marathon coach in the world and I am continuing to learn to put aside my personal doubts in my fitness and trust that he has prepared me for what lies ahead. I also have learned the importance of being surrounded by supportive people the last weeks. Sara always does a great job of being the person I can go to with my doubts and encouraging me through them. Sometimes I just need to talk about my worries, stresses and doubts just to get it off my chest. These are the lessons that the veteran marathoners have learned and benefit from. Now, having been through three marathons, I believe that I have learned these lessons as well and will be able to benefit from it in Beijing.

The countdown to race day finally ended on a clear, beautiful morning on April 13. Sara read me the days forecast before my feet hit the ground. As I watched the sun rise over the horizon it appeared that the weather had cooperated and we would be blessed with good conditions for a fast day of running. One word was pulsing through my head as I thought about how anxiously I had been anticipating this day: opportunity. How many opportunities will I have to run against the best marathoners in the world on a day with good weather on a fast coarse after a very successful four months of training? I knew that I had to make the most of day because nothing is promised to us in the future.

The gun fired and we were away alongside 40,000 other runners. After the first mile I hit the split button on my watch and hoped that the split was faster than the effort I perceived. I had convinced myself to expect around a 5 minute mile. I was surprised when I looked down to see 4:45. I thought to myself, "good, I am feeling good, we are out well but not too fast, now I can just settle in and find my rhythm..." Before I could finish my thought I felt the pace increase as the first of mile after mile of surging began. Second mile...4:39. My next thought was, "could that be right? We ran 4:39 last year for the 3rd mile, which is slightly downhill. We will certainly have to settle now." Wrong again. Third mile...4:25. By now I was just hanging on to the back of the pack giving them a couple yards as I thought to myself "this is crazy," and briefly I entertained the thought of letting the leaders go and running an even paced race on my own but this was not the reason why I trained so hard and traveled all the way out to London. My purpose in coming was to learn how to race against the worlds best by going out with them from the beginning. I was, what they call in poker, "pot committed."

The first half of the marathon basically played out how the first three miles did. There was very little time to rest and relax and a lot of surging. I had a lot to think about during those first 13 miles. I pictured myself running with Sara for an easy run on our favorite trail in Big Bear. I tried my best to convince myself that I was just out for an easy jog during the first half and honestly it did feel that way for parts but then we would surge and I would be slapped back into reality. I also thought about my family and everyone that would be watching and praying for me back at home. Basically, during the first half of the race I tried my best to stay as relaxed as possible and just take in the sites. Going across Tower Bridge, just before the half way mark, is my favorite part of the race. It is amazing! The crowd is five deep on both sides, just going crazy, it is something to be experienced!
Once we hit the half it was game on. I couldn't believe that there were so many of us coming through so quick. World record pace and there was still about 10 guys running strong. Around the 14th mile I felt the pace start to lag significantly. I thought to myself that this might be the first sign of fatigue in the group so I went to the front briefly and asked the pace-marker to keep the pace going. Maybe I should have requested a particular mile split because then he really started hammering and before I knew it the pack was dropping me. I was a little discouraged to lose contact so early but there was nothing I could do about it so I pictured myself on Green Church Road in Mammoth doing a tempo on my own. I relaxed and found my rhythm. When I saw my split of 4:41 for the mile I got dropped on I realized I was still running well and needed to stay positive and keep pushing forward. After a couple miles I realized the lead pack of five was coming back to me and at just the right time too. During the last 10k we would be running directly into the storm that had recently kicked up. This put a premium on me exerting extra effort to catch up so I could tuck in heading into the heavy rain and wind.

When I caught back up I honestly thought I had a great shot at winning the race. I started feeling better and better and had the advantage of sitting and waiting to make my move. Unfortunately, Goumri was also feeling good and made a very strong move around the 22nd mile. I ran 4:51 for that mile and they gapped me considerably. Now, I was just running for time. I kept repeating to myself that I was running great and had a good time going. I focused on turning my, now soggy, feet over as quick as I could. I thought about my wife and how I had a responsibility to her to do my very best. She had sacrificed so much for me. I owed it to her to pour it out over the last couple miles. I had come this far. I also, had flashbacks from "Passion of Christ," the movie I had watched before going to bed. I pictured Christ's tattered body carrying his cross up the mountain for me. I started pumping my arms as hard as I could and digging for everything I had.

Unfortunately I missed my bottle at 35k, arguably one of the most important bottles in the race. Briefly, I reprimanded myself but I knew worrying about it wouldn't help me at all. Looking back on the race and how dehydrated I felt at the finish and after the race I learned that I should have taken more fluids beyond just my bottles. I also question whether it is a good idea to pour water on my head, as my body felt thrown off its rhythm.

The fatigue I feel in a marathon is unlike any sensation I have felt. The last couple of miles I felt totally numb. Its like what I picture an out of body experience to be like. My legs don't feel like they are mine anymore. No matter what I say or how hard I pumped my arms they just kept going at the same rhythm. Mile 25 was my slowest of the race: 5:10. When I saw my split I knew that I had to find a way to run at least a five minute mile. I was losing valuable time that I had worked so hard for. I pictured the last mile of my tempo run and thought to myself that it is not that far. It helped to have a couple other athletes coming back to me. I was able to run my last mile in 4:56 and was pleased when I saw the clock. I caught the fourth place runner with 200 to go but I had used all my gears and was just searching for the finish at that point. I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. I have never been so tired at the finish line. However, I think it is a credit to good coaching that after laying down for a bit and getting in lots of fluids and a recovery shake I felt fine and even did my first ever cool down after a marathon. After all this isn't the end, its just the beginning.