Steamtown Marathon 2010

By: Janette Gaw and Hazel Tapp

Janette Gaw:

It was a perfect day for a marathon — great weather (40-50 degrees), the leaves were changing, and I get to see Hazel!  Unfortunately with the plantar fasciitis sidelining me during training, my last long run was 20 miles about 6 weeks ago. I had to take it easy after that and was not allowed to run when I was supposed to be peaking. This was supposed to be THE marathon that would count for me in the fall and I was hoping for a PR if not a BQ  I threw my diet away and overate in frustration and rebellion. So there I was at the starting line, undertrained, overweight, taped up, but happy to be able to run.

The first half was a lot of downhills. I learned my lesson from the Poconos marathon and stopped myself from running too fast downhill and trashing my quads. By mile 8, I suddenly needed to pee VERY badly. I think I’ve been drinking way too much and have been hydrating like I was still in Florida. By the half way point I was surprised to see that I was still hitting my pace (8:30) so I stopped to pee at mile 14 thinking that it shouldn’t take me more than 1 min. There was a line and I was in tights with a fuel belt and a Spibelt. I was shocked to see that it took me 4 minutes. (By the way, the “hovering” technique really hurts after 14 miles).  There was no way that I could make that up in the last 12.2 miles especially since I was already tired. So I decided to take it easy. That actually made it more fun because I was able to enjoy the sights. There was a ?2-3 mile portion through trails which was gorgeous but made it slow. It made me glad that I already decided to slow down. The multiple hills at miles 22-26 made me realize that even without the bathroom break, I would not have even had a PR much less a BQ!  I ran/walked the hills and swore that I will never run another marathon with hills. At the top of the hill on mile 23, there were a bunch of kids in wheelchairs cheering us on. It made me realize that I should just be grateful to be able to run. There was another hill by mile 26 called Homestretch hill. There were cheerleaders at the top of that hill and all I could think of was where are the Chippendales for the women runners?  Thankfully the last 0.2 miles were all downhill.

I finished at 4:03 — not my best but not my worst. I was glad to finish.  My cardiovascular system was ok throughout the run since I still crosstrained with spinning and elliptical when I wasn’t able to run. The legs were leaden during the run.  I am feeling surprisingly good today. I don’t feel as tired as I would have even with a training run. It’s weird.  It’s probably because I decided to go easy during the second half. I’m either mentally weak or smart.

OMG, I got so distracted typing this. They are calling my name overhead to board. I almost missed my flight!  Until later…. Hazel, YOU ROCK!!!!

Hazel Tapp:

Janette, thanks for the report. You and Juli rocked it too:). A fun weekend (apart from the pain).

We all missed Stacey who was supposed to have been there with us. Heal quickly Stacey!!

A few more details: Logistically, Steamtown is very easy once you’re in Scranton, especially if you stay downtown (we were at the Hilton). We had 30’s temps in the very early morning and were an easy 1 block walk to the school bus ride out to the race start at a school. Everyone was lovely. The runners were treated like royalty. As we got off the buses cute kids with signs saying “follow me” led us to hang out in a warm gym that was a spit from the start. Real bathrooms too Tiffany!! We piled out of the gym with 5 minutes to go and really didn’t feel the pain of the cold.  The race had maxed out in July with 2500 runners which felt about right for the roads we were on. The small new Englandy towns had the feel of the Boston early miles with friendly spectators coming out for us.

Despite Mark trying to convince me that the route was reversed this year, the first 8 miles did have some serious downs, but not as steep as Grandfather or Blue Ridge Relay.  Quite frankly, for me (prepare not to be too surprised here), they were just irresistable and I took off with abandon to a PR at the half of 1.48. Isn’t that what you are supposed to do?  First sign of trouble hit at the trails at mile 15. Yep they are lovely, but to run on, they were like the trail bit of the greenway, just slows you right down and a little rock eased into my shoe. My thoughts veered into the negative at this point. The good down hills were pretty much over and a lot of straights and ups kicked in. A mat at 18 miles recorded me at 2:30 so I was still at a good pace but it turned into a big slow down after that. Janette’s description of the miles is perfect. There were some really quite tough hills right up until 26 that took a lot of mental stuff to deal with. The usual story kicked in, I really wanted 23-26 to be over fast, but didn’t have the legs to back that up.  In the end, even the .2 downhill finish felt long and painful and the 3.53 finish felt like a nice reward for gutting it out.

Highly recommend this race for great people, support, scenery and speed, if you like hills!!