Duke City Marathon (New Mexico)

October 20, 2013	Marathon 46, State #40 (Age 45)
Albuquerque, New Mexico	4:06:58

https://www.dukecitymarathon.com/

Wow, my New Mexico adventure will take me to my 40th state for a marathon....this old bag of bones just keeps rolling on.   When I start a new race I always know I'm going to finish, the only real question is how long.   This 40th state milestone brings me the same feeling with my quest for all 50 states, with only 10 more marathons, that is after Duke city, I think I'm within grasps of completing my mission, just can't say for certain how much longer.

I'm never a big fan of over training and I think this race will mark a new level of unpreparedness.    My last marathon in Missoula, MT was in July and I think my longest run since has been a couple 8-9 milers.  Yikes.   As always, I think my cycling carries over, so I fall back on those weekend 2+ hour rides to get me through a marathon.   I did manage to break 4 hours in Montana, but with Albequerque tipping the elevation scales at 5,000 feet, this will be a tough run!

Another challenge in any marathon is the weather more specifically the temperature, especially coming from Southern California where is much warmer then traveling to someplace colder.   While colder is optimum for running but my body is not used to predicted starting temperatures in the mid 30's.   If it wasn't for growing up in Ohio and running al winter long I think I would scratch this whole cold early morning running thing!

So off to airport bright and early.   I've pretty much put together a routine for marathon travel which entails packing light, only a small backpack and taking my motorcycle to LAX taking advantage of the easy of navigating traffic as well as free airport parking.    Still a believer of arriving early to the terminal but today while I had enough time I cut it a little closer than usual.

A beautiful flight and now fun navigating from my windowed seat and recognizing all the western landmarks.   Flight took me over Palm Springs and Hoover Dam which is sweet from above.    A quick 1.5 hour flight beat the alternative of an 11 hour drive that I had considered.   This is a pretty low key weekend especially compared to my earlier marathon in July which I spent a week backpacking prior to the race.  

I tried something new and booked flight, car rental, and hotel thru Expedia and great, car and hotel were both prepaid before I arrived and check in was a breeze.   I read that Tues-Friday early packet pickup was available at Big 5 and not far from the airport so that was my first stop.   This is a new concept because I can bypass on the usual pilgramage to the expo the day before the race.    That basically gives me a free day Saturday so opens up options for more freedom for adventures.

Friday's 2nd stop thanks to Yelp took me to Rudy's BBQ.   It's always a good sign when there are no empty parking spots and a line out the door.   Next stop to check out the local REI and then check into hotel.   Instead of my usual exploration of the city I chilled at the hotel all afternoon.   A quick visit to the hot tub, a shower and a clean shave then just laid around the room until dinner where I made plans to catch up with my friends Josh and Stacy who moved from LA a couple years ago.    Great to catch up and found a Five Star Burger where I had a delicious Bison burger!   Josh and I laid plans for 5 years down the road to climb Kilimanjaro!

Josh and Stacy Take me Out for Dinner First Night in Albuquerque

Saturday came an hour earlier than I'm used to, but I had some adventuring to make up for my low key Friday afternoon and since there was no longer a need to attend the marathon expo I decided to start my day traveling north.   Homeyra once had a school conference in Albuquerque 8 years ago and I had such fond memories of an afternoon we spent in Sante Fe, a little artsy town in the foothills under the mountain.   I was staying in the north part of Albuquerque so it wasn't much more that a 45 minute drive and I was there.

Once I arrived in Sante Fe I didn't know exactly what I was going to do so I parked the car close to the downtown square and just walked until I found something interesting.   First, place I found was The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi Church which was built between 1869-1886.  The doors were open to visitors and you could walk around the parish.  I sat down and admired for awhile all the intricate art throughout.

Inside Church

Front Door to Church

Closeup of 1 Panel of Church Door

After the church I walked through dozens of art galleries, shops, and even an outdoor art walk, all fantastic.   The town square was also very lively with music and local native Indians peddling homemade jewelry and pottery.   I found an adorable handmade pot that I picked up as a souvenir for our home.   I loved the giant strings of hot peppers, but didn't know where I would put something like that in the house or even if they would survive a trip home on the plane.   Nearing lunch time I found a little French pastry shop and tried their quiche lorraine supplemented with a blueberry and nuetella crepe!

I also saw on the map not too far away was the infamous Los Alamos.   I asked a few locals and they said it's a pretty drive this time of year with the colors changing of the leaves.   I was given some directions of a scenic drive out of town so jumped back in the car and headed for "the hill".  My destination was the Bradbury Science Museum which I really didn't know what to expect.  Interesting section on the two bombs dropped in Japan and a little history of the Manhattan project.  The museum also brags that the center is more alive than ever and great discoveries are being made.

Welcome sign edge of town

Bradbury Science Museum

Some scenery on the way to Los Alamos

While I had already traveled to two different towns my day was just beginning.  Now only half time of the Buckeye game I thought I'd find a good spot to catch the 2nd half of the game.   There are many casinos littered along the roadway and sings and advertisements everywhere.   The nicest one I noticed seemed to be the Sandia Resort and Casino on the north side of Albuquerque, perfect because I was traveling back into town from the north so stopped by and got to see the Buckeyes pull off victory number 19 in a row.

Entrance to Sandia Resort and Casnio

One of the biggest attractions besides the hot air balloons that were seen throughout the skies in the morning is the aerial tramway which rises to 10,378 foot and looks down on a panoramic view of the Rio Grande Valley.   The entrance requires negotiating about 3 flights of stairs which I could feel the altitude as I was out of breath by the time I reached the top.   I'm thinking to myself Sunday is going to be a long run if I feel like this!   The tram takes only 15 minutes to get to the top and goes through 4 different ecological zones.   Man do I wish I had a few more days in town and would have loved to hike to the top of this vista, but today was just a taper for race day so I was satisfied just being a tourist.   It was cold and windy up top, walked around, then caught the next tram 15 minutes later to return to base.

http://www.sandiapeak.com/

View from the tram on the way up

Top of the Tram

On my return trip to the base of the mountain a couple that summited the mountain earlier frantically find that they left their keys in their vehicle at the base at another trailhead where they had started their climb.   Not having anything else to do for the day I volunteer to shuttle them to their other car.   Ends up the wife is in the same line of business as me and works for the same company so of course we hit it off.   What a small world!

Wonderful shot I captured at sunset

Time is running out on my Saturday and now it's time to seek dinner.  I had read about a trendy area called Knob Hill but my GPS took me to the wrong place, now even hungrier I try to find "Old Town", stumble upon it and so hungry the first place I find is a little Mexican place in a building that was constructed in the 1700's.   I ordered my usual, 1 beef taco and one chicken enchilada with beans and rice.   Of course a bowl of chips to munch on until the main entree comes with the most delicious spicy salsa.   The one bonus, a new Mexican dessert I'd never had called a Sopaipilla.   Yummy deep fried bread similar to a doughnut, but hollow then add honey!  Yumm.

Back at the hotel, first there is scheduling the wake up call, setting the alarm clock, and finally a 3rd backup setting my phone to also wake me.   Breakfast, I already horded from the continental buffet on Saturday for fear they wouldn't be ready Sunday morning in time, all race clothes laid out and ready to go, bags packed, no late checkout allowed...note to self, will have to find a way back in to clean up after the marathon.

Sunday morning and even though an hour earlier than Pacific Standard Time I'm up before the alarm.  Breakfast downed while getting dressed, and out the door.   The biggest concern race morning is always what to wear.   I had expected a brisk morning colder than I'm used to in California and while I was conservative on my overall packing, I had brought a little more cold weather gear than needed.  I navigate to the starting area and find close free parking downtown in the Wells Fargo bank parking area.   I'm still plenty early, so instead of facing the cold I stay and enjoy the heat of the warm automobile.   Finally time to find that one last bathroom stop and bingo, fancy Double Tree hotel a block away from convention center and start line.  Surprisingly no line.

I make my way to the starting corral and don't notice a lot of runners, this is when I learn there may only be about 700 registered for the marathon, but a whole lot more for the various other events planned such as a walk, the half, etc.   The full and half share the same out and back route, but the half starts 30 minutes after the marathon.  Fifteen minutes before the gun is ready to go off, they have a unique national anthem of a trumpet, magnificent!   Now, 15 more minutes of waiting around.   Usually at this point it's too cold and you need to hop around to stay warm, so since I'm not cold I either overdressed or everything is perfect.   With only shorts, a long sleeve running shirt, a 2nd short sleeve shirt and a running vest with no sleeves with hat and gloves.

The gun goes off and my 40th state marathon begins.  I wasn't trying to run a blistering fast marathon and always like to try to finish under 4 hours but especially with the altitude I would be happy with just a finish and not suffering too much.   Immediately, even with a slow 8-9 minute pace I could sense my heart rate was off the charts and as much as I would have liked to slow down my pace, when I backed off my heart rate still raced.   It wasn't until 3-4 miles when my breathing became more relaxed that I felt a little more comfortable with my pace and effort.

By this time we left the city streets and entered a bike trail where the majority of our time would be spent.   It's about this time as well, 4 miles into the marathon as I notice a guy in front of me running the same pace, so I caught him and started some small chat.   Our small chat turned into the next 10 miles of companionship.   This guy's name was Richard, he was 68 years old from my former city of greater Seattle.   Ends up he is a marathon legend, at least in my eyes.  He goes on to win his age group beating his next closest contender by 20 minutes.   Not only that, he had just finished what I think he said was his 336th marathon the weekend earlier, but that's not it, he actually ran back to back marathons on Saturday in Connecticut and then Rhode Island on Sunday and then a week later another marathon in New Mexico.  He is one of the 50 state guys and while I'm still working on my 50 states the first time around, he's done every state 5 times and working on his 6th go around!  Amazing.  While running together the race leaders had already made the turn around of the out and back course and were flying by.   Wow were they fast, two guys were way out in the lead running what appeared to be 5 minute miles.

Myself with new Friend Richard I ran 10 miles of Marathon together

At the 13 mile mark I decided to make a stop at the Port-a-Lieu and said good by to Richard.  I expected I might catch up with him on the 2nd half of the course, but he gained about 2 minutes on me which I never was able to catch.   Still running and feeling good about mile 18-19 when the 4 hour pace group catches me.   This is the decision time when either I dig deep as I have the past couple of marathons and try to stay with them or succumb to the fact that I'm going to take it easy the last 7-8 miles and just run my own race.   This time was easy in that if I tried to run any faster my heart rate would rocket upwards so I watched as they slowly disappeared in the distance.  Seeing this pace group get away was a little demoralizing, but even more were the relays, because when they got a fresh runner, they were the only ones flying past like I was standing still.

I continued from start to finish with the Galloway method, where every mile I walk from 10-25 seconds.   I started basically from the first mile and did this every mile through the end of the race.  It's my strategy that lowers my heart rate for a few seconds and gives me a chance to recover.   Since using this method I've found that I'm usually less sore after the race and recover quicker.  I knew once I was back off the bike path and back into town it was only a short mile or two to the finish.   By this time the marathon crowd was so thin there were no other runners around.   By this time I had caught up with the 20k walkers, so the last two miles was littered with walkers which was a great feeling because even though I wasn't flying myself, compared to the walkers I finally was able to leave someone else in my wind!  =)

Finish Line - Duke City Marathon

Finished!

 After I crossed the finish line I was a little disappointed with the lack of treats, however, I used to always seek out the massage area and to great joy I noticed the line was very short so decided to give it a try.  Ends up the winner of the race was in line right next to me.   He was one of the two guys that I remember flew by on the course ahead of me, although I thought he was in 2nd place.  Ends up there was one really fast relay team that together out ran the race winner.   My massage while I had only expected a 5 minute workout to my sore body parts, I was again joyous that the guy worked on me for a good 20 minutes or more.

I did make it back to the hotel and key still worked to access the pool area, so treated myself to a hot tub and then one last stop at my friend Josh and Stacy's house before heading to the airport to fly home.   I ended up finishing in 4:06:58 which was 16th in my age group and 134th overall.