Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plain

And up the river valley! Tulsa Route 66 Marathon review. This one is as good as they get.

I recommend it to anyone:

• Plenty of time to finish, for either the full or the half marathon.
  
• Well-organized expo with lots of vendors.
  
• Enough spectators to make it interesting.
  
• Not a single car to be seen on either route - the roads were totally closed to vehicle traffic. Yay!
  
• Fall color was at its peak, and there really are trees in Tulsa, especially in the neighborhoods. Very pretty.
  
• Aid stations were well-managed, porta-potties were actually plentiful after the first few miles.
  
• The race was organized into three corrals, started about seven minutes apart. That worked fine, even though my sweeties and I started in the last corral.
  
• It was warm and VERY windy, but you get whatever weather happens on marathon day.
  
• Music of one kind or another at MANY places along the course, mostly NOT obnoxious. You could dance to some of it.
  
• I have no suggestions for the race management except more food at the finish - they ran out of the best stuff.

My race: Not so hot. I finished in 5:19:02, eighth of 12 in my age group. I hadn’t trained very much since my last marathon five weeks ago because of a cold and fever. Also some joints hurt, the course was hilly and windy, and the weather was pretty warm, going from 63 at the start to 73 at the finish. But mostly it was my lack of trim. How much can you lose in five weeks? A lot, I guess; this one took more than a half hour longer and that one was hilly too. Nevertheless, I FINISHED my 48th marathon in my 31st state.

My left hip hurt quite a bit after mile four or five, enough to slow me down, but got somewhat better after I took a naproxen (Aleve) around mile 10 or so. That hip problem is new, and I hope it’s not a harbinger of oncoming arthritis. Others in my family have had hip replacements and I’m not interested! Several other parts hurt as well - left lisfranc ligaments, both hip flexors, right toes, yada yada, it’s a marathon, duh. Happily, though, the calves both complained a bit but neither cramped up, not even after the race. I did take six gels and six salt packets along the way, with at least 5 oz water at every aid station. That helps a LOT.

This race did offer a rare treat: Just after mile 16 the marathon course converged briefly with the half-marathon course, and the timing was perfect: I caught up to my two sweeties and was able to run with them for more than a mile. We never get to do that in a real race, only in training, so we stayed together and made the most of it. Then they turned around with about a mile left to go, and I jogged on ahead for my remaining eight miles or so. Needless to say they finished first, but they always do.

Along the course:

• Young woman wearing a T-shirt: “Balls are my business.” I might have asked, but she was going faster.
  
• Signs “Up With Trees” all along Riverfront Drive. Tulsa plants trees. Indeed, the maples were in technicolor.
  
• Sign propped in front of a boy in a stroller: “This is a really boring parade!”
  
• Shirt: I’m older than you, more devious, and I train while you sleep!”
  
• ”Banana Man,” a sharp young Texan who had run another marathon the DAY before, taught me about organic bananas.
  
• Bumper sticker on a rusty pickup: “A dead Yankee don’t tell no lies.” Same with a dead redneck, you neanderthal.
  
• Otherwise, Tulsa was warm and welcoming.

Splits: 11:55, 10:42, 10:49, 10:47, 11:08, 22:01 (2 mi), 22:09 (2 mi), 23:14, 24:52 (2 mi), 24:40 (2 mi), 13:25, 16:44, 14:02, 13:15, 14:22, 12:12, 13:25, 23:58 (2 mi), 11:38, 12:10, 1:40 (0.22 mi), total 5:19:02. Uffda. I can do better and I will.

Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010:

Jim and I ran together in the Stillwater Bubble, 1000-foot loops, at a pace that I’m sure was 9-minute miles or so, for 50 minutes. It was my first run in almost a week, and Jim’s first in even longer, so we took it easy. After three miles I was actually having trouble keeping that pace, so we walked one of the short sides of the rectangle and ran the rest. No problems, no pains.

One of Tulsa's many parks: