Ryan Hall: London ‘07: Lesson Learned
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #7)
Posted April 11th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Ryan Hall
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Elite Athlete Blogs, Ryan Hall
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I consider myself blessed to be able to look back on my marathon debut at the 2007 Flora London Marathon with fond memories. This time last year, to say the least, I was a little timid of the new and daunting distance I would be racing. I think every marathoner can probably look back on their first experience and recall their nerves. I remember very well being quite nervous as we ate our pre-race pasta dinner. I sat with my Mom and wife, my eyes drifted to the 2006 ING New York City Marathon champ, Gomez de Santos, who was finishing his meal quietly. One table over sat another ING New York City marathon Champ, Hendrick Ramaala, laughing as they chatted casually. It amazed me how relaxed and composed everyone seemed to be with less than 24 hours to go before gun time. As for me, I had to get out of that room if I was going to keep my composure, so my wife and I headed up to our room. On the way up we shared a memorable elevator ride with then-world-record-holder, Paul Tergat. To break the awkward silence Sara asked him what he was up to, but he misunderstood and responded, “Tomorrow is going to be fast, very fast.” Now I was really getting nervous.
I actually did get some shut-eye that night, which I saw as a bonus. I woke early in the morning to get in my typical pre-marathon meal of a bagel with Cytomax protein pudding, and a cup of coffee, of course. The most nerve-racking moments were the “death march” from the hotel to the bus that took us to the starting area. Everyone is saying their goodbyes like they are never going to see their loved ones again. I thought I was going to break down and shed a tear after sharing a prayer with my family before my departure.
I did my pre-race warm-up of one mile with my teammate Meb. I was glad to have him around before my first marathon. I felt like his little brother, following him around, mirroring his every step. It was weird to only warm up for a mile but with all the nerves flowing, and some caffeine to boot, I was buzzing. Finally on the starting line, they announced the “contenders,” including Tergat, Haile, Baldini, Lel, Limo, Tergat, Ramaala. I was not mentioned, but that didn’t bother me. I was about to take part in one of the greatest marathon fields ever assembled.
The gun fired, and we were off. I must have had the fastest start in the field because I found myself excitedly looking around for Meb, the pacemakers and where the big boys were. The plan was simple, the front group would go out at world record pace and then a second group that would include Meb, Baldini, Dos Santos, and myself, would go out about a minute slower through half way. I was to sit in the second group and fall asleep for the first half of the race.
The biggest surprise of the day came in the first two miles when I got to the mile mark and looked down at my watch. I remember thinking, “I hope that was a 4:50 mile,” but I was disappointed when I looked down to see the split of five minutes, and we were with the leaders. Obviously some discussion had taken place and someone had decided that the temperature would be too hot for any world record attempts. I was totally unaware and surprised to have our two groups virtually running together through the first half of the race.
Our plan to “fall asleep” the first half of the race was difficult to carry out. The unseasonably warm day, with temperatures in the mid 70s, made for great crowds and noisy streets. I have ridden in the New Year’s Day Rose Parade and let me tell you, the noise I heard on the streets of London was even louder! I remember going through a part of the coarse that is notorious for screaming teenage girls and almost wanting them to simmer down because of the ringing sensation they were causing in my ears. It was deafening!
When I crossed the Tower Bridge I could take the excitement no longer. With the crowds going crazy, I urged the pacers to catch the leaders. Dos Santos was the only one from our group to come with me and we gradually made up the nine-second difference over the next couple of miles, bringing us through the half way mark in just less than 64 minutes. This was slightly slower than scheduled but still relatively fast.
I will never forget catching the leaders. I hadn’t planned on running with them until later on and was more picturing myself picking guys off near the end, rather than being with the leaders with ten miles to go. I glanced over at Haile, behind me was Tergat, in front of me was Ramaala. Honestly it was a surreal moment. It took me a couple of miles to make the mental adjustment but then I snapped out of it and felt like I belonged. This was my welcoming party to join the best marathoners in the world. I had watched these guys run ever since I started running back in my teens and dreamed of joining them, now, here I was running alongside them.
I don’t remember at exactly what point I decided to go to the front of the group but I still think it was a wise move for me to make. I needed to taste the lead. I run well from the front so there was no reason to not do the very thing that I am good at doing, even if these were the greatest marathoners in the world. What I regret was that I didn’t stay at the front. Right around 23 ½ things abruptly got hard and I decided to try and relax in the back. The back is not the place for me to be if I am feeling bad because it is easy to fall off the back when everything is burning. It’s easy to come up with excuses but most of all it is easy to lose hope.
My fatigue began fairly early in the race. I remember becoming aware of unusual tightness in my calves around the nine-mile mark. I decided that there was nothing I could do about it and quickly put the awareness in the back of my mind. However, by mile 24 I could no longer ignore the tightening sensation that was running all down the backs of my legs. The burn got the better of Dos Santos and me as we feel off the lead pack. I told myself to stay relaxed and keep it rolling, which was enough to carry me on to the finish in a respectable time of 2:08:24. I hadn’t totally hit the wall but the last couple miles were definitely the longest of my life, and certainly not the quickest.
I couldn’t have requested a better finish line present than seeing my wife excitedly waiting for me just feet past the finish. I pretty much collapsed on her in exhaustion. It was such a sense of accomplishment to have finished. I had done it. I could finally say that I was a marathoner. I wasn’t thrilled with the time but I was excited about how the race had unfolded. I had been leading the greatest marathoners in the world at 23 miles. This is what I had been visualizing as I trained in the trails of Big Bear. I had accomplished my goal. I took a shot, I was there. I could have won if I had been stronger. And while this day did not belong to me, my career as a marathoner was just beginning. As I hobbled off to the bus, Paul Tergat caught up to me and looked at me with enthusiasm and a giant grin exclaiming, “Wow! Wow! That was so good!” as he stroked the back of my head. It was a humbling experience to have the world record holder excited about my debut performance. It was then that I knew that this would be a special race, one that I would always look back on with a smile on my face.
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Photograph: Courtesy of NYRR
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Tags: Cytomax protein pudding, elite athlete, elite athlete blog series, elite runner, Felix Limo, flora london marathon, Gomez de Santos, Haile, haile gebrselassie, Hendrick Ramaala, London Marathon, london2008, london2008news, Mammoth Lakes, marathon, Martin Lel, Meb Keflezighi, Meb Keflezighi, paul tergat, Ryan Hall, sara hall, Stefano Baldini, team running usa, tfs elite athlete blog series, the final sprint elite athlete blog series, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and field, u.s. olympic mens marathon trials, u.s. olympic track & field trials
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