I wish it were as simple as saying that I'm not taking this lying down, but unfortunately, that is exactly what I'm doing. I don't remember if I wrote about this back in October or not, but I had a very painful episode with back spasms right after the KC Half Marathon, so painful that I pretty much laid in the fetal position in bed for three or four days, minus the times I had to drag myself to work. Such a bizarre incident that was, but I always had been more careful about posture, stretching, and lifting things to make sure that I didn't have anymore flare-ups. When it came to isolating an incident that led to such an incident, I traced it back to the extreme effort I put into that race, which was a lot. Why it hit my back so badly instead of my legs, I have no idea.
This all leads me back to Tuesday, which sucked because for the second time in six months, I was saddled with more debilitating back spasms, only this time it happened it right as I was heading down the stairs at work. That morning, I had put in a difficult hilly run. That night, back spasms. KC Half Marathon...very hilly course. Sunday after that race...back spasms. See that pattern here? I think I'm starting to get it. Why this happens when I run hills, I can't explain, but the underlying symptom that occurred both of these times involved a severely rotated pelvis to the left. Having my chiropractor beat me back into shape took about a week last time before I was up for running again. Now, I'm going to venture out after four days and two excruciating chiro sessions to hopefully partake in the Trolley Run 4 mile race in KC on Sunday.
So what is going to have to happen going forward? I have got to get stronger through my core area. That's nothing special or anything, but I have routinely neglected working on my abdominal and back area in order to just focus on running faster and/or just lifting light weights. I'm going to have to devote the time and effort into becoming stronger throughout. Also, I'm going to have to work on cross-training more frequently, as simply running, while fine, isn't really mixing up my workouts, and I'm getting lax in some areas. So, let's see how it goes. If I can't run at least close to what I normally do, I'm going to be pretty disappointed, but it's all building towards Hospital Hill 2012. Until next time....later.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Running Naked
Not what you think, people. If you've read this blog for any period of time, you know that I have spent the entirety of my running life (all of two years) wearing custom made orthotic inserts inside my shoes due to some high arching in my feet. I battled some plantar fasciitis back several years ago, and the podiatrist suggested wearing these orthotics to help my soles. I wore them all the time every day, and only stopped wearing them full time about the time I start running. I had never run without them, until two weeks ago.
To me, not using these orthotics was/is a risky proposition. If you've ever had a bout of PF, it is a bitch. But I was having so many issues with my modified left orthotic, and it turn my left ankle/leg/calf that I knew I had to either take an extended break to let things heal up, or attempt running without the orthotics and see if my feet were able to handle it. I should probably explain why now, all of a sudden, I've been having issues with the inserts.
While training for that first half marathon, I developed a blister at the crown of the orthotic in my left shoe. I had a podiatrist look at it and see what could be done, and he made a modification consisting of raised foam padding on either side of the blister which formed a valley of sorts so that the blister would not rub on the insert anymore. For more than a year, this was a perfect remedy, but then I was feeling like I had reached the point that I did not need this foam padding anymore, and I chopped it off. That was a big mistake, as the blister had calloused over, but at this point was sort of a knot in my foot, a knot that continuously applied pressure inside my foot when struck on the ground. I had to get a second modification, and coupled with the Brooks running shoes that I had bought (with a very narrow foot base), I ended up spending the majority of my time running on the extreme outside of my foot. The orthotic plus shoe combination had slanted my foot at a large enough angle that I was no longer running with the bottom of my left foot, but almost completely on the outside of my foot.
I finally just ditched the Brooks and went with a much wider based Asics shoe, but I was having the same issues of tightness and pain in my leg. The only thing I had yet to try was to stop using the orthotic insert. I just didn't see how this was going to work, because in my mind, the only recollection I had of running WITHOUT inserts resulted in PF. To me, this felt like running naked, completely exposed to the possibility of picking up an injury that could easily linger on.
So, we're two weeks in right now and I can say that so far, I haven't had any issues crop up with my feet or calves (knock on wood) yet. Hopefully that can continue to be the case, but I have yet to put together a run of more than 5 miles. That would seem to me to be the time I need to be the most stretched out, the most aware of how my feet are feeling at the time. Things start to feel like they are tightening up, I've got to be able to stop and stretch it out or just stop all together. But so far, I can't complain.
To me, not using these orthotics was/is a risky proposition. If you've ever had a bout of PF, it is a bitch. But I was having so many issues with my modified left orthotic, and it turn my left ankle/leg/calf that I knew I had to either take an extended break to let things heal up, or attempt running without the orthotics and see if my feet were able to handle it. I should probably explain why now, all of a sudden, I've been having issues with the inserts.
While training for that first half marathon, I developed a blister at the crown of the orthotic in my left shoe. I had a podiatrist look at it and see what could be done, and he made a modification consisting of raised foam padding on either side of the blister which formed a valley of sorts so that the blister would not rub on the insert anymore. For more than a year, this was a perfect remedy, but then I was feeling like I had reached the point that I did not need this foam padding anymore, and I chopped it off. That was a big mistake, as the blister had calloused over, but at this point was sort of a knot in my foot, a knot that continuously applied pressure inside my foot when struck on the ground. I had to get a second modification, and coupled with the Brooks running shoes that I had bought (with a very narrow foot base), I ended up spending the majority of my time running on the extreme outside of my foot. The orthotic plus shoe combination had slanted my foot at a large enough angle that I was no longer running with the bottom of my left foot, but almost completely on the outside of my foot.
I finally just ditched the Brooks and went with a much wider based Asics shoe, but I was having the same issues of tightness and pain in my leg. The only thing I had yet to try was to stop using the orthotic insert. I just didn't see how this was going to work, because in my mind, the only recollection I had of running WITHOUT inserts resulted in PF. To me, this felt like running naked, completely exposed to the possibility of picking up an injury that could easily linger on.
So, we're two weeks in right now and I can say that so far, I haven't had any issues crop up with my feet or calves (knock on wood) yet. Hopefully that can continue to be the case, but I have yet to put together a run of more than 5 miles. That would seem to me to be the time I need to be the most stretched out, the most aware of how my feet are feeling at the time. Things start to feel like they are tightening up, I've got to be able to stop and stretch it out or just stop all together. But so far, I can't complain.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Ramping back up
One of the more memorable races of 2011, for all the wrong reasons, was the 38th annual Hospital Hill Half Marathon in KC. 83 degrees at the start of the 7:30 AM race, with about 140% humidity, was something that you really can't prepare for. I had attached the 12 weeks of training for that race onto the back of training for a half marathon in Abilene, in which I was unable to hit my goal time. It took a while to figure out what I needed to do to hit 1:50:00, and it really started with Hospital Hill. Granted, no matter what I had done I was going to struggle through that oven of a morning, but even had the weather been right, I was not to a point in training where I was going to be able to shave that much time off in order to hit my goals. What I had learned was that it is tough to maintain a consistent goal pace, and that it is easier to pass that pace and then ease back towards the goal pace.
I was able to use that to hit 1:50:00 in Kansas City in October. After that two mile warm-up, it was all systems go, as I was running at a pace nearly 60 seconds/mile faster than what I needed. For a long stretch, I was able to set a pace that was drastically quicker than my goal, and allowed me to not press too much during the final couple of miles. I was just glad I hit the time, otherwise I would have questioned if I had it in me to hit goals.
Hospital Hill will be coming up on June 2nd, and I'm using it as an opportunity for a little revenge on the Hospital Hill course. I know it isn't the race's fault that it was a truly brutal day, but there were a lot of factors at work that made it so difficult. I'm going to be more ready this time around. I finally ditched the Brooks shoes (too narrow in the base, thus all the over-pronation issues), picked up some more comfortable kicks, and already have been able to enjoy the terrific weather we have had throughout the winter. Of course, if it is 80+ degrees again, I'm not sure things will go the way I want. I set some modest goals for times this year, but I didn't spend nearly as much time running after the Disney Marathon as I did last winter, and I certainly have lost my edge, speed wise. If I'm going to have any racing success this year, I'm going to really have to grind, and find a workable schedule. This probably means running when I get off work in the morning every time, as opposed to mixing and matching between evenings and mornings. We'll see how it goes. Until next time...later.
I was able to use that to hit 1:50:00 in Kansas City in October. After that two mile warm-up, it was all systems go, as I was running at a pace nearly 60 seconds/mile faster than what I needed. For a long stretch, I was able to set a pace that was drastically quicker than my goal, and allowed me to not press too much during the final couple of miles. I was just glad I hit the time, otherwise I would have questioned if I had it in me to hit goals.
Hospital Hill will be coming up on June 2nd, and I'm using it as an opportunity for a little revenge on the Hospital Hill course. I know it isn't the race's fault that it was a truly brutal day, but there were a lot of factors at work that made it so difficult. I'm going to be more ready this time around. I finally ditched the Brooks shoes (too narrow in the base, thus all the over-pronation issues), picked up some more comfortable kicks, and already have been able to enjoy the terrific weather we have had throughout the winter. Of course, if it is 80+ degrees again, I'm not sure things will go the way I want. I set some modest goals for times this year, but I didn't spend nearly as much time running after the Disney Marathon as I did last winter, and I certainly have lost my edge, speed wise. If I'm going to have any racing success this year, I'm going to really have to grind, and find a workable schedule. This probably means running when I get off work in the morning every time, as opposed to mixing and matching between evenings and mornings. We'll see how it goes. Until next time...later.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
So now what?
Runner's World, as far as I can tell, has a special canned write-up that they can publish every six months or so, and it covers how a runner responds to being finished with their marathon goal after spending so much time working towards it, and how do they move on? From what they seem to gather, people hit a major funk when they finally cross that finish line for the first time, because that is written as the endgame in their mind. The obvious question for them becomes, "Now What?". What happens after the thing you've worked for months, a year, or even longer, is no longer dangling in front of you like a carrot on a string? Like I said, it sounds like most people don't know exactly what to do. Run another marathon? Well, that's probably a large mental hurdle to gear back up for, because running the first one was put on such a pedestal that you probably never considered that you'd do it again. Stop running all together? A little on the extreme side, but if you've gotten in a groove, physically, where you can find something else to take the place of running, you might not want to get back to the pavement. But what about relief? What about knowing that you can get back to the type of exercise and running that you prefer, rather than the kind you signed yourself up for?
I would fall into that last category. That marathon training was a bear. Lots of time, lots of running in the cold. Lots of icing my legs, ankles, knees, etc. That's hard. How people can do that every year is beyond me. Maybe running a race that doesn't fall in January would be easier, with more warm days and more long night hours to fit it all in. Not sure that I'll ever find out, but I'm guessing that I'll want to see if I can improve my time, using Nike shoes, eating more on the course, trying to figure out the right pace, and so forth. As it stands, I'm pretty comfortable with being able to do speed work once a week, put in an average run of 4-5 miles, and just run as a tool for keeping weight off. But the last thing I've been feeling has been some sort of emptiness. Relief is more like it. Now, I'm excited to get back to lifting weights more, and working to hit some more pace goals for the upcoming summer. Until next time...later.
I would fall into that last category. That marathon training was a bear. Lots of time, lots of running in the cold. Lots of icing my legs, ankles, knees, etc. That's hard. How people can do that every year is beyond me. Maybe running a race that doesn't fall in January would be easier, with more warm days and more long night hours to fit it all in. Not sure that I'll ever find out, but I'm guessing that I'll want to see if I can improve my time, using Nike shoes, eating more on the course, trying to figure out the right pace, and so forth. As it stands, I'm pretty comfortable with being able to do speed work once a week, put in an average run of 4-5 miles, and just run as a tool for keeping weight off. But the last thing I've been feeling has been some sort of emptiness. Relief is more like it. Now, I'm excited to get back to lifting weights more, and working to hit some more pace goals for the upcoming summer. Until next time...later.
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Marathon Has Been Completed
***Let me just start off by thanking you readers for sticking with me since I started this thing all these months ago. I'll make it worth your while with a very comprehensive recap post, since I've been slacking in the last few months.***
All of this time built towards running a marathon can finally be put into some perspective, because on January 8th, 2012, I can officially call myself a Marathoner. No more wondering about what happens on Mile 22. No more anticipating what happens if I cramp up. And no more trying to figure out if I even have it in me to go out and run for 26.2 miles. I can put away the questions, the worries, the bad thoughts (and the good thoughts) and have a little bit of reflection, and maybe let you in on what my experience is like, so that when you go out and run your first marathon, maybe you'll know what to expect.
As I touched upon last time, I had been battling some difficult training conditions, mostly brought on by a couple of different factors. First, I became a little too confident in my abilities and decided to stop doing what was working for me. Since I started up this running bit, I've been a devout follower of the training plans put together by Hal Higdon, famed runner and coach. Well, I got it in my head that I could move on past Hal's Novice Marathon training and move into something a little more advanced, notably running with Runner's World's Best First Marathon guide, or something to that effect. It was slightly more intricate, but definitely more volumed in mileage than Hal's. To my complete surprise, I wasn't able to handle the increase in mileage, and I got pretty dinged up right around Thanksgiving. The outside of my right knee tightened up almost instantly when I would run, and the lower portion of my left ankle seemed to be very strained. Ankle's and knee's aren't exactly the things you want to be worrying about when you have a long distance to cover, so I took two weeks off to allow things to heal up. It only slightly worked, and eventually I just told myself to stop thinking about it and just run through it. While it was pretty terrible, I did figure out that it wasn't going to get any worse, so it was just a matter of blocking it out. ***Side Note: If I had played any real sports throughout my life, I have no doubt I would be that player that was always injured, and if I wasn't injured, I might make a difference on a team, but I could never stay healthy.***
As December rolled on, things fell into place, but I wasn't feeling any confidence whatsoever. Up until Thanksgiving, I had not missed a workout, and had been doing a really good job of nailing some goal times and distances, and staying healthy. I even entered that half marathon and set a time to hit that would put me on a goal time of 4:00:00 for the Marathon, and I hit it with a minute to spare (1:53:00). So I was doing well and feeling good, and then I had to hit the sidelines and mentally, I just never felt like I got that swagger back. Physically, I knew that I had put in plenty of miles and it wasn't going to go away in a matter of days. But mentally, the hurdle was there. After New Year's Day, I had accepted that I was just going to go have fun at Disney World, run a Marathon, and just enjoy the hell out of it. What else was there to do? I was glad the whole thing was winding down, because it was time to just stop thinking and go run.
Destination races are very big in this country, and I can now see why. The thought of flying somewhere to run seemed pretty bizarre to me, but I wanted to do it so that I could at least say that I went somewhere where the race was a really big deal. Disney's Marathon Weekend turned out to be a pretty big deal. 22000 finishers of the Half Marathon on Saturday, followed by 13500 finishers of the Marathon on Sunday, as well as thousands of people (I would guess) that actually signed up to do both races for the Goofy Challenge. Crazy if you ask me, but if you've got the desire, you might as well go for it. As much fun as the experience was, the travelling aspect of it is yet another variable to figure into your approach. As you know, I work overnight, so working through Friday morning and catching a plane 5 hours later was going to be tiring, but I expected to sleep on the plane. That didn't happen. At least I'd be able to catch a nap when we got to hotel...except that K-State was playing in the Cotton Bowl on Friday Night, and we had a date with ESPN Zone in Epcot. I was stuck with the decision of picking up my packet on Friday Night and skipping my much needed nap, or attempting to nap and picking up my packet on Saturday before heading to Epcot for a touristy Saturday. To save effort, it was packet pickup time. Thankfully that all went smoothly, and it was game time. I'll spare the details, but we were unable to find our way to the ESPN Zone, as it proved to be more difficult to access than I had anticipated. We were unable to watch it until the second half, which it appears ended up being a good thing, save for about 5 minutes of the game. I ended up sleeping a much needed 10 hours that night, but I knew that I would probably feel in on Sunday. What an inopportune time to stay up for 30+ straight hours! Oh well. On top of missing sleep, it amazes me how hard it is to stay hydrated when you travel. All the adrenaline that kept me awake drained me of water, and I had a hard time quenching my travel thirst. Don't take for granted how easily it is to drink water. You miss it when it is tougher to come by.
Saturday at Epcot was great, but I had a feeling that the extended periods of walking would catch up to me on Sunday. After making it back to the hotel by 10 PM, I was ready to hit the sack in a major way, but I knew that I was only going to be getting about 4.5 hours of sleep, because I would have to be up to catch the bus to the starting lines at 3 AM. Yikes. I had trouble sleeping anyways, because I have been so used to staying up through the night for the better part of eight months. When it was finally go time, I hit the bus with a few other earlier risers, and we made our way through the darkness to descend upon the start. Nothing like seeing a fleet of buses unloading eager passengers in the dead of the night, all willing to forgo their normalcy, strap on shoes, and run for hours on end. It really is pretty cool. Since I was making this a memorable (and easy) trip on myself, I signed up for the Race Retreat package that Disney offered, which turned out to be well worth it. Easy bag check, comfortable stretching, private bathrooms, tunes, breakfast, drinks, Woody and Bullseye from Toy Story...the whole thing was enough to really get you stoked about the race. And I really was. I just kept telling myself that I could not believe I was actually about to set out and run this race. It felt like ages ago since I signed up, and even longer than that since I decided I needed to do this distance, just to see if I could. I was just ready to have fun, chat with strangers, and run through the parks.
After the seemingly endless pre-walk to the corrals (they say it takes at least 20 minutes, and it probably took longer), it was already race time. When I filled out my entry form, I estimated it would take me 4:20:00 to finish, which seemed reasonable on paper. By this estimation, I would be in Corral C, which meant that I had to fight through the crowd from the walkway to get up there. Right when I made it there, the race had started! Mickey, Donald, and Goofy gave the command, and the first corral was off! This left me about 8 minutes to kind of get my bearings, tie my shoes again, and just remind myself to go have some fun, since all the hardest work was done. At least now I would be running with people, and not by myself in the freezing cold around the lake.
I got off to a nice and easy start, as I was good to remind myself that I had a lot of time, and where or how I finished was not important, only that I finished. Nothing else really mattered. If I needed to walk, I would stop and walk. I'd grab drinks at the stations, and I'd grab food to keep me going when it was available. One thing I had read about was how cool it was to have thousands of people cheering you on as you were going through the parks, and it absolutely was as cool as advertised. Heading through the Magic Kingdom as the sun was just beginning to peak up from the horizon, while large crowds clapped and yelled your name (it was on the race bib) as you passed, it perked you up. Probably a little too much, as my miles drifted closer to 9:20/mile, when I was hoping to be closer to 9:50/mile. My legs were getting tired at about the halfway point, but I knew that if I stopped to walk, it would get progressively more difficulte to pick up those tired legs and continue to run. I ended up making it through 15 miles before I finally had felt the pain enough to stop and walk for a couple of minutes. My feet were starting to ache, and I still had 11 miles left to go. Not a problem, though. I'd run two more miles and take another walk break, I thought. So I may have been short on the two miles, but not to worry. My legs had grown heavy, and my miles were starting to drag, but I was still feeling decent. As we hit the Animal Kingdom, I could tell I was tiring quickly. The sleep thing didn't help, no doubt, and now the sun was up and the temperature was rising. The heat was not severe or anything, but after spending more than a month running in three layers of clothes, a rising temperature was not something I was ready for.
At the 19th or 20th mile (all blended together), it really got tough. I hit that proverbial wall, and I knew it was going to be a damn fight the whole rest of the way, which was merely another 10K. At this point, I was walking in intervals of 2-3 minutes at a time, stopping to stretch my legs and give my poor feet a rest. ***Side Note: As part of overconfidence, I switched off of Nike shoes in December and into Brooks shoes, a more running specific company. Much like changing from Hal, I never really adapted, and I think it played a part in why my feet were in so much pain. Lesson learned: Keep things the same*** By the time mile 23 rolled around, I was questioning if I could actually jog anymore, or if I was going to finish the whole thing exclusively walking. I was coercing myself into running for 8 or 10 minutes at a time, telling myself that I would walk for 3 more minutes if I could just make it for a 10 minute running stretch. My feet were shot, and my legs were very much at the Jello phase. By the final mile, I was alternating 5 minutes of running with 2 minutes of walking. As we ran along the shoes in Epcot through the different countries, I made sure to hit a point where I could just run and finish, and made sure not to stop. I had come this far, I didn't want to be walking to the finish line. Once the finish line was in sight, I had a calm feeling knowing that it was over, I had not vomited or passed out, and I would be able to stay upright once I crossed the line. I crossed the finish line at 4:45:01. A time that at the time I had no idea was either good, bad, indifferent, average, or any other qualifying adjective you can come up with. All I knew at that point was that I needed water badly, I needed to rest my feet, and I needed to ice my knee. The cotton mouth that I experienced through Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk (miles 24-25) was unlike any other. It sucked. I collected my finisher medal, smiling from ear to ear, and took my finisher photo. I had done it. Fighting self-doubt and the Florida sunshine, I had earned that finisher medal.
I immediately told myself that I would never run another marathon, which I'm guessing is not an uncommon refrain. Why would you want to do that again? Have that feeling like at any moment your feet could bust open, or that you could be chaffing your nipples right off of your chest (tape em down, ladies)? ***Side note: Very glad that they had medical tents set up all over the back half of the race. Two Tylenol and a large dab of Vaseline for the aforementioned chaffed nipple were just what the doctor would have ordered.*** I liked everything about the Disney set up, from the friendly volunteers, to the ease in which the event took place, and the great atmosphere amongst the competitors. My unhappy thoughts regarding the marathon had everything to do with the distance, and nothing to do with the race presenters. I would absolutely do another Disney event. As for my declaration of marathon disdain...I'm easing up on it. As I've been prone to do, I can be competitive in running. I've got one time out there, and I think I at least owe it to myself to try to top it, or maybe at the very least use my newfound experience to maybe make things a little more even throughout the entire run. I have accepted that I will not qualify for Boston, as I just don't think I can hold up physically and dedicate myself in a way that needs to be done to qualify at that sort of pace, and I'm ok with that. I'll probably try to run with the local running club more so that I don't have to endure so many runs by myself.
So there you have it. In the span of 27 months, I went from laughing at a drunken football tailgate about why shouldn't I just go run a marathon just to do it, to running 3-5 times a week and losing 45 pounds and completely changing my body and well-being, to running a Half Marathon in under 1:43:00, and then completing a 26.2 mile Marathon with 13500 other people. Believe me when I say that if you have ever considered running a marathon, you can. If I can, you can. Trust me. I hated running, until I didn't. It is not easy to explain, but now I can't imagine not running. I mean, I thought the only people that could pull off a marathon were those 6'3" slender gazelles that could pop off a 10 mile jog like it was walking out to the driveway. But what I found is that there are lots of people that like the idea of being able to say they finished one. The goal of a marathon, simply, is to finish. The only ones competing are the advanced, semi-elite athletes that have spent a majority of their lives running. It would be like me challenging those people to a drinking contest. I've been drinking a lot for so long, that it comes naturally to me, much like their running acumen comes easily to them. Just setting the goal for yourself and having the gumption to finish it should be as satisfying as it gets, so give it a try. There are marathons all over the country, and more than 1 million people per year complete one. Go have fun, thank you so much for reading through this manifesto, and until next time...later.
All of this time built towards running a marathon can finally be put into some perspective, because on January 8th, 2012, I can officially call myself a Marathoner. No more wondering about what happens on Mile 22. No more anticipating what happens if I cramp up. And no more trying to figure out if I even have it in me to go out and run for 26.2 miles. I can put away the questions, the worries, the bad thoughts (and the good thoughts) and have a little bit of reflection, and maybe let you in on what my experience is like, so that when you go out and run your first marathon, maybe you'll know what to expect.
As I touched upon last time, I had been battling some difficult training conditions, mostly brought on by a couple of different factors. First, I became a little too confident in my abilities and decided to stop doing what was working for me. Since I started up this running bit, I've been a devout follower of the training plans put together by Hal Higdon, famed runner and coach. Well, I got it in my head that I could move on past Hal's Novice Marathon training and move into something a little more advanced, notably running with Runner's World's Best First Marathon guide, or something to that effect. It was slightly more intricate, but definitely more volumed in mileage than Hal's. To my complete surprise, I wasn't able to handle the increase in mileage, and I got pretty dinged up right around Thanksgiving. The outside of my right knee tightened up almost instantly when I would run, and the lower portion of my left ankle seemed to be very strained. Ankle's and knee's aren't exactly the things you want to be worrying about when you have a long distance to cover, so I took two weeks off to allow things to heal up. It only slightly worked, and eventually I just told myself to stop thinking about it and just run through it. While it was pretty terrible, I did figure out that it wasn't going to get any worse, so it was just a matter of blocking it out. ***Side Note: If I had played any real sports throughout my life, I have no doubt I would be that player that was always injured, and if I wasn't injured, I might make a difference on a team, but I could never stay healthy.***
As December rolled on, things fell into place, but I wasn't feeling any confidence whatsoever. Up until Thanksgiving, I had not missed a workout, and had been doing a really good job of nailing some goal times and distances, and staying healthy. I even entered that half marathon and set a time to hit that would put me on a goal time of 4:00:00 for the Marathon, and I hit it with a minute to spare (1:53:00). So I was doing well and feeling good, and then I had to hit the sidelines and mentally, I just never felt like I got that swagger back. Physically, I knew that I had put in plenty of miles and it wasn't going to go away in a matter of days. But mentally, the hurdle was there. After New Year's Day, I had accepted that I was just going to go have fun at Disney World, run a Marathon, and just enjoy the hell out of it. What else was there to do? I was glad the whole thing was winding down, because it was time to just stop thinking and go run.
Destination races are very big in this country, and I can now see why. The thought of flying somewhere to run seemed pretty bizarre to me, but I wanted to do it so that I could at least say that I went somewhere where the race was a really big deal. Disney's Marathon Weekend turned out to be a pretty big deal. 22000 finishers of the Half Marathon on Saturday, followed by 13500 finishers of the Marathon on Sunday, as well as thousands of people (I would guess) that actually signed up to do both races for the Goofy Challenge. Crazy if you ask me, but if you've got the desire, you might as well go for it. As much fun as the experience was, the travelling aspect of it is yet another variable to figure into your approach. As you know, I work overnight, so working through Friday morning and catching a plane 5 hours later was going to be tiring, but I expected to sleep on the plane. That didn't happen. At least I'd be able to catch a nap when we got to hotel...except that K-State was playing in the Cotton Bowl on Friday Night, and we had a date with ESPN Zone in Epcot. I was stuck with the decision of picking up my packet on Friday Night and skipping my much needed nap, or attempting to nap and picking up my packet on Saturday before heading to Epcot for a touristy Saturday. To save effort, it was packet pickup time. Thankfully that all went smoothly, and it was game time. I'll spare the details, but we were unable to find our way to the ESPN Zone, as it proved to be more difficult to access than I had anticipated. We were unable to watch it until the second half, which it appears ended up being a good thing, save for about 5 minutes of the game. I ended up sleeping a much needed 10 hours that night, but I knew that I would probably feel in on Sunday. What an inopportune time to stay up for 30+ straight hours! Oh well. On top of missing sleep, it amazes me how hard it is to stay hydrated when you travel. All the adrenaline that kept me awake drained me of water, and I had a hard time quenching my travel thirst. Don't take for granted how easily it is to drink water. You miss it when it is tougher to come by.
Saturday at Epcot was great, but I had a feeling that the extended periods of walking would catch up to me on Sunday. After making it back to the hotel by 10 PM, I was ready to hit the sack in a major way, but I knew that I was only going to be getting about 4.5 hours of sleep, because I would have to be up to catch the bus to the starting lines at 3 AM. Yikes. I had trouble sleeping anyways, because I have been so used to staying up through the night for the better part of eight months. When it was finally go time, I hit the bus with a few other earlier risers, and we made our way through the darkness to descend upon the start. Nothing like seeing a fleet of buses unloading eager passengers in the dead of the night, all willing to forgo their normalcy, strap on shoes, and run for hours on end. It really is pretty cool. Since I was making this a memorable (and easy) trip on myself, I signed up for the Race Retreat package that Disney offered, which turned out to be well worth it. Easy bag check, comfortable stretching, private bathrooms, tunes, breakfast, drinks, Woody and Bullseye from Toy Story...the whole thing was enough to really get you stoked about the race. And I really was. I just kept telling myself that I could not believe I was actually about to set out and run this race. It felt like ages ago since I signed up, and even longer than that since I decided I needed to do this distance, just to see if I could. I was just ready to have fun, chat with strangers, and run through the parks.
After the seemingly endless pre-walk to the corrals (they say it takes at least 20 minutes, and it probably took longer), it was already race time. When I filled out my entry form, I estimated it would take me 4:20:00 to finish, which seemed reasonable on paper. By this estimation, I would be in Corral C, which meant that I had to fight through the crowd from the walkway to get up there. Right when I made it there, the race had started! Mickey, Donald, and Goofy gave the command, and the first corral was off! This left me about 8 minutes to kind of get my bearings, tie my shoes again, and just remind myself to go have some fun, since all the hardest work was done. At least now I would be running with people, and not by myself in the freezing cold around the lake.
I got off to a nice and easy start, as I was good to remind myself that I had a lot of time, and where or how I finished was not important, only that I finished. Nothing else really mattered. If I needed to walk, I would stop and walk. I'd grab drinks at the stations, and I'd grab food to keep me going when it was available. One thing I had read about was how cool it was to have thousands of people cheering you on as you were going through the parks, and it absolutely was as cool as advertised. Heading through the Magic Kingdom as the sun was just beginning to peak up from the horizon, while large crowds clapped and yelled your name (it was on the race bib) as you passed, it perked you up. Probably a little too much, as my miles drifted closer to 9:20/mile, when I was hoping to be closer to 9:50/mile. My legs were getting tired at about the halfway point, but I knew that if I stopped to walk, it would get progressively more difficulte to pick up those tired legs and continue to run. I ended up making it through 15 miles before I finally had felt the pain enough to stop and walk for a couple of minutes. My feet were starting to ache, and I still had 11 miles left to go. Not a problem, though. I'd run two more miles and take another walk break, I thought. So I may have been short on the two miles, but not to worry. My legs had grown heavy, and my miles were starting to drag, but I was still feeling decent. As we hit the Animal Kingdom, I could tell I was tiring quickly. The sleep thing didn't help, no doubt, and now the sun was up and the temperature was rising. The heat was not severe or anything, but after spending more than a month running in three layers of clothes, a rising temperature was not something I was ready for.
At the 19th or 20th mile (all blended together), it really got tough. I hit that proverbial wall, and I knew it was going to be a damn fight the whole rest of the way, which was merely another 10K. At this point, I was walking in intervals of 2-3 minutes at a time, stopping to stretch my legs and give my poor feet a rest. ***Side Note: As part of overconfidence, I switched off of Nike shoes in December and into Brooks shoes, a more running specific company. Much like changing from Hal, I never really adapted, and I think it played a part in why my feet were in so much pain. Lesson learned: Keep things the same*** By the time mile 23 rolled around, I was questioning if I could actually jog anymore, or if I was going to finish the whole thing exclusively walking. I was coercing myself into running for 8 or 10 minutes at a time, telling myself that I would walk for 3 more minutes if I could just make it for a 10 minute running stretch. My feet were shot, and my legs were very much at the Jello phase. By the final mile, I was alternating 5 minutes of running with 2 minutes of walking. As we ran along the shoes in Epcot through the different countries, I made sure to hit a point where I could just run and finish, and made sure not to stop. I had come this far, I didn't want to be walking to the finish line. Once the finish line was in sight, I had a calm feeling knowing that it was over, I had not vomited or passed out, and I would be able to stay upright once I crossed the line. I crossed the finish line at 4:45:01. A time that at the time I had no idea was either good, bad, indifferent, average, or any other qualifying adjective you can come up with. All I knew at that point was that I needed water badly, I needed to rest my feet, and I needed to ice my knee. The cotton mouth that I experienced through Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk (miles 24-25) was unlike any other. It sucked. I collected my finisher medal, smiling from ear to ear, and took my finisher photo. I had done it. Fighting self-doubt and the Florida sunshine, I had earned that finisher medal.
I immediately told myself that I would never run another marathon, which I'm guessing is not an uncommon refrain. Why would you want to do that again? Have that feeling like at any moment your feet could bust open, or that you could be chaffing your nipples right off of your chest (tape em down, ladies)? ***Side note: Very glad that they had medical tents set up all over the back half of the race. Two Tylenol and a large dab of Vaseline for the aforementioned chaffed nipple were just what the doctor would have ordered.*** I liked everything about the Disney set up, from the friendly volunteers, to the ease in which the event took place, and the great atmosphere amongst the competitors. My unhappy thoughts regarding the marathon had everything to do with the distance, and nothing to do with the race presenters. I would absolutely do another Disney event. As for my declaration of marathon disdain...I'm easing up on it. As I've been prone to do, I can be competitive in running. I've got one time out there, and I think I at least owe it to myself to try to top it, or maybe at the very least use my newfound experience to maybe make things a little more even throughout the entire run. I have accepted that I will not qualify for Boston, as I just don't think I can hold up physically and dedicate myself in a way that needs to be done to qualify at that sort of pace, and I'm ok with that. I'll probably try to run with the local running club more so that I don't have to endure so many runs by myself.
So there you have it. In the span of 27 months, I went from laughing at a drunken football tailgate about why shouldn't I just go run a marathon just to do it, to running 3-5 times a week and losing 45 pounds and completely changing my body and well-being, to running a Half Marathon in under 1:43:00, and then completing a 26.2 mile Marathon with 13500 other people. Believe me when I say that if you have ever considered running a marathon, you can. If I can, you can. Trust me. I hated running, until I didn't. It is not easy to explain, but now I can't imagine not running. I mean, I thought the only people that could pull off a marathon were those 6'3" slender gazelles that could pop off a 10 mile jog like it was walking out to the driveway. But what I found is that there are lots of people that like the idea of being able to say they finished one. The goal of a marathon, simply, is to finish. The only ones competing are the advanced, semi-elite athletes that have spent a majority of their lives running. It would be like me challenging those people to a drinking contest. I've been drinking a lot for so long, that it comes naturally to me, much like their running acumen comes easily to them. Just setting the goal for yourself and having the gumption to finish it should be as satisfying as it gets, so give it a try. There are marathons all over the country, and more than 1 million people per year complete one. Go have fun, thank you so much for reading through this manifesto, and until next time...later.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
I'm still alive
I make a lot of Pearl Jam references. Not intentionally or anything, that's just the way it goes. I've been silent, as you can see, but not for lack of activity. I actually got into a pretty steady state of making sure I was running at the appropriate times, that I lost that sense of needing to be motivated. That was how it worked at first, you know? I would write, assume I was being read, and then keep going so that whoever was out there could make sure that they saw this thing through from start to finish. While I have been absent, I have also been learning. This marathon business is not particularly fun (yet) or comfortable (why would it be?), so I did not exactly know how to cover it as things were moving forward. Now that I've got a little perspective on the matter, I can probably more accurately examine and discuss what has been happening in my little corner of the world.
There are several things I've figured out on my own from preparing for Marathon #1. First and foremost of which is there is no guarantee there will be a Marathon #2. I don't know if I ever felt that way training for that first Half Marathon, but I never seemed as overwhelmed at times as I have with this marathon training. I've had a two week break at the end of November through the beginning of December because I had thrown my entire body out of whack. Seriously, my chiropractor told me that my right side of my entire body was so tensed up it raised my hips by nearly half an inch!?! Think about that disparity in your posture, and then imagine running 6-7 miles with it. Exactly. I was really hitting a good stride, too. But, I'm at the point that the time off didn't hurt, and if anything, was probably needed. That's the most time I've had off from running in 20 months, so a little bit of extended healing was probably in the cards. I've been more proactive since then with daily stretching, posture checks, yoga, and core exercises to make sure that I'm not losing any more strength. So far it is working. I also decided to break the mold and try a new brand of shoes out during this stretch, and that has been a new experience. Probably should have just bought one more pair of Nike's and ridden the storm out, but I broke away into some Brooks (good shoes) and so far, I'm thinking that was, if nothing else, a tough thing to adapt to mentally. They're just shoes, as I tell myself, so just get over it and run.
Second, and this is probably the biggest one, is to not plan your first marathon, or really any marathon for that matter, in the winter time unless you want to run in the cold every day. Working overnights has given me two options, neither of which is great. I can get in long runs, 20-mile type runs, when I get off of work, which puts me on the pavement at around 07:30 AM right after a shift. Since I'm usually up by 03:30 or 04:00 PM, this would be equivalent to the regular day job person going out for their run at 11:00 PM or so. I'm a little tired after work, as most people, except I've already had a full day of stuff before work. It isn't a bad thing or anything, it just takes some getting used to. So, either run when I get home, or sleep and run before work, which is fine for certain runs because I can just hit the treadmill. The whole getting dark at 5:00 PM thing is a real drag as far as this is concerned. Summer and spring running when the sun is still out is going to be much easier, and that factors into the choosing a run that is either in fall, or at the end of spring, because at least that way, I'll be able to get in some evening runs outside before the sun goes down.
The third thing is that there really is no reason to be so competitive, at least right now. I can barely hit a 20-mile run without stopping every 10 minutes to walk, so how on Earth can I be so concerned about hitting a finishing time? I was, but I'm not anymore. This thing is an entirely different challenge than the Half was, because this thing never ends. During a long run prep for a Half, you can run a 12 mile run and do it in maybe 15 minutes longer than your race time will end up being. That isn't that long of an amount of time in the grand scheme of things. For this marathon, you'd have to run 25 miles to get that affect, and that's just not something you can get used to. Half's are over much quicker than you think, especially once you dip into the insanity that is marathon training. Now, 13.1 miles would be terrific, and would certainly beat knocking out an 18 miler on a Saturday, because once your finish that 18 miles and you hate your life, you only have to think that there would only be 8.2 more miles to go to finish that marathon. Then you cry a little, and then you move on. I figure if I do another marathon, I won't sweat the speed details, and will just let the training go as it goes, without trying to improve so much. I think it might just naturally happen with a little more experience as my body gets used to those 18 milers. But I guess we'll see.
We're only 10 days away from Disney, so I'll be capturing the anxiety and sheer terror more frequently until that date. Thanks for reading, and until next time...later.
There are several things I've figured out on my own from preparing for Marathon #1. First and foremost of which is there is no guarantee there will be a Marathon #2. I don't know if I ever felt that way training for that first Half Marathon, but I never seemed as overwhelmed at times as I have with this marathon training. I've had a two week break at the end of November through the beginning of December because I had thrown my entire body out of whack. Seriously, my chiropractor told me that my right side of my entire body was so tensed up it raised my hips by nearly half an inch!?! Think about that disparity in your posture, and then imagine running 6-7 miles with it. Exactly. I was really hitting a good stride, too. But, I'm at the point that the time off didn't hurt, and if anything, was probably needed. That's the most time I've had off from running in 20 months, so a little bit of extended healing was probably in the cards. I've been more proactive since then with daily stretching, posture checks, yoga, and core exercises to make sure that I'm not losing any more strength. So far it is working. I also decided to break the mold and try a new brand of shoes out during this stretch, and that has been a new experience. Probably should have just bought one more pair of Nike's and ridden the storm out, but I broke away into some Brooks (good shoes) and so far, I'm thinking that was, if nothing else, a tough thing to adapt to mentally. They're just shoes, as I tell myself, so just get over it and run.
Second, and this is probably the biggest one, is to not plan your first marathon, or really any marathon for that matter, in the winter time unless you want to run in the cold every day. Working overnights has given me two options, neither of which is great. I can get in long runs, 20-mile type runs, when I get off of work, which puts me on the pavement at around 07:30 AM right after a shift. Since I'm usually up by 03:30 or 04:00 PM, this would be equivalent to the regular day job person going out for their run at 11:00 PM or so. I'm a little tired after work, as most people, except I've already had a full day of stuff before work. It isn't a bad thing or anything, it just takes some getting used to. So, either run when I get home, or sleep and run before work, which is fine for certain runs because I can just hit the treadmill. The whole getting dark at 5:00 PM thing is a real drag as far as this is concerned. Summer and spring running when the sun is still out is going to be much easier, and that factors into the choosing a run that is either in fall, or at the end of spring, because at least that way, I'll be able to get in some evening runs outside before the sun goes down.
The third thing is that there really is no reason to be so competitive, at least right now. I can barely hit a 20-mile run without stopping every 10 minutes to walk, so how on Earth can I be so concerned about hitting a finishing time? I was, but I'm not anymore. This thing is an entirely different challenge than the Half was, because this thing never ends. During a long run prep for a Half, you can run a 12 mile run and do it in maybe 15 minutes longer than your race time will end up being. That isn't that long of an amount of time in the grand scheme of things. For this marathon, you'd have to run 25 miles to get that affect, and that's just not something you can get used to. Half's are over much quicker than you think, especially once you dip into the insanity that is marathon training. Now, 13.1 miles would be terrific, and would certainly beat knocking out an 18 miler on a Saturday, because once your finish that 18 miles and you hate your life, you only have to think that there would only be 8.2 more miles to go to finish that marathon. Then you cry a little, and then you move on. I figure if I do another marathon, I won't sweat the speed details, and will just let the training go as it goes, without trying to improve so much. I think it might just naturally happen with a little more experience as my body gets used to those 18 milers. But I guess we'll see.
We're only 10 days away from Disney, so I'll be capturing the anxiety and sheer terror more frequently until that date. Thanks for reading, and until next time...later.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Time to Focus
I won't lie. This has been a weird last two weeks since the KC Half Marathon. It feels like it's been a lot longer. I took nearly the entire week after the race off to recover, learning that running as hard as you can for that sort of distance can really wear you down. Sunday, the day after, I had a major back spasm that caused me to hit the floor and remain there for a long period of time. I don't remember ever being in that much pain. It was so bad I had to call into work that night and tell them that I wasn't going to make it. It was horrible. It took days until I could really even walk without pain. But, that's how it goes. There were a few other things that I don't really want to go into, but as far as running setbacks, that was the worst.
I'm now less than 9 weeks away from running at Disney, and I think I am behind schedule. I had to modify a lot of running dates towards the end of the schedule in order to make it work, and I have done that as well over the past two weeks. I should be prepping for a 16 mile run this weekend, but I have still not run further than 13.1, so you can see where I would be concerned. If I'm going to have nearly the amount of stamina it is going to take for me to finish a full marathon, I really need to get back to work. I've been slacking over here, too, and I think that has set me back as well. I'll try to post more frequently so that I stay on track. Until next time...later.
I'm now less than 9 weeks away from running at Disney, and I think I am behind schedule. I had to modify a lot of running dates towards the end of the schedule in order to make it work, and I have done that as well over the past two weeks. I should be prepping for a 16 mile run this weekend, but I have still not run further than 13.1, so you can see where I would be concerned. If I'm going to have nearly the amount of stamina it is going to take for me to finish a full marathon, I really need to get back to work. I've been slacking over here, too, and I think that has set me back as well. I'll try to post more frequently so that I stay on track. Until next time...later.
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