running for my life
It’s 5 am and I’ve been up for about 45 minutes. It looks like the weather will be perfect for a race today. Overcast skies, cool temperatures and the rain will hold off making for a nice day. I’ve already eaten leftover pasta for breakfast. I’ll start getting dressed here in a few minutes and head on over to the University of Manitoba around 5:30. I’ll see you on the other side.
Have you ever had one of those runs where you just didn’t feel like you were connected to it? Like you were in another place and the run was just happening? That happened to me this morning. I went out for a nice 5.8 mile run this morning. It was a gorgeous morning with the sun streaming through the trees and a cool breeze blowing to take the edge off the humid air. Should have been perfect. But as I was running I just didn’t feel like I was connected to my body. It was going through the motions just fine but it was like someone else’s body. It kind of reminds me of Jill Bolte Taylor’s description of her mind going to la la land while she was having a stroke. One of the strangest runs I’ve had in a while. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Well, I haven’t posted since the marathon and I wanted to update you all on my training. It’s only one more week to the Manitoba Marathon in Winnipeg and I’ve been able to quickly jump back into training after Fargo. As you can see from my training graph I did a reverse taper for two weeks hitting another 20 mile training run. I’m now tapering down until the race. Well, taper is to mild of a word. I didn’t run at all during the week last week due to work and stormy weather. But this weekend is beautiful and I’m getting in my weekend runs. I’ll do a little more running during the week, easy 4 milers I think, and then give it my best on Father’s day.
It was a bittersweet race for me. I did get a PR but it was no where near my goal. My garmin says 4:26:06 (4:26:02 official). Regardless, I’m still happy. I know what to do differently next month in Winnipeg.
Here are some highlights.
8:00 am – pretty calm winds, temp of 50 degrees. PERFECT. I started out with the 4 hour pacer. The beginning of the race was fantastic, but the pacer was going too fast. between 8:30 and 8:45 for most of the first 10K. In hindsight, this was my downfall. By around 9 miles I started to slow, he pulled ahead of me and I lost him. Winds were picking up too. I was still feeling ok and hit the half way point right on track at around 2 hours. Then I started to go downhill. I lost steam. I finally figured out that I was dehydrated. The winds were really drying me out. Even though I was drinking water at every station, I was not drinking enough. I started walking through the water stations and drinking 2 or 3 cups. I started feeling less light headed but I still just felt off. So I decided to modify my goal and shoot for 4:15. I was alternating walking and running through miles 15, 16, 17, 18. Around mile 19 I saw the 4:10 pacer go past me and that picked my spirits up a little bit. I continued my off again, on again running through miles 20 and 21. I wasn’t dead but I was starting to feel the fatigue. It was then that I felt a horrible twinge in my hamstrings. Uh oh. Cramps coming. I dropped down to a walk and stretched through it until it felt better. Thankfully no full out cramps. I continued to run and walk to manage my hammys. I was feeling a little bit down that I was not making my goals. I thought I was doing really bad when the 4:20 pacer met up with me around mile 23. Again, that lifted me up because I thought I was doing worse than that. I knew I would get a PR at least. By now the winds had picked up to gusting over 30 mph. I was still slowed by fatigue and now another potential cramp in my left calf. I slugged along at about an 11:30 average pace. The finish . . well . . this race finished INSIDE a large dome. Amazing, by the way. But as I was putting it all in at the end going down the ramp into the dome there went my hamstring for good. I didn’t want to finish this way. I had to drop to a walk and hobble down the tunnel. Fortunately it stretched just enough that I could pick it back up and finish strong as I entered the arena. I headed to the medical tent for an ice pack and now it’s feeling pretty good.
So, overall I wish I was feeling better and could enjoy the race more. The last half I was just so focussed on trying to get down the road that I didn’t really appreciate all the crowds around me. But definitely another one under the belt and I’ve learned some good lessons. The weather was fantastic – – about 65=70 at the end of the race. Even the wind felt pretty nice in spots.
Here I am just after mile 4 on 8th Street. I’m still looking pretty fresh.
That’s my boy, cheering me on.
Coming into the finish. Look what 4.5 hours of sweating will do to you!
This is me on the Jumbotron in the dome. I was just entering the tunnel and this is where my hamstring started pounding and quivering.
Carbs are the fuel of choice for any long distance runner and tonight was no exception for me. It’s time to carb load. Of course it really takes much more than one meal the night before a race. It takes months of slow long runs to get your muscles trained to store more glycogen. Glycogen is what your muscles burn and when they run out of glycogen and stop moving that is what we call ‘hitting the wall’. I don’t plan to hit any walls tomorrow. I plan to finish my marathon in about four hours. This linguini with a mushroom tomato sauce will certainly help me along the way.
Only a few more days before the marathon and I feel ready. I was just lamenting over on the runningahead forums that I both love and hate tapering for these races. I love the taper time as I feel so strong when my legs are well rested. Like this morning when I went out for a very strong and invigorating 4 miles. But I hate the feeling that I am slacking off. After these months of training and long runs I just want to get out there and run some more. I also start to feel bloated and heavy. Oh, speaking of that, I did not meet my weight loss goal for the race. I was hoping to be about 30 pounds lighter. But that’s the way it goes. I can never seem to lose weight near the end of my training. As a matter of fact I tend to gain weight. So there it is. I’ll make the best of it this Saturday. I am really looking forward to a good strong race in my hometown.