Yesterday I started my day at 4AM with a 3 hour drive to the North Olympic Discovery Marathon in Sequim, WA. I am in the final stages of recovery from a stress fracture and associated tendonitis that were the result of overuse and bad ankle twist from earlier this year. Recovery from this injuries is usually 6 to 8 weeks but I wasnt aware that my injuries were that serious until about a month after I did the initial damage. I continued to run and made matter worse by the time I went to the doctors the fracture had begun to heal but another was developing in the same area. No running for 8 weeks is the only cure the injury is a result of overuse and not a single incident.
Not to worry though as this kind of injury only hurts when you are walking or running. Pedaling is pain free and totally OK. So I pedaled around a lot in order to maintain my cardio and fitness level. I ran an easy 50K in mid April I finished 16th but it was a total bitch, much more difficult than it should have been. It was also painful so I went to the doctor for more X-rays and was told no running for another 30 days; I had to cancel a planned marathon in May.
I began running again on June 1st with a 16 mile trail run that has around 2,200 feet of gain normally this is a 3 hour run but it took me nearly 4 hours. I kind of expected this but the reality really sucked when it hit home. In order to pick a marathon pace that I could sustain I ran a 7 mile trial loop with about 900 feet of gain on the Thursday before the event. I did it in 1:07 or about 8 minutes slower than normal and 9 minutes slower than my fastest time for the loop.
On the morning of the marathon I decide to run with a newbie who has never run a marathon before he wanted to finish in 4 hours or less. I though this was doable as it was 30 minutes longer than my best time in the last year. Marathons are pretty uneventful and not nearly as interesting as a trail 50K, I find most of them tedious but, as a runner, I feel compelled to run one or two each year. This marathon was not bad, plenty of rolling hills and great scenery. The hardest part is just maintaining a steady pace your last mile should be as fast as your first, if its not then you went out too fast and wasted much needed energy. Newbies always do this its the only way to learn.
We start off at the back of the pack and I mean dead last. I am not in good enough shape to take a mile warm up before 26.2 will be enough for one day! So the first mile will be 11 minutes, 2nd will be 10 minutes and then we will fall into a comfortable pace of 9:20. Thats over 1 minute longer than my normal marathon pace and it should have been easy and it was for the first 18 miles or so. After that 10 minute miles were the best we could muster. My newbie runner was beginning to feel pain and fatigue around mile 18 this is called hitting the wall, its a combination physical exhaustion and a wandering mind. You are certain you will never finish and become desperate to just walk or even stop. Many first timers drop at this point but my running partner did not he slowed down a lot (giving me a much needed rest) but never walked. At mile 25 I figured I had done my best for him so I attempted to resume my normal pace but it wasnt there my tank was empty. I only gained 5 or 6 seconds on him over the space of a mile hardly worth the effort! I finished in 4:15 and change. 45 minutes slower than my best of 2002 and 32 minutes slower than my last road marathon in December I wasnt happy. Running alone I might have taken 5 minutes of my time - maybe.
After the race I wandered over to the picture area to look for my picture. When I found it I was shocked by how much weight Id put on in 6 months. Id figured 5 or 6 LBS but when I showered at the Y I hopped on their scales and registered 162 LBS after running for over 4 hours!!! Thats 10 LBS in 6 months and I dont like it! Even though I bike 4 days a week it just does not burn the energy that running does. Amazing that I could put on 10 LBS and not even notice. I need to run more
Anyhow to sum it up: Out of 280 plus runners I finish 123rd, out of 22 men in my age group I finished 21 out of 22. If I was racing this would have been devastating since I am coming back from an injury it is just depressing. On the other hand a reality check now and again keeps you humble.
Not to worry though as this kind of injury only hurts when you are walking or running. Pedaling is pain free and totally OK. So I pedaled around a lot in order to maintain my cardio and fitness level. I ran an easy 50K in mid April I finished 16th but it was a total bitch, much more difficult than it should have been. It was also painful so I went to the doctor for more X-rays and was told no running for another 30 days; I had to cancel a planned marathon in May.
I began running again on June 1st with a 16 mile trail run that has around 2,200 feet of gain normally this is a 3 hour run but it took me nearly 4 hours. I kind of expected this but the reality really sucked when it hit home. In order to pick a marathon pace that I could sustain I ran a 7 mile trial loop with about 900 feet of gain on the Thursday before the event. I did it in 1:07 or about 8 minutes slower than normal and 9 minutes slower than my fastest time for the loop.
On the morning of the marathon I decide to run with a newbie who has never run a marathon before he wanted to finish in 4 hours or less. I though this was doable as it was 30 minutes longer than my best time in the last year. Marathons are pretty uneventful and not nearly as interesting as a trail 50K, I find most of them tedious but, as a runner, I feel compelled to run one or two each year. This marathon was not bad, plenty of rolling hills and great scenery. The hardest part is just maintaining a steady pace your last mile should be as fast as your first, if its not then you went out too fast and wasted much needed energy. Newbies always do this its the only way to learn.
We start off at the back of the pack and I mean dead last. I am not in good enough shape to take a mile warm up before 26.2 will be enough for one day! So the first mile will be 11 minutes, 2nd will be 10 minutes and then we will fall into a comfortable pace of 9:20. Thats over 1 minute longer than my normal marathon pace and it should have been easy and it was for the first 18 miles or so. After that 10 minute miles were the best we could muster. My newbie runner was beginning to feel pain and fatigue around mile 18 this is called hitting the wall, its a combination physical exhaustion and a wandering mind. You are certain you will never finish and become desperate to just walk or even stop. Many first timers drop at this point but my running partner did not he slowed down a lot (giving me a much needed rest) but never walked. At mile 25 I figured I had done my best for him so I attempted to resume my normal pace but it wasnt there my tank was empty. I only gained 5 or 6 seconds on him over the space of a mile hardly worth the effort! I finished in 4:15 and change. 45 minutes slower than my best of 2002 and 32 minutes slower than my last road marathon in December I wasnt happy. Running alone I might have taken 5 minutes of my time - maybe.
After the race I wandered over to the picture area to look for my picture. When I found it I was shocked by how much weight Id put on in 6 months. Id figured 5 or 6 LBS but when I showered at the Y I hopped on their scales and registered 162 LBS after running for over 4 hours!!! Thats 10 LBS in 6 months and I dont like it! Even though I bike 4 days a week it just does not burn the energy that running does. Amazing that I could put on 10 LBS and not even notice. I need to run more
Anyhow to sum it up: Out of 280 plus runners I finish 123rd, out of 22 men in my age group I finished 21 out of 22. If I was racing this would have been devastating since I am coming back from an injury it is just depressing. On the other hand a reality check now and again keeps you humble.
JK
