Back in 2010 I started working at Nike with a crazy co-worker named Darrell. He’s crazy because he runs marathons and does Ironman Triathlons. He convinced me that I could/should get into running, so I did.
October of 2010 I participated in my first race, a 10K at Champoeg Park. I felt like I was going to die at the end of it. I kept training through the winter, and set my sights on running the Newport Marathon in the Spring of 2011. In April we had a team building activity at work playing kickball on the turf field behind the Bo Jackson building...and I rolled both ankles, so no go on the Marathon.
When I spoke to Darrell about the injury and how it meant I would not be able to attempt the Marathon, he asked me if I was going to jump right back into Marathon training once I healed. I responded that I was probably gonna focus on shorter distance, like 5K and 10K...and that’s when it hit me that 10K was now a short distance run, 6 months after my first race that I felt like I was going to die after.
I ran on and off throughout the rest of 2011 and 2012.
January 1, 2013 I determined that it was time to get back on track for the Marathon, and ran for the first time in 1.5 months. I signed up for the Heartbreaker Half Marathon on February 9th, and did surprisingly well for the first 11 miles, but the hills had taken their toll on my joints, and I limped the last 2+ miles to cross the finish line. To add injury to injury, I had failed to put bandaids on my nipples and was bleeding pretty bad. Lessons learned I kept working out for the next month...and then got Mono which laid me out for over a month. It was now the last week of April, with the Marathon at the end of May, and I was starting from scratch. So that was a no go again. I ran a bit until the end of May, and then stopped running on May 17th.
1 year and 3 days later I ran a little, and I mean very little. From May 20th to December 15th I ran 7 times for a total of just under 7 miles.
May of 2015 I decided I need to get back into the whole running thing. I realized that if I paid an entry fee for a race, that I would absolutely run the race so as not to waste the money. And if I was going to pay and run, I was going to prepare. So I signed up for multiple races. Run for the Hills 5K on 5/30, Run the Dutch 5K* on 6/6, Canby 5k on 6/13, Hubbard Hop-fest 10K on 7/18, Oktoberfest Half on 9/19, and the Newport Half on 10/17. The * is because Run the Dutch is listed as 5K, but is really only 2.75 miles. I did a lot of running and training, and felt pretty good about it all...until the last race. The Newport Half is a killer for someone who does all their running on flat terrain. In fairness it is mostly flat, but does include a climb up, over, and down a “mountain”, which you have to do twice. First time through I was golden. Second time through coming downhill destroyed my knees. So just like the Heartbreaker, I ended up limping the last mile or so. To add insult to injury, Crazy Darrell and his significantly better half Heidi were there as well. As I was limping through the dunes one of the race officials was walking the course backwards and appeared to be checking on the participants still on the course. When he got to me, he asked if my name was “Allen”. I told him yes, and asked why he knew my name. He told me that my “friend” was worried because I hadn’t finished yet. Thanks a lot for that Darrell. So I come out of the Dunes and Darrell and Heidi are sitting in their car. Darrell gets out and walks with me. As we are walking we chat and he keeps looking back over his shoulder. With about a 1/4 mile to go he looks back yet again, then tells me I need to step it up a bit because the elderly lady behind me is catching up and I can’t let her pass me. Darrell is super-competitive, whereas me, not so much. I let him know I appreciate his attempt at motivating me, however I don’t care if she passes me, because I am only in a race against myself. I finished, did a post race 5k run a week later, and called it a year.
2016 rolls around, and I thought the previous years plan had worked out pretty well, so I would try the same plan, but this year I would have Jan-Apr to get back into running shape. Plan worked out pretty well. I ran Run for the Hills 5K on 5/21, Run the Dutch 5K* on 6/4, Canby 5K on 6/11, Oktoberfest Half on 9/17, and called it a year a week later having run 6.79miles on 9/24. I had signed up for the Hubbard Hop-Fest 10K again, but it was cancelled, and I had no desire to do the Newport Half again. So another year with lots of training and races, and all of my times were better than the previous year.
2017 was not much of a running year for me. I went on 12 runs, including the Canby 5K, and ran a total of just over 23 miles. My last run was July 6th which was just after transitioning from being laid off from Nike and starting work as a consultant.
I went 13 months without running. I ran twice in 2018, 3.42 miles on 8/10 and 1.77 miles on 10/27.
In 2019 I was working with a client in New Hampshire, and they were having a Step Challenge which started in May that they talked me into joining. I figured that if I had to be out walking, I might as well be running, and If I am going to be running, I should have a goal, and realized that it was almost the time of year for the Newport Marathon. Now I am not insane, so I knew there was no chance that I would be able to go from zero to a Marathon in less than a month, but thought that setting the goal of preparing for the 2020 Marathon would be more realistic, give me a whole year to prepare, which would provide ample time to overcome the injuries/illnesses which were almost guaranteed to occur. And since I had been traveling a lot and racking up miles, another thought occurred to me. My sister Cami and my cousin Shaylee had both gotten into running previously, so I called them up, told them about my goal, and then offered to fly them out to Oregon if they wanted to join me in attempting the Marathon. They both agreed (it took a little while for Cami to come around) and our plans were set! I then went about scheduling all the other races that would help me prepare. Molalla Freedom 5K on 7/4, Manchester 5K on 8/8, Tillamook Bay 10K on 8/17, Oktoberfest Half on 9/19, Beaver Fever Sprint triathlon on 10/13, Eola Hills 10K on 11/16, and Daimler Holiday 10K on 12/8. For 2019 I ended up going on 90 runs for a total of 317.65 miles!
2020 I picked up where I left off. I signed up for the Heartbreaker half on 2/16, the Shamrock Half on 3/15, HITS Napa Olympic Tri on 4/5, and the Newport Marathon on 5/30. My plan was set and I was feeling pretty good about it all...then the pandemic happened. I ran the Heartbreaker, but the rest of the races got cancelled. I did a “Virtual” Shamrock Half. I then got sick and had no place to swim so I ended up not doing the Olympic Tri in April. We are now 3 days away from what should have been the Newport Marathon, and I am determined to attempt to complete my goal, even though the official race has been cancelled. I have gone on 48 runs for a total of 211.46 miles so far. 92.08 of those miles are this month alone. I have a 2 mile walk on Friday and then the Marathon on Saturday, so that should put me over 120 miles in the month of May!
I am feeling really good about my preparation. I did a 22 mile run on 5/16 and found out that my Keto running on fat only gets me to 18 miles, so I ate some candy and drank a coke, and was able to finish the final miles feeling pretty good. I have made appropriate arrangements (Reeses PB Cups and Coke) which my family will bring to me as I start my 4th circuit which should be about 18-19 miles in.
I started this blog years ago in anticipation of completing a marathon while being moderately obese. This weekend I plan on officially earning the title of “Marathoner!”
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