26.22
2.68
23.56
I have heard an example demonstrating the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge is knowing that Tomato is as fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
Today I gained both Knowledge and Wisdom...
As detailed in previous posts, I have long been clinically obese, and I have had the goal of completing a marathon. The first number, 26.22, represents this goal as it is the number of miles needed to complete a marathon. This is the number that has eluded me for the past 9 years. After several stops and starts, a year ago I re-set the goal of completing the Newport Marathon, which was scheduled for today. And for the past year I have faithfully been preparing.
But then Corona happened, and the race was canceled. Not to be deterred, I made preparations for my own, personal marathon. This morning I awoke and made the appropriate preparations:
Fat bombs and walnuts for breakfast: ✓
Shower: ✓
BM#1: ✓
Nips taped: ✓
Nooks and Crannies lubed: ✓
Electrolyte Hydration Pack: ✓
BM#2: X
In run “Nutrition”: ✓
With preparations mostly completed I headed out the door. Goal for the day was multi-tiered...
Overall Goal - JUST FINISH
Satisfactory - Finish in 6:30:00 (14:52/mile)
Very Happy - Finish in 6:15:00 (14:18/mile)
Over-the-moon - Finish in under 6:00:00 (13:44/mile)
Since I had completed a 22 miler 2 weeks ago at a 14:09/mile pace, I felt pretty confident, and planned on doing a 13:30 (13:25-13:35) pace for as long as I could.
Mile 1: 13:25 - Feeling good and heart rate is good.
Mile 2: 13:32 - Plan is definitely a go
And now we get to the second number...2.68 miles in and my left calf calls BS and turns into a ball of pain. This makes no sense. I ran 3.11 miles at a 10:09 pace a week and a half ago with no issues. In fact I haven’t had any issues at during the past 9 months. I am stopped dead in my tracks as I try to massage and stretch it to get it to release. It releases, but is still very painful and feels like it could seize up again any second. DECISION TIME!
Option 1: Accept that today is not my day, go home, rehab the calf, and live to attempt the marathon another day.
Option 2: Keep pushing until my body just can’t go anymore, possibly risking long-term damage
One of my all-time favorite quotes is, “There is no chance, no fate, no destiny that can circumvent, hinder, or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.”
I am determined... and I quickly decide on option 2, but in order to keep close to my planned pace, I am gonna have to step it up a bit to make up for this lost time.
Mile 3: 13:42 - A bit disappointed that I have already blown my plan, but had a thought come to my mind. Calf felt better the faster I went. Maybe, just maybe the calf cramped because I was targeting a specific pace.
Screw it. All plans are out the window. I am going to run by feel, instead of targeting a specific pace.
Mile 4: 13:14 - Wow, that lightning to the north and south is kind of cool to watch. And now here comes the rain...
Mile 5: 13:10 - Fortunately it looks like the main storm cells will be missing me.
Mile 6: 12:59 - Holy crap! I can’t believe this is working. I mean my calf still hurts, but it is down to a 2.5 out of 10.
Oh, oh. Looks like it is time to complete my last “unfinished” preparation. Luckily I am close to home and can make a quick pit stop.
BM#2: ✓
Mile 7: 16:04 - I can live with that considering the unanticipated downtime.
Mile 8: 12:20 - Rain has stopped! And I made up for some of the lost time!
Mile 9: 12:50
Mile 10: 12:47
Mile 11: 12:51 - I can’t believe how fast I am going!
Mile 12: 13:42 - Nearly choked to death because I tried eating a peanut butter cup while running. I’m not even kidding. Got lodged in my throat, and fortunately I had lungs half-full of air, and was able to forcefully cough it out. Had to walk that one off a bit.
Mile 13: 15:04 - Still walking for a bit...stupid peanut butter cup.
Mile 14: 12:47 - Yes, back in the saddle!
Mile 15: 13:03
Mile 16: 13:30 - Oh, oh. Experiencing some gastro-intestinal discomfort.
Mile 17: 17:12 - Yep, we have Threat Level: Brown. Luckily I am circling back by my house, but have to perform the infamous “clench-shuffle” for about a half mile. Maybe it will settle back down...
Mile 18: 13:30 - It DID NOT settle back down. Time is now a factor. Gotta risk lengthening my stride.
The elusive BM#3... ✓
Mile 19: 32:05 - Fortunately I made it home. Apparently my plan of using sugar as “Nitro” after having been strictly Keto for a while has had some unanticipated effects.
At this point there are a couple concerns. I am fairly certain there is absolutely, positively nothing left in my system, so should be safe for the final loop, but I have now been sitting for almost 20 minutes. How are my muscles going to respond? I had built up enough cushion with my faster pace that I am still at an average pace of 13:40, which means I am still on track to finish in under 6 hours.
Heading out, my legs are indeed stiff, so I mix walking and running...
Mile 20: 15:09 - CRAP! I think I have been unconsciously accommodating my left calf. My right knee and hip are SCREAMING! The visions I had of not only completing my first marathon, but absolutely crushing it are now slipping away.
SPOILER ALERT: I end up crying the rest of the run. Partly because of the pain, partly because of the disappointing realization that running is now no longer an option. I am gonna have to walk.
Mile 21: 18:58
Mile 22: 19:38 - This is the furthest I had ever run previously, so every step is a new record for me, BUT every step is a test. For the past half hour I have wanted to call a life-line. Have my kids come and pick me up. I am still heading “away” from home.
Mile 23:19:06 - This is torture.
Mile 24: 18:45 - I no longer care HOW this ends, just so long as it ends. Pull into the high-school track for some needed laps. My loop that I completed 4 times is gonna leave me short.
Mile 25: 19:00 - At this point I am mad, and so help me, I will crawl if I have to.
Mile 26: 19:14 - Walking through my neighborhood, sobbing nearly uncontrollably. Nathan has already prepared a cold bath for me.
OK, I am not gonna get screwed on a technicality. I need 26.22, but am not sure if Garmin rounds to the nearest hundredth, so I am gonna make sure I get to 26.23 before I hit “Stop”.
I am so distracted by pain and tears that I get to the park, look down and see 26.24 on my Garmin. Hit the stop button, but still have a little bit to go before getting home.
I am a blubbering mess.
Get home, and find my cold bath. It is just cold water from the tap. Bring me all the ice in the house!
I am not going to be able to walk right for days, but I did it. I. DID. NOT. QUIT.
So lets close out by circling back to that whole Knowledge vs Wisdom concept, which brings me to the third number.
I learned today that I can will myself 23.56 miles through pain. That is knowledge I did not have before today.
The wisdom is that I now know that I will never do that again.
Oh, I nearly forgot...
CURSE. YOU. DARRELL!
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
2020-05-27 It’s all coming together
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!”
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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