See BamaDave Run (and Lift)

[kmwest]

A very late Good Luck... how'd you do?

[BamaDave]

It sucked. 3:31:28. My second worst time, with Boston being the worst one and 27 minutes slower than Rocket City 2005 and my PR. :rolleye s::rolleye s: I've been having problems all day with my internet connection, and this is the first time I have been able to connect.

I started out feeling really good - the ITB problem was barely noticeable. The temps were cold, but it was sunny and no wind - so no weather issues at all. It warmed up fast. Then in mile TWO, my right calf seized up on me. It had been bothering me the past couple of days as well, but I rolled it and thought it would be fine. It was bad enough at first that I thought I was going to have to bail out, but I kept going, and it gradually got better and became tolerable. But that really seemed to set the tone for the whole day. Between the ITB on the left and the calf on the right, I just never seemed to develop a fluid run. I only stayed on sub-3:00 pace through mile 4 and then started gradually dialing it down, hoping that I could find some pace that would be tolerable. At first, I was hoping I could hold it together for a PR, but that fell apart fairly quickly as well, and I was already slower than PR ave. pace by the 11th mile. My legs just felt fatigued for most of the run. It wasn't really awful until around mile 21 or so - then those last 5 miles were a death march basically. So I can't even really feel that I got a good training run out of it - this was really a bomb and slower than most of my long runs around here. Post-run, the ITB problem around my knee is very painful... I can barely walk or put pressure on it all.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, considering that I was literally WALKING with a limp on Thursday and was walking with at least some pain much of yesterday. In fact mile 25 was 11:21!

I think I need to re-evaluate my training and try to go back to what I did before Rocket City 2005, which was less miles than this year, more weights (including CrossFit), and more semi-fast runs plus some tempo and interval work. I seem to respond to that better. My two most intense training cycles were before Boston and before this one and, well, the results tell the story. Two disasters. I think I'm just flamed out by the time marathon day rolls around. I probably peaked this time around the 1/2-M four weeks
ago.

But I have plenty of time to worry about that and re-evaluate, because I'm not planning any Spring full marathons. I have my one or two trail 50K's coming up in Jan. and Feb., but those will be very different. I'm still hopeful for good experiences with those -- assuming I can get this ITB thing cleared up. The calf thing should be temporary - I wouldn't have been surprised by it at mile 22, but at mile TWO it was pretty demoralizing.

Water under the bridge!!!

[kuri]

Hey you got out there and finished and learned alot about yourself and your training in the process. Your better for it now just apply what you've learned.

[UpNorth]

I'm sorry it wasn't your day Dave, but as always, you've put the right perspective on it. Take care of your leg.

[Marykaa]

You really have a great attitude Dave. Congrat on that! And I totally agree with what Kuri said and I couldn't have said it as well.

If you're thinking of re-doing your yearly training , maby check out the book Periodization Training for Sports..Maybe it talks more about the strength training than how much to run.. but at 19,95 $ US I think it's really a must have for anyone who prepares their own program to trainfor a sport.

good luck

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Dave, I'm sorry to hear that it just didn't go your way yesterday. But, I'm way impressed how you gutted it out. I know how demoralizing 11:00 minute miles were for me, I just can't imagine how tough they were for you with how high you've set the bar in your other races. Take all the time you need to recover well. You have such a good outlook on the whole thing that once you find the sweet spot in your training, sub-3 will be a breeze.

[kmwest]

Sorry to hear about this Dave. But you can, and will, use this as a learning experience and adjust your training accordingly.

[BamaDave]

Thanks, everyone. I'm still having major internet connection problems and haven't been able to log back on until now. Bellsouth's wonderful service -- remember the Lily Tomlin skit.."We don't care, we don't have to. We're the phone company."

This ITB/knee thing is really annoying. I foam rolled this morning. It helped somewhat, but if I sit or lie down for any length of time, it reverts back to severe pain upon standing or walking. Stretching the ITB also helps somewhat but it reverts back. I don't know how I'm going to wobble around at work tomorrow. LOL!! I may need crutches. This is the first time I've ever had a debilitating running-related problem.

Ironically, if it wasn't for this one issue, I would be recovering really fast from yesterday. OTOH, if I didn't have this problem, I probably would have run faster for a longer period of time yesterday and would have generally more toasted legs.

These were my mile laps from yesterday. 6:52 is just under 3:00 pace, and 7:02 was my pace from last year's PR:

1- 6:52
2- 6:49 (that was with the calf pain - so I probably much of the mile near 6:30 and then slowed down)
3- 6:52
4- 6:51
5- 6:57
6- 7:01 (forget the sub-3:00, maybe I can stay on this pace for 20 more miles - LOL)
6.2- 1:27 (42:52 10K split)
7- 5:46 (total of 7:13 for mile 7 === not good!)
8- 7:10 (I guess no PR either!)
9- 7:14
10- 7:19 (high fived a long row of people here - sort of like a mini-Boston moment)
11- 7:08
12- 7:18
13- 7:39
13.1 - 00:50 (1/2-M split = 1:33:20)
14- 6:45 (total for mile 14 = 7:35 )
15- 7:30
16- 8:02 (oh no!!)
17- 8:06
18- 8:28 (help!)
19- missed
20- 17:28 for 19 and 20 or average pace of 8:44
21- 9:05 (save me!)
22- 9:35 (I need a wheelchair!)
23- 10:06
24- 9:40
25- 11:37
26- 9:45
26.2 - 1:33 (7:20 pace)

Other notes --

*This is a great marathon. The mile markers are in the right place and correctly marked. The course is well-marked and well-staffed. The Aid stations are well staffed. And for a registration as low as $45, you get a Nike Tech shirt with the Rocket City logo, a finisher's cap (okay, so it kind of looks like something your grandpa would wear to play golf, but still a nice bonus), a finisher's medal, and decent post-race food and aid if needed (massage). Plus the field is pretty competitive. It's an older marathon and attracts a number of out-of-towners. The course is not all that scenic, but I never pay much attention to scenery while racing anyway. A lot of it is suburban neighborhoods. The only negative is that a big chunk (7 or 8 miles) is continuous on 4-lane roads, which gets monotonous and annoying with traffic passing on the left. It's also bad if it's windy, which fortunately it wasn't yesterday.

*I wore a Univ. of Michigan sweatshirt from Salvation Army for the first 7 or 8 miles. I couldn't believe how many comments I got. Every group of people had to shout, "Go Michigan!" or "Go Wildcats!" or "Ohio State's that way, you better catch them!" Most of the time, I didn't feel up to telling them, "I'm not really from Michigan." I actually was relieved to pitch the sweatshirt at an aid station so it could go right back to charity. Before the race, a guy from Lansing, Michigan started talking to me (because of the ssweatshirt). He was annoyed about the weather, because he thought it would be mild and instead it was the coldest marathon he had ever run. LOL! It was 19 degrees at the race start, apparently.

*There was a guy running in a Hawaiian shirt with a green lei who came up behind me somewhere in the 20's. Every minute or so he would let us these loud agonizing roars or screams. At first I thought he was insevere pain, but he kept doing it over and over. Plus he was flailing his arms like a freakin' chicken. Now I find it funny, but at the time I was ready to tackle him to the ground by grabbing that green lei around his neck and tell him to STFU!!! I think he was just one of those really over-the-top dramatic, loud people... but I didn't notice that anyone thought he was funny in the final few miles of a marathon. LOL!!

[tridude]

Dave, way to hang in there and finish. A lot of people would've probably bailed. I have a race report coming, but I had a pretty good one. 3:49 for me, which is beyond anything I thought I could do. I was shooting for sub-4, but I had this in me at this point. Anyway, good race. You'll be back with a vengeance next time.

[BamaDave]

Thanks, Brett. Congrats on your excellent run!! Looking forward to the report - way to go!!

[jruck37]

Even though you didn't achieve your ultimate time goal, any time you can run a marathon is a pretty amazing achievement, especially if you're pushing through an injury. Good job!

[GG300]

Sorry you didn't have a better race but congrats on gutting it out. It speaks alot of your character, cramping up and looking at another 24 miles makes finishing pretty amazing.

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Originally Posted by GG300

Sorry you didn't have a better race but congrats on gutting it out. It speaks alot of your character, cramping up and looking at another 24 miles makes finishing pretty amazing.

Nice point. I cramped up at 20 not 2 and thought it was rough!

[BamaDave]

Thanks guys!! It did cramp up at mile 2, but it wasn't miserable by any means except for a short period until I worked it out. So I wasn't in severe pain for 24 more miles, although I do think the problems on both legs are what made my legs fatigue really early. And there was definitely more pain to some degree for almost the entire run compared with previous marathons. The final few miles were awful, but that's not uncommon in a marathon.

I'm now wondering whether I should have just dropped out at mile 2, because I'm on crutches, can't put any weight on my left leg at all without severe pain, and am on my way to a Sports Med doc for the first time ever this afternoon. Hopefully I'll get a diagnosis and can get this taken care of relatively quickly. Right now I am glad that I haven't regsitered for the January 50K, in case I wind up not being able to run for several weeks. Hopefully it won't mess up the February 50K, if I can't do that one in January. If so, I might change my mind about a Spring marathon, since I don't think Rocket City drained my legs the way a race pace one normally would.

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Man, Dave that blows!!!

I really hope it nothing serious and that some rest will be all you need. Let us know what the doc says.

[Buk]

That is awful to hear Dave! Hopefully the Doc can get you back to 100% quickly. Sorry that your race didn't go better; but believe me, we all have those days.

[Marykaa]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

I'm now wondering whether I should have just dropped out at mile 2, because I'm on crutches, can't put any weight on my left leg at all without severe pain, and am on my way to a Sports Med doc for the first time ever