Run Life's Course: July 2009

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Mind Over Matter

Note to self: What this knee wrap does not do for my ITB, my mind will have to overcome. After your return trip over the Golden Gate Bridge, you are almost halfway done. Be sure to take a picture with your Blackberry.
And we're off!
Mile 1 - No pain.
Mile 3 - A little pinch at the water stop. And here comes a hill, not elevation, but a mountain. Yeah I am walking this.
Mile 5 - Fog and all, I can see the Golden Gate Bridge. I take out my Blackberry and snap pictures because it is time to conquer.
Mile 7 - 11 - The adrenaline of running over the bridge is motivating me. Scenic routes are everything. Just don't look down and panic. I don't feel any pain because I am on Cloud 9 or maybe FOG 9. It is all good and I made it.
Mile 12 - 13 - A well-organized marathon is awesome. Half-marathoners are on another path - FABULOUS!
Mile 16 - Our mile 16 is the finish line for the half marathoners. Job well done guys! That's the motivation we need to finish our last 10 miles. Woohoo!!! Let's get it.
Mile 17...until I stopped for Cytomax (BTW is better than Gatorade on anyday). As I began to run again I could not. Every stop was painful. It is taking me over 2 minutes for my leg to be able to bend to start running. My leg is totally locking up. Come on ITB - ease up, loosen up, let me finish. And I slowly begin to jog in pain. A man walks up behind me and places his hand on my back. I turn around and he put his fist out for the "wonder-twin-powers activate" touch.
Mile 19 - I stop again and the leg just locks. This is crazy!!! I have 7 more miles to go. My wonder-twin-powers buddy is at the water stop. In his Eastern European accent, he says "You've got it! Let's go!"
Mile 20 - 24 - He was right. I do have it as long as I don't stop. Keep going T! You're almost done.
Mile 24 - I am dehydrated so I must stop for water. A pacer is passing and I force myself to face the pain and start running. I ran with the pacer and pacer followers to the finish line with the last strength in me.
Mile 26.2 - The Finish was the best! It taught me that through every pain, you must endure. It is about mind over matter.
Note to self: Prepare for 4 days of pain. Mind over matter that!!!

San Francisco Check-In

The ITB issue has moved from the left leg to the right leg. I only signed up for this race because this evil manager at this project has me at my boiling point. If I don't exercise I am going to lose my mind, cuss someone out at the office, make someone mad that does not deserve it, or have a mental breakdown. None of these are options so I am going to run another marathon.
I land at SFO with a mindset of purchasing an ITB wrap to allow me to run. If I can't buy it, I am not running because the pain is way way way way worse than post-26 mile runs. The leg just locks up and you feel like you are going to break your leg if you bend it.
I arrive at the expo and head straight to the vendors and bypass the bib pickup. Every gimmick possible is on display and for sale. After roaming around for 15 minutes, I see the wrap that I need and purchase it. Feeling much better, I go pick up my bib and tech tee shirt. Now off to Left Bank for a fabulous French brunch and a check-into the hotel.

Marathon Results and Snippets

Too Many More To Add
05.15.11 - Pasadena (5:30:27) - The ultimate challenge is to run another marathon the day after a PR. But in the rain? It rained the first 11 miles. (I thought it did not rain in Southern California.) I should have returned to the car and driven back to the hotel. Here we go again with the half marathoners and the marathoners running together until mile 10. I was running but my legs couldn't sustain it after mile 10. I walked for 2.5 miles and ran every 3 minutes for the race during the hills. No electrolyte drinks for almost 5 mile stretches. No pretzels, salt, or other "push you through" food. Shout out to the neighborhood family that gave us Vanilla Wafers and Jolly Ranchers in a Ziploc bag. Nothing like running with a Vanilla Wafers bag but this was my "electrolyte". I had to stop at a local store to get a Mountain Dew to finish the race. The nerve of one of the race coordinators to ask where I got my Mountain Dew when they had no Gatorade on the course. Paramedics were plentiful and not Kaiser Permanente. Thank goodness. Overall not well organized.
05.14.11 - Palos Verdes (4:33:31 PR) - Community marathon it is but for a great charitable cause. You can register the morning of the race. The views of the Pacific Ocean are the only high point outside of the HILLS HILLS HILLS and more HILLS. A little drizzle during the marathon was bearable. Mental toughness is required as you past the finish line three times before it is actually your finish. Running back through the original starting line is no fun. It felt more like a long run around some neighborhoods rather than a marathon. Water stops has minimal water and even less electrolyte drinks. They use the old school chips. Less than 1 foot after crossing the finish line, you are expected to stop suddenly so they can collect the chips. A practice long run at best.
03.26.11 - National (4:46:05) - The marathon that couldn't end soon enough! Cheap bootleg expo across from RFK Stadium. 29 degrees at the start and 33 at the finish. The host hotel offered one shuttle to the start every hour. Half marathoners started the same time as the marathoners and there was NO split. The first mile marker we saw was at mile 10. The streets could not hold the number of runners with the parked cars. Get this! Half marathoners were being encouraged that they only had 100 feet to go to the finish as we had to a) run past their finish line, b) run around RFK stadium as they are going to their parked cars, and c) run back through the original starting line. THE WORST!!! I am not into crowd support but if you are, don't run this marathon. They did have water and electrolyte stops at every mile after mile 15. Lo and behold, there were mile markers too after mile 15. I can't forget the loop around the bucket at mile 22. There was a long stretch to the finish that had no "glory" that you were anywhere near the finish line - no signage, no cheers, no "you're almost there", no NOTHING! After experiencing the longest marathon ever, I had no way of getting back to the hotel. The police said "take a subway". REALLY? NOT! S I waited 20 minutes to hail the only taxi to go to the hotel. I had the taxi stop to pick up three other marathoners to take them to their cars. Disgusted!
03.20.11 - Georgia (4:54:49) - A great challenge for a flat course runner with 18 miles of hills and 6 miles of near flat terrain. Half marathoners started at the same time but split at mile 6. Plenty of room in the streets to handle the crowds. If you're into crowd support, don't be! I must have been delusional to think Atlanta was flat in all my business travel. The last hill ended around mile 25. The finish was the best. Within 20 feet of the medal was the photo area and the post-race food and two blocks to the hotel. Perfectly organized non-major marathon with volunteers exemplifying the best Southern Hospitality.

Run Life's Course

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Mind Over Matter

San Francisco Check-In

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