Unfit for Duty

Preparing for a run at my house is an ordeal. From the dog getting all worked up and in the way at the first thought of running to my, as of late, wishy-washy son. Today he was a wash and did not want to go for a run because he wanted chocolate milk instead. However, the report I heard upon returning was that after approximately two minutes of my departure, once his chocolate milk was all gone, my son realized I had left and began screaming that he wanted his dad and his dog (cute, kind of… even cuter being told the story rather than witnessing it first hand – or ear).

So the dog and I set out on what I thought would be a fairly uneventful run. We even went further than we would have had my son been with us. The problem was, I don’t recall when the last time I ran with just the dog. In hindsight, I believe the stroller keeps the dog somewhat in line. Tonight, the dog started running in front of me, then to the left and to the right. That in itself is not too problematic. Although not conducive to good running form, I still have control of him when he runs out in front of me, for the most part – passersby beware. It’s when he begins to run behind me that I worry, and when he laps me – with only a six foot leash. I lost count of the number of times he clipped my feet from behind me. Once we got home I demoted him and declared him unfit for duty, which is a shame because I just praised his running prowess yesterday. After dinner, the dog and I had a long heart to heart talk and decided to take a step back and dedicate some time to remedial running obedience and etiquette (no tripping, no lapping). On second thought, I hope that before the next run we don’t have any chocolate milk and that my son will want to run with us.

Back on Track

Running in the cool fall weather makes the post marathon recovery easy. I’m getting back on track and feeling great. Tonight my son, dog, and I went for a three miler in a brisk wind. We could have gone for a lot longer if it weren’t for the darkness setting in. I think our dog enjoys the cooler weather too. I can’t remember the last time the two of us were running stride for stride rather than one of us (the four-legged one) trying to get ahead by a mile while on a six foot tether. I have an email in to the race director for next month’s 5K asking about strollers in the race. Hopefully strollers will be tolerated and my son will participate in the race.

What's Next

I went on a short run this evening with my son and our dog. The legs are still a little sore, but not too bad. I think I am recovering well, which, aside from not hurting everywhere, is encouraging because it indicates that my training prepared my body for the rigors of a marathon and built it strong enough to recover quickly. So where do I go from here? Running a marathon is what got me up and out the door all those early mornings. For the next couple of weeks I will focus on rest and easy runs. I did sign up for a 5K next month (15 Nov) that is being held as a fundraiser for one of our local high school cross country teams. I do not aspire to run as fast as I absolutely can at that race, but it should be fun. If the race director allows, I'll even push my son in the race. He'll like that.

A couple of my friends are registered for the National Marathon (21 Mar) and will begin their training cycle next month. I’ll probably join them on some of their long runs because I do want to maintain this fitness level, but mostly because I like the long run.

A Quick Look Back

I looked back through my training log and my marathon splits. Obviously, I overestimated my ability by about ten minutes. However, this is one of the aspects I find alluring about marathoning; until I gain more experience, I won't know the maximum pace I can maintain for the entire race. With shorter race distances, I can push the pace over the race distance in training to get a feel for my race capabilities, yet still adequately recover within a few days. During the marathon evolution, I get one shot – race day. I've been in email contact with one of my friends since the marathon. He is a 2:40ish marathoner and says that a good rule of thumb is to take a recent half-marathon time, double it and add ten minutes to get a realistic marathon prediction. That rule applies well to me. About two weeks prior to Baltimore, I ran a half-marathon training run in 1:40. Doubling that and adding ten minutes is 3:30, while my actual time was 3:32.

I was pretty sore on Sunday, although I was still able to move around and take care of some work in the yard. I was less sore yesterday and feeling better today. This is the first time this year that I have taken three consecutive days off from running. I am going to go for a short and easy run tomorrow to test drive the legs.

Baltimore Marathon - Race Report

Running strong for two-thirds of a marathon means coming up one-third short. I executed my race plan beautifully over the first eighteen miles and ran near even splits at a 7:40 per mile pace. Shortly into the nineteenth mile I began having fatigue, dehydration, and energy issues – or to put it another way, I was on a crash course with a wall. I still finished, just not in the energetic fashion I envisioned, although I did manage to throw my arms up for the obligatory finish line photo. With a time goal of 3:20, I completed the twenty-six point two in 3:32. Aside from that, I have a lot of positives to take away from the entire marathon process, which for me began in May when I registered for the event.

I thought the entire Baltimore Running Festival was well organized and an enjoyable event. The course is very challenging, especially the second half. Running through the neighborhoods was a lot of fun and I tried to slap hands with every little kid who had his or her hand up for a high five. The lap around Fort McHenry was nice and serene before heading back to the large crowd at the Inner Harbor. A couple of my friends volunteered at a water stop near the half way point, and because of the layout of the course I got to see them twice, which was cool. Apparently, they even saw me finish, but by that point I was oblivious to anything other than the food and water on the other side of the finish line.

A BIG THANKS to the Gummy Bear People near mile 23. Those guys rock! And then there was a guy dressed in a tiger suit dancing on the top of a car with Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger blaring from a radio near mile 24. Hey, you don’t see that every day, but that’s one of the many things that make marathons fun.

My wife and son did not attend the race because I left well before their normal waking time – and it is best to not wake sleeping two-year-olds, or at least my sleeping two-year-old. When I got home, I showed my son my finisher’s medal. He was impressed. Tomorrow he is going to help me pack it up so I can donate my medal to Medals4Mettle. M4M gifts donated marathon finisher’s medals to people displaying strength and courage while dealing with a disease or handicap. I ran a marathon yesterday and experienced some discomfort, but I think people that put forth that type of effort every day are more deserving of a medal than am I.

Marathon Week!

Marathon week is finally here and I can’t wait to get started on Saturday morning. Physically, I am as ready as I can be given my fitness level. I have familiarized myself with the course as best as possible without actually running it – much thanks to google maps. And now I am just going crazy in this phase of training called the taper. My legs, however, have not complained about the reduced mileage over the past two weeks. In fact, they feel pretty good, and I can’t wait to see how fast they will carry me over the twenty-six point two! If all goes well, I will be off from work on Friday and be able to take my son to the race expo. Should be a good time; the expo is in M&T Bank Stadium - Home of the Baltimore Ravens.

A Wail of a Run

My son, dog, and I went for a quick run in the cool October air last evening. Unfortunately for the rest of the town, my son was taking advantage of his last month in the “terrible twos.” Nothing that either my wife or I did was satisfactory to his desires (that must be rough). Anyway, I thought the best thing for him would be some fresh air while he was strapped into the seat of his running stroller. And it was, except this two-year-old filibusterer was wailing about his parents’ perceived injustices for most of the run. Even the dog was howling. So, to the town of Perryville, I apologize for last night’s outburst. Funny thing is, when we got back home, he wanted to know why we were done so soon.