Friday, July 30, 2010

The better late than never SLC marathon report

Previously titled On April 17th I ran 13.1 miles...and I liked it!


I began writing this a week or two after SLC back in April. When I was about 3/4 thru it I got sidetracked for various reasons and have just finally managed to get back to it and finish it up. So, for what it's worth, here's my summary of our adventures in SLC this past April.

It was quite an experience. A flood of emotions went through my mind as I crossed the finish line. Joy, exhaustion, pain, and a great sense of accomplishment. As I recall, it was last fall when Sue mentioned to me that Sherry was going to challenge Ross and myself to run the half marathon in Salt Lake City this year. Almost immediately I liked the idea although I wasn't sure about committing to it. I started to run a couple of years ago, but my effort lasted about a month. Beginning in the summer and no clearly defined goal probably led to my giving up quickly. But here was something to shoot for.

I began to do a bit of running in December, but Christmas and weather kept it to a minimum, so nothing got seriously underway until a week or so into January. The months of January and February were challenging weather-wise, but I kept at it and began to build some stamina. I was originally under the impression that the SLC Marathon was during the summer. I think, because the last half marathon Sue had run with Sherry and Curtis was late last summer (I didn't realize that wasn't at Salt Lake City). It was nearly the end of February when I was informed the SLC event was in the middle of April. Suddenly my training time was down to about a month and a half! So I kept at it and tried to increase my distance more quickly than I had originally intended. I ran regularly but had only a couple of 6-mile runs under my belt as my longest efforts before the event was upon us.

Sue and I flew to Salt Lake City on April 15th, arriving a day after Sherry and Curtis, who had driven down from Sand Point.

In Thais and Leslie's backyard Thursday afternoon.

We enjoyed a nice afternoon and went and ate dinner at a small "health food" restaurant. Then that evening we went to a nearby park and ran a quick three miles around the park together.

Friday morning, we took our time getting ready in the morning then headed down to the Salt Palace to pick up our race packets and look around the pre-race expo. After we we spent some time browsing around the expo, we headed over to The Gateway to walk around and do a bit of shopping. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Finally we headed on home to get dinner going.

We skipped the official marathon's Pasta Dinner, and made our own. Sherry had a great recipe and her, Curtis, Sue and Thais ran over and around each other in the kitchen fixing dinner. It was a great meal and we almost managed to leave no leftovers. Everyone tried to get to bed earlier because the marathon started at 7 AM so we would be getting an early start.

I had run a quick 3-miler Wednesday evening before leaving Oklahoma. After the run I was a bit troubled by some pain on the inside of my left ankle. Thursday morning it wasn't any better, but I hoped it would ease by Saturday. Unfortunately, after our group run Thursday evening, the ankle was even more sore on Friday. I was definitely getting concerned as I was getting ready to run more than twice as far as I had ever run before. At the pre-race expo, a booth was selling a new kind of athletic tape, "KT Tape", endorsed and used by professional athletes and Olympians. It claimed to help a lot of different sports injuries and said it came with clear, illustrated instructions for application. The price wasn't bad ($12.99 for a package), so I finally decided to take a chance and try it. As we got ready Saturday morning, I taped up my left ankle altering the instructions for taping up shin splints a bit since my problem was in my ankle rather than my shin.

When everyone was ready, we took a quick group photo in the living room for posterity.

The intrepid runners

Finally, we all loaded into Curtis and Sherry's SUV and headed to the race start. We arrived at the marathon/half marathon starting area round 6:40. It was packed, with long bathroom lines and people handing off drop bags to be taken to the finish.

Arriving at the starting area.

It was cool (temp about 50) and a bit windy, so it was a bit nippy in the light running clothes we all had on. Sue and I stood in a bathroom line for a few minutes, but since it didn't seem to be going anywhere we all headed for the starting line. Standing in the middle of the crowd eased the chill in the air quite a bit from the mass of body heat and the effect of blocking the wind. Finally, an official at the starting line (the SLC mayor?) began formally welcoming everyone and introduced a recently returned vet who sang the national anthem. After a bit more talking the race finally got underway. We slowly shuffled with the crowd toward the starting line, and once we got to it, we broke into a trot.

Waiting in the crowd for the start.

For the first couple of miles, it remains pretty crowded as everyone jockeys for position and tries to find the space to run at their own pace. You find yourself working around a lot of slower runners while faster runners weave in and out working toward the front of the pack. We hit a nice, easy pace of about 10 minutes a mile and maintained that easily for the first several miles. The full marathon broke off from the half marathon at around the 4 mile mark so Curtis left our small group and Sherry, Sue and I kept going together. We stopped around the 5 mile mark for a bathroom break. There was a fairly short line but we still ended up there for 8 or 9 minutes before we all got our business taken care of.

We took off again and kept our 10 minute/mile pace. Around this time, my right ankle began to bother me, feeling much like my left ankle had been the previous couple of days. The KT tape I had applied to the left ankle was doing a great job and I wasn't having any problems with it, but I was starting to think I should have taped up the right ankle too. We chugged along with Sue usually out in front of Sherry and I by 15 or 20 feet. Finally around the 8 mile mark, Sue broke into a walk. Sherry and I took her right up on the walking idea and we did that for a couple of hundred yards and discussed how we were all feeling, before beginning to run again.

Somewhere near 9 miles when Sue and I began walking again, Sherry kept on going. Besides my right ankle I was beginning to get quite a bit of pain in my right calf also. For the first time, I began to wonder a bit whether I would be able to finish. At first, if we'd walk the pain would go away and I'd feel fine, then we'd begin to run again and after just one or two hundred yards the pain would be right back. Sue was being bothered by some bowel distress so we stayed together to encourage each other through it.

The course goes thru the park where we ran Thursday evening.

On miles between miles 10 and 12 we walked more than either of us really wanted to (probably almost half of those two miles were walked), but we were trying to save up what we had left for the last mile. From mile 11 to mile 12, the course is uphill. Although it's a fairly gentle grade, it's at a point in the race where you're going to be pretty worn out. Despite the amount of walking we were doing at that point, I still took some satisfaction in the fact that when we did run we were passing those around us who were running too.

Approaching mile 11 as Sue wonders why I'm not running.
We were in this stretch when the eventual marathon winner with police escort passed us by. Almost 26 miles and he looked to have a lot more energy than Sue or I had after 11 miles. But, he was a lot younger than us too!

We finally arrived at the 12 mile mark and began running the final mile. As we began it, I was thinking "only a mile left...no problem", but we probably had only gone about a quarter mile before I was feeling the pain in my right ankle and calf and hoping I could keep going the entire mile. I was determined though, even if I had to slow down to a limping run.

On the last mile!
I managed to maintain respectable form though. Probably around a half mile from the finish, crowds began lining the street and the closer you got to the finish line, the bigger and louder the crowd got. It was definitely inspiring, and helped keep you going.

Sue and I near the finish.
Finally, the finish was in sight. With probably a couple hundred yards left, Sue picked up the pace, going for a little kick at the end. I followed suit and managed to pass her before crossing the finish line (my official time was 1 second faster than hers). After crossing the finish you were funneled into the "runners only" finish area where volunteers shoved water bottles into your hands and tables lined the path, loaded up with bananas, chocolate milk and other fuel for the runners to replenish themselves with. Crossing the finish then trotting thru this area, I had to fight back tears a couple of times as I felt overwhelmed with emotion for what I had done.

Me, somewhere near the finish.

We had to wait another two and a half hours or so for Curtis to finish the full marathon. While waiting the bag drop line to pick up our bag, Curtis called my cell phone to give a report on his progress. He was having a hard time by then and estimated he'd be another 40 or 45 minutes on the course. When we thought he should be getting near the end, we took up positions around 70 or so yards from the finish line to wait. And wait. It ended up taking him longer than he had guessed because it was getting more and more difficult for him the closer to the end he got.

Finally, we saw him come into sight. He was looking a bit worse for the wear, but he wasn't going to walk across the finish line! Sherry ran to the finish to greet him as the rest of us cheered him on. It was hard for him, but Curtis broke the 5 hour mark with just a few minutes to spare.

Curtis waves to us as he approaches the finish line.

After giving Curtis a few minutes to recover a bit, we went to check out our times before heading home. My time was 2:35:20. Everyone told me that wasn't bad for my first half marathon, but I definitely feel I could do better, so I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to beat that time.

We got home and we all got cleaned up and relaxed for a while before heading out later to get some dinner. It was a long, tiring day but very enjoyable too. Sue and I flew home the next day, arriving in Oklahoma City to a cool, rainy day.

I thoroughly enjoyed the short vacation, the half marathon and the visit with my family. Here's hoping everyone can come to OKC next year and participate in the Memorial Marathon! And looking forward to some of the younger ones participating too.



Friday, July 23, 2010

Wrong shoes?

I ran this morning and grabbed the wrong shoes. They were my old walking shoes, but Ididn't notice anything amiss in my running. It wasn't until I prepared to unlace the shoes and noticed I hadn't tied them in a knot. My running shoelaces are very long and I tie them in knots to shorten the length and not trip over them. I ran in these shoes before I bought my running shoes and felt they were all right. Kind of funny though.

Pheobe and I ran our furthest distance, still don't know how far. I have a pedometer but need to calculate my stride before it can measure distance. I think. Perhaps it would be wise to read the directions more closely. Today is a holiday which is why I could run early. The actual holiday is tomorrow, July 24th celebrating the first arrival of pioneers in the Salt Lake valley. Since the 24th is on Saturday, Friday is the day off. What that means is that I will run two mornings in a row. Yay?

Friday, July 9, 2010

First Pair of VFFs in the Wild

I ran quite a bit over the July 4th weekend. So far, weather-wise July has been more like an Oklahoma June...and June was more like a July. It was relatively cool and rainy for the holiday weekend (cool being high-70s to mid-80s). I went to a new park that Peggy suggested. I didn't even know it existed. It's called South Lake Park and is a mile or so south of Earlywine. It's a nice park with a couple of big ponds on either side and a mile and a quarter track.

I ran 5 miles there on Saturday the 3rd. Then I ran 3 miles at my usual park on the 4th then went back to South Lake Park on Monday and ran 6 miles. While on my 3rd lap or so Monday I came upon a young couple walking their dog around the track. As I got close to them I saw the guy was wearing a pair of Vibram Fivefingers. Not the same model as I have, but it was the first pair I've seen anyone in Oklahoma (besides myself) sporting. As I ran by them I said "Nice shoes!". They chuckled as the realized I was wearing a pair too.

Been kind of lazy since the weekend. I'll have to get a few miles in this weekend although the rainy weather pattern we've had is supposed to leave after today.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

running in the water

I decided to "run" in a different way-swim. There is a facility across from the street from the hospital that has a lap pool, a basketball court, etc. I thought I would try getting up early and running before work and failed abjectly. So, I decided to try swimming. I figure I will work my legs and my arms, improve my fitness and not get hot at the same time. Right now I am thinking I will swim during the week and run on Saturday morning in July and August. Then I will see what the weather does.

I swam today after work. I puffed a lot and my arms and legs needed rests frequently, but things will improve as it did when I started running. I did some laps using only my legs with the hope that it will be like running. When I arrived at the pool I was the only swimmer. The lifeguard was studying as I walked in and had to go to work. I thought about telling him I promised I wouldn't drown, but I don't think it would have made a difference.

I may have to buy some goggles to save my eyeballs. I wonder what chorine will do to my hair color?

Monday, July 5, 2010

"There is sunshine in my soul today!"

After a cool, wet holiday weekend, today arrived with more blue sky than clouds. Yay! I was getting quite irritated in my lack of summer. And being Monday, Curtis and I went to run together. We did a similar route to last week minus the beach and it was a better run overall. We had some flat, some uphill and then of course, downhill. It was good and ended out to be 9 miles! We finished it in 1.5 hours which makes me happy cause it keeps me at 10 min/miles. I have sped up a bit but that is only for the first 2-3 miles. I should probably do some speedwork like Jay. I think about it, but that is about it. Hmmm.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week of running!

~Sherry

Friday, July 2, 2010

My Turn

I guess it's my turn to say something. I have been running about twice a week due to the hot weather. I don't have much exciting to say so I haven't posted anything. I did try running barefoot about a week ago. I ran my usual trail which is 2.75 miles and after decided to take my shoes off. Mostly because I was hot and shoes were one item of clothing I could get rid of. Ashley runs barefoot sometimes, so that was another reason to try it. I ran about 2 miles and did okay with it. Since then, my left foot has been hurting but I don't know if I can blame it on running barefoot. I am also on my feet alot at work...so who knows.

I wish I could run some trails because I enjoyed doing it last summer in Sandpoint. I'm afraid in Oklahoma, I would get bitten by ticks. Keep up all the good work everyone. Here is a quote from Born to Run...you don't quit running because you get old, you get old because you quit running.