Running on empty: The much delayed two marathons in two weeks epilogue

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Okay, it’s been a while since my last post and there really isn’t a good reason.

My fingers work just fine. I took a break from running to give my legs a rest after the Cleveland marathon, so it’s not like I don’t have the time.

. . . Oh, yes, Cleveland, I think with a wry smile, followed by a sheepish grin and slightly averted eyes.

I had high hopes for that race didn’t I? I publicly declared goals. I was going to set a personal best and do things.

Day 39: Recover

Day 39: Recover (Photo credit: samwebster)

Well, I failed miserably in achieving them, and perhaps I just didn’t want to talk about them. I am a man with way too high expectations and too much pride for such average skills. Typical?

Within a two-week period I went from setting a new personal best in Cincinnati (still almost 9 minutes slower than what I feel would make an awesome marathoner) to clocking in my worst marathon time  at Cleveland (a full 40 minutes over my goal time).

We could go into a rundown of reasons why I didn’t live up to expectations in Cleveland. I’ll give a few  just to make myself feel better.

Some of it had to do with running two marathons within 15 days. I never attempted this before. I felt crazy for just trying. I told myself I was crazy and I was very nervous before the race started. I was actually in a foul mood the night before Cleveland started.

Then there was the weather on race day. It was 82 degrees by the time I finished the route! Seventy-one degrees at the start! I tend to meltdown in heat. And it didn’t help that I decided Cleveland sucked. Okay, not an entire city, since I didn’t really get to see all of it, but the marathon route did. Too flat, too many open, straight stretches. And too few crowds and water stops, and the heat, did I mention the heat?

SMOG MAKES DISTORTING LENS FOR THE RISING SUN ...

SMOG MAKES DISTORTING LENS FOR THE RISING SUN AND OBSCURES THE CLEVELAND SKYLINE – NARA – 550300 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)and the heat. Did I mention the heat?

Though I’m not completely willing to give up on my excuses, what kind of happened was I got about half way through the race with time to spare on my sub-4 hour pace, and realized I probably wasn’t going to keep it up. I gunned it too hard at the beginning, put too much pressure on myself to get some goal, and shamefully, I decided to just run-walk it in around mile 15 when my head defeated me. I even barked at one of my friends who went to Cleveland with me as he passed me. After the race I felt bad, as I realized that friend hurt as bad as I did, and was trying to drag me a little further so we might walk-run the rest of the course together about a mile up the road.

Since Cleveland (three weeks now?) I have run a few times, mostly short distances of four to five miles, with one 9 mile road run, and one trail run. The trail run was supposed to be 8 miles, two weeks after Cleveland. I bought trail running shoes. The trail was a mountain bike path. I ran almost four miles before I had to stop because my chest felt like it was going to explode and I needed to run-walk the rest of that course as well.

Perhaps I am experience burn out. Perhaps I am just suffering from a deep-rooted insecurity where I set higher than to be expected goals for myself, to prove myself and standout, only to fail.

I know when I ran the 9 flat miles by myself this past Friday, I enjoyed them. I ran slowly and didn’t worry about my pace, or how I looked or who I was keeping up with. Basically, I didn’t care as much, because I wasn’t in some way trying to compete.

English: Cincinnati Reds logo.

English: Cincinnati Reds logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And with all this downtime, since I’m not “training” at the moment, I went to three Reds baseball games, stayed out way too late on one work night, am actually eating healthier (since I’m not burning the calories that allow me justification for being a human garbage disposal), and have been watching movies on Netflix when I get home from work.

Okay, I should honestly stop doing the last, since the movies I am watching are all these depressing little independent films, like the one I watched last night called “Everything Must Go” that put me in this little mood this morning.

Anyway, summer training starts up again in a couple of weeks for the fall marathon season. I will probably sign up. I will hopefully lose the goals and pressures I place on myself and just enjoy the running. Or not. Perhaps I just need a long beach vacation and a few more baseball games down by the river.

On the eve of the Cleveland Marathon, looking ahead, then far ahead

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In a couple of days I hopefully will have completed my sixth marathon. It will be marathon number two in 15 days.

For those who don’t read earlier posts, I ran the Flying Pig Marathon on  May 5, and set a PR on what was supposed to be a practice run for the Rite Aide Cleveland Marathon. This will also be two marathons in one month in one state. If I stick with my plans, it may mean three marathons in Ohio  in one year. I’m considering signing up for Columbus again in the fall. I’ll definitely have my Ohio “Cs” covered – Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus.

On the eve of my Cleveland race, I am nervous. I want to set a good time. I also want to stay injury free.

In between Cincinnati and Cleveland I ran three short road miles the Tuesday after the Pig, a 4.5 mile trail run the day after that, an hour sports massage on May 10, 10 miles of road run on Saturday, and another 4 miles this past Wednesday. I tried to keep them at an easy tempo, though I ran two of the runs with a friend whose idea of easy is 30 seconds faster than my goal pace.

I had no lingering pains after those outings, but I could feel the miles on my legs. This will be pushing myself further than I have ever been intensity-wise in a long while.

And, honestly, I am sort of looking forward to this marathon being over. I want to give my legs a couple of weeks break, at least, and then tinker with my workout routine. I want more trail runs, strength training at the gym, and maybe get my bike tuned up enough for some short 20 mile rides, or rides to work. The bike is a Specialized road/off-road hybrid, so I won’t be doing any racing with it, but I figure it will be a nice change of pace.

The Columbus Dispatch building in 2008, Capito...

The Columbus Dispatch building in 2008, Capitol Square (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Columbus will be a fun run for me, with no particular focus or group goal in the fall. I just need to make it there first.

At the Cleveland expo I hope to buy my first pair of trail shoes.

I’m considering these:

brooks-pure-grit-2_0They are the Brooks Pure Grit 2. The Runner’s World Shoe Finder matched me up with them. I generally feel safe with Brooks. The Ghost series always treated me fairly in the beginning. Of course, never being much of a trail runner, any shoe suggestion for a neutral runner is welcome in the comments.

And I am really looking forward to running more trails this summer. After three outings, I dig the different set of challenges offered by running through the woods. There is also the fact I was told early on that dirt running was easier on the bones.

So, there is that. And here is to a few restless nights of sleep as I prepare for spring marathon part 2.

Spring marathon recap: Part I – When Pigs Fly

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So, the last I wrote, I shared the ludicrous plan to run one marathon as training for another. I also was uneasy about a decision to wear a small camera in a harness strapped to my chest for work for that training marathon.

I am happy to report part one of my ludicrous spring marathon plan is in the bag, and it went better than I expected.

Here is  a picture of myself and my running friend on the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon course:

936854_10151409441253176_1097357836_nThe man next to me, the one in the bright yellow shirt, is the mastermind of most of this two spring marathon plan. And for those who are curious, that is what a GoPro harness looks like on an averaged-pace 37-year-old runner.

For the run itself, the weather was perfect from beginning to end. Temps started in the mid 50s with mostly overcast skies and ended about the same way temp wise with some misting rain to keep overheated bodies cool. I felt great throughout most of the race until I reached mile 21 when I started my run/walk routine, again. I wish I could just pass through the pain, or those last few miles did not have to hurt so bad, but I always seem to burn out a little at that magic distance.

I say all of this to build to this: I ran the “practice marathon” at goal race pace for the 21 miles and still managed to set an over-all personal best after having ran 4 marathons (my third time on the Pig course itself). From miles 21 through 24 I managed to walk 2 minutes and run 8 (losing approximately 20 seconds off of my average pace) before a pace group behind me caught up and welcomed me on as I caught their wind, and then I in turn raced against them for the last 1.5 miles.

If I had maintained my pace with my buddy from mile 21 forward I would have met my goal of running a full marathon under 4 hours. That though isn’t reality. It is also what the Cleveland marathon is for, to achieve an under 4 hour race on a much flatter, and some say faster course. Here is hoping.

And again, I really shouldn’t be too upset if I look at facts dispassionately. I am 2 years older than my first marathon, and 14 pound heavier, when I set my initial best Pig course time. I am also uninjured this time as well. During that first marathon I had no less than four stress fractures in my legs, that caused my right leg to swell and put me in an air cast. Also, with this go round I found the benefit of electrolyte tablets. I took two each hour on the course and never experienced the rippling cramps I have in the past three marathons I ran.

Again, the only thing injured is my ego and the wish of would-have-should-have-could-have.

So Marathon Part 2 is in less than two weeks and the epic hope that I am able to come in under 4 hours at a marathon continues.

Oh, and that GoPro video I was so worried about recording?  I think it turned out pretty spectacularly thanks in large part to the video editors and producers at the news organization I work for: