Old Man Walking

People have been telling me to post about my marathon. Here it is with pictures this time.

After running for so long to get ready for it, the event itself was as exciting as expected but I didn’t bank on the aftermath being so anti-climactic. It’s not that I have lost interest -- to the contrary I read more about running now than before the race -- but the combination of a poor race and a month off while my body catches up has made me think too much.

Race conditions were perfect. Temperatures in the low 40s going up to mid-50s, no wind and partly cloudy.

I started getting a cold the night before and woke up with a sore throat. I went outside and walked a mile to get loosened up, felt better, ate some breakfast, then drove with Walt and Helen to the race. The rest of the family came later. I was more worried about my Achilles tendonitis than the cold; I have run with a cold before but not with a lingering injury.

At the start of the race my heel was tight but it loosened up after a couple of miles. Everything was great on the first lap and the second lap wasn’t too bad. But as I finished the second lap I told Clint that it was going to be close. It wasn’t close. I faded and crashed halfway through the third lap, reduced to a walking mass of protoplasm. I walked the rest of the way in, including a queasy stop at a park bench to watch the race go by. A prayer got me back up and then Christine met me coming down the trail. She came after me because I was pretty late getting in.

That gave me enough strength to walk back out for the last lap, then pretty soon Walt came up. We walked for a while, then he got me running again. From there on we ran and walked about half and half, including running the last mile and a half at a respectable clip. I finished in decent shape, but an hour slower than my most conservative estimate. (Warning: Not a pretty video.)

Even though this was my first marathon, I think I know enough about the race to know that I should have run faster, just not sure why I didn’t or what to do to prevent a repeat. Two weeks later I am still pretty certain that it was just a bad race, but there is lingering doubt that only a good race can fix.

On to Ogden, en sha allah.