(photo by J. Canole)
Buffalo Marathon 5/29/2011
I ran my first full marathon last week.
My goals were:
- finish standing up
- finish under 4:30
- don't shit my pants
I'm proud to say I managed to achieve two of these goals.
Injuries
I had a variety of injuries leading up to race day. I missed about 10 days in March and April because I tweaked my knee pretty bad. They tell you to not ramp up your mileage too fast when you're training for a marathon. They tell you to cross train and get other kinds of activities in other than running when you're training for a marathon. I did not do these things. Lesson = learned.
Two weeks before my race I cut my finger pretty badly and required 4 stitches. While this didn't really have any impact on my race, it was pretty stupid on my part.
The final injury happened toward the end of my 20 mile training run (two weeks before race day). I had a strange pain I had never felt before on the top of my right foot. I thought it was the shoe's fault. I briefly toyed with the idea of running the race in a different pair of shoes. But two weeks isn't enough time to break in a new pair of shoes. The pain didn't go away as I got closer to race day. I convinced myself I had a stress fracture. I started to panic. I ended up taking a detour from the camping trip and finding an orthopedist in
Ellicottville, NY (population: 12) two days before race day. Long story short, I heard what I needed to hear: it's not broken and you're not going to do permanent damage to it by running ("the joint is irritated").
Race Day
The forecast was for rain (thunderstorms actually). I did not sleep well the night before. I got up at 5:30, ate my oatmeal, and got dressed. I went out at 6:30 and made the "rain gear or sunscreen" call. I went with sunscreen. I was glad I did.
It ended up being hot and muggy. Way too hot for Buffalo.
Having done the half marathon twice, I was pretty familiar with the first 13 miles of the course. After 13 the pack thinned out considerably. There was a batch of us that I considered "my group". There was a little bit of chatting, but not much.
The crowds were great. Sure they don't get enough fiber and cheer for a lousy football team owned by
Mr. Magoo, but the people of Western New York are genuinely good people. The reactions were mostly positive, with a few "What the hell are you people doing?" faces thrown in. I got a lot of compliments on my Red Sox hat. I got high-fived by a cop. And a priest.
Up to this point, the longest run I had ever done was the 20 mile training run two weeks before. The marathon was worse than the 20 because of the heat. The last half of my 20 was done in the rain. Rain would have been much better. I was toast for the last 3 or 4 miles. The weather was too much. I was zig zagging from side to side looking for whichever side of the street the shade was on (and I knew I had been out there a long time because I could smell that people were now cooking lunch instead of breakfast). It wasn't that I was particularly sore or crampy. I was just out of gas. After training through a harsh winter and a cold, wet spring, my body just couldn't handle the heat.
I had to resort to the little mental tricks you play with yourself when you're first starting to run. "Just run to that light post then you can take a break." "Just run past this intersection and you can walk for a bit."
Eventually I made it. Someone was sadistic enough to be offering beer at mile 25. I politely declined. I probably would have just stayed there if I had one.
I spent a few minutes feeling sorry for myself about not making my goal time. And then I reminded myself that I just knocked a MAJOR LIFE GOAL off the to-do list. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.
The Next Day
I woke up super hungry. My muscles ached with hunger. Whoa...
I was sore, but not completely wrecked. Little Man took charge of the "active recovery" part and made sure I don't sit too much.
There were some extra calories. And a second cup of coffee.
Last year after my second half marathon I remember thinking that this was pretty nuts and I wasn't eager to try it again in the near future. For some reason, I'm ready to go as soon as possible again this time. I've definitely got another marathon in me. And I'd like to see how I do under better conditions.
Thanks to my family and friends for putting up with me the last few months.
