Episode 30: My Second Marathon

If you asked me a week before the LA Marathon I would have told you I wasn't running.

I signed up approximately 6 months before the race but I suffered 2-3 injuries on the way there.  As the race got closer it became less and less about time and became more about "can I finish the race?".  With a month to go I ended up hurting my ankle from over use. Every run since then I would start feeling my ankle by mile 4 but I continued to strengthen my ankle by doing calf raises, icing and heating whenever I had the chance.  With a week to go I was pretty set on not running and I was heartbroken by that decision.  With a last ditch effort I decided to try a 10 mile run the Thursday before the marathon.  I proceeded to do 5 miles without pain then stopped to stretch to give myself a little rest before the next 5 miles.  The next 5 miles I felt great and was sub 7:20 per mile.  From there I decided I would try to run on Sunday.  But going into Sunday my goal was to get to mile 16 and see how I felt.

Here is my mile by mile split from Sunday:

MILE	TIME	SUMMARY
1-3	00:23:35	My plan was to go out in 9 minute mile pace.  Yeah, I didn't do that.  I struggled to find the mile markers and ended up going sub 8 minute mile pace for the 1st three miles.  A fun little bit that happened in the first half mile of the race was the line of men peeing off to the side of the road by some "wooded" area.
4	00:31:37 (8:01)	I try to recalibrate here and cool myself off from the nerves.
5	00:40:37  (9:00)	I get cool and relaxed.(Take gel shot)
6	00:48:18  (7:40)	I'm easily excited.
7	00:56:15 (7:58)	Yep, still excited. (Take gel shot)
8	01:04:12  (7:55)	Stig and Punky!  What hill?!  i'm definitely excited!
9	01:12:31  (8:18)	Chill out Don...
10	01:20:28  (7:56)	Oh my god.
11	01:28:31  (8:03)	I started talking out loud telling myself to chillout.
12	01:36:39  (8:07)	I see one of my students and sarcastically asked him why he wasn't cheering for me.  What nerve?! (Take gel shot)
13	01:44:54  (8:14)	At the half I just feel tired but I keep truckin' along.
14	01:53:22  (8:28)	The adrenaline starts to wear down.  It only took half a marathon. (Take gel shot)
15	02:01:44  (8:21)	I see a co-worker at the end of this mile!
16	02:10:49  (9:05)	meh
17	02:21:03  (10:13)	I start stretching to gauge how I'm really feeling. Hey I see another family from our school!
18	02:30:37  (9:34)	And I start to see that there are rolling hills and I'm starting to feel a cramp coming on so I take plenty of time to just walk and stretch (Take gel shot)
19	02:41:18  (10:40)	Same deal.  I'm really worried about cramping
20	02:51:48  (10:30)	I take a water from a kid no older than 3 and it really pumped him up!
21	03:05:11  (13.22)	Worried about the hills again so I really took a breather here
22	03:13:34 (9:23)	The hills were done so I started trying to pick up the pace again and I see my friend Bryan here so I start to get amped up again!
23	03:26:44  (12:09)	I hit another wall here and I start walking.
24	03:35:47  (9:03)	I gather myself and try to pick the pace up and I see Sparta and Jeff!
25	03:45:34  (9:47)	Theres two miles left so I decided to just put my head down and try to finish.
26	3:55:49  (10:15)	My calves start to cramp so I try to focus on not putting pressure on my toes too much til the finish.

Once I got to mile 16 I reassessed and I wasn't feeling pain but my legs were just feeling really tired so I decided to go on.

From mile 16-18 I felt alright and actually stopped a couple times to stretch a little bit and actually felt ok.  Once I started Mile 19 it was very stop and go up all the way to the finish where I would stop at up hills in fear of cramping out my calves. 

All in all I am extremely proud of finishing.  I really needed a "win" right now and this was definitely it.

I'm pumped to start my training up again this week to make running a more consistent part of my life.  LETS GO!

Episode 28: My First Marathon

Episode 28 on my last day of being 28! What are the odds?!

Highlights since my last blog (basically my instagram /  just follow me on instagram):
Christmas
Christmas again
New Years
Protests Attend First Broadway Musical
The start of the greatest improv team of ALL time!

March 5th 7AM was the start of my first marathon in Napa Valley, CA. Let's take a look:

*Every 2 miles was a water stop and I drank at each one but only took one gulp at each station until the last 6 miles when I was trying to keep my legs from cramping up.

MILE	TIME	SUMMARY
1	00:09:33	We wanted to stay with the main group for the first 2 miles to warm up.
2	00:18:25 (8:52)	Then Chris, Nate, Fish, and I are like, "nevermind"
3	00:27:00 (8:35)	We start easing into our own pace and I find a glove.
4	00:35:02 (8:01)	I personally wanted to stay at 8 minute mile pace until the half and then reevaluate every few miles
5	00:42:53 (7:51)	We hit our first real hill here and we cruise through it. (eat an energy gummy)
6	00:50:51 (7:58)	I notice that we negative split the last mile and I try to ease it back more in preparation for the the next  20 MILES!
7	00:58:34 (7:42)	Fish starts surging so we decide to hang back.
8	01:06:25 (7:51)	Nate unfortunately has to drop back so it's Chris and I
9	01:14:11 (7:45)	We are cruising and I'm feeling good
10	01:22:00 (7:49)	I'm talking way too much during this first ten miles trying to find the owner of this Saucony glove. Spoiler alert: we never do (eat 2 energy gummies)
11	01:30:08 (8:08)	Cruise control.
12	01:38:09 (8:00)	Cruise control.
13	01:46:02 (7:53)	I get a Palatine Illinois Cheer (eat energy gummy)
14	01:54:32 (8:29)	Chris has to stop and tie his shoes.  When stopping I could tell how gooey my legs already felt which was a good warning sign for miles to come.
15	02:02:25 (7:53)	Start noticing a little chaffing in my armpits
16	02:10:40 (8:15)	Cruise control. (eat energy gummy)
17	02:20:29 (9:48)	The vasoline that saved lives. Chaffing Problems resolved for rest of the race.
18	02:28:24 (7:55)	I get a "Go Pirates" Cheer. (Palatine Pirates)
19	02:36:58 (8:34)	Starting to feel a little cramping in the right calf
20	02:46:02 (9:03)	We are hit with the biggest hill of the course, hail, and a drastic temperature  drop. I have to stop because of cramping in my right calf.  Man on bike tells me, "Hey don't give up now" and that PISSED me off. It felt like a backhanded cheer and I wasn't having it. (eat 2 energy gummies)
21	02:54:50 (8:48)	We catch Fish (eat 2 energy gummies and an energy bar)
22
23	03:17:23 (22:33)	I miss the 22 mile marker and start cramping up really bad causing me to stop so Chris starts pulling away. (I cover my legs in icy hot in hopes that'll do something to help and I start accepting fruits at water stations)
24	03:28:17 (10:53)	My right calf and quad are cramping up so I can't make it more than a mile without cramping
25	03:38:25 (9:58)	I'm pissed that my breathing is perfectly fine but my legs just won't stay together
26	3:49:00 (10:43)	At the 26 mile marker I cramp up in both calves and I have to stop and stretch out.

FINISH 26.2: 3:51:36

I am extremely happy that I finished my first marathon and I hope that I learn from my mistakes. I assume my main problem was that I didn't take time to drink more water during water stations and eat much earlier during the race.  It also didn't help how much I trained for it either.  I could give you a bunch of excuses but I just didn't get in the miles that I needed to.




The feeling of running a race is something I didn't know I missed and running past all the volunteers and random people cheering was amazing.  Getting that constant, "you can do it!" or "You're looking strong" really pumps you up to give you that extra bit of energy that you could use.

On another happy note:  Lili Gu played odds bet with me on wearing my medal for a month.  I said "1" so we both win!  EVERYONE will know that we're participants!