•Fargo Marathon, Fargo, North Dakota (May 19)
•Rhubarb days 5k in Leola, SD (June 2)
•125th Anniversary 10k, Ellendale, North Dakota (June 30)
•March for Memories 5k, Dickey County Fair, Ellendale North Dakota (July 7)
•YMCA Bull Run half marathon, Aberdeen, SD (July 28)
•Applefest 5k, Ellendale, North Dakota (September 22)
•Lewis and Clark Marathon, Sioux City, Iowa (October 20)
I recovered pretty quickly from the Fargo Marathon. The severe knee pain went away right after the race. It didn't come back until halfway through the Sioux City Marathon, the season's last event. In between, I ran three 5ks, a 10k and a half marathon. So, it's been a busy running season.
•Fargo Marathon, Fargo, North Dakota (May 19)
As I wrote in an earlier entry, this race was a success in that I finished. It was a disappointment in that it took five hours and two minutes. Looking back, it was a great inauguration into the world of marathoning.
•Rhubarb days 5k in Leola, SD (June 2)
This was early one soggy morning two weeks after the Fargo marathon. My alarm rang at five and the rain was a steady drizzle. Robin thought they'd call off the event. But I knew runners are tough. I for one was eager. So I drove the 40 miles to Leola. Robin stayed in bed.
I paid my $15 entry fee and signed a damp entry form at the back end of an SUV and waited with the other runners beneath a park shelter. Just before 7:00 the rain stopped.
The Rhubarb Days 5k was unique in that the runners piled into cars and rode to the start line. This run was a straight shot. No loops or out-and-backs, just head toward the tall grey grain elevators that mark this little town's spot on the prairie.
This was a fast race. A high school boy and a college girl took a strong lead early on. I stayed with Wayne and Neil, two local guys a bit older than myself. We were together until the last two blocks, when we broke into a sprint. Wayne beat me by a couple of lengths. Our time was amazing--just over 18 minutes! Wow! And only two weeks after having run a full marathon!
It seemed too fast to be real. Could it be a full 3.1 miles we'd run? Wayne didn't think so, and I didn't either. I drove to the start and the true distance was revealed: 2.5 miles. So the 18 minute time was not spectacular. Still, it was the fastest two and a half miles I'd ever run. I felt great.
•125th Anniversary 10k, Ellendale, North Dakota (June 30)
Ellendale had both a 5k and 10k race for its big quinticentennial celebration. Since I'd already done a full marathon and a 5k, I thought the 10k was my proper challenge. And a challenge it was! It was hard work.
At the turn around point three miles east of town, I thought I might quit. But I pushed on and did the second half almost as fast as the first half. My time was 48 minutes. That was almost 5 minutes faster than the 10k I'd done as an open runner at a Jamestown College track meet in April. I felt pretty good that day.
Robin ran the 5k race, her first ever. Her time was a little over 26 minutes--first place in her age category!•March for Memories 5k, Dickey County Fair, Ellendale North Dakota (July 7)
This was the one year anniversary of my first ever 5k race. Robin and I both ran it. So did our eight year old son Owen. We each took second place! And we each got a cash prize, which paid for our entry fees! Wow!
•YMCA Bull Run half marathon, Aberdeen, SD (July 28)
When I first heard about this run a year earlier, I knew I wanted to be in it. Just the name sounds great. You'd have to be really tough (like a bull) to run this one, right?
The end of July is normally pretty around here. So I did some moderate training in the mid-day sun. But the day of the race wasn't too hot. And besides, the race started at 7:00 A.M.
I'd just purchased my most expensive running accessory to date--a Garmin Forerunner 305, which my daughter Emily calls my "nerdy watch." With a little help from that device, and a lot of guts and determination, I managed an 8:02 pace, for a one hour, 44 minute finishing time.
This was probably the most draining race I've ever done. That afternoon I reclined in our little Ford Escort, nursing my cramps and aches, while Robin and the boys toured the local fun park. The feeling I had was of having been through a couple hours of torture, and enjoying the fact that I wasn't being tortured anymore.
•Applefest 5k, Ellendale, North Dakota (September 22)
This was in one way the best of my summer races. After all, I won it! My two closest competitors were both Trinity students, both about 20 years younger than myself. My time was 21:33. That was 35 seconds faster than my previous 5k best.
I'd trained hard, hoping to come in under 21 minutes. But I realized something during this race: running just ten seconds faster per mile requires a significant increase in effort and energy expenditure. I'd done quite a bit of speed training, but I guess wasn't quite ready to run a sub-twenty one 5k. Maybe next year.
For winning the Applefest race, I got a big trophy--a cast metal statue of a very tough looking runner.
•Lewis and Clark Marathon, Sioux City, Iowa (Saturday, October 20)
Robin and I decided to use this race as an excuse for a vacation getaway, so we left all the kids at home. We like to do practical things on our vacations, so we planned to purchase a 4 x 8 trailer Harbor Freight in Sioux City. We'd bolt it together and pull it home behind our little Escort. So late that afternoon we were out in a parking lot, bending over a bunch of metal rails and bolts and steel fittings.
Assembly was a little slow, and we almost missed the Friday evening pasta dinner for the runners. Fortunately, a fellow in an old pickup drove up and offered to help us put the trailer together. This guy was amazing! He took more than an hour of his own time to help us, and wouldn't take any money for it. While working together, we had an interesting discussion about family life and kids. Later his wife drove up, and so we got to meet her, too. A very nice couple!
We were a bit concerned about pulling the trailer in the dark, since we didn't have the lights installed yet. So our friends offered to drop the trailer off for us at our motel. And they did! And at the time we didn't even know their last names!
Ayway, we did get some pasta. And the next morning, we were there at 6:30 and I was ready to run. This was my first race I beginning in the dark. It was nice!
The first half of the Sioux City Marathon went smoothly. I ran with some older guys and the conversation was great. I was having such a good time with them that I did not do any walk breaks for ten miles. I made the halfway point in two hours and four minutes, and felt fine. I was--I thought--on course to run maybe a four-ten or four-twenty marathon. About mile 14 things got worse. My left knee started hurting pretty bad and I started taking walk breaks. After a couple of miles, my right knee started hurting also. Pretty soon the pain was so bad in the right knee that I imagined a screwdriver had been jabbed up under my kneecap. Every time my foot came down, it jabbed in a little farther. I slowed to a walk.
About this time, Robin met me by the side of the road. I got a little sympathy and changed from my Mizunos into my softer Asics Gel Nimbus shoes, then ran a little more. But soon I realized I had only two real options. Either walk the rest of the way or quit. With eleven miles to go, disappointment set in. I thought seriously of quitting. But then I asked myself, "what would my family think if Iquit? What would my students think?" I wouldn't quit. I'd walk instead, and watch probably a hundred runners pass me by.
After awhile I realized I still had a choice to make. Walk fast or walk slow. I found that I could take long, hard strides with very little knee pain--proof that Jeff Galloway is right when he says walking is a whole different thing from running. Galloway is the run/walk guru. His program is based on the notion that you get major muscle, joint and cardio relief by walking periodically, and thus you can go farther and actually faster as well. Three hours after starting this run, I realized that if I ever did another marathon, it would have to be with the Galloway method.
I stumbled across the finish line in downtown Sioux City after five hours and fifteen minutes. Actually, this was quite a bit faster than I had estimated was possible when my knee pain put an end to actual running. The folks at the finish were nice. An official offered to take my camera let me run across the finish line again while she snapped my picture. There were lots of treats there, though I'd kept myself pretty well fed during the race. Robin showed up about fifteen minutes later, and we worked our way through the gauntlet of the streetside saloon, where they were giving out free pizza to runners and their families.
When we drove home that afternoon, my legs were in pretty sad shape. I limped whenever I got out of the car. But I had the satisfaction of knowing I'd hung in there and finished the race. The next day I could walk (albeit with care) and a week later my knee felt good enough that I could run a couple of miles without pain. Here's hoping for a full mend and another marathon in my future.
No comments:
Post a Comment