This story really starts in 1980. In 1980, I was in 8th grade. My math teacher at the time liked to run and I liked math, so logically I joined the track team when he announced he'd be the coach. In retrospect, it was a farce of a team. The distance runners, you know quarter and half milers, would practice by running a mile around the school subdivision. Running at that time merely involved putting on Converse high tops, Jox or Pro-Keds and shuffling your feet while sweating, chewing gum and chatting. I still remember one of the most logical training tips Mr. Brewster ever gave me: "Walk [and therefore run] with your feet going in a straight line, toes pointed forward and feeling all 5 toes on push-off." The straight line was straight out of mathematics, shortest distance between two points. I still think this is an easy and valuable lesson. I also still cringe when I see drastic pronators or the waddling runners.
Our grade school track was a grass field with cones. I think there was an elevation change of like 25 feet. It was fun and we ran against other teams from surrounding communities and we collected little ribbons. Near the end of 8th grade, I was out in the street having a snowball fight with my brother. At one point, a car coming down the hill panicked and hit their brakes. The car slid off the road and hit me in my right leg. The car owner got out and asked if I was OK, and I thought I was. I said "I'm OK." He said, "well good, I'm not,” and sped off. I only mention that to be able to say this: what a fekkin jack-a-lope!!! So I limped inside and was kinda hobbling around the kitchen when my sister noticed I was walking funny. She asked what was wrong and I still giggle at this answer. "I just got hit by a car; do you think I should tell mom and dad?" My mom was a nurse in a prior life but feinted at the sight of blood and was typically un-nurse like when her kids had injuries. My parents had a tough time with me, because this incident wasn't even a top 10 injury growing up. Anyhow, this lil car accident was a bit more serious than I first thought so we went to the hospital.
In the hospital, the doctors thought that I either broke my leg or had a bruise. I then understood why doctors still "practice" medicine. They want to do a stress test which will require general anesthesia and bending my leg sideways. The result was that I had torn some ligaments. The prognosis was that I’d never be a runner and that I might walk with a limp the rest of my life. My doctors were general medicine doctors as sports medicine was in its infancy. They put me in a cast for 8 weeks and sent me on my way.
I recall the day I got out of the cast, I stood up and due to atrophy, my leg just collapsed. I was nervous to say the least. Well, over that summer I got the leg back in shape, and as most kids do I rebounded well. I was over-exercising the troubled right leg and overcompensating for the ligament weakness by overdeveloping the muscles around my knee. At this point, I recalled that Paul Revere lived in Boston; I haven’t forgotten why you are reading this.
So as I entered high school, the leg was not strong enough to play football, a sport I loved and my mother forbid it. I looked on the walls and saw they had a sport called cross country. I figured, “Hey, I ran before,” maybe I can do this. So I again pulled on a pair of Jox and headed to the first team meeting. The coach said we’re doing 4 miles. I thought to myself, four miles? That’s insane. I had only run a mile before that. Well I started the run; I never finished the run and never came back out for practice that season. Were the doctors right? No more running?
That spring I decided maybe I could do track. I chose middle distance. The cross country coach saw me and told the track coach to watch out for me because I quit CC after the one partial practice. He was justified in saying it, but it did light a fire in me. I don’t want to bore you in this thread with all my younger running hoopla, but by the time I left high school, I was running sub 50 quarters, 1:57 halfs and had been sub 4 at the 1500. I had been to the state meet in cross country and track. I held two school records. My college career was pretty good too, I had gone to nationals in cross country and steeplechase, best event ever. During my school running career, I had heard nothing but tragedy about marathoning. Even the finishers had to walk downstairs backwards for days after an event. In high school, my longest run ever was 10 miles. In college it seldom got over that either; I do recall one day running 16 miles with the real distance guys (Tony Vodicka, Joe Golden, Kevin Mikottis). I hated it. I knew I would never run a marathon.
After college, I had no real desire to run anymore; it wasn’t paying my tuition and hell, it’s hard. I was never a “Joy of Running” guy, I was a competitor. I stayed fit playing pick-up basketball, open water swimming and cycling, but running was done. I had always been fairly fit, but in my late 30s I could see that I was struggling with my weight and fitness more and more. I would often tell people I could do everything I could do in college; it just took longer to recover. And due to competitive spirit and mental toughness that was mostly true. Well things just kept getting out of hand. I don’t think I was ever fat, but there were times that I did not like looking at the guy in the mirror, and I couldn’t see the buckle on my belt. I was just never like this.
In January of 2010, I decided I was gonna fix this. I had still been cycling and doing silly things like holding 20 mph on 60 mile loops on gravel with a mountain bike. I liked thinking I was tough, but I couldn’t dedicate 3 hours to exercise anymore. I remembered something my high school coach once said. If you just get the heart rate up for 18-20 minutes a day that’s great exercise. He also used to say anything less than 18 minutes is a waste. Armed with that memory, I thought heck why not just become a runner again. You can just do 3 miles every morning and viola. Day one: Go buy new Nike Pegasus shoes. These were a staple in my youth. I went to run made it to the end of the block and walked. “OK, change of plan.” I live near a great trail the Illinois Prairie Path and I knew that there was some walking in my future before I was gonna run. That winter I would get up every Saturday and Sunday, go to Glen Ellyn, buy a cup of coffee and walk to Wheaton. When I got to Wheaton, I would buy a cup of coffee and walk back. I was OK with this fitness regime. As the winter gave way to spring and spring to summer, I could trot parts of this, but never really run more than a mile or so. As summer came on, I noticed a group of runner that consistently met in Glen Ellyn and even better they had like 6-8 massage tables for the runners after they ran. I knew this was something to investigate. So I found their website online: www.glenellynrunners.org. By this point I was only running a mile and I looked at their training schedule and these folks were marathoners. Um, NO THANKS!!!. Well the summer came and went and I was still on the cycle more than my feet. In September of 2010, I finally decided I was gonna walk to run and I found a 3 mile loop that every day I would cover. I did the majority of it walking every day, then we did some walk-run, and by mid October I was running 3 miles several times a week.
September 2010: So in the middle of September I can run 3 miles. On September, 25th I ran almost 6 miles from Glen Ellyn to Wheaton and back. Then the next day I did it again. It was a good feeling.
October 2010: I am running several 3 milers a week and I finally bite the bullet and show up for a run with the Glen Ellyn Runners. Their president, Ken Christie, welcomes everyone, asks if there are new runners or guests and I rose my hand. Everyone was very nice and chatted with me and we started our run. While I thought it was a marathoning club, it’s really all kinds of runners with all kinds of paces and goals. I found a group that I could run 6 miles with and we were running high 8s. I get a little squeamish when I talk about pace. I was a competitive runner when I was young and never ran anything slower than 6 minute pace so high 8s is slower than I want to run. I know there are a number of people who would be thrilled running that pace, and I am not trying to be elitist as I complain about my speed. After a couple weeks I found myself running with Beth and Robert, they were running 8:20s and they had passed the 3 mile mark meaning they were running more than 6 miles. I asked how far and they said 8. I had not done 8 miles in over 20 years so I tried it. They were so encouraging and they would slow to accommodate my pace, but the sneaky thing they did was get me to talk. While my legs were getting in shape, my lungs weren’t yet. They dragged me through and I ran 7 and walked most of the eighth mile, but it was an “old man” distance PR!!!
November 2010: I keep showing up for these Sunday runs and on one run I meet Jessica. She’s running a pace I can handle and it’s 8 miles. I can do 8 miles now, but she starts conversing and asks the whats and whys of a new runner. I find out that she is a marathoner and remind her that I have no desire to do that kinda distance. Within two weeks she and her husband Mike are going on a 12 miler and I find myself with them past the 8 mile turn around and I don’t feel terrible. We’re going 8:45-9:00 and I made it to the turn-around (6 miles) on the way back I though Mike was picking it up and he thought I was, but we were running like 8:20. As we approached an upcoming hill I said I have to back this down if I’m gonna get over that hill. It was at this time we found out that we thought the other was pushing the pace. Anyhow they drug me through the remaining mileage and I now had a new “old man” distance PR. Over the next few weeks I ran a lot with Mike and Jessica and their program was starting to up their mileage, so we did a 15 miler. This run did not go well, but in the course of it I realized that I ran a half-marathon and I quipped that it was my half PR. I did probably jog run the last couple miles but WooHoo, that’s 15 miles, and another “old-man” PR. The club has a habit of invading the local coffee shop after a run, and Mike invited me in, he even bought me coffee and a bagel. We jibber jabbered and I was regaling them with days of yore and how I felt so inadequate lately, because I wasn’t running like 20 year old me. It turns out, I was 23 years older than 20 year old me and shouldn't run like that kid. They mentioned that they were training for an early fall marathon in Georgia. I reminded them again I can’t run a marathon, that’s like 26 miles. You marathoners are crazy.
December 2010: I decide I wanna race and there is a European cross country race in the area. I just love the toughness factor of these kinds of races. This was an 8K run on the most uneven terrain in cow pastures going straight uphill on single track trails and then straight down. There are two creek crossings. It was December 5th, there was 4-5 inches of fresh snow and howling winds. I averaged 10 minute miles and I was wiped, but again I love those types of events. The following weekend I decide I’m going to run 15 with Mike and Jessica again and this time it wasn’t as hard as the first 15 miler. Whodathunkit? I then did back to back weekends at 15 miles. I was starting to think maybe I can run a marathon, it’s only another 10 or so miles, right? Mike says that based upon my past life and how I’d been running I could probably break 4 hours and I thought that was just crazy. Well I am the guy that needs a goal so I just started searching for spring marathons. I saw the Country Music Marathon and it was in Nashville. At this point, I’ll confess I am a redneck and I love country music and have always had fun in Nashville so what the heck? I signed up for the marathon on December 30th. I signed up for a 4:00 time. Now I am committed, and there are several definitions that probably apply there. Having signed up, I start researching it; by the way don’t do it this way. My only real goal at that time was to finish but things will change over the next months. The reviews on CMM were not good: Hilly, Back half is boring, poorly organized. These were not good things but I was committed.
January 2012: This month I met another group of Glen Ellyn Runners; I call them the Big Dogs. These guys are runners. As I write this, 3 of them have run sub-3:00 for a marathon and 6 or more are in the 3:05 range. Our club, btw, I joined the club in January, has a Thursday night run and in the winter when the Prairie Path is snowed in we cover the streets. Tim found a 10K-ish path. I showed up for my first run with these guys and they blew my drawers off. We got to the 2 mile mark and they had me in O2 debt running like 7:45s. I muttle through the next 4 and get a finish, but I know this group is faster than I am, but definitely where I want to be. This month I also added a little swimming. As January continues, I am running solo 15, 16 and 18 milers. 18 miles is an “all-time” distance PR. I have eclipsed young me on distance, but I am not making great gains on pace. I can run sub 8:00 but not much and not easy. In Chicagoland there is a big half in Cary, IL each year, it’s called the March Madness Half Marathon. It is very hilly and a great challenge. It’s also very small like 1000 runners and tightly capped. It sold out in about 1 hour. Lucky for me one of the club members ended up signing up twice, he’d asked a friend to sign him up because he didn’t think he’d be at a computer. So he offered me the second spot. Why not, I’ve run a half in training so it can’t be that bad, right?
February 2011: The big dogs are seeing that I can stick with them longer on the Thursday night and Sunday morning runs, so they invite me to join them at the Morton Arboretum. Now the Prairie Path is flat; it’s an old railroad bed, but the Arb, that’s a different story. The Arb is two loops of very hilly terrain. Again, on my first run with the big dogs, they drop me at about 2 miles. But I like this run; I feel stronger and there are glimpses of young me starting to surface. There are times this month where we were running 7:15 uphill during 15 mile runs. I am really improving by leaps and bound through this period, but I’m still not tested. On Febrauary 12th I ran my first long run, it was 19 miles on the hills at the Arb, I am starting to think I can handle this. At the end, I was not fresh, but I felt I could have still run more. This was absolutely unfathomable just a month earlier. February brought us a warm Tuesday which is traditionally the clubs track workout day in the summer. The guys decided they were gonna run 8 halfs. I loved track workouts as a kid, so why not. I ran the first half in about 2:45 and it HURT. I faded after that to 3:00 averages. This was the first time since a youth that I had really stretched my lungs and while it hurt that day, by Thursday and Sunday I knew a change had taken place. I was having a break through. This whole month I am getting faster and fester but so are the big dogs. I can now cover the Thursday night runs in 7:20-7:30s but the big dogs are in the 6:50-7:10 range.
March 2011: Another great month of improvements. I am chewing through mileage on training runs and they are just getting faster and faster. We had a 10 mile run on the path and we went out to the 5 at like 7:15, at the turn around we decided to bump it up for a couple miles. During these two miles we were running 6:20s. When some of the guys asked for leniency, I was not one of them, we came home in 6:50. I just ran 10 miles at sub 7 minute pace. I am feeling great. This month is also the half-marathon. I am starting to think I can maybe go sub-90 in this thing. When race day comes it’s cold and rainy. I don’t mind this as we’ve been running in it all winter. I chat with a couple of the big dogs and we decide that it’s reasonable for us to go out at 6:45 for the first mile. I’m ok with that. So the race starts. This is my first race where I toed the line prepared in over 20 years. I am so excited. When the gun goes off, I RUN!!! I think there was a lot of adrenaline. My first 3 miles were 6:23, 6:20 and 6:09. Ooops! I would calm down considerably from then on. I ended up finishing in 1:26:20. I felt like a king; strong like bull. With a real race in hand I start to think what I can actually do in a marathon. It’s becoming clear that 4:00 hours was just a bad guess, but what can I run? The McMillian system say 3:02 based upon my half time. That’s crazy, but there’s a month and a half to go; who knows? I finished March with another 20 miler in the Arb only a week after the half and it felt ok. I faded a bit in mile 17 but came roaring back the next 3; I’m feeling ready.
April 2011: Well this is the month for the marathon. To this point I had several long runs 18-20 miles, but they were all so fast that I never had 3 hours on my feet and I was told this was an important preparation item, so I decide to do a 3 hour run rather than a distance run. This was foreign to me, I have a tendency to speed up when I feel sore or tired to get the distance in faster, but no matter how fast you run, the time doesn’t speed up. I ended up running 21.5 miles, but it was not fun; very laborsome. On the other hand, it was done. On April 10th, we had a beautiful 60 degree day. I loved running on these warmer days as a youth and I had planned on a nice civil 18 miler that day with two other club mates. This was gonna be the last long run before the marathon. This day did not go well. At 12 miles, I was not feeling good and didn’t understand why. My hamstrings were tight, and I just felt I was slugging along. I ended up walking 6 miles home. I have to think it was the heat and while I was taking on liquids, probably not enough. Having a bad run like that was wreaking havoc with my psyche. I didn’t want to have this fail as my last tune up. Worse yet what if the marathon is hot. I had nothing but bad thoughts for a few days. Well the next weekend is Boston, and there are 30+ members from my club going there. On the Saturday, of that weekend there was an inaugural race in the arboretum it was a 10K. I woke up that day and decided I would drive over and if I felt ok, just run the race. When I got to the Arb, I was feeling ok and signed up. This was a much better day than last week. As the race started I had more of the adrenaline thing. The first mile is uphill and I passed through at 5:56 next to the leader. While that was cool I knew I wasn’t in 6:00 pace on these hills so I backed it down a bit. I ended up placing 6th overall and 1st in age group with a 39:02. This was lifting my spirits from the previous weeks failure. Our club had a lot of representation there, 2nd OA female and several other age group winners. The next day I decided I would do another long run, to get the stick of the last one off. Since all the big dogs were in Boston this was gonna be a lonely day. It was drizzly and cool, probably 45 degrees. I ran out 7.5 and back and it was easy and I was going 7:10 pace, as I was coming back to our zero mile mark I saw another runner step onto the trail. I chased them for 3 miles before catching up. It was Megan the 2nd overall female from the day before. She was doing 14 and would have 6 to go at the zero mile mark just as I did. So we ran together for the remaining 6. This was just what I needed a strong performance before shutting it down in preparation for my first marathon. During the middle of this week I starting seeing the 10 day forecast for Nashville, it was gonna be 70, no good.
My First Ever Marathon: April 30th, 2011, I am ready to run, I go through my race day rituals eating dressing protecting stuff from rubs. I have a lengthy race report of the race that we can talk about later but I was feeling good about this marathon. When the gun went off so did I. I was blazing this course, I felt strong the hills were easy the pace didn’t feel too bad, I was on sub 3:00 pace. Oh my goodness, I am gonna run a sub 3:00 marathon, qualify for Boston by over 20 minutes and in my first marathon. Hold up there race fans. After the 10 mile mark, we ran out from under the shade and would stay there the rest of the day. As the temperature rose so did my pace, by mile 19 I had cracked and was walking, I would not run another full mile the rest of the day. I came home in 3:32:20. I had not broken 3 hours nor had I qualified for Boston. I had FINISHED and that is the true goal of a first timer, but my expectations were higher.
May 2011: Ok, so having just run a less than satisfactory race I am panicked, I just invested all this time in a great training cycle and felt I really under performed. The following weekend there was a marathon in Wisconsin and that would be cold and rainy, why don’t I just do that. Luckily 1000 people talked me out of that. My first post race run was a 5 miler at 7:30 and I suffered. How could I expect to do better in a marathon? Ok, let’s just set our sights on some summer 10K and attack it again in the fall? I had planned on running a marathon in Marquette, MI on labor day weekend, so that would have to do. The issue was that I wanted to really attack that one, but without a Boston Qualified run in the bank, I would have to be conservative there. On Thursday, my legs started feeling a bit better and I was convincing myself that Nashville was really just a 19 miler since I shuffled the last 6. The weekend showed a couple more good runs and I was thinking about a hometown marathon. The two week window was better than the back to back week issue so let’s play it by ear. As the week went on, the weather report got uglier, but this was in my favor. On Thursday, I decided I was gonna sign-up and treat it as a training run and if I didn’t have it, I could quit.
May 15, 2011: While most guidance was against it, I felt OK. Yesterday I ran 10 miles of the course and felt pretty good. I’m gonna start the race. It was 37 degrees at the start and drizzling. The first two miles was with a 20 mph wind at our back, then we enter a forest preserve for 21 miles. I kept slowing myself down through 10 miles, I was running well within myself. I was taking nutrients, Stinger honey, at 6 mile intervals. I crossed the half-marathon at 1:32:48. That’s reasonable, over the next 9 miles, I keep gaining speed, all of these miles are sub-7, I keep telling myself, "Keep it up, we can get to Boston." The last two miles was into that 20 mph wind. I finished the day with a 3:05:52. I had just qualified for Boston by almost 15 minutes. Even better because I had to run the two marathons so close I accidently became a marathon maniac 16 days into my marathon racing career. I can now also attack the Marquette marathon.
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