John's Marathon Journey

Success!

I finished!!! It's been 1.5 weeks since the big day, March 3, 2002. I'm finally over my soreness; I can't remember being sore for so many days before. But, I'm relieved that the pain during running and soreness afterwards was in my muscles. Muscles can always heal.

The Napa Valley Marathon was very tough for me, much tougher than I expected. I had hit "the wall" by mile 16-18. When I saw my family at mile 16, I told Susan in my non-stoic way "I'm hurting now". My leg muscles, in particular the quadriceps that lift the leg, just would not work properly. Since I couldn't lift my legs, I started taking shorters strides and slowed down my pace.

This was where our mental conditioning came in. My legs really hurt. But, inspired by the Patton quote that I earlier posted and determined to finish after training for 4 months, I pushed through to the finish.

Actually, miles 18-23 were the toughest. Starting at mile 23, there were a lot more spectators out on the course, including people from Team In Training. This was a tremendous boost and really picked up my spirits. Since we had written our names on the front of our singlets, the cheers and encouragement from the crowd were personalize. "Way to go, John!" "Looking good, John!" It was quite emotional the last few miles. I got a little choked up. No crying, OK?

The Finish

The inspiration allowed me to pick up my pace significantly and finish at a strong clip. I was running so hard to the finish line, I had tunnel vision and couldn't see if my family or friends were in the crowd. I heard them announce my name as I crossed the finish line, and I could finally stop! I was gasping for air so hard after the big finish, that the helpers in the chute thought I needed medical attention. I told them it was just because I sprinted at the end, and I wasn't in danger of collapsing. They were handing out medals at the end of the chute, which you can see me wearing in the pictures that I posted.

The Weather

The weather was as good as could be asked for. It was fairly cold at the start (36 F?), but by the time I saw my family at mile 8.5, I was ready to take off my long-sleeves and gloves. It was a little warm at the end, 60-70 F, but much, much nicer than what my colleagues at the LA Marathon faced. They started later in the day and were running in 80 degree weather! That's especially hard considering we trained the whole season in cold weather.

Official Quote of the 2002 Napa Marathon

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired…You’ve always got to make the mind take over and keep going.”
~ George S. Patton, U.S. Army General (and 1912 Olympian)

What Ever Shall I Wear?

Well, it's the day before my first-ever marathon, and we're packing up to leave for Napa. One of the factors that I had been wondering and worrying about was the weather. There's a lot of good news on this front: no rain and little wind is in the forecast for Napa tomorrow!

On the other hand, the temperature range is pretty formidable. The handy weather web site forecasts 33 F at the start and 59 F at the finish. How can I dress to perform over such a range? Some new options that our coaches suggested are the always-fashionable garbage bag top at the start, and the throwaway long-sleeve shirt. It may be hard for a thrifty guy like me to drop an article of clothing on the course!

I Juana Run

Today we did the Juana Run in Palo Alto. It's an 8k/5 mile run to benefit a couple of elementary schools. The neat thing about the run is that they have many kids' short races for each grade level. So, I dragged the family out to see me start at 8:30am, and later both Tony and Gabi ran their own races.

I did really well in my race. I decided to "run fast, but under control". After an 8 minute first mile, I did the rest of the miles under 7 minute pace. For me, that's outstanding. It's actually the fastest I have run a race of this range since I was 18 years old! Hey, I'm regaining my youth thanks to TNT.

Tony was excited for the race. Kids like the t-shirt and official race number, and the ribbon at the end was a great present. Tony ran most of the race pretty fast, but he broke stride with about 15 yards left. He said he couldn't breath and his feet hurt! Well, it was the first time he ran a 1/4 mile. Once he caught his breath, he was in better spirits and is interested in running it again next year.

Gabi did really well in the Pre-Kindergarten Girls event. She ran 1/8 mile, and was so cute! She kept running the whole way and did very respectably. Once she was in the finish chute, it was hard to keep her in line because she kept running to Mommy. But, she made it through to get her ribbon.

Tapering with a Vengence

Since the 20-miler, we have been in the "tapering" phase of our training. For the three weeks leading up to the March 3 marathon, we won't do any more very long runs.

I have quickly embraced this concept, and feel guilty about it. I actually missed my two cross-training workouts last week, which is beyond the call of tapering.

The body certainly feels lazy without the physical demands that it is used to. Just wait, it will get its demands next Sunday!

Not Bad

I'm happy to report that yesterday's anxiety wasn't merited. The 20-mile run in Fremont went quite smoothly. One thing that I realize the program teaches you is that some level of discomfort is normal, and not to panic. Although knees and a certain upper thigh muscle felt a little funny, it wasn't bad. It wasn't as bad as 18-miles in Woodside.

Another thing I've learned from the program is the value of running with others. I think that if I ran 20 miles on my own, I would be tempted to start thinking about every little ache and pain. When you're running with someone, you can put these concerns on the back burner. Either by the conversation you have, or just the fact that you want to maintain a steady pace with your partner, you can run stronger than you might alone.

I'm feeling increasingly confident that I'm ready for the marathon. It would be especially nice if we have perfect weather as we did yesterday: clear and not too cold.

Fear Factor

I'm heading out the door for the Dress Rehearsal to the marathon. We will run 20 miles along the Fremont shoreline.

I feel somewhat anxious. I've never run this long before. My health is good, but not "perfect". (I am such a hypochondriac.) The course has similarities to my worst run at Sawyer Camp: an out and back bicycle path. At least it won't be raining today!

On the other hand, I can do this. I did great at all the recent runs, including 18 miles. I've followed my rituals, including Clif bar, sport drink, shower, and vaseline over tender bits. I'm wearing my lucky socks. Mind over body -- I can do it!

Stay tuned for the report afterwards.

The Need for Speed

Every Tuesday night we have Track workout at Foothill College. It is a lot of fun, although it isn't a very hard workout. It is a good social opportunity as we always have time together for announcements and while recovering between our intervals. The intervals aren't very hard, as they are seldom faster than 10K pace.

I like the feeling of running fast (relatively speaking). So, when we we running 400 meter intervals, I ran fast but under control. It was a fun feeling. I chided one of my younger friends on the track, reminding him that this was his event in school. He rose to the challenge and ran with me the next lap, and pushed me six seconds faster on that lap. I was amused with what he said as we were running: you know John, I sure hope I can this fast when I'm as old as you. Gee, thanks! I know he meant it with all good will, but it just makes it that much harder to deny that I am arguably middle aged. Oh well, I'm thankful to be running and enjoying it very much.