How far are we going to take this? The question is not how far...The
question is...do you posses the constitution, the depth of faith, to go
as far as is needed.I was able to get back running in week 10 (2 weeks before the
marathon). I'm sure that the achilles tendonitis was caused by my
shoes. Since going back to the 2120s the tendonitis is slowly getting
better.
I completed 80 miles in week 10 and 2.5 hours of PC
mostly at 110+ rpm. I completed what I needed to do to get confidence
I would be fit enough to toe the line on November 3rd.
I
completed a 20 mile run at mostly 6:20 pace on Thursday, and completed
a 4 mile VP session Saturday on the track in racing flats. My achilles
held up and I was feeling like I had a shot.
I eased back my PC
duration to 2.5 total hours but kept my RPM up in the 110RPM range for
short 30 min sessions. I was supposed to be tapering.
The
difference between doing a VP in 11oz training shoes vs. 6.5oz flats
was significant. Doing 72/81 laps in trainers was very difficult and
I only made it 3 miles on pace but in flats it was so much easier and
fluid. Its been a long time since I've done speedwork in trainers and
had forgotten what it used to be like.
Then things started to
get crazy Week 11 (the week of the marathon). Work sent me on an
emergency trip to a customer site in Minneapolis on Sunday night.
Things at work snowballed and I was up late Saturday-Tuesday on
conference calls with the west coast and China and only managed to get
3-4 hours sleep at night.
My legs were sore during my
runs. This was not how I was supposed to be feeling the week of the
race. I was supposed to be tapered, and rested. I was missing my PC
sessions while on my trip. I was stressed out of my mind and sleep
deprived.
When I returned on Tuesday I ran a 4 mile MP run with
a total of 11 miles. My legs felt hammered and I had to jump in a car
and start driving to NY that night.
I really would have liked to get on my PC and spin for a couple hours and relax into a familiar rhythm.
Wednesday-Friday
I spent trying to relax and de-stress in NY before the race. I
competed my normal pre race 5x400m reps on Wednesday but I still had
soreness in my legs. My legs started to feel better as the days went on
into Friday, I was forgetting about work and relaxing. Things were
looking up for the race.
I would be toeing the line but the outcome was still unknown.
Age: 35, Sex: Male, Height:5'3",racing wt: 119lbs, marathon PR: 2:20:54, Occupation: Full time Mechanical Engineer; Family: 2 children ages 2, 4
Background: Ran mediocore in high school. Transitioned to road bike racing in college and was 7th in the collegiate nationals road race in 1994. I graduated and quite bike racing and didn't do much for several years. In 1999 I took up running marathons recreationally with my wife as an excuse to travel. In 2003 I took up marathoning competitively.