Not What I Had Hoped, But It’s Done
October 12, 2009
Well I didn’t meet my A goal or B goal so definitely no bragging rights on this one, but I did hit my C goal which was to finish. I’m really disappointed in the outcome especially when the weather other than being really cold at the start was perfect for a marathon. I have been having some heel problems off and on for awhile and Saturday it was feeling a little sore so was concerned about that, but Sunday morning it was feeling much better and I was hoping it would stay that way.
I was at the race start by 6:00 and boy was it cold. The weather report on TV said it was 29 deg when I left the hotel and by race start at 7:30 I heard it was in the lower 30’s. I was in my coral by 7:00 and the 30 minute wait till race start was really tough because of the cold. I wore shorts with a long sleeve tech shirt and a throw away long sleeve shirt that I could peal off just before the start over that, a skull cap plus gloves and was still shivering like crazy. Once the race started it wasn’t as noticeable and I warmed up pretty quickly.
The first 8 miles went really well and was pretty optimistic of hitting my B goal of a new PR which right now is 4:08:25, but things unraveled quickly. The heal started bothering between mile 8 and 9 and by mile 10 it was not good at all and getting pretty painful. To make matters worse the ankle was starting to hurt also and it was enough to cause me to have to slow down and favor that side. And to add yet another problem I had to make a pee stop not once, not twice, but three times! That’s a new PR right there. Ha! It must have been because of how cold it was and must have been affecting everyone that way because the port-a- johns had waiting lines every time so lost a good 6 to 7 minutes there so that along with the heal and ankle causing problems made it impossible to even come close to my B goal and was really getting concerned of even getting in under 5 hr’s.
With the heal and ankle hurting, quads getting sore and the realization of at least a new PR being out of the picture made the last 6 miles just miserable. I wanted to finish, but I knew it wasn’t going to be a joyful finish. A completed marathon after the first one is always an achievement, but it doesn’t have that sense of accomplishment you get with the first one, where the goal is just to finish and you’re on top of the world when you do. I just have that empty feeling. A feeling of a race done, but not well done. A race with too many problems, but that’s the way it goes with the marathon, you just never know how it’s going to turn out.
So, It’s back to the drawing board for the next one. I’ll take a short recovery period and get the heel and ankle back in shape and start a new training cycle for the next one. Not sure which one that will be yet, but will be a spring marathon with shorter races along the way. Maybe next time!
Hope everyone had a great weekend of races and training.
Enjoy every step!
Al
You did great!
I saw that at the half way mark your time was 2:15, I thought then that you could still make B goal with a second wind but then when I saw your finish time I was a complete wreck. I wondered where in Chicago you might be with an old injury giving you fits. I was half relieved to read about your heel and ankle – Sick I know, Oh good it is another injury not his old one!
You finished – Chicago didn’t beat you. I’m very proud of you.