Cleveland Marathon

How do I even start blogging about my marathon experience? I guess the easiest way to get things rolling is to say that I am most proud of my wife for completing the 5k run the previous day. She was inspired to start running after being part of the experience in Columbus last fall. She’s never cared about athletics and I don’t believe that she’s run a day in her life previous to training for this but she did it, she had fun and she’s decided that she’d like to do more 5k events this year. I am now busy scouring the internet finding some local 5k runs for her to go to. I love it.
I apologize now but this blog post is going to get lengthy so get a cup of coffee, something to snack on and get comfortable. As I hinted in my previous blog posting, I have been having some issues leading into this marathon. It all started when I bought a new pair of shoes. I had been previously running in a pair of Nikes and was having big time issues with blistering and loosing toe nails. I went to my local running shop (who will remain nameless for now) and explained to them the problems that I was having. Under the guidance and direction of the experts there, I switched to a pair of Mizuno’s that gave me more room in the toe box. The sales clerk also took another look at my old Nike’s and my feet and suggested that I go to a lightly supported shoe in lieu of the more support that I was used to. He said I was a neutral runner and that I could get away with any shoe. Being an architect, I followed his advice strictly for aesthetic reasons…..nothing more. Within a week, I regretted that decision as my legs were feeling extremely sore. I took them back and switched to another pair of Mizuno’s that they said were the same exact shoe to my Nikes in terms of support. They lied to me or were badly misinformed. I tried running in those shoes for three weeks but the pain just kept getting worse and worse. I was stuck between a pair of Nike’s that hurt my feet or a pair of Mizuno’s that hurt my legs. In the process of this 5 or 6 week time frame, I severely cut back on my mileage and intensity so I could get healthy It was last Saturday (May 9th) mornings run where I went out for a quick 3 miler where I gave up. My legs hurt so bad I could barely complete it and there were several times when my legs were about to give out. I decided I had to make some changes quick so somewhat salvage Cleveland. I quickly showered, put the kids and headed up to Hudson to another running shop called Vertical Runner. I took in both pairs of shoes and explained the issues that I was having with them. The clerk had me tried on both pairs of shoes, walk around in them to analyze my stride and then he did a test that I haven’t seen since I was a little kid buying shoes at the Gold Circle. He tested to see where my toes were at. Here’s where the story gets funny to you and aggravating for me. He said that although Nike’s are narrow in the toe area, if I was running in the right size of shoe I wouldn’t have that issue…my shoes were too small for running! What? Are you kidding me? That’s a mistake that I would expect to get if I bought stuff at Foot Locker of Dick’s, not a professional running store. The next thing that aggravated me was he told me that my Mizuno’s were not the same support but lightly supported which explained the pain I was having with my legs. I left the store with a new pair of Nike’s that were a half-size larger than I previously had. The only question now was how could I get ready to run 26.2 miles in a little over a week if I could barely get through 3 miles earlier that day.
The only answer that I could come up with was I had to take the entire week off from running. The best I would be able to do is to take my dog out for some long walks so I could get some time in my new running shoes. The other thing that I did was schedule an hour long massage for my legs. Having had several massages before on cycling trips, I’m a believer in the benefits of massage and highly recommend them to anyone.
Come race morning I was nervous. More nervous than I would normally be on any given race day which struck me as odd as this was really only a training run now, absolutely no pressure to hit any specific time. Even with that, I had a hard time controlling my nerves and had difficulty eating anything before the race. I was able to keep down half a banana and a third of a Cliff Bar. I knew this wasn’t going to be good but my only hopes were to get to the start line, start running and start getting some nutrition in me before it was too late. I need a bit more than 100 calories to complete a marathon. The plan for the day was to jump in with the 3:30 pace group and to see how far I could go. In all of my long training runs, I kept paces similar to that so it didn’t seem like it would be a terrible stretch. I was running with my good friend Patrick from Chicago who I knew would be strong and I figured having him there would be extra motivation to keep me on track. With the start bell finally going off, we were on our way. Our pace became comfortable and once we made our way through a few of the slow pokes, we found ourselves running with the 3:20 pace group. I wasn’t worried about the tempo; I was only worried about my stomach that wasn’t settling down. I’ll cut the story somewhat short, my stomach never really let up. One minute I would feel good, another I would feel bad. I was happy though that my legs were feeling good. That feeling wouldn’t last much longer however. It was mile 10 exactly when the pain crept back into my legs, exactly where it had been only one week earlier. I knew I was in for a long day and Patrick could tell I was in trouble. I told him to go ahead and run his own race and not to worry about me. With a little more convincing he left and quickly made his way up the road.
Each mile after this became more and more difficult. My only relief was knowing that at mile 13 I would see my wife cheering me on and I was hoping that would be enough to carry a bit further. It was and I was happy to see her. I was very close to giving up and the pain was really unbearable at the time but I made the decision to take it mile by mile, to complete what I had started. I had spent too much time training for this to just give up. So, mile after mile I ran, taking water at each water stop and waving goodbye as each pace group passed me by. My only goal from the start was to the finish the race and that was my only thought as I struggled on, mile after mile. As I turned onto Lakeside, I could see the finish line but my feet wouldn’t pick up the pace, I could only struggle on with the miserably slow pace that I was moving. Seeing my lovely wife at the finish and my family cheering me on as I limped in made it all worth while. A bit embarrassed and disappointed in my time, I was happy to have it over with. I am only disappointed really in that I couldn’t enjoy the moment. What I was hoping for to be a fun experience turned into 10 miles of fun followed by 16 miles of torture. Sitting here 24 hours later I can now take pride in accomplishing something that most people will never even try. Will I try another one? Not sure. I’ve told myself I’d wait at least a week or two before making that decision. My only plans for now are to find that 26.2 sticker for my Subaru.

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