2nd Marathon - Garden Spot 4/10/2010
After the Marine Corp Marathon I rested for a week and then returned to slow runs. I expected to jump right back to where I was in my training. This was not the case. The WRFB runners told me it could take a month or as long as 2 months after a marathon for the body to completely recover and your prior performance level would return. It took my body 6-8 weeks to return to its pre marathon conditioning. This could also be due to the fact that I donated blood the week after the race. Donating blood was not something new. I had donated blood during my training prior to the marathon. I make sure to give at least 8 weeks out before the marathon. One thing I have noticed about blood donation is a reduction in performance after donating blood. This makes sense since they remove approximately 10% of your blood volume. This reduces the red blood cells and hemoglobin. The fluid level in the blood is back up in about 24 hours, but the remaining components take about 8 weeks to return to previous levels. This is why blood donors are only allowed to give every 8 weeks. Adding protein and iron to your diet can aid in rebuilding the lost hemoglobin. If you already eat a balanced diet then additional protein and iron are already being supplied to assist with this process. The hemoglobin levels usually return to previous levels in about 3 to 4 weeks. I notice my performance degrades about 8-10% after donating blood. The performance level usually returns 4-5 weeks later. By 8 weeks I am completely recovered and usually see an improvement in performance. I have no scientific evidence to back up this statement, just my own running experience. Would I still have improved without donating blood? This is a question I cannot answer. Maybe my improvement was just natural progression. Either way, I am not an elite athlete so donating blood with the subsequent performance reduction is not a big deal and I just like donating. I continue to donate to this day, but I make sure not to donate close to a marathon. After completing a marathon I usually wait a week to donate to allow the body time to heal before reducing the blood volume.
It was December when I started training for my next marathon. I started this training session with some hill repeats. I did the hill repeatss for about 8 weeks. I would meet Chris at the Dallastown middle school where we ran tennis court hill. This happened to be a hill outside the pool next to the tennis courts. I told you runners are really original with their naming. We met early every Wednesday (5am) because Chris was a swim coach and had to be at practice by 6am. It was nice to have someone to run with. He pushed me hard. We started with a warm up run, a few hills then a cool down run. We started with 4 hills, but by the end of 8 weeks we were up to 10 hill repeats. This was a great workout and really helped strengthen my legs and push me to the next level. After this I switched to speed work at the track. I would go on Tuesdays. Sometimes the WRFB would join me, but most of the time I would run by myself. Two of the WRFB runners lived close the track and would join me on few occasions. The speed work was a great workout. It was hard but by the time I approached the marathon these workouts were becoming more comfortable. They were not any easier, I just became more accustomed to the feeling. This would really help carry me through my next marathon.
Once again the WRFB provided me support and kind words as I prepared for my marathon. I must have been pushing hard in training, particularly the speed work. I attribute this to the shin splints I developed during the later part of my training. It was somewhere around 6 weeks out my shins started to hurt. My shins would only hurt after my speed workouts. During my other runs I had only minimal pain. Once again I turned to the internet to help me find a solution. I found exercises to strength the muscles that support the lower leg. There were also videos by physical therapist explaining how to tape the shins to relieve the pain. I combined the strength training and taping, these combined items worked like a champ. I got used to the tape so if I needed it on race day it would not be something new. I credit the strengthening exercises to my healing and pain relief. About the week before the marathon I still had some pain but it was beginning to subside. Other than this minor issue I was ready for the Garden Spot marathon near Lancaster, PA.
The week before the marathon I had shin splints I was still trying to resolve and so I took a few days rest. I thought this would have an adverse affect. But to quote a member of the WRFB, "The hay is in the Barn." This would hold up to be true. Friday the temp was perfect. The wind and hills were my biggest worry. Bob helped me with my pace plan and it worked perfectly. I was looking forward to my second marathon. The course would be a challenge with all the hills. The scenery was beautiful as we traveled through the farmlands of Lancaster County. Some of the farms were actual Amish farms. Some of the folks came out of their homes and watched as we passed by. It was neat to see the community support the event, which supported the local Garden Spot Village retirement community. We were told that some of the members of the Village were actually participating in the event. This is not the best course for a PR, but it certainly turned out to be a beautiful scenic marathon.
The race started mostly flat for the first 2 miles. I stuck to my 8:45 pace, even though everyone was speeding by. Miles 2 through 4 were a rolling up, then I crested the hill and began the descent, I was able to gauge what I would have to come back up. The return leg of the marathon would use this same route and traverse this same hill. I continued rolling along at a comfortable pace. When I came to the first relay exchange, it did my ego some good when I saw many of the relay teams still waiting for their runners. I continued my pace even with strong winds. Miles 11 through 14 had me running straight into a strong head wind. It took a lot to keep pace. Continuing through the rolling hills into the wind was challenging. Somewhere in mile 14 I dipped into a valley out of the wind and my pace jumped 30 seconds faster. I started to pick up the pace and ran an 8:30 pace for the next 5 miles. I had a big boost as I began to pass other runners. I was even passing relay runners. At mile 16 going uphill I passed another relay runner. This was where that hill training really paid off (thanks Chris). This runner would pass me on the flat, then I'd pass him on the next hill. We did this several times. I finally left him behind me and did not see him until he passed me 10 yards before the relay exchange, where he passed his baton to the next member of his relay team.
The toughest part of the course was now approaching. At mile 21 there was a 230 foot climb. This was the make or break point. This is where I began to cramp in my first marathon, but no cramps this time. The first 1/4 mile was steep then it tapered to a slow climb. While climbing the steep quarter mile section I noticed spectators at the top of the steep incline. I joked with them and said “who put this hill here.” I continued up and up to mile 22.5. When I finally crested the hill I let loose. I was running sub 8 minute miles. I continued to hold this pace even on the flat. By now I am passing people and feeling really strong. When I passed mile marker 26 I just opened up with everything I had and was close to a 7:00 /mile pace. I never felt so strong as I did at the end of that race. My unofficial time is 3:46:00 or 8:38 per mile. This leaves me with only 38 seconds per mile to take off my pace. This will reduce my time by 16 minutes and supply me with a Boston qualifying time. This was an improvement by almost 9 minutes over my previous marathon. Not too bad for only 6 months work.
I felt really good after this marathon. I was able to stretch really good and continued to walk. In fact, I had a full day of activities ahead of me.. After the race I went to a soccer game to watch my boys. Then I went home, peeled back the pool cover to soak for a bit, played with the dog, made dinner, and went to the school play. It was just a totally awesome day. And having my wife share the experience was great. She and the dog made their marathon debut and ran a few steps with me. It was awesome to see them several times throughout the course. They were able to follow me in the car and stop and cheer me on. She would also provide me refreshments during the run. I had been using V8 V-Fusion during training. I looked at the ingredients and noticed it contained items similar to sports drinks. So I had my wife bring it along on the course and I fueled with this throughout the race when she would meet me at various points. I think it made a big difference. That coupled with some new fueling strategies made a big difference from my first marathon.
The next day I thought about joining the WRFB for a run and trash pick. Then I stood up and realized my legs were a little tired and sore. Overall I felt really good and was thinking about the Bob Potts marathon. This was originally the marathon I wanted to target, but I thought I would have a work engagement that would take me out of town. Due to economic conditions my company put a freeze on all travel and I would now be around for this marathon. So I emailed coach Bob to ask him his thoughts on running another marathon 5 weeks after the one I just ran. His response was positive and so the wheels were set in motion for marathon number three. I must be crazy to attempt another marathon this soon, but this marathon left me feeling so good I was ready to try and improve my time again. I had the endurance built up so preparing for another marathon would not require all the work needed for a marathon.
