3rd Marathon - Bob Potts 5/16/2010
This would be the shortest training period for preparing for any marathon I have run, 5 weeks. I emailed my coach the day after my Garden Spot marathon. You know you have a good coach when he can read your mind. As soon as I emailed he responded almost immediately. Here is what he responded via email.
“LOL – After I heard your time on Saturday, I immediately wondered if you were going to do Potts. I even planned out your long weekend runs. I think if you recover well and can do the weekend runs, you should be able to PR by another 5 minutes (if the weather is cooperative).”
That was a positive response and gave me a lot to think about. The number one question I had to answer was, would I recover well? Only time would tell. I held off on registering for the Bob Potts marathon for 2 weeks. I wanted to see how my next long run would go. If I was able to run the 16-18 miles and feel good after the run, I would feel that my recovery was progressing well. For now I was going to enjoy some well deserved rest and take 4 days off then back to training. Coach Bob put together my training plan for the next 5 weekends. My weekday runs would be limited to the standard Tuesday and Thursday runs of somewhere between 6 and 7 miles. The weekend runs would be run on the Rail Trail to get used to the course in preparation for race day. Another recommendation by my coach was to soak in my pool. I had an above ground pool, but it was not open. I would slip back the cover and slid in to ease my tired sore legs. I really think this helped with my recovery. I did this every weekend after my long runs. The water was cold and perfect for soothing my legs. I think this made a huge difference in my recovery and helped get me on track for the Bob Potts marathon.
The first weekend after the marathon would consists of 3 miles slow on Saturday. Sunday would be 8 to 10 miles depending on how I felt. I felt good enough to do 10 miles. This was a positive step in the right direction. The following weekend, would be the test to determine my readiness. Saturday would be 6 miles at a moderate pace and Sunday would be 16 miles to 18 miles depending on how my body felt. This would be the determining factor for signing up. This run felt good enough for me to cover 18 miles. I now felt confident to register for the Bob Potts marathon. Monday I put my registration in the mail and the wheels were put in motion. I would be running the Bob Potts marathon here in York on the Rail Trail on Sunday May 16, 2010.
The third weekend after the marathon and 3 weeks until Bob Potts marathon, had an 8 mile run on Saturday at a moderate pace. Sunday would be 14 to 16 miles at my goal marathon pace. I ran 15 miles at 8:23 per mile. This was right on target for my goal pace. I could feel another 5 minutes coming off my previous time and another PR. The weekend before the race, I ran 6 miles at a moderate pace on Saturday. Sunday would be another 10 miles at goal pace. I guess I was really recovering well because I averaged far better than my goal pace and felt good. This was it! I was now in the final recovery week. I would run 2 more easy runs Tuesday and Thursday this week. Then I would take 2 days complete rest Friday and Saturday before the big event on Sunday.
Having the entire day Saturday at home was a new experience. I had way too much energy and too much time on my hands. I have read about marathoners that run 3 easy miles the day before a marathon, but I was too nervous to try something new. I tried to take it easy at home, but too much nervous energy made this nearly impossible. Saturday afternoon I drove downtown to pick up my race packet. This was a local race in York and did not draw a big crowd. I believe they sold out at 400 runners. This would be the smallest race field of all the marathons I had run thus far. Of course this was only my third marathon since doing my first marathon only 6 months ago. I had just completed the Garden Spot Marathon April 10, 2010, five weeks earlier. I was so busy leading up to this race I did not have as much time to get nervous. I set my goal time at 3:40 (8:23/mile), 5-6 minutes faster than Garden Spot. I had planned to start at 8:30 and maintain through 13.1 miles, then slowly increase my pace over the last half of the course. I was hoping to negative split this race just like I did on the last one..
Race morning came and I was up at 4:00 am. The race started at 6:30 and I wanted to make sure I was there early. I had my typical breakfast of oatmeal, raisins, and honey with a cup of green tea. This was not only a race morning favorite but my breakfast every day of the year. It is a rare occasion that I do not eat oatmeal for breakfast. Even on vacation I take oatmeal and have that for breakfast. There may be 10 mornings a year that I do not have oatmeal. I guess that is part of my OCD coming through. Speaking of OCD, arriving early was just something I have always liked to do for big events. It was just part of my personality. As I left the house in the dark I noticed it was a great day to race. The temperature was cool in the low 50's and the skies were overcast. Upon arrival I checked out the area, did a short warm up and headed to the porta pots. It is always a relief to take care of all necessary business far in advance to the start of the race. This put my mind at ease and one less thing to worry about during the race. I fueled with banana and half a bagel. I took some sports drink and V8 V-Fusion to help with some extra electrolytes.
As I approached the start area I ran into some of my running buddies. Then I started to find other members of the group I ran with. The WRFB was there in full force to start everyone off. Bob B (aka coach), Rocco, Bob Melcher, and I were all participating in the marathon. Mark and Wilt greeted us at the start. Chris and Doug rode to the race and watched us past the 1 mile mark. I started with Rocco and Bob M. Bob B. quickly left us about half mile out. I stuck with Rocco through mile 1 at 8:08 pace. I then dropped back to around an 8:20-8:25 pace. This felt comfortable so I maintained this pace. The beginning miles seemed to breeze by. 1, 2, 3, 4, I reached Brillhart Station rather quickly. The miles continued to be easy to Glatfelter Station, Seven Valleys, and Hanover junction. I now had 10 miles down and feeling good. My wife, boys, and dog were there to greet me and supply me with my beverage (V8 VFusion with vitamin water). This combination provided me with electrolytes and carbs to keep me fueled. I checked my time and I was still maintaining 8:20 pace. Not far to the half way point now.
At the half way point I had covered 13.2 miles at a pace around 8:20, but adjusted to the extra .1 miles it drops my average 8:24. This seems to be the norm, as every marathon I have run, I have run farther than 26.2. My BQ attempt will have to be at 7:55 to allow for the extra distance, but I digress. As I ran past the 13.1 mark and was heading toward the turn around, roughly a half mile further, I was feeling strong. I was slightly faster than goal pace, so rather than increase my pace, I chose to maintain this pace.
I passed the turnaround and was heading toward the finish line. Hanover junction came quickly and the cheering gave me a much needed adrenalin rush. I was expecting to see my family at this area, but no family at this stop, I was slightly bummed. Now I started to feel a little tired after 16 miles. 2 miles further and I reached Seven Valleys and there was my family. Ryan ran up along side of me and gave me my next drink bottle. He kept me on pace the next 2 miles to Glatfelter Station, still averaging 8:20 by the Garmin. It was fun to run together with my son. If he would have worn shorts and proper running shoes he could have run a little farther with me. He ran these 2 miles in jeans and generic sneakers. I hope he continues as planned and we train together this summer for a fall half marathon. It is a wonderful feeling to have your children share a similar interest.
I know some parents push their children in the direction of their own interests. My wife and I have never taken that approach. Out interests have been put on the back burner and we have followed our children where their interests and pursuits have led them. We have done roller hockey, softball, baseball, soccer, football, dance, gymnastics, swimming, cross country, track, volleyball, music, girl scouts, boy scouts, and church youth activities. My children may not be the best at any one thing, but they are well rounded individuals with many life experiences to draw from as they mature into young adults. The days of playing 3 sports is a thing of the past as adult coaches force the players to pick one sport and stick with it. My daughter was able to participate in 3 sports, but it was difficult to make the team when trying out against players that only play one sport and do so year round. Maybe someday coaches will realize the benefits of cross training by participating in multiple sports. It would certainly help with the repetitive use injures. Oh yeah, we were actually running a marathon. I guess I should get off my soap box and return to the task at hand.
With around 7 miles to go, the next 3+ miles would be the most difficult. My son had dropped off and I was all alone on this section of the trail. There was no one close enough to chase or follow and no one behind me to push me. The Stretch from Glatfelter Station to Brillhart would test my mental strength. The legs were starting to tire and tighten up. At one point I thought about stopping to walk and stretch. As I slowed I began to tighten more and knew if I stopped things would only get worse. I continued to push through the slowest miles of the day, in the 8:30-8:40 range. There were no cheering spectators to encourage the runners. There were no fellow runners to bond with and pace one another. There were only 3 miles of drudgery to endure until the next location that would hopefully provide a cheering family and some liquid refreshment.
I finally reached Brillhart and met my family. They could see I was tiring and feeling weak. Wilt was also there and joined me on the final leg of the run. He kept me occupied and engaged in conversation. It was probably a one sided discussion on his side. My mind was not real clear focusing only on pushing to the finish. I kept my response to one word answers. Not quite the conversationalist at this point. Wilt got me back on pace for 8:20, not quite the 8:10 pace I had planned. The clouds were clearing and the sun was starting to heat things up. This was the last thing I needed, HEAT!!! We finally reached the mile 23, only 5K to go!!!!
I continued to push on following Wilt as close as possible as he kept the pace. We finally reached mile mark 25. We were on the home stretch now. We picked up some wind so I tried to drop behind Wilt and use him as a wind shield. I tried to tuck in behind him and he moved left so I moved left. He moved right so I moved right. We continued to zigzag for a few more times. He was trying to come along side of me and I was trying to tuck in behind him. I finally explained what I was trying to do. I wanted to use him as a human wind shield. He finally settled on a straight path and I tucked in behind him. I am sure that was quite comical to watch from the side lines. I don't know how much it helped, but mentally it made me feel better. We dropped the pace to 8:00 per mile for the final 1.2 miles. Wilt continued to encourage me as we got closer to the finish.
Mark and Brain met me outside the track and ran with me up to the track shouting words of encouragement. They left my side and headed to the finish line. I was alone coming around the turn and heard my name over the loud speakers, I cheered for joy and sprinted (at least it felt that way) to the finish. As I crossed the finish line I utilized the helpers in the finish area as I put my arms around 2 people who held me up and kept me from falling over. The curtain was closing in and I was seeing spots. This soon passed and I was able to walk on my own. The greatest feeling in the world was seeing my family and WRFB at the finish line. My wife captured a great picture of me with my time as I crossed the line. The time displayed 3:40:29, a new PR and only 10 minutes to go to qualify for Boston. This was again another wonderful marathon experience. I think I like this marathon running. Who knows, maybe someday an Ironman!!! Can you say Kona? If you are going to dream you might as well dream big. While I was riding this marathon high I was going to enjoy myself. This makes me think of the quote by Karen Ravn.
“Only as high as I reach can I grow,
only as far as I seek can I go,
only as deep as I look can I see,
only as much as I dream can I be.”
