Larry McMahan
Avenue of the Giants Marathon, Weott, CA, Humbolt Redwood
State Park. May 2, 2004.
PROLOG:
Those of you who read the "shoes" thread know something of
my preparation for the marathon up until 3 weeks before. to
recap quickly, I tried my long run at -4 weeks and had to
quit at mile 18 because of hip pain. I managed to run 20 1/2
miles at week -3. I was slow, but other than that seemed
like I could make it. Week -2 I ran in a 10K race, 47:54,
decent but not spectacular for me, and then week -1 I ran in
a 5K race, 23:32 after only 4 hours sleep the night before.
Probably 1:30 to 2:00 off what I wanted to do. I had been
runninng 31 - 33 miles/week during the spring and planned to
run 25 and 15, weeks -2 and -1. As it turned out, meetings
and other inteferences made that 18 and 12. A little less
than I had planned.
Getting to the race:
Unfortunately, after I had scheduled the race, my wife
reminded me that we were going camping two nights before on
a sleep out with the kids. On top of that we could not get a
hotel room any where near the race, and had to take a
camping spot in the Park. At least it was only 4 miles from
the start.
I was worried that two nights camping, I would not sleep
well, and would be too tired to finish the race. As it
turned out, this was the least of my problems!
the week before the race I had insomnia and had not been
sleeping well. However, at the campout at Sunol on night -2
I got the best nigh's sleep I had all week. Now came the 6
hour drive up to Weott. We got there just in time to check
in, get my bib, and find out about the spaghetti feed in
Weott. We went to the park, asked about late checkout, and
set up camp. Then we went to the spaghetti feed in Weott. $7
for adults, kids 6 and under free. $14 for four people, and
the food wasn't bad either! Gread idea.
At the race site, the organizers had warned us about trying
to drive in late, saying anyone who got there after 7 was
facing bumper to bumper traffic. But they also said the
roads would be open from the south until 7:30. We decided to
shave it a little, and took off from the campsite (after
breaking camp) at 7:00. We got to the last turn before the
race at 7:15, and were turned around. When we told them we
had been told the roads were open til 7:30 he just said
"sorry." :-( Looking back at it now, the turn around point
was only a couple hundred yards from the finish line. We
could have just parked and walked to our car after the race.
Instead we turned around, got on the freeway (101) drove up
7 miles past the race and came back down the "approved"
route. We still got there at 7:30, an hour and a half before
the race! As far as we could tell, the bumper to bumper
traffic never materialized.
We were parked on some lowland just above the river bed. We
put out a blanket and had a picnic breakfast. I had my fruit
and cereal bars. We heard the "early bird" start at 8:00,
and I decided I needed to go up and get in line for that
last relief before the race. It's a good thing I went when I
did. It took 45 minutes to get to the front of the line!
I strapped on my water bottle, but in hindsight, it was
overkill. There were 16 freaking aid stations in the 26
miles. Every other one fruit as well as water and
electrolyte drink. I could have survived in the wilderness
several days on those aid stations!
This was an extremely well run race. The course only had a
couple hundred feet for rise and fall, mostly over the first
half. It was a double out and back. Made it really easy to
do half and quarter splits!
THE RACE
I was hoping to do something between 4:00 and 4:15. Given
my times in training, I figured anything less was pretty
hopeless. I also knew that most of the uphill was on the
first 6.5 miles, so I decided to take that part easy, and
push later if I felt good. BTW: This was my first chip
timed race.
The race was pretty well attended. After the gun, it took me
1:16 to get to the starting mats. The crowd was pretty
thick. I jostled around trying not to step on anyone for the
first mile. Time 9:40. A little slower than I thought I
could do, but OK for the crowd I though. Mile 2 was still
pretty thick. Time 9:15. I decided it would be comforable if
I could keep this up.
Then came the first aid station. I skipped, drinking from by
bottle instead. One annoyance is that the strap kept coming
loose, and the bottle flopped around. Mile 3 was still 9:25,
at it was the beginning of the main uphill.
I missed the marker for mile 4, so all I know is that my
average for 4 and 5 was 9:40. This was the main uphill of
the course. Mile 6 was 9:30, and we were close to the turn-
around. I cross the turn- around mat at 1:03 or so. I was
headed back in on the first leg and feeling pretty good.
I did 9:32 again on Mile 7 and got to the main downhill that
had been the uphill coming out. Mile 8 was a 8:55. My one
and only time under
9:00 the whole race, as it turned out. I decided while it
was comfortable for the downhill, I wanted to stay
rested, and decided not to push that speed on the flat.
Mile 9 was back to 9:17 and Mile 10 was 9:27. Mile 11, a
slight uphill was 9:42, and Mile 12 was 9:24. This is where
the trouble began. I began to notice a pain in my left hip,
right about where the sciatic nerve is. I tried to run as
smoothly as possible and not put additional pressure on it.
I wondered about stopping. I decided to make the decision
when I got to the half-way.
I missed the 13 mile marker. When I got to the half-way, my
split time was 2:06. I was running a pretty steady pace. The
hip only hurt faintly, so I decided to continue. but I
remembered by aborted long run. When I met my wife, I
refused the replacement bottle and gave her my belt. That
alone probably allowed me to finish the race. Whether that
is good..... ?
The nature of the race changed dramatically after the half-
way. It was no longer crowded. The half-marathoners were all
gone. There were still lots of newbies, and "team-in-
training" was prominent, but everyone was in it for the long
haul. At mile 14, I averaged
10:20 for the two miles. Mostly as a concession to the hip.
Mile 15 was 10:17, and when I passed mile 15, I actually
slowed to a walk for a hundred yards or so. My time at mile
16 was 10:51. I decided I would run to mile 17, then walk
again to let my hip rest. I made mile 17 in 10:02.
I probably ran a quarter of a mile between 17 and 18, and
Mile 18 was 12:40. When I tried to run at mile 18, the pain
shot down to my left knee and left ankle. When I stopped to
walk all of the pain went away. I decided to run as much as
I could and walk what I had to until mile 19 then try to
push around the turn-around. My time at mile 19 was 14:08. I
had run maybe half of the way.
I pushed through the pain to get to the turnaround. I still
had to stop and walk frequently. Every time I stopped, the
pain would go away, but it would come back as soon as I
started to run. My split time at the turn-around was 3:18.
The pain was taking it's toll on my times. Nevertheless I
managed to mostly run to the 20 mile marker. Mile 20 was
11:29, and with all the push the hip, knee, and ankle were
all hurting. When I walked, all the pain went away. I
stopped to do some stretches to see if that would help the
pain. I stopped and stretchd several more times before the
end of the race.
I decided to walk then entire mile to 21 to see if it would
give me relief, and then try to pick it up from then.
Walking the mile was 16:02. I did some quick calculations
and determined that If I could do 15:00's I could finish in
under 5 hours. I stretched again and took off. The stretches
each took a minute or so, and were good for only a couple
hundred yards of running. Not much return. Walk/running to
Mile 22 I did 14:14.
I decided I would HAVE to walk. I walked 23 and 24 in an
average of 16:02 (missed 23) and 25 in 15:47 (I ran a short
downhill on
11). This was the point where I decided I was close, and I
should try to push as hard as I could an ignore the pain.
I mostly ran Mile 26 in 12:18. At this point I could hear
the people encouraging the runners. I finished the last .22
miles in 2:22, which is about a 10:52 pace.
Gun time 4:47:55, chip time 4:56:39.
EPILOG
I rested Monday and Tuesday, I ran an easy 5K yesterday and
today. Both were without pain, although they were pretty
slow (26:03 and
11:1).
I didn't do any permanent damage. Actually, I never thought
I was because of the pain stopping every time I walked.
SOME CONCLUSIONS:
I was not completely over the problem that has stopped me
at week -4 even though I has a good long run at week -3. I
should have probably skipped the run at -3 and gone for
the it the best I could. This would have given me another
week to heal.
I have not decided whether I will run another marathon
again, but if I do, I will have some practice runs closer to
the actual distance which I have done well without pain.
This also means that I will probably have to not sign up for
a specific marathon and train for it over a long time, but
simply train for a long time, then find a marathon at the
right time when I am ready.
I am going to get rid of the *&^ low-tech water bottle
carrier I use and get a good one from RRS. I will also rely
more on the water provided when I enter a race with the kind
of good support this one had.
I am very comfortable with races of half-marathon or
shorter. It is the longer distances that are a *****!
Larry (no spell checking)
State Park. May 2, 2004.
PROLOG:
Those of you who read the "shoes" thread know something of
my preparation for the marathon up until 3 weeks before. to
recap quickly, I tried my long run at -4 weeks and had to
quit at mile 18 because of hip pain. I managed to run 20 1/2
miles at week -3. I was slow, but other than that seemed
like I could make it. Week -2 I ran in a 10K race, 47:54,
decent but not spectacular for me, and then week -1 I ran in
a 5K race, 23:32 after only 4 hours sleep the night before.
Probably 1:30 to 2:00 off what I wanted to do. I had been
runninng 31 - 33 miles/week during the spring and planned to
run 25 and 15, weeks -2 and -1. As it turned out, meetings
and other inteferences made that 18 and 12. A little less
than I had planned.
Getting to the race:
Unfortunately, after I had scheduled the race, my wife
reminded me that we were going camping two nights before on
a sleep out with the kids. On top of that we could not get a
hotel room any where near the race, and had to take a
camping spot in the Park. At least it was only 4 miles from
the start.
I was worried that two nights camping, I would not sleep
well, and would be too tired to finish the race. As it
turned out, this was the least of my problems!
the week before the race I had insomnia and had not been
sleeping well. However, at the campout at Sunol on night -2
I got the best nigh's sleep I had all week. Now came the 6
hour drive up to Weott. We got there just in time to check
in, get my bib, and find out about the spaghetti feed in
Weott. We went to the park, asked about late checkout, and
set up camp. Then we went to the spaghetti feed in Weott. $7
for adults, kids 6 and under free. $14 for four people, and
the food wasn't bad either! Gread idea.
At the race site, the organizers had warned us about trying
to drive in late, saying anyone who got there after 7 was
facing bumper to bumper traffic. But they also said the
roads would be open from the south until 7:30. We decided to
shave it a little, and took off from the campsite (after
breaking camp) at 7:00. We got to the last turn before the
race at 7:15, and were turned around. When we told them we
had been told the roads were open til 7:30 he just said
"sorry." :-( Looking back at it now, the turn around point
was only a couple hundred yards from the finish line. We
could have just parked and walked to our car after the race.
Instead we turned around, got on the freeway (101) drove up
7 miles past the race and came back down the "approved"
route. We still got there at 7:30, an hour and a half before
the race! As far as we could tell, the bumper to bumper
traffic never materialized.
We were parked on some lowland just above the river bed. We
put out a blanket and had a picnic breakfast. I had my fruit
and cereal bars. We heard the "early bird" start at 8:00,
and I decided I needed to go up and get in line for that
last relief before the race. It's a good thing I went when I
did. It took 45 minutes to get to the front of the line!
I strapped on my water bottle, but in hindsight, it was
overkill. There were 16 freaking aid stations in the 26
miles. Every other one fruit as well as water and
electrolyte drink. I could have survived in the wilderness
several days on those aid stations!
This was an extremely well run race. The course only had a
couple hundred feet for rise and fall, mostly over the first
half. It was a double out and back. Made it really easy to
do half and quarter splits!
THE RACE
I was hoping to do something between 4:00 and 4:15. Given
my times in training, I figured anything less was pretty
hopeless. I also knew that most of the uphill was on the
first 6.5 miles, so I decided to take that part easy, and
push later if I felt good. BTW: This was my first chip
timed race.
The race was pretty well attended. After the gun, it took me
1:16 to get to the starting mats. The crowd was pretty
thick. I jostled around trying not to step on anyone for the
first mile. Time 9:40. A little slower than I thought I
could do, but OK for the crowd I though. Mile 2 was still
pretty thick. Time 9:15. I decided it would be comforable if
I could keep this up.
Then came the first aid station. I skipped, drinking from by
bottle instead. One annoyance is that the strap kept coming
loose, and the bottle flopped around. Mile 3 was still 9:25,
at it was the beginning of the main uphill.
I missed the marker for mile 4, so all I know is that my
average for 4 and 5 was 9:40. This was the main uphill of
the course. Mile 6 was 9:30, and we were close to the turn-
around. I cross the turn- around mat at 1:03 or so. I was
headed back in on the first leg and feeling pretty good.
I did 9:32 again on Mile 7 and got to the main downhill that
had been the uphill coming out. Mile 8 was a 8:55. My one
and only time under
9:00 the whole race, as it turned out. I decided while it
was comfortable for the downhill, I wanted to stay
rested, and decided not to push that speed on the flat.
Mile 9 was back to 9:17 and Mile 10 was 9:27. Mile 11, a
slight uphill was 9:42, and Mile 12 was 9:24. This is where
the trouble began. I began to notice a pain in my left hip,
right about where the sciatic nerve is. I tried to run as
smoothly as possible and not put additional pressure on it.
I wondered about stopping. I decided to make the decision
when I got to the half-way.
I missed the 13 mile marker. When I got to the half-way, my
split time was 2:06. I was running a pretty steady pace. The
hip only hurt faintly, so I decided to continue. but I
remembered by aborted long run. When I met my wife, I
refused the replacement bottle and gave her my belt. That
alone probably allowed me to finish the race. Whether that
is good..... ?
The nature of the race changed dramatically after the half-
way. It was no longer crowded. The half-marathoners were all
gone. There were still lots of newbies, and "team-in-
training" was prominent, but everyone was in it for the long
haul. At mile 14, I averaged
10:20 for the two miles. Mostly as a concession to the hip.
Mile 15 was 10:17, and when I passed mile 15, I actually
slowed to a walk for a hundred yards or so. My time at mile
16 was 10:51. I decided I would run to mile 17, then walk
again to let my hip rest. I made mile 17 in 10:02.
I probably ran a quarter of a mile between 17 and 18, and
Mile 18 was 12:40. When I tried to run at mile 18, the pain
shot down to my left knee and left ankle. When I stopped to
walk all of the pain went away. I decided to run as much as
I could and walk what I had to until mile 19 then try to
push around the turn-around. My time at mile 19 was 14:08. I
had run maybe half of the way.
I pushed through the pain to get to the turnaround. I still
had to stop and walk frequently. Every time I stopped, the
pain would go away, but it would come back as soon as I
started to run. My split time at the turn-around was 3:18.
The pain was taking it's toll on my times. Nevertheless I
managed to mostly run to the 20 mile marker. Mile 20 was
11:29, and with all the push the hip, knee, and ankle were
all hurting. When I walked, all the pain went away. I
stopped to do some stretches to see if that would help the
pain. I stopped and stretchd several more times before the
end of the race.
I decided to walk then entire mile to 21 to see if it would
give me relief, and then try to pick it up from then.
Walking the mile was 16:02. I did some quick calculations
and determined that If I could do 15:00's I could finish in
under 5 hours. I stretched again and took off. The stretches
each took a minute or so, and were good for only a couple
hundred yards of running. Not much return. Walk/running to
Mile 22 I did 14:14.
I decided I would HAVE to walk. I walked 23 and 24 in an
average of 16:02 (missed 23) and 25 in 15:47 (I ran a short
downhill on
11). This was the point where I decided I was close, and I
should try to push as hard as I could an ignore the pain.
I mostly ran Mile 26 in 12:18. At this point I could hear
the people encouraging the runners. I finished the last .22
miles in 2:22, which is about a 10:52 pace.
Gun time 4:47:55, chip time 4:56:39.
EPILOG
I rested Monday and Tuesday, I ran an easy 5K yesterday and
today. Both were without pain, although they were pretty
slow (26:03 and
11:1).
I didn't do any permanent damage. Actually, I never thought
I was because of the pain stopping every time I walked.
SOME CONCLUSIONS:
I was not completely over the problem that has stopped me
at week -4 even though I has a good long run at week -3. I
should have probably skipped the run at -3 and gone for
the it the best I could. This would have given me another
week to heal.
I have not decided whether I will run another marathon
again, but if I do, I will have some practice runs closer to
the actual distance which I have done well without pain.
This also means that I will probably have to not sign up for
a specific marathon and train for it over a long time, but
simply train for a long time, then find a marathon at the
right time when I am ready.
I am going to get rid of the *&^ low-tech water bottle
carrier I use and get a good one from RRS. I will also rely
more on the water provided when I enter a race with the kind
of good support this one had.
I am very comfortable with races of half-marathon or
shorter. It is the longer distances that are a *****!
Larry (no spell checking)
