Weylin's Marathon Blog

Offical time: 3:53:08 (8:56 per mile)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all the family, friends and supporters who emailed, donated, showed up on race day or supported this crazy idea in any way. It was invaluable and there’s no way it would have succeeded without you.

I apologize for not posting much lately. The last month of training was psychologically very difficult and it was hard to write. As race day got closer and closer, I started becoming more and more afraid (mostly irrationally) about whether this was a smart thing for my heart. It didn’t help that my (and Gavin’s) Birthday is in April and this month is also the first anniversary of his death. Not an easy time.

But, we did it! And, it was so much more special and fun and inspiring (and painful) than I ever thought it would be. I felt like a rock star. I guess 4 hours of having fans lined up and yelling for you will do that. Landers and I planned to run together unless one of us completely fell apart and it worked out great. He pushed me for the first 18 miles or so and I pushed him for the last 8. I wasn’t sure if it was smart to run with someone else but I think it helped a lot at those times where it would have been very easy to start thinking about giving up. (For me, that was around miles 15-19, when I felt fine but was having trouble imagining running for another 7-11 miles.)

Overall, it went about as well as running for 4 hours can go and I ended up pretty much exactly as planned – just under 9-minute miles and just under 4 hours total. My pace was a bit quick at the start (Landers was pushing me a bit, but it felt okay), but I felt good throughout. My legs were dead tired by mile 22, but at that point I knew I could finish. Cardiovascularly, I had no problems. It felt like I could have kept on running if my legs had been willing (which they definitely were not). So, other than the possibility of losing 3 toenails on my left foot (1 is definitely a goner) and taking stairs VERY slowly for a couple of days, I feel great.

Heck, I’d actually consider doing it again. No promises though.

Final word: I’m not sure I’ve done anything in my life that made me feel as good about people. The other runners, the people lined up on the street, the family and friends who came out, they were all the nicest, most generous, sincere and supportive people I’ve ever seen. Perfect strangers would look me directly in the eye on heartbreak hill and say “you’re doing great, you’re amazing, you can do this!” with complete sincerity. How often does that happen in life?

Because the weather was so nice and I had a super-lazy week (well, lazy in terms of running, things were very hectic at the theatre – singing dinosaurs take a lot of work), I ran 22.6 miles on Saturday (longer than my training recommends for a maximum). I had planned on 15 miles but I just kept on going and then figured out how far I had run when I got back .  I managed just under 9 minute miles and feel like, barring injury, I have now proven to myself that I should be able to run 26.2 miles. That said, my calves were in quite a bit of pain for the last 3 miles or so and I can still feel them. One of my toe-nails is also a strange color of purple. Oh well.

I saw two other guys on the road in Newburyport who were training for Boston, too. They were jealous of my camelback.

I tried music on this run instead of my audio book. I prefer the audio book. I think I started out too fast and I’m blaming Peter Gabriel (whose new album is incredible, by the way – if you like really depressing music).

According to my training schedule I’m supposed to have a very light week this week (20 miles or so total). that should be good news, right? Instead, I’m a stress-case. I don’t know what the heck to do with myself. My body doesn’t understand why I’m slacking off and it wants to run. I think I’m going to do a 10-miler this weekend even though I’m not supposed to.

My treadmill is now truly and officially dead. I tried to use it last night and it only lasted 3 miles.

If my fellow bloggers are reading this, what are you wearing under your sweatpants? I’ll spare the innocent reader any details, but I’m having some chaffing issues on my long runs.

Approximately one minute into my 20-mile run, a rogue squirrel and I had a tense encounter. I clearly surprised him as he was hurrying somewhere with an acorn and I nearly stepped on him. He feinted left, as did I. He went right, as did I. We both stopped for a moment, weighing our options. I finally decided to be chivalrous and cut a wide berth around him. Crisis averted. We both live to fight another day.

So, 20 miles in exactly 3 hours and 4 towns (Newburyport, Newbury, Rowley and Ipswich). That’s 9 minute miles. Way faster than I expected and, to be honest, it was another uneventful, fairly painless run. I took my time (until the last 3 miles when I sped up a bit) and continued my slow and steady approach. It helped that it’s a gorgeous day for running – bright sunshine, mild temperature. The funny thing is I almost postponed my run until tomorrow. I’ve felt crappy for acouple days and wasn’t sure why, so I was nervous about a long run, but I think it was the best thing for me. I feel better now than I have all week.

Sad news – my trusty, super-cheap (free, actually, through free-cycle) treadmill is dying. It now has a significant tear in it which is getting bigger by the day. I’m praying for good weather so I can run outside.

Easy week this week – no long run. Yay!

That was the audio book choice for the day. Very distracting and enjoyable. Well, I did it. My first 18 and officially the longest I’ve ever run. Woo hoo! Took a nice and easy pace (just under 9.5 minute miles) and had a great run. Legs were fine. Heart was fine. Frankly, I felt like I could have just kept on going. Slow and steady was definitely the order of the day.

Tried food and Powerade for the first time today. I wore my camelback and it worked pretty well. Took a quick granola bar break at about 12 miles – no problems. I think I overhydrated before-hand as I had to make three pit-stops in the woods along the way.

Going to the movies with Emily for Valentine’s this afternoon. I give myself a 50/50 chance of staying awake.

Oh, and no achilles pain! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ve crossed that bridge for now and my achilles heel won’t be my achilles heel.

Next Saturday. 20 miles.

I’m good to go. No stress test, but the EKG looks good. I had my stent put in in July, so I’m still in the 12-month period when things might go wrong, but everything seems good.

18 miles tomorrow for the first time - time to choose a good downloadable book for my i-pod. I finished What the Dog Saw last week on my 15-miler. If I make it, this will officially be the longest I’ve ever run. I did a 25k race (about 15.5 miles) 10 years ago – that’s my longest up til now.

Just did 7 miles and it was probably the best run I’ve had in months. My legs were strong and itching to go and my achilles held up over the whole run with me running on the balls of my feet (the way I prefer to run if my achilles lets me). I stupidly didn’t time myself, but it was a good fast run.

It helped that it felt like there was just a hint of spring in the air today (at least compared to what it has been like). I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to take Norah out in her jogging stroller again. I took her for a walk in her backpack with Dawson (our dog) yesterday and nearly gave her frost-bite. She was a sad little girl when we got home. It’s tough being a baby. I can’t even take the dog with me anymore on these runs. He maxes out at 3-4 miles.

I did 15 miles on Saturday in 2 hours and 10 minutes (faster than I expected) for a total of 34 miles for the week. The first 12 of the 15 were great. I was on a new course and was shocked when I reached the halfway point because I felt so good. But then the last 3 miles were miserable. My legs were just beat – my achilles hurt, I was pooped (although cardiovascularly I felt fine still). But I finished and now I feel fine after a day of rest. Actually (knock on wood) my right achilles feels better now than it has in a while. I think the fact that I didn’t take a rest day before the 15-mile day was a mistake. I’m aiming for another 15 this Saturday before tackling 18 the next week. This time I’ll take Friday off and see if my legs do better.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. My right achilles was just not healing, so I ended up taking almost a full week off and it seems to have done the trick. I wouldn’t say I’m at 100% but I’m not in pain and the flexibility has increased so that I can run pretty normally. I’ve been working back up to 30 miles per week. Did 22 last week and plan on 30 this week. I avoided the worst of the cold with treadmill work.

Hoping to do a 15-miler on Saturday. Of course, on top of everything else, my 11-month old daughter, Norah, seems to have given me a cold. This experience is starting to feel like a litany of health woes. Oh well.

Wednesday: Left achilles tendon feels much better, the right one is still sore. I finally managed to move enough boxes around in my basement to use the treadmill and did approximately 6 miles. My treadmill is old and cheap (got it from freecycle) and bad at measuring miles, but I did a full hour which should be equivalent to 6-7 miles.

Thursday: Just ran another easy 6.5 with Matt around Spot Pond. Still aiming for 30 this week with a long run on Saturday. My achilles tendons both hurt a bit still but it doesn’t feel like I’m doing more damage. I hope I’m not being stupid.