After completing my third marathon in less than a month on November 6th, 2010 I told myself I was going to try and maintain at least a moderate running schedule through the Winter. The previous two years I had been in marathon shape in the Fall and stopped running during the Winter. I gained a bunch of weight and struggled getting back into shape in the Spring. I ran once the during the week following my third marathon. I had planned to run three to four times a week starting the next week and continuing through the Winter. Little did I know I was about to receive some life altering news.
After I left the Marine Corps in August of 2006 I started attending college at the University of Toledo in Toledo, OH. One of my best friends, Austin, had joined the Marines in the Fall of our senior year of high school and kind of talked me into joining as well. Austin also ended up at the University of Toledo when our four years in the Marines was up. Austin joined the veterans group on campus and got me to eventually join as well. I ended up becoming President of the group in the Fall of 2010. Every year we would get together on Veteran's Day and take part in community activities as well as go out to eat. Fall of 2010 was no different and we attended the Toledo area veteran's breakfast on the morning of November 11. During the breakfast my cell phone started vibrating. It was a call from my Mom's cell phone. I don't know what it was, but I immediately had a weird feeling something was wrong.
My father had been battling cancer for four years leading up to that call. First he fought testicular cancer, which he beat, and then he started a long battle with prostate cancer. The battle was rough for my father. He was always in phenomenal physical condition and took pride in his health. He fought the cancer for a long time until he was worn out. I could tell he was sick of all of the doctor appointments, the treatments, and of not being able to work steadily. I tried to call him everyday and talk to him as I knew he was at home waiting for my mom to return from work. Some days we had great conversations, other days I could tell my dad was weak and the conversations were brief. The morning of the veterans breakfast my parents were at the hospital to get the results of recent scans my father had just received to check the progress of the cancer treatments. The results were bad.
I knew that my father could only survive for so long with Stage 4 prostate cancer, but I always thought we would have longer with him than we did. The day of the test results was a Thursday and one of the doctors at the hospital thought my dad would not make it through the weekend. The cancer had spread rampantly throughout his body and into his vital organs. It had consumed his liver and it was only a matter of time before his body would begin to shutdown. I had ignored the call from my mother as I did not want to interrupt the key note speaker. A few minutes later I got a text from my brother Tom that said something along the lines of "Dude we gotta go home, Dad might not make it through the weekend".
I felt sick when I read the message. I quietly left the breakfast and went outside to call my mom. She answered and told me the horrible news. I informed the rest of the veterans group that I had to leave and went to my apartment and packed some things. I then headed back home to my parents house. The drive from Toledo to the west suburbs of Cleveland is fairly short. It was only about 100 miles from my apartment to my parents house. The whole drive took about an hour and 45 minutes.
On the way home all I could think about was my father and mother. They both had such an impact on my life as most parents do on their children. My father had a major influence on a lot of the things I have done in my life. He was a wrestler, I was a wrestler. He was a Marine, I was a Marine. He was a runner, I am a runner. He was a Christian, I am a Christian. My father was a very humble man that accomplished a lot in his life. He led by example. I had a hard time arguing with him about things growing up because he was not a hypocrite. He practiced what he preached.
As an adult I asked for his advice on everything. I talked to him 5 or more times a week in college. It was hard to imagine my life without him. It also killed me that my mother would be alone. Despite my sadness I never questioned any of it. I believe that God is in control of everything an what is meant to be is what is. I knew my father felt that way as well. He was the most content person on their deathbed one could ever imagine.
I eventually arrived at my parents house. My mom was upset and my dad was a little drugged up. It was hard to know how to react to everything. I was glad to be home, but was not sure exactly how much time I had left with my dad. One doctor doubted he would make it through the weekend and a nurse thought it could be up to four weeks. All I knew is I was home to help make my mother and him as comfortable as possible.
My father was put on Hospice care, but kept at home. That is where we wanted him, in his own comfortable bed with his family. The Hospice nurse would come a few times a week to check his vitals and monitor medications. We learned very quickly when and how to give my dad pain medicine to ensure he was pain free. My college schedule also worked in my favor during that time. I had almost all Tuesday and Thursday classes and one Monday and Friday class. I would skip my Monday class and leave from home Tuesday morning and go back to Toledo. Then I would comeback home Thursday night. That left only two nights where I wasn't at home to help my dad.
My brother also got some time off of work and came in from Toledo to help. On the nights when my younger brother and I could not be there my older brother would stay the night. One of my dad's best friends, Jim Kudrin was also at my parents' house everyday. This routine last nearly five weeks. It was tiring, but it was also a good time for the whole family. A lot of people lose family members suddenly and never have a real chance to say goodbye. We were lucky enough to have that time to spend with my father and the rest of my family.
During the five weeks of caring for my father I would try and get out for a three mile run here and there around my parents' neighborhood. That didn't last very long. I don't know why I didn't keep up the running, it was a great way to clear my mind, and a stress reliever. I think caring for my father and the trips back and forth to Toledo and everything that was happening took over and I just couldn't get myself out to run.
On December 14, 2010 my father, Patrick Glenn Carver, took his last breath. I had my hand on his head. Right before he died his eyes opened wide probably seeing the Angels coming to carry him away. I knew everything would be different going forward. It was different and still is different today without him.
I took off the next few months from running. I was in a slump and it was hard to get out of it. I knew my father would want me to be healthy and I knew I would be back out running again soon enough. When March of 2011 rolled around I started running again. It was kind of fitting considering my dad's birthday was March 7 and the Ohio State Wrestling tournament (one of his favorite sporting events) is held every year in March. I picked out my next marathons and signed up for them. I was going to run the Towpath Marathon in October of that year and the Columbus marathon the week after. I was going to run the Indianapolis marathon again, but my brother decided to get married that day. I still can't believe they wouldn't move the wedding so I could run that marathon.The nerve.
I was ready to get back into shape and run some more races. It seemed different now that my dad was gone. On training runs I always think about my dad. I always think how much I want to call him afterward and tell him how my run went or where I ran. I knew he would be happy I was out there running. He was at my very first marathon to cheer me on. My mom told me in an encouraging card she gave me before the race that my dad wished he was running the marathon with me. I guarantee he would have been running the race with me if it weren't for a pesky hip replacement. Regardless it was great to have him and my family there. I knew God and and my dad would be with me on the rest of my runs from that point forward. I couldn't wait for the two races coming up that Fall.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Three Races, 27 Days The Conclusion
Weight on Indianapolis 2010 Race Day: 258 lbs.
The twenty days leading up to the 2010 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon did not go as I had planned. And it was completely my fault.
I had just run a PR (personal record) time at the Columbus marathon and was ecstatic. I had run significantly faster than Chicago seven days prior. I only signed up for Indianapolis because of my poor time in Chicago and wanted to make sure I had an extra shot at a PR that year. At the finish in Columbus I told myself I had 20 days to train hard for Indianapolis and maybe set another PR.
I spent the rest of the day and the night after the race in Columbus with my friend Shaun. We celebrated my PR and were out the entire day and night. After I finished the race I went to Shaun's and showered and we went down the street to a local bar and grill to watch the Cleveland Browns game and eat lunch. The Park Street Tavern is located at Park Street and High Street in downtown Columbus. About a fifth of the marathon is run on High street. You run miles 11-16 heading North on High Street and then later in the race you run South on High for maybe three quarters of a mile right before turning onto Nationwide Blvd. for the finish.
Park Street Tavern sat right in the middle of that three quarter mile Southbound strip of the course. When you passed the Park Street Tavern you had lees than a half mile to the finish. As we sat, ate, drank, and watched the game runners were still coming down high towards the finish. For the next several hours runners would pass by almost done with their race. I have to admit sitting there seeing all of the runners that finished behind me kind of felt good. I wasn't out there to race or compete against the other runners, I was only out there to push and compete against myself, but it made me a little more proud of my PR as I sat there and ate.
The day after the race I drove back to Toledo, I had class that afternoon. It was Monday and I felt a little sore so I decided I wouldn't run again until Wednesday. I did a light run on Wednesday and Thursday and felt pretty good. At college the weekend pretty much starts on Thursday night. Most of the colleges in Ohio are semesters as opposed to quarters so a lot of classes are only two days a week. The two days usually fall on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesday and Thursdays. That means it is very common for students to have no classes on Fridays.
I was one of those students. I managed to go nine semesters at school with not a single Friday class. My weekend always started on a Thursday night. Local businesses know that Thursday night is a big night out at college and usually offer food and drink deals. I decided that since I had just run a PR there would be no harm in going out Thursday night. I stayed in Friday night and ran Saturday morning, but was out again Saturday night. Over the next two weeks I fell back into my old ways a little bit. I ate very unhealthy food and went out multiple nights during the week. I still ran, but probably not as much as I should have.
On Friday, November, 6, 2010 I left for Indianapolis weighing five pounds more than I had at the race in Columbus. The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon is run a Saturday which I love. Saturday marathons are not too common because it is easier for a city to shut down roads on a Sunday Morning because most businesses are closed. I love Saturday races because you can go out in the city that night. For Sunday races I might go out to eat in a city the night before, but the race is constantly on my mind and I am not fully relaxed enough to really enjoy it. The Saturday races allow me to go out that night after the race is finished and not worry about what I eat or how late I stay up.
The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon should not be confused with the Indianapolis Marathon as they are two different races, but to tell you the truth I do find it confusing. The Indianapolis Marathon is not run in the city of Indianapolis, but in a Northeastern suburb of the city name Lawrence. The Monumental Marathon runs straight through downtown Indianapolis and through quite a few suburbs. The course in Lawrence is much more condensed staying mostly in the city of Lawrence and using a lot of roads in both directions for running in and out and back fashion. To me it would make sense to name the Lawrence race differently and give the Monumental Marathon the official title of Indianapolis Marathon.
The Monumental Marathon is a great course. It is called the Monumental marathon because it takes you past many of Indianapolis' monuments and landmarks. These include the Indiana State Capitol, Arts Garden, Lucas Oil Stadium, Circle Center Mall, Warehouse District, Eli Lilly campus, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Monument Circle, Federal buildings/monuments, Cultural Trail, Mass Ave District, Pennsylvania Avenue through Fall Creek Place, Meridian Street, Washington Boulevard through Meridian-Kessler, Butler University, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Broad Ripple, State Fairgrounds and Fall Creek Parkway among others.
When I arrived at my cousin Mike's apartment that Friday I unpacked my stuff and we took off to check in at the expo. We got our packets and tested our timing chips. We returned to Mike's after the expo and he whipped us up some chicken Parmesan with pasta. We ate and talked about the race. Most of the discussion was around what we were going to wear for the race. The weather was chilly. Neither of us had ever run a marathon where the starting temperature was much less than 40 degrees. The forecast showed the temperature during the duration of the race would be anywhere from 28 to 31 degrees Fahrenheit.
The only experience I had running in really cold weather was during wrestling season in junior high and high school in the snowy Cleveland winters. During those runs I was mainly trying to shed water weight to make weight for a wrestling match or tournament. I would layer the clothing on for those runs. I would start with a short sleeve cotton shirt followed by a long sleeve cotton shirt and then ont top of that I would put a rubber sweat suit top and/or a garbage bag with arm and neck holes cut out. Over top of that would usually be another long sleeve shirt followed by a sweatshirt. The bottom half of me would be under armour tights and sweat pants. I also wore a winter hat and gloves. You can get rid of an awful lot of water weight in short distance of running when you are wearing that kind of clothing.
Running served a different purpose now so I needed to figure out a proper outfit for the marathon. I didn't own any long sleeve shirts made out of moisture wicking material so my choices were pretty limited. I ended up going with compression short sleeve shirt (which I always wear as a bottom layer to prevent chaffing), a long sleeve cotton shirt, and a short sleeve moisture wicking shirt over that. For my bottom half I went with my normal compression shorts underneath mesh shorts. I did not wear a hat or gloves. I had longer hair and that provided all the warmth I needed on my head and my hands rarely got cold while I was running.
The next morning we got up early and Mike's girlfirend drove us downtown to the start. It was around 28 degrees when we walked outside. The wind was blowing making it feel even colder. We made our way to the starting line chute and jumped in with the rest of the runners. It didn't seem that cold in the chute because of all the runners crammed into a relatively small area. The collective body heat kept us warm until the race started. As usual the PA announcer counted down from 10 and we shuffled toward the starting line.
I was excited about running through the city of Indianapolis. I had never been there before and looked forward to seeing all of the monuments and landmarks. I was a little nervous about the race however because I knew I had put on about five pounds since Columbus and probably didn't run as much as I should have between the two races. The first half of the race went pretty smoothly. Around mile three we passed by Lucas Oil Stadium where the Colts play football. There were colts cheerleaders in front of the stadium cheering the runners on. Right after that we passed by the Soldiers and Sailors monument, probably my favorite monument of the race. It sits right in the middle of giant traffic circle in downtown Indianapolis. You pass by it near the beginning of the race and then have a great view of it for the last few miles of the race as you run toward it and the finish.
The course weaves through a lot of neighborhoods and is pretty quiet for the most part. Passing by all of the houses I expected to see more spectators. Most of the main runs that you run on are still open throughout the race. One lane is normally coned off for the runners while the other two or three lanes are still open to traffic. The city puts up signs everywhere along the course warning drivers the race will be going on during certain hours and to expect delays. The traffic in the open lanes was bumper to bumper for a lot of the way. Drivers and passengers would roll down their windows and honk and cheer for the runners. I really like that some of them did that because if it was me stuck in traffic because of a bunch of runners I wouldn't be too happy.
As I passed the halfway point I was already feeling a little sluggish. The extra few pounds and lack of long runs since Columbus was beginning to take its toll. I knew the last half of the race would be tough. The cold weather hadn't seemed to bother me at all. I was happy about that. Around the 18 mile mark I had to start walking intermittently. My legs were feeling pretty heavy. During one of my jogging stints I came up on very tall man that was walking the race. The guy was really moving for a walker. He didn't look silly like most power walkers do, he just had a long wide stride. It took me a while before I caught up to him. There was an aid station as I came up next to him and we both grabbed paper cups of water. He said hi and asked how I was feeling. I told him that I was pretty exhausted even though it was my third marathon in 27 days. He said sometimes you just have an off day but you will make it. After we finished our water I started jogging again and left him to his power walking.
By mile 23 I was dragging pretty bad. The cold weather that wasn't bugging me earlier began to affect me. I had frost on my sleeves from sweat that had frozen. I was walking a lot by then and I was freezing. I could not wait to be done. Close to the 25 mile mark the tall walking man passed me. I was not too happy about that. I cold not believe a walker was beating me in the race. I tried to jog and keep up with him but my legs were dead. I had to walk. I never saw the man again. I eventually finished the race after five hours and seven minutes and I was freezing. I grabbed some food at the finish and looked for my cousin Mike. I found him waiting for me, he had finished over an hour earlier than me. We walked to his girlfriend's car and jumped in. I was glad to be done.
Despite the poor race time I had a great time going out in Indianapolis with Mike and his friends. I was also proud of the fact that I had finished three marathons in 27 days. Each of them a different climate. Hot, perfect, and cold. It was that year I learned that my body could handle running multiple long distance races in a relatively short time period. I enjoyed it too. I figured if I spent five or six months building my body up for a marathon, why waste it on one race in the fall? I looked forward to the next race I would run.
The twenty days leading up to the 2010 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon did not go as I had planned. And it was completely my fault.
I had just run a PR (personal record) time at the Columbus marathon and was ecstatic. I had run significantly faster than Chicago seven days prior. I only signed up for Indianapolis because of my poor time in Chicago and wanted to make sure I had an extra shot at a PR that year. At the finish in Columbus I told myself I had 20 days to train hard for Indianapolis and maybe set another PR.
I spent the rest of the day and the night after the race in Columbus with my friend Shaun. We celebrated my PR and were out the entire day and night. After I finished the race I went to Shaun's and showered and we went down the street to a local bar and grill to watch the Cleveland Browns game and eat lunch. The Park Street Tavern is located at Park Street and High Street in downtown Columbus. About a fifth of the marathon is run on High street. You run miles 11-16 heading North on High Street and then later in the race you run South on High for maybe three quarters of a mile right before turning onto Nationwide Blvd. for the finish.
Park Street Tavern sat right in the middle of that three quarter mile Southbound strip of the course. When you passed the Park Street Tavern you had lees than a half mile to the finish. As we sat, ate, drank, and watched the game runners were still coming down high towards the finish. For the next several hours runners would pass by almost done with their race. I have to admit sitting there seeing all of the runners that finished behind me kind of felt good. I wasn't out there to race or compete against the other runners, I was only out there to push and compete against myself, but it made me a little more proud of my PR as I sat there and ate.
The day after the race I drove back to Toledo, I had class that afternoon. It was Monday and I felt a little sore so I decided I wouldn't run again until Wednesday. I did a light run on Wednesday and Thursday and felt pretty good. At college the weekend pretty much starts on Thursday night. Most of the colleges in Ohio are semesters as opposed to quarters so a lot of classes are only two days a week. The two days usually fall on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesday and Thursdays. That means it is very common for students to have no classes on Fridays.
I was one of those students. I managed to go nine semesters at school with not a single Friday class. My weekend always started on a Thursday night. Local businesses know that Thursday night is a big night out at college and usually offer food and drink deals. I decided that since I had just run a PR there would be no harm in going out Thursday night. I stayed in Friday night and ran Saturday morning, but was out again Saturday night. Over the next two weeks I fell back into my old ways a little bit. I ate very unhealthy food and went out multiple nights during the week. I still ran, but probably not as much as I should have.
On Friday, November, 6, 2010 I left for Indianapolis weighing five pounds more than I had at the race in Columbus. The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon is run a Saturday which I love. Saturday marathons are not too common because it is easier for a city to shut down roads on a Sunday Morning because most businesses are closed. I love Saturday races because you can go out in the city that night. For Sunday races I might go out to eat in a city the night before, but the race is constantly on my mind and I am not fully relaxed enough to really enjoy it. The Saturday races allow me to go out that night after the race is finished and not worry about what I eat or how late I stay up.
The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon should not be confused with the Indianapolis Marathon as they are two different races, but to tell you the truth I do find it confusing. The Indianapolis Marathon is not run in the city of Indianapolis, but in a Northeastern suburb of the city name Lawrence. The Monumental Marathon runs straight through downtown Indianapolis and through quite a few suburbs. The course in Lawrence is much more condensed staying mostly in the city of Lawrence and using a lot of roads in both directions for running in and out and back fashion. To me it would make sense to name the Lawrence race differently and give the Monumental Marathon the official title of Indianapolis Marathon.
The Monumental Marathon is a great course. It is called the Monumental marathon because it takes you past many of Indianapolis' monuments and landmarks. These include the Indiana State Capitol, Arts Garden, Lucas Oil Stadium, Circle Center Mall, Warehouse District, Eli Lilly campus, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Monument Circle, Federal buildings/monuments, Cultural Trail, Mass Ave District, Pennsylvania Avenue through Fall Creek Place, Meridian Street, Washington Boulevard through Meridian-Kessler, Butler University, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Broad Ripple, State Fairgrounds and Fall Creek Parkway among others.
When I arrived at my cousin Mike's apartment that Friday I unpacked my stuff and we took off to check in at the expo. We got our packets and tested our timing chips. We returned to Mike's after the expo and he whipped us up some chicken Parmesan with pasta. We ate and talked about the race. Most of the discussion was around what we were going to wear for the race. The weather was chilly. Neither of us had ever run a marathon where the starting temperature was much less than 40 degrees. The forecast showed the temperature during the duration of the race would be anywhere from 28 to 31 degrees Fahrenheit.
The only experience I had running in really cold weather was during wrestling season in junior high and high school in the snowy Cleveland winters. During those runs I was mainly trying to shed water weight to make weight for a wrestling match or tournament. I would layer the clothing on for those runs. I would start with a short sleeve cotton shirt followed by a long sleeve cotton shirt and then ont top of that I would put a rubber sweat suit top and/or a garbage bag with arm and neck holes cut out. Over top of that would usually be another long sleeve shirt followed by a sweatshirt. The bottom half of me would be under armour tights and sweat pants. I also wore a winter hat and gloves. You can get rid of an awful lot of water weight in short distance of running when you are wearing that kind of clothing.
Running served a different purpose now so I needed to figure out a proper outfit for the marathon. I didn't own any long sleeve shirts made out of moisture wicking material so my choices were pretty limited. I ended up going with compression short sleeve shirt (which I always wear as a bottom layer to prevent chaffing), a long sleeve cotton shirt, and a short sleeve moisture wicking shirt over that. For my bottom half I went with my normal compression shorts underneath mesh shorts. I did not wear a hat or gloves. I had longer hair and that provided all the warmth I needed on my head and my hands rarely got cold while I was running.
The next morning we got up early and Mike's girlfirend drove us downtown to the start. It was around 28 degrees when we walked outside. The wind was blowing making it feel even colder. We made our way to the starting line chute and jumped in with the rest of the runners. It didn't seem that cold in the chute because of all the runners crammed into a relatively small area. The collective body heat kept us warm until the race started. As usual the PA announcer counted down from 10 and we shuffled toward the starting line.
I was excited about running through the city of Indianapolis. I had never been there before and looked forward to seeing all of the monuments and landmarks. I was a little nervous about the race however because I knew I had put on about five pounds since Columbus and probably didn't run as much as I should have between the two races. The first half of the race went pretty smoothly. Around mile three we passed by Lucas Oil Stadium where the Colts play football. There were colts cheerleaders in front of the stadium cheering the runners on. Right after that we passed by the Soldiers and Sailors monument, probably my favorite monument of the race. It sits right in the middle of giant traffic circle in downtown Indianapolis. You pass by it near the beginning of the race and then have a great view of it for the last few miles of the race as you run toward it and the finish.
The course weaves through a lot of neighborhoods and is pretty quiet for the most part. Passing by all of the houses I expected to see more spectators. Most of the main runs that you run on are still open throughout the race. One lane is normally coned off for the runners while the other two or three lanes are still open to traffic. The city puts up signs everywhere along the course warning drivers the race will be going on during certain hours and to expect delays. The traffic in the open lanes was bumper to bumper for a lot of the way. Drivers and passengers would roll down their windows and honk and cheer for the runners. I really like that some of them did that because if it was me stuck in traffic because of a bunch of runners I wouldn't be too happy.
As I passed the halfway point I was already feeling a little sluggish. The extra few pounds and lack of long runs since Columbus was beginning to take its toll. I knew the last half of the race would be tough. The cold weather hadn't seemed to bother me at all. I was happy about that. Around the 18 mile mark I had to start walking intermittently. My legs were feeling pretty heavy. During one of my jogging stints I came up on very tall man that was walking the race. The guy was really moving for a walker. He didn't look silly like most power walkers do, he just had a long wide stride. It took me a while before I caught up to him. There was an aid station as I came up next to him and we both grabbed paper cups of water. He said hi and asked how I was feeling. I told him that I was pretty exhausted even though it was my third marathon in 27 days. He said sometimes you just have an off day but you will make it. After we finished our water I started jogging again and left him to his power walking.
By mile 23 I was dragging pretty bad. The cold weather that wasn't bugging me earlier began to affect me. I had frost on my sleeves from sweat that had frozen. I was walking a lot by then and I was freezing. I could not wait to be done. Close to the 25 mile mark the tall walking man passed me. I was not too happy about that. I cold not believe a walker was beating me in the race. I tried to jog and keep up with him but my legs were dead. I had to walk. I never saw the man again. I eventually finished the race after five hours and seven minutes and I was freezing. I grabbed some food at the finish and looked for my cousin Mike. I found him waiting for me, he had finished over an hour earlier than me. We walked to his girlfriend's car and jumped in. I was glad to be done.
Despite the poor race time I had a great time going out in Indianapolis with Mike and his friends. I was also proud of the fact that I had finished three marathons in 27 days. Each of them a different climate. Hot, perfect, and cold. It was that year I learned that my body could handle running multiple long distance races in a relatively short time period. I enjoyed it too. I figured if I spent five or six months building my body up for a marathon, why waste it on one race in the fall? I looked forward to the next race I would run.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Three Races, 27 Days - Part 2
Weight on Columbus 2010 Race Day: 253lbs.
Six days after the Chicago race I found myself in Columbus, Ohio. The date was October 16. I drove to Columbus from Toledo and arrived at my friend Shaun's apartment around two in the afternoon. Shaun lived in a prime spot for the race. He was a five minute walk from the convention center where I needed to check-in, a five minute drive from the start of the marathon, and a ten minute walk from the marathon finish area.
Shaun left me a key and I unloaded my stuff into his apartment. I took a walk down to the convention center to check in. It was a nice afternoon and the walk felt good. The convention center was not too crowded and I managed to get in and out fairly quickly. I walked back to Shaun's to relax a little bit before dinner.
Two of my high school friends were running the race that year and another was coming along to watch. We were all staying at Shaun's apartment that night. The two friends that were running the race, Kyle and Jonathan, are brothers that I wrestled with in high school. Kyle was a state champion and went on to wrestle for Central Michigan and Jonathan was a state qualifier who unfortunately had his wrestling career cut short by a bad back injury. Kyle and Jonathan always prided themselves on their phenomenal physical conditioning throughout high school. Nothing had really changed they both were still in great shape and ready for the race.
Our good friend, Jon, also came down to watch the race and give us a ride to the start. I hadn't seen any of three in a while so it was good to be back together. There was a big difference between the night before the Columbus race and the night before the Chicago race, seven days earlier. In Chicago I was with my cousin Mike. He is very regimented and follows a pretty strict routine the night before and the morning of the race. He is a little too strict for my taste, but it works for him and shows in his many successes including his career and running.
Kyle and Jon were about the exact opposite of my cousin Mike. They trained hard, but had no rituals or routines before athletic events. I think I fall somewhere in between the two, not super strict, but not completely relaxed either. In Chicago, we had dinner at a specific time, we did a short run in the hotel fitness room a specific time, we were in bed at a specific time, and we woke up at a specific time. In Columbus nothing was planned. We wandered around looking for a place to eat around 7 at night. We settled on a brewery. We ate some starchy foods and even had a couple beers. After dinner we were back at the apartment lounging. Around 11 PM someone decided they wanted some Gatorade so we walked down to the grocery store. I think we finally went to bed around one in the morning.
My friend Shaun was kind enough to let us have the apartment to ourselves. He works second shift and is usually up very late. He didn't want to keep us up so he stayed at a friends. Shaun always comes through when I need a place to crash before a race. I slept in Shaun's bed, Jon was on one couch, Jonathan was on the other couch, and Kyle was on the floor. We got up around 6:45 the next morning and got ready. We left the apartment a little after seven and Jon drove us toward the starting line. Jon got as close as possible with the traffic and we walked the last few blocks to the start.
The weather was perfect. It was in the low 40s and wasn't supposed to go above the low 50s all day.
It was a welcome change from the warm weather in Chicago the week prior. We squeezed in between the thousands of runners that were lined up and got ready to go. Within a few minutes a voice came over the PA and started to count down from 10. At zero there was a loud bang from some sort of pyrotechnic and the race had started. We started the marathon shuffle toward the starting line. It took about 11 minutes to get out of the starting chute and across the starting line. For those that don't know, most modern marathons use electronic timing chips that each runner wears to keep track of his or her time for the race. The exact moment the race begins is referred to as "Gun Time" and the time when a runner physically crosses the starting line is referred to as "Chip Time". So the 11 minutes didn't count against me.
Once we crossed the starting line Kyle and Jonathan took off. They planned to go as hard as they could for as long as they could. Kyle actually had to be at the Columbus airport by noon that day to catch a flight for work. So on top of him always wanting to go "all out" at whatever he does he also had making his flight to motivate him even more. I started the race off at a slower pace to conserve energy and wait for the crowds of runners to spread out a little bit. I had to stop and use the bathroom three miles into the race which I wasn't too happy about, but if you gotta go, you gotta go. After my potty break I settled into a nice pace. The other runners had spread out a little bit and I finally had some room to breathe.
The Columbus course is one of my favorite courses to run. There is always tons of spectators and they have countless musical acts along the entire course. There are rock bands, DJs, one man acoustic set ups, and a plethora of other acts. At the 10K mark there was a drum line from a local high school. The drummers were playing their butts off. I have always enjoyed drum lines and was happy to see them. The course winds through downtown Columbus, a few nice suburbs of Columbus, and the Ohio State University campus. Pretty much the whole course is lined with spectators cheering the runners on except for the college. That is a pretty quiet part of the race. Most of the students are still sleeping off whatever debauchery they got into the evening prior.
I held a pretty solid pace until about the 20 mile mark. I slowed a little after that, but not by much. For the last two or three miles I took a couple of walking breaks at the aid stations but tried to limit them as I knew I could attain a good finishing time. Almost every mile marker in the Columbus marathon has a digital clock that is in sync with the race "Gun Time". I am not sure if it is a good or bad thing having the clocks around every mile. I am not a runner who is constantly worried about or trying to calculate my pace. Sometimes I like not knowing my time. On the other hand it is a little bit of a motivator to try and get from one clock to the next at a certain pace or faster than a certain pace. At the mile 23 clock I knew I had a chance to break my personal record of 4:41:33.
I fought the urge to walk for most of the final three miles. I eventually passed two giant signs that said "1/2 mile to go". From there I continued to increase my pace. I was determined to break that record. I was eventually at a full out sprint for the last two tenths of a mile down the finishing chute. The finishing clock read 4:44:50 as I crossed the line. I subtracted the 11 minutes and 3 seconds that it took me to cross the starting line and realized I had just set a new personal record at 4:35:47. I was ecstatic. I could not believe I had run more than 40 minutes faster than seven days before in Chicago. I don't know if it was the weather, the fact that I didn't have a bathroom issue, or a less crowded course, but I was pumped.
As I walked down through the finishing area toward the food tables I heard my friend Jonathan yelling through the fence. He realized I had broken my record and congratulated me. I asked him how the race went for him. He said he ran a 3:45, but was disappointed with his performance. He really wanted to keep up with his brother Kyle and said his legs just kind of died on him around mile 16 or so. I congratulated him as I thought that he had a phenomenal time. I hope to someday break the four hour barrier myself. Jonathan has since completed multiple 50Ks and a 100 mile trail race. I asked him how his brother Kyle did and he said he didn't know. He hadn't seen Kyle since he went on ahead in the race.
As it turns out Kyle ended up finishing at 3 hours and 12 minutes even. Just 61 seconds slower than the Boston Marathon qualifying time for his age and gender. His time was impressive especially considering it was his first marathon and he hadn't exactly put in the best training effort for the race possible. He was in phenomenal shape but did tons of biking and shorter runs. He didn't do as many long distance runs as he could have. I think he could have broken three hours if he had trained better at distance running. After finishing Kyle was so concerned about his flight he grabbed our friend Jon and had him drive him straight to the airport. He didn't even shower. I am glad I didn't have to sit next to him that flight.
I was thrilled with my finishing time and ready for the next race in Indianapolis. I figured if I could improve by 40 minutes in a week I could probably improve some more by the next race. Indy was 20 days away and I needed to maintain a solid training schedule until then.
Six days after the Chicago race I found myself in Columbus, Ohio. The date was October 16. I drove to Columbus from Toledo and arrived at my friend Shaun's apartment around two in the afternoon. Shaun lived in a prime spot for the race. He was a five minute walk from the convention center where I needed to check-in, a five minute drive from the start of the marathon, and a ten minute walk from the marathon finish area.
Shaun left me a key and I unloaded my stuff into his apartment. I took a walk down to the convention center to check in. It was a nice afternoon and the walk felt good. The convention center was not too crowded and I managed to get in and out fairly quickly. I walked back to Shaun's to relax a little bit before dinner.
Two of my high school friends were running the race that year and another was coming along to watch. We were all staying at Shaun's apartment that night. The two friends that were running the race, Kyle and Jonathan, are brothers that I wrestled with in high school. Kyle was a state champion and went on to wrestle for Central Michigan and Jonathan was a state qualifier who unfortunately had his wrestling career cut short by a bad back injury. Kyle and Jonathan always prided themselves on their phenomenal physical conditioning throughout high school. Nothing had really changed they both were still in great shape and ready for the race.
Our good friend, Jon, also came down to watch the race and give us a ride to the start. I hadn't seen any of three in a while so it was good to be back together. There was a big difference between the night before the Columbus race and the night before the Chicago race, seven days earlier. In Chicago I was with my cousin Mike. He is very regimented and follows a pretty strict routine the night before and the morning of the race. He is a little too strict for my taste, but it works for him and shows in his many successes including his career and running.
Kyle and Jon were about the exact opposite of my cousin Mike. They trained hard, but had no rituals or routines before athletic events. I think I fall somewhere in between the two, not super strict, but not completely relaxed either. In Chicago, we had dinner at a specific time, we did a short run in the hotel fitness room a specific time, we were in bed at a specific time, and we woke up at a specific time. In Columbus nothing was planned. We wandered around looking for a place to eat around 7 at night. We settled on a brewery. We ate some starchy foods and even had a couple beers. After dinner we were back at the apartment lounging. Around 11 PM someone decided they wanted some Gatorade so we walked down to the grocery store. I think we finally went to bed around one in the morning.
My friend Shaun was kind enough to let us have the apartment to ourselves. He works second shift and is usually up very late. He didn't want to keep us up so he stayed at a friends. Shaun always comes through when I need a place to crash before a race. I slept in Shaun's bed, Jon was on one couch, Jonathan was on the other couch, and Kyle was on the floor. We got up around 6:45 the next morning and got ready. We left the apartment a little after seven and Jon drove us toward the starting line. Jon got as close as possible with the traffic and we walked the last few blocks to the start.
The weather was perfect. It was in the low 40s and wasn't supposed to go above the low 50s all day.
It was a welcome change from the warm weather in Chicago the week prior. We squeezed in between the thousands of runners that were lined up and got ready to go. Within a few minutes a voice came over the PA and started to count down from 10. At zero there was a loud bang from some sort of pyrotechnic and the race had started. We started the marathon shuffle toward the starting line. It took about 11 minutes to get out of the starting chute and across the starting line. For those that don't know, most modern marathons use electronic timing chips that each runner wears to keep track of his or her time for the race. The exact moment the race begins is referred to as "Gun Time" and the time when a runner physically crosses the starting line is referred to as "Chip Time". So the 11 minutes didn't count against me.
Once we crossed the starting line Kyle and Jonathan took off. They planned to go as hard as they could for as long as they could. Kyle actually had to be at the Columbus airport by noon that day to catch a flight for work. So on top of him always wanting to go "all out" at whatever he does he also had making his flight to motivate him even more. I started the race off at a slower pace to conserve energy and wait for the crowds of runners to spread out a little bit. I had to stop and use the bathroom three miles into the race which I wasn't too happy about, but if you gotta go, you gotta go. After my potty break I settled into a nice pace. The other runners had spread out a little bit and I finally had some room to breathe.
The Columbus course is one of my favorite courses to run. There is always tons of spectators and they have countless musical acts along the entire course. There are rock bands, DJs, one man acoustic set ups, and a plethora of other acts. At the 10K mark there was a drum line from a local high school. The drummers were playing their butts off. I have always enjoyed drum lines and was happy to see them. The course winds through downtown Columbus, a few nice suburbs of Columbus, and the Ohio State University campus. Pretty much the whole course is lined with spectators cheering the runners on except for the college. That is a pretty quiet part of the race. Most of the students are still sleeping off whatever debauchery they got into the evening prior.
I held a pretty solid pace until about the 20 mile mark. I slowed a little after that, but not by much. For the last two or three miles I took a couple of walking breaks at the aid stations but tried to limit them as I knew I could attain a good finishing time. Almost every mile marker in the Columbus marathon has a digital clock that is in sync with the race "Gun Time". I am not sure if it is a good or bad thing having the clocks around every mile. I am not a runner who is constantly worried about or trying to calculate my pace. Sometimes I like not knowing my time. On the other hand it is a little bit of a motivator to try and get from one clock to the next at a certain pace or faster than a certain pace. At the mile 23 clock I knew I had a chance to break my personal record of 4:41:33.
I fought the urge to walk for most of the final three miles. I eventually passed two giant signs that said "1/2 mile to go". From there I continued to increase my pace. I was determined to break that record. I was eventually at a full out sprint for the last two tenths of a mile down the finishing chute. The finishing clock read 4:44:50 as I crossed the line. I subtracted the 11 minutes and 3 seconds that it took me to cross the starting line and realized I had just set a new personal record at 4:35:47. I was ecstatic. I could not believe I had run more than 40 minutes faster than seven days before in Chicago. I don't know if it was the weather, the fact that I didn't have a bathroom issue, or a less crowded course, but I was pumped.
As I walked down through the finishing area toward the food tables I heard my friend Jonathan yelling through the fence. He realized I had broken my record and congratulated me. I asked him how the race went for him. He said he ran a 3:45, but was disappointed with his performance. He really wanted to keep up with his brother Kyle and said his legs just kind of died on him around mile 16 or so. I congratulated him as I thought that he had a phenomenal time. I hope to someday break the four hour barrier myself. Jonathan has since completed multiple 50Ks and a 100 mile trail race. I asked him how his brother Kyle did and he said he didn't know. He hadn't seen Kyle since he went on ahead in the race.
As it turns out Kyle ended up finishing at 3 hours and 12 minutes even. Just 61 seconds slower than the Boston Marathon qualifying time for his age and gender. His time was impressive especially considering it was his first marathon and he hadn't exactly put in the best training effort for the race possible. He was in phenomenal shape but did tons of biking and shorter runs. He didn't do as many long distance runs as he could have. I think he could have broken three hours if he had trained better at distance running. After finishing Kyle was so concerned about his flight he grabbed our friend Jon and had him drive him straight to the airport. He didn't even shower. I am glad I didn't have to sit next to him that flight.
I was thrilled with my finishing time and ready for the next race in Indianapolis. I figured if I could improve by 40 minutes in a week I could probably improve some more by the next race. Indy was 20 days away and I needed to maintain a solid training schedule until then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)