Week 19, 47k

This week was the marathon, so with the 5k I did last Monday and the 42k I did on race day that brings my total to 47 for the week.Its amazing to me writing that, 47, just about all of that from one run. Crazy. I only did 5k on Monday because two spots on my left leg, my lower calf and my knee, were feeling a bit tender. Being that it was race week I weighed the options and decided it would be better to stop running (and just do bike/eliptical in the final days), instead of pushing on and possibly injuring myself. It seems I made the right decision because I made it through the marathon relatively injury free. Right now my legs are broke down sticks that I can only slowly walk on, but in another week or so I imagine they will be up and running again and I intend to push them some more. About the marathon there are a few things that I would like to note. First about eating and then about the finished product. Race morning I had a bit of the jitters and of course went to the bathroom about 4times just to make sure that I was as fully empty as I could be beforegetting into my block for start. I did about as expected during therace and only went to the bathroom twice, both times just to take a leak. Both times I was on target for amount and consistancy. I feel like I planned my fluids before the race pretty well. As far as food,the night before I ate rice, salad, a little cheese, and tea. All foods that I figured were light and wouldn't give me trouble. For breakfast I had some nuts,
oatmeal, and just a few sips of coffee along with about 10oz of sports drink and 10oz or so of water. I would have skipped the coffee, but I always have a little bit and it never has affected my running before so I figured it was ok. Better to keep to routine in this case. I never had to go #2 during the race and didnt have any problems after the race either. In fact after the race I wasnt even especially hungry
or thirsty and I think this had to do with good spacing of eating and drinking during the race. I took my first drink at 5k and then regularly took about 5oz every 3-5k as the race provided. I ate for the first time at 10k as I was standing in line to pee, it was a Gu packet. Next I ate a Soy Joy bar at 17k, a couple pieces of banana at 23k, a piece of sugared plum (offered by fan) at 30k, and a few pieces of chocolate around 35. I felt like I could have eaten anything during the race just because I was burning through energy so fast. The only thing that concerned me was the sugared plum just because it was kind of acidic, but everything turned out fine. As far as after the race,it took me about 100oz of sports drinks and water to have a good amount of nice colored pee about 15 hours later. That is not to say I didn't go before then, but I wasnt back to normal til then. Today,Tuesday, I measured my weight at the gym and I was 68.5 kilograms, 1k lighter than usual.I imagine, based on the input and output of food from my body since, that I must have burned through about 2kilograms, or roughly 6lbs of stored engery and water while racing. That is also strangely interesting to me. 6lbs! that's a lot of weight.

My body did ok.

My muscles held up remarkably well. Today I am a bit sore in the hips and inner thighs, but the places you would expect to feel pain, the calves and hamstrings, those feel fine. My calves are completely pain free and my hamstrings have only a hint of soreness. Suprisingly my upper back and biceps are feeling a little sore. Being in runners stance for 5 hours, arms half cocked, did a number on those muscles. My left ankle, somewhat as I expected, swelled after the race,but I didn't notice until the next morning once most of the swelling was done. I dont know exactly what happened there. At 13k it just started to hurt and even though it never got worse the pain stayed there the rest of the race. Now its a tender fluid filled ankle, but I am pretty confident in a few days it will be looking normal and a few more will find me abusing it again. The worst part of my body are my knees. They really hurt. I never expected that. It doesnt feel like muscle pain, though it might be, it feels like joint pain. I'm ok with that, but I do have to wonder if I can train myself to take that kind of knee use better. If this is going to happen whenever I do a marathon that may be a reason to not do marathons. Knees are damn important in life and I don't want to ruin mine. Side note; my nipples chaffed a bit despite the vaseline I put on them.

Now for the race itself. It was so fun! Lining up with 30,000 other people in the freezing rainy morning was more fun than I think anyone could imagine. The anticipation was awesome and when that gun went off, far in the distance, all of us felt a jolt of purpose. I was so happy to be running with so many people and being that there were so many and the race was so long I never took the time to compete with anyone or care about timing. As Dan told me before the race, just have fun, and I took that advice to heart. Every step of the way was fun. I also took another racers advice to not walk at the end of the race because it would be that much harder to run again. I think he was right. Walking is not the root of all evil, but when you get to that point where you can't go on any longer do not walk! Just keep running, keep running to the next lampost, the next block, the next mile marker, just don't stop. If you are feeling exhausted and you stop you may not be able to start again.

Overall, this was a great race. I learned a lot about the marathon and about me as a runner. I intend to use that to improve my running and my marathon running in the future. So you may be asking what now? Well, now I recover, but after that more running. I don't know what the future holds for me or this blog. I think, without a clear race ahead of me, I won't do a weekly blog, but I will check in every few weeks to update what I am up to. I hope to run a half marathon in May, but have to find one first. If that happens I will track the progress here.