Running the Richmond Marathon - November 10, 2012

2012 has been an extraordinary year for me. I turned 50 in January and trained for my first half marathon at Shamrock in March. Actually, all of this started in 2011 when I took up running again after about an 18 year hiatus. It was part of my effort to drop most of the extra weight I had accumulated and to make some effort to get back into reasonable shape. In November, 2011, I ran the Wounded Warrior 5K in Norfolk and finished in just over 31 minutes. It was my first race since running the Elizabeth River Run back in the early 1990's and by the end of the race, I was sucking wind. The important thing, though, was that I finished it. I remember standing at start line watching the half marathon runners start their race and thinking that I could never run a half marathon.

After that, I was hooked. For the first time in a long time, running felt good and was helping me achieve my weight loss goals. In December, I joined the Cornerstone Striders, a Suffolk running club, and began to participate in group runs. While I do run solo, I have found that running is much more enjoyable as a group activity. With the advice and encouragement of friends in Cornerstone, I began to set and achieve longer distances. By May, I had run two half marathons and decided that I would run a full marathon. I finally decided that race would be Richmond, because it is my hometown and has the reputation of being that nation's friendliest marathon.

This past Saturday, I accomplished that goal, finishing the Richmond Marathon in 4:35:51. We had a beautiful day and the race was mostly enjoyable, with the exception of some cramping between Miles 24 and 25, which I was able to walk off. I ran much of the race with my training buddies, David Pace and Ted Bennett, but we split up about Mile 19. The race finish was wonderful with a downhill sprint to Brown's Island. As Dick Beardsley observed in the documentary "The Spirit of the Marathon": "Once you cross that finish line, no matter how fast or how slow, it will change your life." Finishing the marathon has convinced me that there is nothing I cannot achieve once I put my mind to it.

Training for the Richmond Marathon

 

It is now just a week until I run my first full marathon in Richmond. It's kind of hard to believe. I signed up months ago after completing the Flying Pirate Half Marathon and November 10 seemed like an eternity in the future. No longer. It has been a long road, but I think I'm ready. Having never run a full marathon, I really wasn't sure what to expect. Fortunately, being part of the Cornerstone Striders has been an enormous benefit. The founder of our group, Andrea, is a seasoned marathoner with lots of experience.

One of the first things you learn when you begin training for a marathon is that, once a week, you do a "long run." The long run is designed to extend your ability to endure a long distance. The long runs start with relatively shorter distances and, toward the end of training, work up to 20-22 miles. That's a lot of miles, but the process serves a purpose. In my case, my training and a good many of my long runs occurred during the heat and humidity of July and August. Even though we started early in the morning, running 14 or 15 miles in temperatures in the upper 70's or low 80's and 90% humidity takes its toll. I remember thinking that I was never going to finish 15 miles and having to slow my pace to a walk because I was so drained. But I kept on plugging.

As the temperatures have turned cooler, an amazing thing has happened. All of those hot and humid miles built my endurance and conditioned me to deal with longer distances. Most marathoners, especially first-time marathoners, worry about hitting "the wall." The "wall" is the point where your body is running low on fuel and simply refuses to keep going. It can be devastating to a marathoner, especially if it comes with 5 or 6 miles left in the race. Trying to continue with leg cramps is very nearly impossible. And so, how do you deal with "the wall"?

In addition to training for distance, I have learned how to run distance. One of the keys is hydration. If you allow yourself to become dehydrated, you will hit the wall for sure. For that reason, I have learned to take hydration with me (hydration belt) or to consume it along the way at water stops. The same is try with nutrition. You cannot run a race on an empty stomach. You need fuel. I always eat something no closer than an hour before race time. I also take sports beans or gu's with me to provide a quick source of energy. Finally, when it comes to the marathon, sometimes walking is a good thing. There are any number of marathon strategies that include a walking component. Our Cornerstone marathon group will be using a "2 and 1" strategy. At each 2 mile mark, we will walk 1 minute. We have tested this strategy in our long runs and it seems to work well. It's almost like running a series of two mile races.

I will be running the Richmond Marathon with several friends. One of the things I have learned over the weeks and months of training is that running with friends makes the journey all the more enjoyable. If you have been thinking about taking the plunge and doing a full marathon, my advice is to go for it. Have fun and do something you never thought you could do!

Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon in Hampton

My first half marathon was the Shamrock, back in March of this year at Virginia Beach. I trained for my first half right through the winter and, by March, was ready for the 13.1 miles. It was a great event and I enjoyed finishing what had been the longest race I had ever run. The Shamrock was followed by the Flying Pirate on April 22, 2012 in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. Despite the rain, I improved my half marathon time by several minutes.

Once I had completed the Flying Pirate, I began to wonder if a full marathon was within my reach. Before I ran Shamrock, I could not imagine running 13 miles, so was 26 really beyond my grasp. I finally decided to give it a try and figured that I would wait for the Shamrock full in March. Until, I talked to my friend, Katie, who was really pushing the Richmond full in November. She has done over 20 marathons and claims that Richmond is her favorite. After pondering it for several weeks, I decided to give the Richmond full a try. After all, Richmond is my home town and what better place to run your first full. In an upcoming post, I will talk more about getting ready for Richmond.

In the meantime, I heard about a new half marathon being promoted by the folks from J&A Racing, who do the Shamrock. It was a new half to be held in Hampton in October. As it turned out, it fit nicely into my training schedule for Richmond, so I signed up. October 7 turned out to be rainy and chilly. A group of us from Cornerstone Striders met up and drove over together and it rained the whole way. It looked like I was in store for another wet half marathon, just like the Flying Pirate. By race time, it was still cold, but the rain had stopped. I really wanted to PR, so I hooked up with the 2:00 pace group and stayed with them. The course was nice and mostly flat through downtown Hampton and along the river. By Mile 11, I was still feeling strong and I quickened my pace. The rain started again about Mile 12, but I could feel a signficant PR and I kept pushing myself along. In the end, I accomplished one of my goals - a sub 2:00 half marathon. Official Time: 1:57:56.

Colonial 70 Relay

First, let me apologize for allowing my running blog to languish over the last several months. When I started out, I intended to post regularly, but, like a lot of bloggers, my schedule got busy and more time passed than I had intended. That said, let me play catch up.

My focus over the past six months has been to ready myself to run my first full marathon in Richmond. Thanks for my friends in the Cornerstone Striders in Suffolk, I have had plenty of friends to train with and three of them will be running Richmond with me.

I also want to mention that we put together a Cornerstone Striders team for the Colonial 70 Relay that was held  September 29, 2012. Although we don't have a Ragnar Relay in Virginia, this is a similar event. Our team of six covered 77 miles from Hanover to Jamestown and finished third. More importantly, we had a great time. Next year, we may even run the Colonial 200 from Charlottesville to Jamestown.

MS 150 Ride on the Eastern Shore of Virginia

I know this is supposed to be a blog on running, but allow me to deviate briefly. In addition to running, my fitness regimine has grown to include cycling. Actually, before I had taken up running seriously last year, I was cycling on my old mountain bike and racking up some serious miles. I felt that I was too heavy to run without risking some serious damage to my knees, so cycling allowing me to work on my endurance without the impact of running. This spring I transitioned to a road bike and found it to be an amazing ride. Cycling and running seem to be great compliments to one another and cycling allows me to recover from long runs while still working on my endurance.

Several months ago, I was approached about joining an MS 150 team to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The MS 150 is an annual ride of 150 miles over two days on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. I jumped at the chance, although I had never ridden 75 miles in a day before. In the weeks approaching the ride, a small group of fellow cyclists and team members did several rides to get ready and by March 2-3, we were ready. Our Saturday ride was at a faster pace with some unwanted wind in our faces. Sunday was perfect. Our team of about 14 riders managed to raise almost $8000 for MS. A great event for a great cause!

Volunteer for A Race!

I recently did something that I had been intending to do for some time. I volunteered at a race. Specifically at the Run for the Dream Half Marathon in Williamsburg, Virginia. We had to show up by 6:00am, because the race kicked off at 7:00am. Although the weather forecasts looked a bit dire earlier in the week, race day dawned cool and with some fog. Generally pleasant running conditions.

I was assigned to Water Station 8, which was located at Mile 12 near the end of the race. We had about 10 volunteers at the station and we all pitched in to get the tables set up and the cups filed with Gatorade and water. Because we were the last water stop, we had about an hour before the first elite runners came by. The first folks were the wheel chair racers and then the elite men and women.

Speaking personally, if you are a runner, you really appreciate the folks who man those tables and hand out the water. I always try to remember to say "thank you," even if I don't take the water. Let's face it, without them, the race would not happen. This time, it was nice to be on the volunteer side of the table and to experience the gratitude of the runners coming through. Many of them took the time to thank us for coming out and working. It's nice to be appreciated and my experience as a volunteer allowed me to experience that. If you're a runner, pick a race and volunteer. You'll be glad you did.

Spirit of the Marathon Movie

In my relatively short time as a runner, I have stumbled upon some undeniable truths that recur over and over. Perhaps one of the most significant is that running is at least as much mental as physical. What I mean by that is that the mind has an awesome power when it comes to determining the limits of our physical abilities. That is not to say that physical condition is not important. It is extremely important. Someone who is out of shape cannot run a marathon no matter what their mind tells them. By the same token, someone in good physical shape may be similarly handicapped if their mind tells them that the marathon is beyond their capacity.

In my case, when I signed up for my first half marathon, my mind told me that I was crazy and that there was no way I could complete such a race. And yet, in the 5 months that followed, I trained and devoted myself to that goal. By the time of the half, my mind had come around and I knew I could finish the race. With my mind on board, I knew that nothing could stop me. In short, I was inspired.

I recently stumbled across a film that touches on the intangible power of inspiration and the power of the mind to drive the body. The movie is "Spirit of the Marathon" and just watching the movie trailer will choke you up. You can find it here:

http://www.marathonmovie.com/pages_film/film_trailer.html

After you watch this movie, you'll be ready to sign up for a marathon and test the power of your mind to drive your body.