So . . . what happened?

A lot. 

The end.

;)  

(Now all you have to do is enjoy the pictures.)

Actually that would be boring but so were the first three drafts of this post. 

First and foremost I am very grateful to everyone who helped me raise almost $2,000.00 for the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Thank you for taking the time to make a donation, provide a place to stay, send a word of encouragement or help in some other way.  Your donations will be directed towards dealing with Thyroid cancer.  Words will never properly express my thanks.

Our trip began on Thursday the 24^th so that we would be properly rested to run the National on Saturday.  Jim, his wife Kim, Haney and I covered the 500 miles inwhat seemed like no time at all and soon we arrived at Jim’s sister Janine’s house to set up base camp. Haney took a nearby hotel room in order to be as close to the Cheesecake Factory as possible.  We closed out Thursday with a great Thai dinner followed up by a raid on the aforementioned Cheesecake Factory.  Carbs, carbs and more carbs. 

We had the use of a great basement apartment while in Arlington.  The only challenge were the low ceilings.  I hung duct tape from the lower beams so that I wouldn't leave too much of my scalp behind.

Friday was our day to prepare for the National.  Haney and I went to the Armory to pick up everyone’s numbers and other race materials while Jim took the opportunity to see his daughter, Kate, receive an award at work.  We did take time to have our picture in front of R.F.K. Stadium taken by some women in uniform (there are a lot of uniforms in our capital) before having a lunch of pizza shaped carbs. 

Haney (right) and I at the National sign in front of R.F.K. Stadium after picking up our numbers.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet as I laid out my running gear and took a nap.  We finished the day with a  great pasta (carbs again!) dinner at Kate’s while enjoying the company of Janine’s family.

My race shirt at the ready.  It may have taken over 15 minutes to pin that number on almost straight.

The tools of my trade: Duct tape, shoes, scissors, two pair of shorts, two shirts gloves, Desitin, Vaseline, AD ointment and bandages .

The National starts at 7:00 AM so I was up by 4:30 to be ready for our 6:00 ride to R.F.K. Stadium and the starting line.  We all had a light breakfast of sorts and enjoyed navigating the dark streets of Washington D.C.  Fortunately, we saw a lot of other vehicles filled with vaguely alert runners headed in the same direction, so our task wasn’t too difficult.

The National Marathon differs from Detroit’s Free Press Marathon in several ways.  First, it seems like there are less locals participating.  Nearly everyone we talked to seemed to be from somewhere else.  Flint, several small towns in Wisconsin, Cleveland and Columbus come quickly to mind. 

Secondly, a different breed of runners seems to populate this race.  There was this Woodstock throwback dude in jeans, a t-shirt and bare feet at mile 14½ cruising along without a care in the world, the 61 year old guy wearing helium balloons and carrying a pacer’s sign at mile 9 who informed us that while his shirt read 100 marathons completed he was actually on his way to completing number 174!  Or the other guy who was going to take a shower after running the National and then hop in his car and drive to New Jersey so he could run another marathon the next day.

Me, Jim and Haney (and a cast of thousands) passing the 10K point.

Then there are the sights and smells.  Sure you have the monuments, government buildings, cherry trees beginning to blossom all on top of the beautiful city of Washington D.C. but I think we passed through at least three neighborhoods of different ethnicities each with their own kind of cooking going on.  Plus, I have never seen wedding or a funeral along a marathon route.  I still wonder how the poor bride and her party managed to cross the race course in order to reach the reception on the other side. 

Haney, Me and Jim somewhere during the first 14 miles.

Fourth the course is not fast and flat as advertised.  Well, “fast” is a relative term for someone like me who isn’t particularly speedy but there are way more ups and downs than Detroit’s Freep.  Heck, we took a tunnel under the National Mall!  I’m not complaining (much) just wary for future runs.   J 

Finally there were a scary number of M.S.U. flags along the route.  Hopefully race officials will do something about this eyesore prior to next year’s race. 

Myself (trying to ham it up), an unknown runner and Jim close to mile 22

The hills during the last three miles of the race were togh for me but my time was better than last year’s Freep and I clocked in at 4:45:38.  I owe this to Jim and Haney for going out in the Michigan winter with me and covering all of those miles during training.

Attempting to cross the finish line with blistering speed instead of with just blisters.

Almost at the end.

The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet with a nice nap filled with ibuproferon dreams, followed by getting destroyed by Jim’s nephews, Robert and Paulie while playing Nintendo Wii games and eating.  Haney and I spent the better part of Saturday night eating anything that came to mind.  Hamburgers, Cajun fries, Guiness stout, crab stuffed mushrooms and, yes, more cheesecake made up some of the many calories consumed that night.    

Sunday saw us stiffer (think senior citizens prior to multiple hip replacement surgeries) but very happy.  The drive home was great and we’re already back out and running.

Me, Jim and Haney after the race with smiles, medals and slightly larger feet.

OK so we’re here, we’re happening but I’m fried.

It took us about 8 ½ hours and while long the ride was great.  Jim, Kim (Jim’s wife), Haney and I had fun talking running, sharing stories and trying to keep our patience with Haney’s state of the art navigation system.  I don’t really think it cared that I was speaking to it tersely but I felt better for it.

Fortunately the streets of Washington D. C. are dry and there’s only a small chance of precipitation on Saturday morning.  Heck we might even break 40 degrees during the marathon.  This is a nice change from what we’ve been training in back in the D or from the snow we saw in the mountains during the drive down.

Tomorrow morning we pick up our numbers, chip and other documents and then spend the rest of the day trying to relax when we’re not inhaling large amounts of carbs. We’re very fortunate that Jim’s sister’s family is putting us up while Jim’s daughter Kate will be treating us to a pasta dinner tomorrow night.

But I’m pretty tired so I think I’ll sign off with the promise of a more coherent update tomorrow.

Ball of Confusion

I might have mentioned (several hundred times) that tapering is a bit difficult for me. 

Running is fun for me but it is also great exercise and a stress release so while I like resting I am a bit unsettled.  I’ve driven the schnauzer crazy by packing and repacking several times (She always assumes she’s going on a trip with me and stakes out my luggage.), spent far too much time on Facebook silliness yesterday soliciting annoying music to run by – you know that song that will not leave your head, plowed through every once of paper work so that I’m not surprised by something at work when I return, found myself talking way to fast to clients in order to burn off energy and can almost not settle down.  Which might explain my choppy writing right now.

Well that all changes tomorrow as we buckle up and make the 10+ hour drive to Washington D. C. for the National.  We’re ready.  We’re psyched and there’s nothing left but to get there and run the darn thing.

I have to say that I’ve had a lot of help from family and friends along the way.  Sometimes it’s just to keep you focused, to be there when it’s time to put the miles in, and other times it’s just to encourage, to talk or to talk you down from whatever weird place the training or the Life that exists outside of it brings you to.  

Thank you very much for this and for your donations (I’m almost at $1,900.00!)

Washington D. C. is only 4 miles away from Dearborn and other numbers of note

Yep that’s all the mileage left on my training schedule before we clamber into Haney’s car on Thursday morning and make the drive down to Washington D.C.  That was the fastest 15 weeks of training I’ve ever gone through.  Granted this will only be my 5^th marathon but hey! 

Here are some other fun stats courtesy of my tracking watch and other sources:

Miles covered:                                     446.11

Time spent running:                              79 hours, 19 minutes and 11 seconds

Estimated calories burned:                    69,584

Estimated calories consumed:                Less than I’ve burned since I’ve gone

down a size in my jeans.

Arnica lotion applied to hamstrings:       14 oz.

Trips to chiropractor:                              7

Pairs of running shoes consumed:           Almost one.  They’ll be retired right after the National.

Gallons of Gatorade consumed:               3 (approximately)

Amount of blueberry Gatorade enjoyed: None!   The stuff is gross.

Lowest temperature run in:                   -2 NOT including wimpy wind chill.

Deepest snow encountered:                  I think 5”.

Words of encouragement:                     Uncountable and always appreciated.

Donations received as of 3/17:              Over $1,200.00 and counting!

More updates throughout the week and hopefully on race day.

Thanks again for everything.

Did I tell you about d’Artagnan yet? And other loose ends. (Now with cartoons!)

The countdown clock on the National’s web site reads 8 days, 11 hours, 24 minutes and 59 seconds as I begin to type today’s update and I am focusing on everything that I haven’t gotten to.

But first and foremost:  THANKS AGAIN!  Words of encouragement and donations continue to come in at an increasing rate.  Maybe we can put a dent into this crappy disease by helping UMCCC in dealing with it.

Secondly our taper continues and we’re all becoming more thoughtful about what we do and wear during the day.  Today’s Frazz cartoon truly doesn’t seem too extreme to us:

And after this we’re signing waivers, checking the route to D.C., beginning to pack, developing an itinerary that involves not moving around much before the race and probably not wanting to move around at all after the race, where to eat and where and when we’re going to meet up with d’Artagnan.  Who?  More on this guy in a paragraph or two.  Jim’s daughter Kate lives in Arlington and has been kind enough to have us to dinner the night before.  She’s very brave to have three to four marathoners over the night before the race.  Hopefully we’ll provide enough interesting conversation between stuffing our faces with pasta and drinking enough fluids.

Did I mention that there’s a fourth to our marathoning crew?  Mike Freestone is a friend that owns a business similar to mine in Holland, MI.  We’ve known of each for years but don’t cross paths all that much because of geography.  I am “blaming” Mike and Haney for this current marathon because they jumped on running the National while I was still muttering about it.  The National will be Mike’s first marathon and we’ve been comparing notes as he trains on Michigan's west side while we pound out the miles here in Dearborn. 

If Haney, Jim and I our the Three Musketeers then Mike is d’Artagnan and I couldn’t ask to be among better company. 

Now the countdown clock reads 8 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes and 21 seconds.

How would I look wrapped in foam rubber?

Probably goofy (er) but well protected.

Today I feel that I am facing a lot of loose ends in the marathon end of my life.  First and foremost I am surrounded by:

1)     Generous people - Donations grew by 33% since last week!  Words can’t express . . .

2)     Supportive people – Doctors Kathleen Akin chiropractor (and cousin) extraordinaire and Pamela Morrison with her top notch podiatry services.

3)     Companies – Well someone from a company.  Patsy Cline from Sanmar helped arrange for some needed running gear.  Sanmar is my top clothing supplier and my favorite.

THANK YOU!

Secondly I find myself thinking about what to pack.  Mentally I think I’ve packed, repacked and packed again.  Street clothes aren't a problem but what combination of running is proving a bit more challenging.

Third I think I’ve managed to learn how to post both photos and text from my phone today.  My computer access as of the 24^th will be limited but I think I’ll be able to keep current while we’re traveling.

And last but not least I think we’re all doing our best to stay healthy.  Nothing would stink more than a last minute injury after all of this training. 

Perhaps you thought I was joking about the foam rubber?  

For now I’ll settle for wrapping my knee in frozen corn (best ice pack ever!) and ibuproferon.  

Tapering with paczkis

Which is nowhere near the same thing as dancing with wolves. 

I’m still dealing with the after effects that the four lard balls of joy I devoured yesterday have visited upon my body and probably won’t process the last of the fat until mile 25 in Washington. 

But I’m dedicated to this run and I’ll do whatever it takes to build up my energy reserves for the 26^th.  J

Now is the time to start planning for what gear we need to take down for the National.  What nutrition will we need during the run, how much hydration, do I have time to break in a new pair of shoes?  But mostly I’m spending a lot of time looking at the course map.

Course Map for the 2011 National Marathon

 I am not an elite runner by any stretch so I am not planning where I am going to pull ahead of the pack or some similar feat of amazing athleticism when my eyes burn holes in the course map.  I just want to feel more familiar with the route, to see where the aid stations are and plan for where my mind may wander and my resolve with it.  Physically I’m ready but marathoning is probably more mental than physical for me.  Running by the Capital, the Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial will be cool even for the second time but that stretch between mile markers 23 and 25?  What’s there to help keep me engaged?  Maybe I’ll need to hear another cool story from Haney or Jim?  Maybe I’ll need to come up with some interesting anecdote of my own to help keep us at our best until we can see that last river crossing. 

I’m getting into my head now so I don’t spend too much time there later.