Lagerhead Marathon – Racing It

Marathons can be easy or hard. They are easy if you take your time, mix in walk breaks, and take about 6 hours. But if you decide to race one, it is hard. I usually don’t try to race them anymore because my feet hurt. But I have been running some really fast half-marathons lately and I arrived at race day well-rested and not injured. So I had this secret plan to try hard. This meant that I would run the first half at a good clip and then do my best for the second half.

To run a marathon, you first have to get out of bed on race day, really early. I usually don’t sleep well before a race so getting out of bed after laying awake all night is difficult. If there are other complications like weather, injuries, or general fear of the race itself, I sometimes don’t make it out of bed. For at least three races this year, I didn’t make it to the start line. This time, I didn’t sleep much but I did dream. I dreamed of running like the wind and getting lost. However, I was awake just before the alarm was set to go off so I got up pretty easy. Step one done.

The drive to the race was really easy and parking was really easy. The weather, while freezing at the start, was completely clear and would warm up a lot. I got my race bib and race sweatshirt. I love the color of the sweatshirt: flourescent salmon (I guess). Step two done.

It was a small race, with only about 200 runners. The course was an out-and-back on a completely flat and straight rails-to-trail path. And I have run on this trail three times before so I knew exactly what I was getting into. Easy to plan a strategy. I ran at a speed of 11:30 per mile on the way out. That is not very fast compared to others but faster than I usually run marathons. But I was determined to get under 6 hours. After the turnaround, I kept up that speed until about the 18-mile mark. At that point, I was feeling a little weak. I determined that I was too hot. The day had warmed up to the sixties and I was sweating. I slowed down and began to drink twice as much water at aid stations. By slowing down, I mean that I began a pattern of 2 minutes jog and 1 minute walk. After a couple of miles of that, and the additional water, I felt better. I maintained that pace all the way to the finish. I knew from my Garmin that I had run my fastest marathon in several years, 5 hours 18 minutes moving time, not counting pit stops. Or 5 hours 28 minutes chip time, which was an average of 12:30/mile.

After getting in the car to come home, my body began to howl. OMG, that hurt. It didn’t hurt badly while running, but now, sitting in the car, ouch! That ouch is why marathons are difficult. I knew it was coming and did it anyway. I do feel satisfaction for what I did. And, now two days later, I didn’t cause any injuries by my efforts.

This is a point to mention the difference between a marathon and an ultra marathon. 26-30 miles bring your body to the beginning of pain. Ultramarathoners keep going despite the pain. They might be doing 50 or 100 or 200 miles. Despite the pain, they keep going. They push through. And that is why I kind of fail at ultramarathons. At some point, I can’t tell you if the pain should be pushed through or if the pain means that something is injured enough to stop. I am more of an injury prone runner, and a runner that doesn’t like weeks of recovery, so I usually stop. At this point in my life, I think 50k (31 miles) would be my maximum. Anything more and I chicken out. Even a marathon needs to be approached with some trepidation.

In this race, my feet didn’t hurt that bad. At the age of 64, my feet are a little deformed and they do seem to hurt more than 5 years ago. That is why I often do marathons pretty slowly. This time, I dared to go faster. I’m pleased to see that it worked out. I have a big running event planned for my 65th birthday in January, as well as an exciting race lineup for next year. I’m so happy to be able to continue to use my body.

I left my career in order to run. One of the reasons I was incompatible with the monastery was running. Now, I love being an athlete and allowing myself to go whole hog into training.

#112 in the books.