The MS Runner

The Colfax Marathon is over, and I wonder if it will be around next year. There was only 488 marathoners that ran, which seems really lame. I’m not sure of the half marathon or the relay teams, but the total number of people was way down. Plus, they just don’t seem like they know what’s going on. At the Expo the day before, I went to pick up my bib and they had me listed in the half marathon. And they even ran out of shirts for the marathoners. How could you run out? There wasn’t even 500 of us.

I went into the day hoping to hit about 3:50, but the weather forecast made me adjust my prediction. I knew the 2nd half of the marathon was going to be hot, so I was hoping to at least get under the 4 hour mark. The heat is the worst enemy for people with MS. There are a lot of people that can’t even go outside in this type of weather if they are infected with this disease. I know that by the time I finished, it was in the 80’s and no clouds.

My first 18 miles weren’t too bad. I was hitting my times that I wanted to and still feeling okay. At about 2 1/2 miles, the run took us right in front of The Irish Snug Pub, and Frank, the owner, had a Guiness waiting for me! How many runners can say that they had a beer at any point during that run? Maybe I should of had one more towards the end. At mile 10, my quad was hurting, but not to the point where it was affecting my run. We hit the halfway point and turned around and headed east right into the sun. The good thing was that it was mostly downhill. I was feeling good and confident. But then at mile 18, I had to go to the bathroom, and yes, it was THE dreaded bathroom break. I lost 4 minutes at that point, and for some reason, I lost my energy. The run from there took us into downtown Denver and as you know, it’s always hotter downtown. There was also a couple of nasty “hills” to deal with which is always a challenge at any point of a race. I decided on one incline that I better save my energy so I walked up and that was even hard to do! With 3 miles to go, I knew that I wasn’t going to break 4 hours, so I think that at that instance, I kind of gave up. I still ran, but not as hard as I should have, because I figured, “what’s the point?” I look back now and I realize that you should never give up. Those last few miles of the marathon are very important to whatever level you are at, and if you can dig deep within yourself, that will just make you that much stronger for your next marathon or at whatever run that you do. Anyways, I finished at 4:09:56, which was a PR for me by 5 minutes. Here are my “stats”;

Overall - 177 out of 488

Age Division - 20 out of 50

Gender - 136 out of 307

10K - 55:11

15K - 1:23:04

25K - 2:16:48

30K - 2:47:41

From this point, I’m not sure what I want to do. I’ve talked about taking a break from marathon training and maybe just running some half marathons. Maybe when my brain gets un-fried, I’ll be able to think better and make a rational decision. We shall see.

Things are going too fast, spinning out of control, I can’t keep up with things, I suck.

Next thing you know is, I’m going to wake up and it’s the morning of my marathon.  What seemed like at one time a long, long way away, is now right on top of me, and it’s feeling heavy.  In one way, I’m glad it’s here and I can’t wait, but on the other hand, I want a couple more weeks to prepare.  But as one great philosopher said, “It is what it is”.  I will do the best that I can and I’m glad that I’m able to do it.  There are so many people out there with MS who need a wheelchair to get around, and here I am complaining about not being totally ready to run 26.2 miles.  What a dolt.

My youngest son Michael, announced  this week that he and his girlfriend Heather are engaged.  To each other no less.  I’m sure everyone who knows them are not surprised.  They have been shacking up now for 4 years and I guess that they decided to make it official.  No date has been set, but it will be sometime next summer.

My daughter FINALLY graduated college.  I think she breaks the record for the most number of years in college to get an associates degree.  I believe that all total she went to college for 6 years to get a 2 year degree.  Actually she was there for 4 years before she decided to can her one degree she was after.  I’m sure it will come in handy down the road sometime.  Yeah, that’s it.

In case you haven’t noticed, the Wings and Pistons are in the playoffs and are doing well.  The Tigers are up and down, but the good thing is that they are in a weak division.

This week will be more rest and less running as I wind down for the marathon.  I am getting a massage, which will be great, and I promise to go bed early.