Mostly Walking

I have a new item on my bucket list - I'd like to run/walk the Moose Mountain Marathon near Lutsen, MN, for my 101st marathon. When people ask about my favorite marathon I say there are three: (1) The New York City Marathon (millions of cheering spectators); (2) the Avenue of the Giants Marathon (no spectators but the silent and stunning redwoods); and (3) the Moose Mountain Marathon, with its incredible array of north woods forests, hills, and vistas. I grew up near there and the Superior Hiking Trail engages my heart.

I've done the Moose Mountain Marathon twice, but others have discovered it now and it's so popular that registration has become a lottery. According to the web site, "the number of applications for the [marathon] has grown exponentially each year," so I'm not at all certain of being selected. One can only hope. I don't have a fallback plan.

After finishing 100 marathons in 2016 I switched to sprints, running in the State and National Senior Games at distances from 200m to 1500m. That was fun, I love to let it all out on the track, but it may have been a mistake because I injured the meniscus in my left knee during training. Now I believe that I will need some sort of surgery to be able to run very far again, and I'm not anxious for surgery. But I can still walk, pretty fast too, and I think that I can walk 26 miles. I'll find that out as I build the training for a marathon.

Mall of America Indoor Theme Park

For right now we three are running and walking at indoor tracks and walking at local stores and malls. We do something almost every day. Yesterday we visited the Mall of America for a couple of hours, exploring the complete loop on each of the three levels. We did a little shopping, too, it being Christmas  season and all, but we certainly traversed enough distance to make the walking worthwhile.

The day before that we went to our favorite indoor track, where I go just as fast as I can walk. 9 laps make a mile, according to the signs, and I think that's pretty close, so the miles are easy to measure. My times for 3 miles were 14:56, 14:42, and 14:12. I got faster as the miles rolled by, and I like that. This was the fastest three miles I've done on that track so far this winter - next I'll probably extend the distance while trying to maintain the speed.

Orange County Marathon Review

Sunday, May 1, 2016:

Don waiting for the start.  Photo courtesy
Orange County Register, by Mindy Schauer

They don't get much better than this.  I can't remember when I have enjoyed a marathon more.  I finished my 95th marathon in 6:33:53, about 25 minutes faster than my next previous marathon three weeks ago.  More important, I had fun.  Can a marathon be fun?  Well, this one was - even some parts of the last six miles were enjoyable.  I recommend both the OC Marathon and the OC Half Marathon to all.  But see comments about the waiver contract, below.

My Race:

I finished 9th of 10 in my 75-99 age group, not so great, but only 11 minutes behind the man who finished in the middle, 5th of nine.  It's a rather unusual result, so many of us finishing almost together. Actually I'm quite impressed that ten of us old geezers ran the marathon and did reasonably well. I did finish ahead of 70 other runners out of the 1900-runner field, and I more than met my own finish-time expectations.

Don with Chris Yee, reporter
with the Orange County Register,
.

The back of my shirt showed my name above the words "I'm alive thanks to novel cancer medications," and in 95 marathons I have never had so much affirmation by runners going past.  "Good job Don," "Keep it up," and so much more.  One hairy, shirtless guy just patted me on the shoulder and ran past without words.  The message touched people.  Me too.

Plenty of Whining:

The back pain that I have dealt with in recent months, possibly caused by a myeloma lesion in a vertebra, did not appear until the very last mile, and then was only a dim reminder of times past.  Slight pains in the right hip and right ankle resolved themselves.

When the race was over, though, I discovered a significant blister on my left big toe, between that one and the second toe. That will require some care between now and the next marathon, just three weeks away.

On Monday, the day after the race, there is some pain near the outside of the right knee.  It's unfamiliar, and appears mostly when I bend the knee, not when I stand up straight and put weight on it.  It might be the ITB or a bursa, except that I can't make it hurt by pressing on the knee with my fingers.  The start of a knee problem, or gone in a day or two?  Time will tell.  Gone is most likely.

The OC Marathon:

What's not to like?

Beach at Newport Pier

• Race directors would certainly control the weather if they could, but they couldn't have chosen better weather than we had.  About 55 degrees at the start, mostly cloudy with little wind, rising to maybe 65 at the finish with a little cooling wind.  Dry - I poured water on my head a couple of times, soaking my shirt, which soon dried off again. 
• Roads were all closed to vehicle traffic, or coned off with police or explorer units at every significant corner.  I saw and greeted police from each of the cities we passed through, as well as the California Highway Patrol.  I never once felt at risk from vehicles.
• Some of the course was quite beautiful, with great views of the ocean, valleys, and more.  It was interesting.  At one point I realized that I wasn't just plodding along, as in some marathons, but I was having fun! Some of the course was on trails made for pedestrians and bikes - lovely. 
• Volunteers were wonderful, of course. 
• The race instructions give time limits of 3.5 and 7.0 hours for the half and the full, but those limits simply mean that on-course support may disappear as a runner falls behind pace.  I rather doubt that anyone was denied a chance to finish and get a medal. 
• Medals are quite attractive. 
• The expo was a good one, big enough to be interesting.

Along the way

Suggestions for next year:

• Do away with the gratuitous adhesion contract that every runner is forced to sign before picking up their bib.  I'm a lawyer and I'd love to tear that to shreds in court.  In 95 marathons, we have encountered this only once before.  It's lawyering gone overboard - mostly it just puts everyone in a bad mood as they enter the expo, having to write their personally-identifying information, including name, address, birth date, and email address, on a sheet of paper available to practically anyone including all of the volunteers. No runner reads it and no runner gets a copy of it.  Do the waiver during on-line registration before people have already spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on registration and travel - it might be valid if done that way.  The race committee is trying (unsuccessfully) to protect themselves, but they are certainly not protecting us or our information. Is that what the OC Marathon is all about?



Sign in Best Western Cafe

• They ran out of men's shirts.  Really?  This is otherwise a classy marathon.  We arrived hours before the closing of the expo, but I had to sign up to have the shirt mailed.  Is it that hard to predict?  Did they screw up the order, or did they give give the shirts away to those who registered at the last minute, in preference to those who registered way ahead?
• If there was a good map of the race course, good enough to follow most of it in a car, we didn't find it on line.  If there was a turn-by-turn description we didn't find that either.

Other stuff:

• Some marathons have interesting signs for runners as we pass by.  I didn't see too many here, but there was one that said "Sweat is just fat going 'Woo Hoo'." 
• Shirt:  Strip down / Run the race / Never quit. ~ Hebrews 12.  (Look it up)
• We stayed at the Best Western Newport Mesa Inn, which was right across Hwy 55 from the Fair Grounds where the expo and the finish were located.  This allowed us to avoid cars and parking altogether, with a 15-minute easy walk to the expo, the busses to the start, and back from the finish.  The Best Western is a nice hotel, too.

Mile splits: 13:29, 39:39 (3 mi), 14:21, 13:53, 27:36 (2 mi), 15:05, 14:19, 42:25 (3 mi), 14:39, 32:12 (2 mi), 15:28, 15:52, 15:22, 16:47, 17:04, 15:05, 16:44, 17:15, 17:06, 16:01, 3:32, total 6:33:53, average pace 15:01.  I do seem to slow in the second half these days, even though it feels like I'm pushing just as hard.

New York City Marathon

I finished in the dark! Well almost - I finished while it was still light, but spent a half hour or more collecting my race bag and then it was totally dark.

Anyway, the New York City marathon was the spectacular event that we all know it to be. When people ask me about my three favorite marathons, I always include NYC. Nowhere else have I experienced the crowd support and the incredible number and quality of volunteers. If you like bands, there are plenty of those too. There’s nothing quite like it.

Here are some more good points:

• Roads are entirely closed to traffic, all 26.22 miles.
  
• The entire event is totally organized: From the Expo to the finish line, nothing is left to chance.
  
• The Expo was huge and, at least when we went on Thursday, there were no lines.
  
• I’ve never seen so many police along a marathon route. I like ‘em!
  
• The only places without spectators were the bridges, where pedestrians are not allowed.
  
• It’s not really very hilly. In NYC, the hills are the bridges.
  
• There WERE ENOUGH portable toilets at the start. I’ve rarely seen that before. I stood in line for maybe three minutes, and then when our corral was called we went past dozens of empty ones that I could also have used with no line.
  
• The weather could hardly have been better, clear and cool.
  

They could fix this

• The first few groups of portable toilets had only four or five in the group, and a huge line of needers. What the ...!? Everyone (EVERYONE) knows that many hapless runners will screw up and need a toilet in the first few miles (experienced runners plan to use one no more than 30 minutes before the start). Later in the race there were as many as ten toilets in a group, maybe more, and no line at all.
  
• The huge crowd at the end, after the finish, is an embarrassment to the NYRR. Here you finish in your best possible time, and then you spend the next half hour or more standing in line to get your race bag. Arrrgh! That’s unconscionable. FIX IT!

They won’t. The NYC Marathon is what it is, take it or leave it. Most of us take it. If I ever do this one again I’ll arrange not to need a race bag (had a valuable jacket in it), and I’ll bug out right after getting the medal.

My race:

• Wonderful! All in all, I had a very enjoyable race and a good enough finish time.
  
• Time 5:51:58, pace 13:27, four minutes faster than a week ago, number 92 of 157 in my 70-74 age group, marathon number 59. I have completed a marathon in 40 states so far in the eight years since myeloma diagnosis, ten to go. I got faster toward the end, which is a very good sign - I was passing everyone. I really love that!
  
• I was part of a group selected for enthusiasm (who knew?) as a cheering section behind pre-race TV interviews. This was fun, but it meant that, except for the bus ride to the start, I was on my feet from 3:30 am to 5+ pm. I was concerned about starting the race already tired, but I was OK. My back got tired standing, but was fine when I got going running.
  
• Also, I had run a marathon one week before, three weeks before, five weeks before, and seven weeks before, so I was concerned about the toll from those escapades.
  
• At bottom, though, I have no idea whether any of those significantly increased my time. Probably they all contributed. But who cares? I finished, and now have three weeks to rest up for the next marathon, in Seattle. Maybe I can go a little faster.
  
• This was the long run for that next marathon, right? I’ll jog a little Wednesday, maybe again Thursday or Friday, and then run with my regular group of friends on Saturday. Take it easy on me you guys. After that it’s taper time already! I hope the trails in the park are still good.
  
• Nothing hurts. I escaped injury, as far as I know. The “sports hernia” (not a real hernia) spoke up a little bit, but was never a limiting factor. The only limiting factor, actually, was muscle fatigue. That’s NORMAL. Yay!
  
• I feel quite fatigued as I write this. That’s sort of normal too, but I am starting to catch a cold and that may contribute.
  
• This morning I woke up with a scratchy throat, and the race didn’t make it better. I will take good care of it tonight, with plenty of sleep, warmth, zinc lozenges, and vitamin C. We don’t have access to chicken soup and liniment (for the chest) now, but we will tomorrow night.
  
• My sweeties didn’t get to run this marathon, but they did meet me at mile 16 and again at mile 26. I love that. Turns out there were other friends at mile 26 too, but I was so focused on my sweeties that I missed them!
  
• I did get cold. I tossed a long-sleeved shirt at about mile 5, as the temperature warmed, but could have used it again later as the sun dropped low in the west. My mistake - I could have tied it around my waist. But a hot shower at the hotel corrected the problem!
  
• I met some new people who are important to me and the E-Race Cancer campaign and Team Continuum. Good people. I like them.
  
• There may be a CNN piece about my marathons on their American Morning show, Tuesday, November 15. But maybe not. I’ll try to keep an update here.

That’s enough. Have a good night. I will.

Splits: 13:43 (up the Verrazano Bridge) , 12:17 (back down), 13:31, 24:35 (2 mi), 12:45, 12:14, 26:19 (2 mi), 17:22 (1 mi plus bathroom), 12:48, 12:41, 13:38, 27:37 (2 mi),, 13:03, 18:39 (1 mi plus video retakes), 12:45, 14:29, 26:08 (2 mi), 12:32, 27:35 (2 mi), 12:03, 12:57, 2:35 (0.22 mi), total 5:51:58, pace 13:25. S’OK.


At mile 16, coming off the Queensferry Bridge, spotting my sweeties in the crowd:

Casper Marathon 2011

If you're doing 50 states, and need Wyoming, I certainly do recommend the Casper Marathon. We three ran it today - I ran the full and my sweeties ran the half, and we're all pleased with it despite near-record heat and flooded trails. My 52nd marathon and 35th state.

My Race:

I started out very concerned with the patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner's knee) that I've battled in my right knee as recently as Thursday. Happily, that turned out to be the least of my problems. It was never more than a murmur at any point in the race.

My plan was to run 30 seconds and walk 60, which ends up with an average pace that should have produced a finish of 5:30. I felt really good, though, and the knee wasn't bothering at all, so I shortened the walks to 30 seconds, resulting in an actual pace in the 11 to 12 minute range, which could have brought me in just after 5 hours, all else being equal.

But nothing was equal. The marathon started at 5270 feet and went up a bit from there. The temperature at the start was 48, but it rose to 81 at my finish, with intense sun and a dewpoint of zilch. There were definitely times when my mouth was calling for water but the next aid station was a mile away. I had carried water on my back for the first few miles, then decided I didn't need it and dropped it at the car when the course wound back past our parking area, later regretting that decision.

I did take six Clif Shot gels along the way, and maybe nine or ten salt tablets, but my calves started to cramp up at about mile 22 anyway, and I was forced to walk in from Mile 23. I could have gone faster, other muscles were willing, but when I tried to run the calves said NO, and they really meant it.

What affects this? Training (not good lately), hydration, salt, hills (there are a few), speed (I started faster than intended), probably core strength. It's possible that the mile-high altitude has some effect as well. For a while I was 17 minutes ahead of the planned pace for a 5:30 finish, but most of that pad evaporated during the walks and I finished in 5:23:54 (my watch), just 6 minutes ahead of schedule. Third in my age group of 70 to 98, though I have no idea whether there were more than three of us musketeers. And I could swear that I passed the guy who finished second, never to see him again on the course. I'll be interested in the results when they're published.

An odd fact: My finish time for this race is within two minutes of the finish time for my last marathon, in Rhode Island, even though EVERYTHING was different, including the amount of hills, altitude, temperature, humidity, sunshine, aid stations, running surface, and my race plan. The girls had the same experience, finishing within a very few minutes of their last race. Our bodies are the only constant - perhaps that's what it's about after all.

The Casper Marathon

This year the organizers had to battle a flooded race course and near-record heat, so if I have any suggestions for the race directors I'll put those in a separate email, not here, and I doubt I'll be telling them anything they don't already know.

A standard joke in our house is "don't invite us to your marathon," because quite often something unusual happens at the marathons that we do run. Heat, floods, hurricane, rain and bluster, fire on the course, you name it, we've been there. This race definitely fits the pattern.

The marathon course follows a lovely paved trail along the North Platte River. Today, that river is well over its banks and flowing rapidly toward the Missouri, then the Mississippi, and finally New Orleans. From Casper, it drops a whole mile on its way to the sea, and right now it's in quite a hurry to get there. Despite that speed, the water was high enough to cover some of the paved trails, so the race directors had to redirect us on dirt trails in a few places. No problem here - I love dirt trails, have been quite happy with marathons that are ALL trails. They improvised well.

Other wonderful stuff: All of the volunteers; Pizza and other great food at the finish including fruit and beer (several different labels); Fruit and GU at every aid station; Excellent mile marking and course marking; A superb indoor facility at the start; Same at the finish; The Half Marathon was on the same course as the Full; The finish is 170 feet lower than the start; Great news coverage afterward on local TV.

It's definitely not flat, but probably shouldn't be called "challenging." If I can do it, you can. Might be good to sleep IN Casper for two nights before the race, to adjust to the altitude. I'd like to come back someday with normal weather and no floods.

Splits: 11:05, 11:21, 11:23, 10:59, 11:10, 10:59, 13:45 (major potty stop), 11:43, 11:43, 11:06, 11:25, 11:00, 11:40, 11:07, 12:48, 23:27 (2 miles), 13:33 (minor potty stop), 11:25, 12:43, 12:49, 13:20, 12:18, 14:38, 17:25, 15:21, 3:12 (0.2 mi), total 5:23:34 by my watch, overall pace 12:20. I was shooting for 5:30, so it'll do! My calves are sore, everything else is tired, and I'm happy. It's a masterpiece.

A sample of the yummy food at the finish line. There is much more, not pictured, including vegetables with dip, muffins and cookies, plus pizza:

Land Between the Lakes Marathon

We didn’t find the Land Between the Lakes Marathon on MarathonGuide.com, for some reason, but we found it on MarathonManiacs.com. It’s a wonderful marathon (and 23k, 60k, and 50 miles) on a beautiful trail in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in the southwestern tip of Kentucky. We found no faults, have no suggestions for the race director. The race was perfect, the course was perfect, even the weather was perfect if you like it a bit warm. I’ve never heard of another race that would allow a runner to change distances during the race, not just down to a shorter race, but up to a longer one. It’s a hang-loose group, but they get away with it because they know what they’re doing. A trail race by trail runners.

If the race was perfect, I wasn’t. Oh, man. I trained for this race as best I could, almost entirely in the Stillwater Dome. The many corners are good for ankles, knees, and hips, perhaps, but the soccer surface didn’t prepare me for the hills, and today’s course was very hilly. According to the race web site, a marathoner will gain and lose a total of 2068 feet in the 26.2 miles. If that were straight up it would be four tenths of a mile, and I have a new appreciation for that elevation change when it comes as a long series of hills and valleys, the trail strewn with leaves, roots, rocks, and the occasional stream or muddy patch. No complaint about the trail, mind you, it’s exactly what a trail should be - I love this kind of running.

It’s a lot of work, though, and every muscle hurt, especially in the last six miles, especially the quads. Those hurt enough, toward the end, to actually keep me from running downhill. Since my muscles didn’t have enough steam left to run very far uphill, I was limited to running on the level in those last miles, and there really wasn’t much level to run.

Specific bodily failures:

• Left hamstrings ached a little, off and on. Not a limiting factor.
• Right quads hurt quite a bit, especially downhill. Limiting. Sometimes it feels good to exercise a muscle to exhaustion, but these were on fire and I was a little concerned about injuring them. Left too.
• Lisfranc ligaments in the left foot started to hurt late in the race. Ho hum - it’s arthritis from an old injury.
• The left calf cramped up. I was tiptoeing past a muddy patch and lifted my left foot over a log, which triggered the cramp. Imagine standing on one foot in a slimy bog, the other foot in the air, calf cramping painfully, and cussing a blue streak at maximum volume (that actually dulls the pain a little I think - I hope). The cramp eventually subsided, of course, and that left calf actually finished the race honorably. Maybe it’s good to have it cramp up once, and get it out of it’s gristly little system.
• All muscles ran out of gas. I hadn’t trained properly for this race.

What else?:

• Time 6:08:54, marathon number 49, state number 32, second of four in age group 70+, 76th of 105 overall.
• I’m 70, and got beat by a 76-year-old from San Antonio. I hate that - not just getting beat by an older guy, but a guy from Texas to boot. Nice guy though, we chatted briefly after the race. He did have souvenirs of the race, bloody cuts on his right arm, said he fell several times.
• I didn’t fall, but came extremely close three times, each time my right foot catching on some root or other trail hazard. Why always the right? Dunno. A little foot-drop going on? I think it might help to have glasses made for running - my bifocals can’t zero in on the traps that are just a step ahead.
• I took six Clif Shot gels with caffeine somewhere along the way, and I think seven salt packets. I have no idea how much water - I had it refilled at many of the aid stations. I was SO GLAD that I decided to carry water rather than depend on aid stations alone.
• Early in the race I watched a dog-like creature race at full velocity across the trail, perhaps 75 feet in front of me. It made quite a bit of noise and was gone in seconds. Colored like a gray wolf, it was the size of a coyote, maybe a bit larger. Another runner told me that coyotes are common in the Land Between the Lakes, and wolves are seen occasionally. I think this might have been a wolf/coyote hybrid, which I know does happen. In any case, it was clearly more afraid than I was, except if it had turned around, I’d have been looking for a tree. I had actually brought a knife on the trip, perfect as a defensive weapon against wild dogs or whatever, but had finally decided not to carry it on the race. Sometimes you should trust your first instincts. I wish I knew when to do that.
• I passed a lot of runners in this race, and some passed me too, but for much of the race no one else was in view.
• All of the trail was in a deciduous forest, quite primal. I’m not good at identifying trees without their leaves, but last fall’s leaves were still on the trail and appeared to be mostly red oak, or the Kentucky equivalent, and perhaps chestnut. I’d love to see it in summer.
• The most spring-like plants were short daffodils, just coming into bloom, growing in clumps. We never decided whether they were planted by people or if they just decided to set up camp there.
• Aid stations had grapes, bananas, oranges, M&M’s, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, bites of race bars, Hammer Gels, PB sandwiches, rollups of some kind, and more, not to mention the cheerful volunteers. As I said, this was a good marathon!
• Sunshine and Sweet Pea finished the 23k too, well ahead of me. Good for them!

The end.

Springtime in Kentucky:

Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plain

And up the river valley! Tulsa Route 66 Marathon review. This one is as good as they get.

I recommend it to anyone:

• Plenty of time to finish, for either the full or the half marathon.
  
• Well-organized expo with lots of vendors.
  
• Enough spectators to make it interesting.
  
• Not a single car to be seen on either route - the roads were totally closed to vehicle traffic. Yay!
  
• Fall color was at its peak, and there really are trees in Tulsa, especially in the neighborhoods. Very pretty.
  
• Aid stations were well-managed, porta-potties were actually plentiful after the first few miles.
  
• The race was organized into three corrals, started about seven minutes apart. That worked fine, even though my sweeties and I started in the last corral.
  
• It was warm and VERY windy, but you get whatever weather happens on marathon day.
  
• Music of one kind or another at MANY places along the course, mostly NOT obnoxious. You could dance to some of it.
  
• I have no suggestions for the race management except more food at the finish - they ran out of the best stuff.

My race: Not so hot. I finished in 5:19:02, eighth of 12 in my age group. I hadn’t trained very much since my last marathon five weeks ago because of a cold and fever. Also some joints hurt, the course was hilly and windy, and the weather was pretty warm, going from 63 at the start to 73 at the finish. But mostly it was my lack of trim. How much can you lose in five weeks? A lot, I guess; this one took more than a half hour longer and that one was hilly too. Nevertheless, I FINISHED my 48th marathon in my 31st state.

My left hip hurt quite a bit after mile four or five, enough to slow me down, but got somewhat better after I took a naproxen (Aleve) around mile 10 or so. That hip problem is new, and I hope it’s not a harbinger of oncoming arthritis. Others in my family have had hip replacements and I’m not interested! Several other parts hurt as well - left lisfranc ligaments, both hip flexors, right toes, yada yada, it’s a marathon, duh. Happily, though, the calves both complained a bit but neither cramped up, not even after the race. I did take six gels and six salt packets along the way, with at least 5 oz water at every aid station. That helps a LOT.

This race did offer a rare treat: Just after mile 16 the marathon course converged briefly with the half-marathon course, and the timing was perfect: I caught up to my two sweeties and was able to run with them for more than a mile. We never get to do that in a real race, only in training, so we stayed together and made the most of it. Then they turned around with about a mile left to go, and I jogged on ahead for my remaining eight miles or so. Needless to say they finished first, but they always do.

Along the course:

• Young woman wearing a T-shirt: “Balls are my business.” I might have asked, but she was going faster.
  
• Signs “Up With Trees” all along Riverfront Drive. Tulsa plants trees. Indeed, the maples were in technicolor.
  
• Sign propped in front of a boy in a stroller: “This is a really boring parade!”
  
• Shirt: I’m older than you, more devious, and I train while you sleep!”
  
• ”Banana Man,” a sharp young Texan who had run another marathon the DAY before, taught me about organic bananas.
  
• Bumper sticker on a rusty pickup: “A dead Yankee don’t tell no lies.” Same with a dead redneck, you neanderthal.
  
• Otherwise, Tulsa was warm and welcoming.

Splits: 11:55, 10:42, 10:49, 10:47, 11:08, 22:01 (2 mi), 22:09 (2 mi), 23:14, 24:52 (2 mi), 24:40 (2 mi), 13:25, 16:44, 14:02, 13:15, 14:22, 12:12, 13:25, 23:58 (2 mi), 11:38, 12:10, 1:40 (0.22 mi), total 5:19:02. Uffda. I can do better and I will.

Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010:

Jim and I ran together in the Stillwater Bubble, 1000-foot loops, at a pace that I’m sure was 9-minute miles or so, for 50 minutes. It was my first run in almost a week, and Jim’s first in even longer, so we took it easy. After three miles I was actually having trouble keeping that pace, so we walked one of the short sides of the rectangle and ran the rest. No problems, no pains.

One of Tulsa's many parks:

Kansas City Marathon Review

Kansas City Marathon, my 30th state and 47th marathon. We really liked this marathon! They got lucky with the weather today, too, maybe a little warm for the slow runners (like me) but 50 at the start and perhaps 73 or so at my finish.

My Race: The course is hilly, and I walked most of the way up most of the hills. I started with an extra (very ugly) cotton shirt and temporary mittens made from holey old sox, discarding all early in the race. I took six Clif Shot gels and at least six salt packets along the way. I took water at every aid station, but ended up thirsty anyway.

I met lots of Team In Training (TNT) runners, raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and thanked every one of them. They support myeloma research too, so they just might be saving my life. Thank you again!

No problems along the course except I really got tired of running uphill (duh!) and I did cramp up a little, though that was mostly after finishing. Otherwise I had fun and nothing hurts. Some of the time I ran beside a wheeler on a conventional chair, who was doing VERY well I thought. He described only one problem with the chair - it limited his downhill speed, because the front wheels would start to shimmy like the wheels on a grocery cart. He was a very competitive guy, too. I hope he can steal, borrow, or rent a racing chair sometime. He’ll do very well.

As I was truckin’ along, maybe mile 7 or so, Jay, husband of Amazing Cancer Girl, scooted up beside me and re-introduced himself. We had met at a conference last December. It took me a moment to connect the dots, but it was wonderful to see Jay again, and especially as a race volunteer. They live in KC.

The Marathon: It’s a great one, I’d recommend it to anyone. Be prepared for hills, is all. One WONDERFUL thing: Some of the race was on main thoroughfares, and those roads were CLOSED to motor traffic. No coned-off lanes, no cars at all. I felt safe. Love that! The police who managed the street crossings were wonderful, as were the volunteers who did that. There were enough spectators that I heard my name yelled in encouragement dozens of times (I wear “Don” on my shirt), and I high-fived a lot of little kids. The expo was good. Parking in a downtown ramp was free and easily reached from freeways (US 71 to 22nd St, W to McGee, S straight into the free ramp. Don’t be distracted by the $5 ramp on the left just before the free one).

The only problem I had was in the finish area. Sunshine tells me that there were finishers’ shirts for marathoners (though not half marathoners) but somehow I missed mine. Now I admit that I’m not the sharpest tack in the box when I’ve JUST finished a marathon, but I actually did make it a point to look around and TRY not to miss anything. I didn’t even know there WAS a finisher’s shirt, since we had all received a cotton shirt at the expo. They might have directed me to the shirts after putting on my medal, or whatever. Oh well, maybe half my fault and half theirs.

Also, they ran out of half-marathon finishers medals, and when my two girls asked for theirs, they were directed to a tent to sign up for medals to be mailed in a month. Nevertheless, it’s a good race, despite my bellyaching.

My Myeloma: I'm taking a novel drug called pomalidomide, made by Celgene, in a trial at Mayo Clinic. It's keeping the myeloma stable, so far, and I'm very happy that I'm not only above ground but able to run and enjoy life like any normal person. Yay to modern science! More about my myeloma here.

Splits: 11:16, 21:05 (2 mi), 21:36 (2 mi), 39:56 (4 mi), 9:44, 10:48, 10:58, 10:25, 20:41 (2 mi), 10:35, 23:30 (2 mi), 9:41, 22:32 (2 mi), 12:36, 13:50, 11:21, 11:44, 14:20 (1.2 mi), total 4:46:32, average pace 10:56, finished third of six in my age group.


A TNT runner, raising money for Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma, and other blood cancers. Photo taken by Sunshine or Sweetpea. I don't know this runner, but I love her anyway.

Make it by Midnight Marathon 2010

Who wants to run a marathon in Georgia on the hottest day of the year? We did! Make it by Midnight is a fun little half or full marathon in a nice gated neighborhood in Macon Ga. You decide for yourself how long it will take, then start at whatever time will get you in by midnight, considering the temperature (hot) and the hills (plenty). I started at 5:30 pm and finished at 11:24:12, for a time of 5:54:12. It’s two or four quarter-marathon loops on blacktop roads, which means that you get back to the start/finish and the goodies table twice for a half marathon and four times for a full marathon. It’s a fun marathon. We loved it.

My Marathon:

• I really didn’t know how long a hilly marathon would take me at 87 degrees and a heat index over 100. I usually finish in five hours in a “normal” marathon, but since there is no penalty for finishinbg early, except running more in the sun and less after dark (cooler), I decided to give myself 6 ½ hours and started at 5:30.
  
• The trick at first was to pace myself, run slower than normal, to avoid overheating. That caught on pretty quick though, and I just walked up the hills and jogged down the other side. Each of the four laps was a little longer than the previous one, but the longest was quicker than 90 minutes, so the total was well under 6 hours.
  
• I have taken water with me on just two previous marathons, both of them trail marathons. I took water this time, though, and drank almost 40 ounces on each of the first three loops, and another 20 on the last loop. That is about twice as much water as I normally drink during a marathon.
  
• To avoid hyponatremia, I also took eight salt packets, two per loop, and seven Clif Shot gels.
  
• I have NEVER been so WET during a marathon, and that was before the thunderstorm. You tend to sweat a lot at a temperature of 87 with a dewpoint ot 74. I had a map of the course in my pocket, but it was paper pulp after one loop.
  
• The thunderstorm brought a downpour, soaking everything, though I was already entirely wet except for my shoes.
  
• I was worried about running in wet sox, but no problems, no blisters.
  
• The right shin bone (tibia?) just below the knee squawked a little on the downhills of the first loop, but it settled down for the rest of the race. No other pains.
  
• In loops three and four the left calf threatened to cramp up, but I stretched it out a few times and it never did cramp.
  
• In the end, the heat did not cause any unusual problems for me. I guess there was just one guy who needed medical attention, out of about 60 runners, so other people were paying attention to the heat too, slowing down and taking more fluid.
  
• Nevertheless, when I was finished I had the same tired, sore muscles that I normally have after a marathon. Despite the slow pace, the heat and the hills made this the real thing.

The Race:

• Started as early as 3:00 pm, if you like, and the finish line closed at 1:00 am.
  
• You win a tiara (!?!) if you finish by midnight, else a pumpkin. I'm man enough to wear a tiara, so I chose a pink one.
  
• You can park very near the start/finish, so you can use your car for resupply.
  
• There are NO porta-potties. You can use regular rest rooms at the start/finish and at a home at the half-loop aid station.
  
• You are required to have a flashlight after 9:00 pm, and you need one. I had one during loops three and four. I saw some heroes running without their lights, and it seems to me that’s a great way to step in a hole and twist an ankle.
  
• The roads do have a little traffic, and there are no shoulders. Cars may or may not see runners, and may or may not give them space even if they do see them. Some drivers were quite polite and some were jerks. Few of them expected pedestrians. Wear reflective clothing!
  
• The water at the aid stations, even the unmanned ones, was COLD! That helped a lot in the heat.
  
• This is not a marathon for making a PR or even a fast time. It’s for having fun, and we did.

Marathon number 45, state nunmber 28.

87 at the start, 78 at the finish, dew point over 70 all the way through. Laps: 1:19:33, 1:21:48, 1:26:09, 1:29:22, total 5:36:52 running time, plus 17:20 bathroom and to/from the car for water and gels, total 5:54:12.

Grandma's Marathon

Grandma’s Marathon finally caught a break on the weather! It wasn’t wonderful, but it was OK and certainly better than any of the previous three years. The temperature was 65 at the 7:30 am start and 68 at my 12:20 finish, mostly cloudy (thank you!), low humidity, with a gusty wind in our faces. The wind made the running a little more difficult, but it did help keep us cool.

My Marathon:

I had a good run, gaining about seven minutes on my goal 5:00 hour pace in the first half, and able to maintain those seven minutes in the second half, for a finish of 4:53:19. Nothing hurt enough to slow me down. I started leaning to the left at about mile 17, but that problem went away. Huh. The right ankle had been a little sore going in, and it squawked a little but didn’t get worse. Then toward the end the left foot got sore too, one of the bones connecting to the fourth toe I think, back inside the foot. It’s even more sore today, two days after the race - I’m a little concerned about it, hope it doesn’t amount to anything. Nothing seems broken - probably just a ligament that got overused a little with the 21,000 operations demanded by a marathon. And I might have stepped on it crooked - I did step off the edge of the pavement once.

I took gels with caffeine at miles 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, & 23; salt at 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, & 25. No cramps! Not even afterward. I took at least 5 ounces of water at every water stop, often dumping another cupful on my head. I used good Mayo Clinic sunscreen and had no sunburn, though my face was hot hours later at bedtime, which we think was probably windburn. Or the beer?

Between miles 21 and 22, I caught up to a woman who was running with a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training (TNT) shirt. After thanking her for raising money for myeloma research, I left her behind. A few minutes later though, she caught up and we chatted some more. This happened several times, until we finally crossed the finish together, strangers sharing a common interest in a cure for blood cancers. And I’m still impressed by the guts it took for her to keep catching up.

Grandma’s Marathon:

This was the 34th running of Grandma’s, my eighth. They have it pretty well figured out now. I was especially impressed this time by the aid stations. They went on and on, giving even the least-attentive runner (me) every chance at the fluid of his/her choice, with tall signs clearly indicating which fluid was which. Ice and sponges too. I wish every race did it that well.

Porta-potties were in short supply right after the race start, though. I saw a line of eight runners (standers) waiting for two porta potties even at mile 8, and that was typical. I think two is pretty stingy for a race the size and caliber of Grandma’s, and if the problem is a shortage of porta-potties in the Twin Ports area, I have a suggestion: There must be a hundred of them at the start of the half marathon. So, the minute that the last half-marathoner crosses the start line, load a couple dozen porta potties from that area onto a couple of trucks and move them further up the road. There is more than an hour to get that done, and your runners will be happier, with far fewer diving for the woods.

Splits: 10:06, 9:51, 10:04, 10:21. 21:16 (2 mi), 33:38 (3 mi), 10:12, 11:15, 11:33, 12:47 (potty stop, 13-mile split 2:21:05, half mar 2:23:05), 11:53 (Hi David), 11:21, 11:10, 11:57, 11:36, 11:21, 12:03, 11:39, 10:59, 11:43, 11:27, 23:14 (2 mi), 1:53 (0.22 mi), total 4:53:24. Their clock shows me finishing in five seconds less - I’ll take it. Pace for first half 10:55, second half 11:27, overall 11:11.


Deer have taken over the yards and gardens in suburban Duluth:

Coeur d'Alene Idaho Marathon

Coeur d’Alene Idaho has a marathon with a 33-year tradition. It’s a good marathon - I recommend it. My own race could have been better, but only six minutes slower than Abilene in April and I’m not unhappy with it. 43rd marathon, 27th state, second of two in my age group. I don’t like finishing last, but the other guy beat me fair and square.

The weather in Coeur d’Alene was almost perfect for a race, with cloudy skies and temperatures rising slowly from 50 to 57. A little less wind would have made it even better, and in fact I wore a singlet under a throwaway shirt which I never threw away because it felt good in that wind.

My right foot hurt. The outside of the foot seems slightly injured at the ankle, probably from running trails so much. I guess I can no longer brag that the Brooks Launch shoes have kept me injury-free, though I probably should use shoes with more ankle support for trail running. The middle toe on the right foot really raised a ruckus too - not uncommon but more painful than usual - made me yelp a couple of times. I had no other pains during the run. Afterward both calves cramped severely, each just once, one at a time, and I could do little but wait for the pain to subside. I had taken five salt packets during the race - maybe I needed more? For sure I should have done more stretching immediately after the race to try to prevent that post-race cramping.

The Coeur d’Alene Marathon route seems rather helter-skelter - we never did find a map good enough to guide us through it before the race, though the volunteers made navigation easy on race morning. A good part of the course is on roads and trails right along the shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, affording a spectacular view, with mountains looming behind the enormous blue lake. It’s a bit hilly, not the best for a PR or a Boston qualifier, but certainly not the hilliest course I’ve run, not even as hilly as the trails that I run regularly near home. It was 100% paved, the road shared with cars (coned off) in a few places, but that was never a problem.

It seemed that the marathon was a little short on aid stations. I took either a Clif Shot gel or a salt packet at every aid station except the first one, and ended up using only five of each. The busses for the race course tour, the day before the race, were hopelessly oversubscribed. And the web site was out of date, displaying last year’s location for the packet pickup. Otherwise the race seemed to be organized well. The course is open for 7 1/2 hours, enough for all but the slowest runners. 403 souls ran the full marathon, 1228 the half, and 52 the early-start marathon (5:30 start versus 7:00 am).

My splits: 9:41, 9:43, 9:23, 9:49, 9:06, 10:18, 21:07 (2 mi), 10:03, 10:10, 10:46, 12:49 (uphill), 9:28 (back down), 25:03 (2 mi & potty stop), 13:02, 10:28, 24:16 (2 mi), 11:26, 11:15, 11:21, 12:16, 11:59, 11:54, 13:39 (1.22 mi), total 4:50:02, pace 11:04.

We drove to this marathon, from Minnesota to Idaho and back, especially enjoying the drive back. In a single day on I-90 and I-94 we saw:

• Antelope, bison, mule deer, magpies, and many other creatures that we don’t see in Minnesota;
  
• Snow-capped Montana mountains on one side of the highway, or both sides, for hundreds of miles, hour after hour, constantly changing and always fresh;
  
• A full rainbow directly ahead of us, though we never drove in much rain that day;
  
• The North Dakota badlands in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Medora, ND), including
  • Scenery more colorful than the South Dakota badlands,
    
  • A prairie-dog village right at the edge of the road, and
    
  • The North Dakota Painted Canyon;
• A spectacular, unforgettable after-dark light show which we watched for 100 miles, as a thunderstorm crossed our path ahead of us in Minnesota; and finally
  
• The three-quarter moon rising like a huge, orange, lopsided welcome sign right in front of us as we approached the Twin Cities at midnight.

It was a magical day. And to our surprise, traffic on I-90 and I-94 was light this Memorial Day weekend. I’m so glad we didn’t fly this time.

Eisenhower Marathon, Abilene KS, 2010

This was a great marathon, for me and I hope for the organizers. Lots of things can go wrong with Kansas weather, but nothing did. I ran the best time of my last nine marathons, finishing in 4:44, third in my age group and 25 minutes faster than my next-most-recent marathon, Fort Lauderdale last February. I'm getting faster, now that I'm off dexamethasone.

My Race:

Nothing went wrong for me. I seem to need two bathroom stops these days, and today was no exception, but the bathrooms were quickly available. I had recently felt echoes of an old hamstring injury, mostly when NOT running, but nothing today. I ran about as hard as I could, my legs got tired, and I slowed a little in the last few miles, but that’s pretty normal. Afterward, I feel as good as I ever feel after a marathon. Muscles ache, but nothing hurts. State number 26, marathon number 41. My sweeties ran the half and did well too. Life is great!

The Eisenhower Marathon:

This is a lovely little marathon. I haven’t seen full results yet, but last year there were 175 in the full marathon, 225 in the half. There is no time limit, and they advertise that fact. They do say that vehicle traffic will resume at 6 hours, and the aid stations will close, but if you get to mile 20 by that time, and carry water, there really wouldn’t be much of a problem - the rest is all in a park or on a road with a beautiful shoulder. They were incredibly well organized, considering that size of race, with aid stations almost every mile and roads COMPLETELY FREE of vehicle traffic.

With one exception: a motorcade of rude motorcycle morons who apparently sneaked onto the roadway somewhere. Noisy, childish, manure-brained assholes. If you ride a noisy motorcycle, please stop reading this blog until you have grown up.

The marathon is apparently too small to support an expo, but the packet pickup was convenient, right at the start/finish line, and there was plenty of parking space on race morning. In fact there are two parking lots to the Eisenhower Visitors Center, and the south one was entirely undiscovered by all but us and a car with Texas plates.

There is a pasta dinner (for a small fee) Friday night, and a post-race brunch (free to runners) Saturday. Nice. We didn’t partake of either, really, because we follow a wheat-free diet. But it looked good. The post-race meal had sausage, pancakes, fruit, and more. Two of us had the sausage, but we had our own food back at the hotel. Chili anyone?

Volunteers were numerous and uniformly helpful. We love ‘em all. Spectators were few, but quality was good, and I did manage to high-five a couple of kids.

One extra feature that we have not seen (or not noticed) at any other marathon: A runner could drop unneeded clothing (as the temperature rose) at most any aid station, and that would be brought back to the start/finish where it could be PICKED UP again. I took advantage of that, recovering a nice technical shirt that I would have had to discard in any other marathon.

The course is out and back, with low, rolling hills. Not very hilly, but not quite flat. Maybe 6 miles of It are in a lovely park, with quaint wooden bridges and lots of shade, but the rest is on highways offering no escape from the sun. We lucked out with the weather though. The forecast said clear skies and temperatures near 70 by noon. Happily, the clouds remained until I was well past mile 20, and half of the rest was in the park. The wind was fairly strong, but this is Kansas after all. Happily again, we bucked the wind on the way out, but it gave us a free ride on the way back. Much better than the reverse. And if it had been too strong, I couldn’t have made such a good (for me) finish time. It’s a masterpiece!

Splits: 29:44 (3 mi), 9:14, 22:57 (2 mi), 10:08, 9:52, 10:51, 10:35, 32:03 (3 mi), 15:02 (potty stop), 10:50, 11:13, 10:14, 10:03, 10:22, 10:38, 11:18, 11:31, 10:54, 11:38, 11:47, 13:12 (1.22 mi), total 4:44:07, pace 10:50.

I love Abilene. If I wanted to retire to a nice, quiet town in the middle of the country, Abilene would be a great place. People leave stuff out unprotected; we saw bikes parked in front of stores, unchained. Stacks of fertilizer and other products outside the hardware store, no way to bring all of that inside at night. It was once a crossroads for three different railroads, and there are MANY beautiful old mansions on the Federal Register. The railroads are still there, but the depots have been put to other uses. I visited the hospital - a nice one for a small town. Abilene still embodies the values that made America great, and we saw bumper stickers from both sides of the aisle. But you do need a home with a basement, because this is tornado country.

Let us not forget the Eisenhower Museum, where we three spent maybe an hour and a half just skimming the surface of the displays. I liked Ike, still do like Ike. He was a civil, courteous person, unlike the screaming, ill-mannered, vituperative banshees who currently “represent” us in Washington (Obama excepted). Here is a quote by Ike from wall of the Meditation Center (where Ike is buried): “Every gun made, every battleship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed . . . This is not a way of life at all . . . Under the threatening cloud of war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” He was a man of peace, in a time of war and threatening nuclear conflagration.

OBX Marathon, North Carolina Outer Banks

OBX Marathon, Kitty Hawk to Manteo, on the North Carolina Outer Banks. Very, very nice. State number 24, marathon number 40. No plans for any more marathons this year.

Good stuff about the OBX Marathon:

• Incredibly, most (meaning more than half) of the course is shaded, either in neighborhoods or on wooded trails or roads.
• There WERE spectators! And they were enthusiastic. I taught a few little kids how to high-five, or I could hear their parents teaching them after I had swished by with my hand out.
• There are some small, rolling hills on a road that goes through the woods, and there is a tall bridge, but otherwise it’s really quite flat.
• There is a REAL expo. Not a huge one, and some of the booths were selling real estate, but running gear was plentiful too.
• They started the race in corrals, honor system, two minutes apart, which worked fine. I like that, even with just 1800 runners. My corral started 10 minutes after the first one, but it was the right place for me.
• Transportation is an issue in point-to-point marathons, and they did it well. We parked at the finish and took a bus to the start, but you could do it the other way too.
• They had put out “Burma Shave” signs along the way, telling facts about the area (highest sand dune in the USA, first flight, whatever, even some bad jokes. If you don’t know what a Burma Shave sign is, your youth may be a minor hindrance in reading this blog :-)
• Example series of signs:
  • First successful flight
  • in motor driven heavier
  • than air machines by
  • Orville and Wilbur Wright
  • December 17, 1903
  • Kill Devil hills, just south of Kitty Hawk
• There is a lot of history here, including the first powered flight and Roanoke Island. It might be worth an extra day (or several) just enjoying the Outer Banks. The beaches are delicious - be sure to get a motel with access.
• The race goes right through the Wright Brothers Memorial.
• And it goes along the waterfront for some distance (unlike Kiawah Island, you can actually SEE the water!).
• There is a swashbuckling pirate theme to the whole marathon (arrrrgh!).
• Nice booty bag (expo bag), nice long-sleeve tech shirt.
• People were very nice to my sweeties, even though they were near the end of the race.

Other stuff:

• At least seven miles of the marathon are on a coned-off lane of US 158, a 50-mph 4-lane highway that goes the length of the island. There is quite a bit of traffic, and no shade.
• Officials at the expo were a little bit arrogant about the lack of a chip-check ("no need"), and the information person didn’t know anything at all.
• The start area featured the seemingly obligatory, meaningless, high-volume noise (music), which meant that most people didn’t move to the start corrals until the very last moment.
• The medical stations didn't have any salt, which is often the best remedy for cramps. Why don't marathons figure that out? Grump, grump.

But, the overall experience was wonderful. I would highly recommend this marathon, especially in comparison with the Kiawah Island Marathon. Bring your own salt packets.

My Race:

• No serious pains AT ALL, just the normal sore muscles that are supposed to come from a marathon. I'll be running again by Wednesday;
• This was my first marathon in the Brooks Launch shoes. They seem perfect for me, a midfoot-striker, just like the old Brooks Burn shoes. Other shoes will have to measure up to these;
• I ran two minutes and walked one, as in other recent races;
• That works best in a flat race like this one;
• I felt stronger toward the finish than in the middle. That’s new. I did use Clif Shot most of the way, then a Hammer Gel at Mile 21 - could that be it? I doubt it;
• I started two minutes behind the 5:00 hour pace team, then got a couple of minutes ahead of them, fell behind at a potty stop, passed them again, then watched them gradually fade into the distance ahead as I took photos.
• I finished in 5:05:00, about five minutes later than I had hoped. But who cares?
• I loved this marathon, had a great time, was grinning and high-fiving most of the way.

Reasons why I didn’t run this marathon in BQ (Boston-Qualifying) time:

• I can’t run 4:15 any more;
• This is the third marathon in five weeks;
• It did get a little warm today, 70 degrees in the finishing miles, and it felt even warmer with the sun beating down on the Hwy 158 pavement;
• I didn’t care if I ran any faster (oops, sounds like a motivation issue);
• I stopped dead still to take about 130 pictures with my new toy, a cell phone with a 2 MP camera. I think that may have had something to do with it. But I got all of the Burma Shave signs.

Splits: 20:50 (2 mi), 10:33, 53:03 (5 mi), 11:33, 26:28 (2 mi + potty stop), 10:40, 13:42, 21:54 (2 mi), 11:26, 1:00:39 (5 mi), 37:45 (3 mi), 13:35, 11:12, 1:38, total 5:05:00. Overall pace 11:38. It’s a masterpiece!

Twin Cities Marathon

Could there be better weather for a marathon? Temperature was 46 at the start and partly sunny, 50 at the finish and cloudy. For a mile or two I wondered if I should have worn a short-sleeved shirt instead of a long-sleeve technical shirt. Then the sun disappeared, the wind showed up, and I was happy with my garb. TCM has a very rigid 6-hour cutoff, no grace, and some of my favorite people would never make it, which is a bad point about TCM. But it has three good points: Excellent spectator support, even better volunteers, and a truly beautiful course. Today the fourth good point was the weather, perfect for a marathon.

Pace: I tried to run two minutes, then walk one minute. Hills made it difficult to do that with precision, because I see no sense in running up a hill when I’m walking some of the time anyway. But mostly it worked.

Finish: 4:50, better than the 5 hours that I had considered an outside acceptable time, but 12 minutes slower than last year. Ah well. I did enjoy this one though - only running really hard in the last two miles or so. The second half marathon took four minutes longer than the first half. Lots and lots of high-fives, especially little kids. They love it, and I wore gloves so everyone was safe. For several miles I ran with a new friend, Dave, who was going about my speed and seemed happy enough whenever I suggested walking for a minute. He sent me on ahead at about mile 18, but finished soon after I did.

Highlights: Supreme Court Justice Alan Page playing his tuba. Nuns in habits holding up a sign saying "Kick ass," except "ass" had been crossed out and the word "sin" written beneath. Three bagpipers. Spectators yelling "Go Don" hundreds of times - I wore my name on my shirt. Getting dropped off at the race by my sweeties, then seeing them after the finish to get picked up to go home. Expressing gratitude to several Team in Training runners, who are raising money for research that may help cure myeloma. YAY TNT! Seeing friends among the spectators. Running downhill, any hill, but especially the downhill finish. Seeing Steve Kalina run in full marine garb, with a backpack, to raise money for Toys for Tots.

Gear: Visor, long-sleeve tech shirt, gloves, watch, shorts, undershorts (w Vaseline), foam rubber knee covers (for warmth, also w Vaseline), Wrightsox 2-layer sox (no blisters), Brooks Burn shoes. Five gels (4 w caffeine), five 440-mg salt packets. Up to mile 20: at every aid station, take either a gel or a salt packet. Drink more water than thirst suggests. After mile 20, scratch and crawl to the finish any which way, take whatever salt and gels may be left over, with lots of water. I did need two potty stops, one taking five minutes and the other much shorter. I started with a short-sleeved cotton overshirt, but ditched that at about mile three or four. Ugly shirt anyway - no loss.

Injury: None. At all. Yay! Slight pain in the right knee fairly early on, resolved by itself when I moved to the center of the road. Slight pain in both hips from dancing to band music - lesson learned - resolved itself. Some pain in the right hip flexors, but not enough to slow progress. That seems to be chronic, but never a big problem. A little pain in the right Achilles or the calf just above it - gone now. That’s it! Quads are a little sore, but that’s to be expected - I ran down every hill. NO CRAMPS! Cool weather, salt, and good hydration may have prevented the cramps, which effectively torpedoed my Grandma’s Marathon (finish temp 93).

Discovery: I can do my post-race stretches IN our new extra-wide shower, which contains a grab bar. Why have I never figured this out before? It’s not very green - takes more hot water - but it sure did feel good today. That’s definitely going to happen again. Oh yeah. Almost as good as beer.

Splits: 10:21, 10:18, 42:01 (4 mi), 21:26 (2 mi), 11:05, 10:52, 10:27, 15:27 (potty stop with a line at M'haha & Cedar), 10:47, 0:32 (0.11 mile to ½ marathon mark), 10:59 (0.89 mi), 10:54, 11:19, 10:49, 11:41, 23:20 (2 mi), 11:29, 12:05, 11:01, 10:46, 10:28, 12:14 (1.22 mi), total 4:50:20, pace 11:04. It’s a masterpiece!



Post-race afternoon "brunch." The pancakes are blueberry, gluten-free. Syrup is maple, organic. Also organic egg & nectarine.

Two Taper Runs

Thursday, June 18:

A last jog before the next marathon. Same short local route as Tuesday, a minute faster, but not nearly as easy. I felt full of breakfast still, and very VERY warm, even though the temperature was only in the low 70's. The dew point was in the high 60's - that was the problem.

Thunderstorms tonight I bet. If not here, somewhere nearby for sure. I just checked the generator - it still works.

I ran the 2.5 miles in 21:55, for a pace of 8:46. When I got back my shirt was completely soaked. After the stretches and some additional time, a total of 25 minutes, I was still dripping and red in the face. I suppose there’s some heat-conditioning that has to take place every spring, and this was the beginning of it. Anyway all is well and I hope to be able to run the marathon in about 4:45 or thereabouts. Looking forward to it. Hope it's cool for a change.

Tuesday, June 16:

Nice jog in a local neighborhood, 2.5 miles in about 23 minutes for a pace of about 9:12. This run felt good at the start and got better right to the end.


Salad Lunch: Jim's wonderful lettuces, organic chicken, organic strawberries, organic cottage cheese, organic cashews, organic bread-and-butter pickles, organic red wine vinegar. Yum.

Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, # 2

More about the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon:

• Sign on a horse fence along the trail: "Please Do Not Feed Fingers To The Horses".
  
• Bridges: Dozens of them, all wooden, all in excellent condition. I felt totally safe at all times.
  
• Trail width: Enough for two to run and a third to pass easily. I had been concerned that passing and being passed would be an issue, but it wasn’t. The trail was also mostly flat from side to side, so no one has to run on a slope.
  
• Flowers: Along the trail. Spring wildflowers like wild irises and many other species that I’m only able to appreciate but not smart enough to recognize.
  
• Rural: One local told me that the trail is out in the sticks even to people who live out in the sticks.
  
• Ruins: In places one can see remnants of the mining industry which necessitated the narrow-gauge railroad bed upon which the trail is now built.
  
• Race Profile: The one on the website is a little misleading (i.e. wrong). And I was wrong about the altitude in the previous post, reckoning it 1000 feet lower than it is. The race starts at about 5200 feet, goes up to about 6200, and back down to about 4600. But the highest point is not at mile 12 as the profile indicates, it’s between 13 and 14, and there is a very significant mile-long uphill, in the middle of the downhill, which is not shown on the profile. Be ready for it.
  
• Shirt: Technical (wicking) fabric, nice enough design. I’ll wear this one.
  
• Caledonia Cabins: In Lead, about four miles from the bus loading area. We stayed there because they have a full kitchen. Great place, clean and complete. We had trouble with the WIFI at first, but eventually had excellent internet service.
  
• Speed limit: On I-90 in South Dakota is 75 mph. We put the cruise on 80 and were clocked at that speed at least twice by the Highway Patrol. 80 mph apparently is not enough to interest them. Maybe 90 would.

Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon 2009

Sunday, June 7, 2009:

I’m whipped! I don’t recall feeling any more beat up after a marathon than this one. But so far (barring a late-reporting injury) that’s the only bad news. Except that Sunshine and Sweet Pea decided not to try the half, because of injury and weather, so they didn’t get a half marathon in South Dakota. That’s bad news too, especially for them. But I did finish the marathon. Everything is sore, especially the right hip flexors and both calves, but getting better already.

I loved this marathon! Organization was faultless, volunteers were superb, and the venue was without peer. There is also a half marathon and a marathon relay.

The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon runs on almost 26 miles of the incredibly beautiful 100+ mile Mickelson Trail. The trail surface is mostly packed limestone, almost as firm as blacktop when dry, if not quite so today. For people who need a little extra cushion, it would be perfect. It also gives up a lot of little rocks, though, and my shoes collected quite a few. See the photo. That biggest rock appeared at my toes (how did it get all the way up there?) at about mile 18 or so, and it hurt, so I considered stopping at a bench to take off the shoe and remove it, as I had done once before. But my calves were saying they might cramp up if I did that, so I motored on and the rock eventually found an out-of-the-way place to stay. I talked to one guy who had some very light and colorful gaiters over his shoes, from Dirty Girl Gaiters he said. When she gets back from fishing (!), I’m going to check out that web site again. I knew that rocks would be a problem, but I forgot that I wouldn’t be able to stop and shake out the shoes without other consequences. I have heavier gaiters for snowshoeing, but never even thought of using them to keep out rocks instead of snow. Duh.

Within a couple of miles of the start in Rochford, the trail goes uphill at about a 2% steady grade, eventually climbing almost 1000 feet before topping over and heading downhill again at about mile 14. It’s an old narrow-gauge railway right-of-way. The descent is a bit steeper, a lot steeper in a few places, taking us down about 1700 feet to Deadwood. I had anticipated going slowly up to the top and then faster on the way down. But the second part didn’t happen - I was so wrecked from the climb that I really couldn’t take advantage of the downhill.

Eventually I finished in 5:10:00, 302 of 367 overall, second of six in my age group, almost an hour after the first in my age group. He could have showered and been sipping a cup of tea by the time I stumbled across the line. The award is a cute railroad spike. They charge $5.00 if they have to mail the award, and now I know why. It's a real iron spike.

Weather was an issue. The forecast said low 40's for the whole distance, moderate crosswind, and rain likely, perhaps even lightning. 40 degrees doesn’t bother a Minnesota runner, in fact that’s a lovely temperature for running. But a hard rain can quickly turn it from nice to miserable, even dangerous. Happily, it rained right before the race and after I was done, but it never rained on me! Just a little mist and occasional fog. I carried a jacket around my waist, just in case, but never needed it. The trail was wet though. Most of the way that was no problem, because the packed limestone had absorbed the rain nicely. But for two or three miles the limestone was in poor shape and we ran on a thin layer of mud, maybe a quarter to a half inch, enough to make me choose my footing carefully to avoid a slip. The temperature varied too - in a couple of places along the trail I noticed frost on runners’ caps or shoulders - frozen sweat. My shoulders were like that too. But only my feet ever felt cold.

The Mickelson Trail is scrumptious. The waterfall in the photo is not actually on the trail (I didn’t carry a camera), but it is typical of scenes we saw on the way. Most of the trail is away from all signs of civilization, often traveling along and above an ancient brook or small river. The grade tends to be steady, but the trail winds a lot. Forests, fields, spring wildflowers, interesting rock formations, even caves. We ran on wooden bridges and even through a tunnel. The trail parallels a road here and there, but never a major highway, and it occasionally passes by a rural (VERY rural) home or ranch. It goes through the ruins of the mines that once gave purpose to the original railroad. I’d love to bike the whole 100+ mile trail. In the entire 26 miles we saw only four parties on bikes who were not obviously connected to the race; perhaps they were doing that. Be sure to bring a fat-wheel bike :-)

I don’t need an excuse for running so slowly, but if I did, what would it be? (1) I ran a marathon 7 days before, (2) The trail surface is slightly soft and absorbs a little extra energy from each step, (3) I carried a little more stuff (jacket, gloves, knee warmers...) than usual, (4) The race included more than 1000 feet altitude change, up first, and (5) Altitude reached about 5200 feet (a mile high), and that’s enough. Definitely a masterpiece.

I am SO impressed by Mr Dan Kuch, from Arizona, who finished this tough race in 2:46:33. Whooee.

Splits: 9:21, 9:17, 11:09, 12:04, 11:46, 13:08, 11:36, 17:19 (porta-potty & emptying shoes), 11:36, 11:23, 11:50, 11:46, 12:12, 11:30, 10:04, 10:48, 11:04, 13:06, 13:18, 15:02 (porta-potty), 12:43, 10:35, 11:34, 11:10, 11:22, 13:20 (1.2 mi), total 5:10:00, average pace 11:49. I’ll take it. My 36th marathon, 22nd state.


Tuesday, June 2, 2009:

NSPCC. I ran a mile, felt some pain in the left ankle, and stopped. The elliptical machine felt fine so I used that for a while.

Minneapolis Marathon 2009

This was a great inaugural Minneapolis Marathon. That's the bottom line. I loved it.

Negatives:

(1) But where’s my jacket? Half marathoners got a nice technical shirt in their race packets, but full marathoners were supposed to get a jacket at the finish line. I got a medal, sure enough, almost couldn’t avoid it, got a banana too, but never noticed anyone handing out jackets, or a table where they might have been handed out, or other runners carrying their jackets. Did I screw up? Probably. I admit that when I finish a marathon my brain is mostly on vacation, and I actually didn’t think about the jacket until after I got home, so maybe someone tried to hand me one and I blew them off. Or did they run out of jackets? Not likely - they knew exactly how many marathoners were in the race weeks ago, because registration was closed. Oh well, I’m sure I missed something. And I don't really need another jacket.

(2) I didn’t get water at the first aid station, Mile 2. It appeared they had some, but there was a long line of runners stopped and waiting for it, so I decided to just motor on. The remaining aid stations did their job correctly. They’ll have that fixed next year I’m very sure.

Positives:

All the rest is positive. This was my 35th marathon, and it ranks very high in quality. Very high indeed. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE COURSE! Nearly all of it was on parkways or trails, and nowhere did the runners have to share a road with automotobile traffic. There were a few bikes, especially on the trails to Fort Snelling State Park, but they don’t hurt nearly as much if they hit you. And you can yell at ‘em or sock ‘em in the nose. Besides, the race’s own bike patrol booted them off the road whenever they encountered them. The course was partly out-and-back, with big loops at the front and the back. Some folks are put off by the out-and-back, but not me. I like to see the front-runners and give them a little encouragement as they head toward me, and same for those who are slower than me. The course was a bit hilly ("challenging"), but I don’t mind that - I just use the hills as another excuse to walk, then the downhills as a very good reason to run. Nobody passes Don on the downhill. Well, rarely.

I was surprised by the number of spectators, and by their enthusiasm. Not as many as TCM, but enough to be a nice distraction. I wear DON on my shirt, and got lots of "go Don" affirmation. Beautiful day, too, about 45 at the start and 70 at noon.

I finished second out of ten in my age group! Imagine. Sounds good until you know that my time was 4:49:00, which means that most of us old farts in the 65-69 age group went over five hours. And it means the the "big guns" didn’t show up for this race. Not a single one of us ran a Boston-qualifying time of 4:15. Three weeks from now, at Grandma’s, several will do that. Last year 11 of 51 did.

I’m happy with my time though. I just can’t run 4:15 any more, and this was actually a bit faster than I intended because there’s another marathon coming up in a week. I started out running three minutes and walking two, modifying that as needed to deal with hills. That put me right on pace. After mile 20, though, many of the runs were shorter and so were the walks. I didn’t slow much though - the last 10k was about 1:07, which is a pace of 10:48, slightly better than the overall pace of 11:01.

Pains: Nothing worrying. Calves wanted to cramp up ten minutes after the finish, but I stretched ‘em out and they didn’t. Both knees are complaining a little, but they're better already and will probably be fine tomorrow. The cancer-drug-induced neuropathy in my feet (previous post) did NOT get worse during the marathon. That’s very good news if my feet stay that way overnight, because I'd hate to think that running is harmful to my feet. I feel pretty good, actually. Recovery run Tuesday or Wednesday.

Splits: 11:32, 10:43, 10:28, 21:03 (2 mi), 23:06 (2 mi), 11:03, 10:21, 11:10, 42:39 (4 mi), 13:51 (potty stop), 11:03, 10:22, 12:24, 11:03, 11:07, 10:19, 21:38 (2 mi), 11:02, 10:12, 14:00 (1.2 mi). Total 4:49:00, pace 11:01. Slightly better than Lincoln, which was not as hilly as this one.

Great race - I already like the Minneapolis Marathon better than TCM, not least because it has a 7-hour time limit and TCM are such jerks about their 6-hour limit. I may do this every year.

Lincoln National Guard Marathon

Not a bad event at all. If I lived here I’d do it every year. But I don’t, so this marathon gets me Nebraska, my 21st state and 34th marathon. Weather was OK, about 55 at the start and about 65 when I finished. Plenty warm, actually, but I don’t melt as easily as some runners and I was OK.

For some reason this was a joyful marathon for me. Over and over again I realized how wonderful it was to be floating down the street with the other runners, hearing people say "go Don!," feeling the sun on my head, the breeze in my face, and the pavement underfoot. Perhaps it has something to do with the good test results from Mayo last week. Or maybe it was because of all of the Team in Training (TNT) runners in this race. TNT is part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), which supports research for myeloma and other blood cancers besides leukemia and lymphoma. It’s a way for LLS to raise money. As I understand it, the TNT runners collect pledges for LLS from their friends and relatives, due when the runner finishes the race. I may not have that whole picture, though.

Many of the LLS runners are doing their first marathon, or half-marathon. I like to encourage them. When I pass one, or one passes me, I tell him or her that I have myeloma, that they might be saving my life, and that they are my hero. All true. They like to hear that, and in fact more than one said that was just what they needed to hear to keep going. It’s emotional, on their part and mine. All good. Sweaty runners don’t hug much, otherwise we would be running down the road four-leggedly.

I took it fairly easy this time, finishing in about 4:50. I wanted to finish in less than five hours, no problem. It was my slowest marathon since starting the CC-4047 and dexamethasone drug regimen a year ago last March, but I think I could have shaved off ten minutes if I had felt that driven. Instead, I felt exuberant and full of joy today so I took it easy and tried for a consistent pace. Indeed, the last 10k took only four minutes longer than the first 10k. That’s cool.

Slight pain: My back hurt, in or near the spine well above the waist, but that came and went. It’s gone now. It’s a new thing - I hope it doesn’t come back. No joints hurt. The hip flexors that have yelled at me on long runs for a year or so were silent today. Perhaps they’ve figured out their role in this marathon running. All leg muscles hurt: quads, hamstrings, and calves, as might be expected. In fact one of the calves cramped up a few minutes after the finish, which is an excruciating pain that lasts about a minute but seems like an hour. It goes away faster if I can stretch it gently, and I was able to lean against a tree and do that. I took plenty of salt this time, and water at every aid station, so the best solution for the calf cramps will be to TRAIN BETTER! Three more marathons coming up. This was a long run for the first of them.

I might write some more about this marathon tomorrow. Right now, It’a a masterpiece!

Splits: 11:20, 10:13, 10:59, 9:58, 11:25, 9:31, 10:56, 11:36, 11:27, 11:20, 11:14, 11:09, 21:32 (2 mi), 10:34, 12:04, 11:42, 12:27, 10:49, 11:11, 11:12, 10:21, 11:49, 10:58, 12:03, 11:05, 1:58 (0.2 mi), total 4:50:43, pace 11:06.



If it weren't called the Lincoln National Guard Marathon, it could be called the Lincoln Apple Blossom Marathon. We saw a lot of onamental crabs in full blossom.