The story of my first marathon

I've had a couple of people ask how my first marathon went and instead of telling the same story 15 times, I figure I can just post it....I am a smart man.

Anyway, upon deciding to run a marathon last winter, I set out to train for (what I expected would be) the most intense experience of my life. I read many different training programs and decided an 18 week training program. I wanted to have enough time to slowly build up mileage, but also, I didn'y want to train too long and wear my body out. Some training programs last 26 weeks and I think that would just wear my body down too much. I started training sometime in June for the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on October 22.

My training went well and I did everything I needed to do and everything I set out to do during my training. I did short runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays (no longer than 5 mjles), middle-distance runs on Wednesdays (no longer than 10 miles), and my long run on Saturdays. I started at 3 miles for all of my short runs and my first long run was 7 miles. I slowly increased those distances weekly over the 18 week training period. I also lifted weights Tuesday and Thursday and did speed workouts on Tuesdays. I maxed out at 22 miles for my long run 4 weeks before the race and I felt OK doing it. I stopped and stretched and walked a little bit during the run but overall, I felt ready to run 26.2 miles. I came into the race really nervous and really scared. Its always emotional when you work so hard for so long and it all comes down to one final day and you know it could be hit-or-miss.

We (my mom, dad, brother JJ, friend Courtney, and my friend Jack, who was also running- eventhough he had done very little training) arrived in Chicago on Friday and I was getting more and more nauseous with each hour...I started doubting myself and just making myself sick. Friday and Saturday went by and I set my alarm and got up at 4AM Sunday morning to get ready for the race. I went to bed around 11PM and fell asleep around 12AM, woke up at 1:30 and kinda drifted in and out of sleep every 10-15 minutes until my phone alarm went off. We made it to the starting line around 6:30 (the race started at 8) and IT WAS COLD!!! It was 43 degrees, but with the wind chill, it felt like 33. I had shorts and a long sleeve shirt. I thought about running in long pants but EVERYTHING I read beforehand said NEVER to change up your routine on the day of the race. I had not run in anything but shorts throughout my training so I wan't going to change now....right? I also figured that after a couple of miles, I'd warm up and be fine.

Jack and I decided that since I had done all the training (and he had done so little training due to injury) that he would run as far as he could with me and then I'd leave him and go on by myself. Please remember this point cuz it comes back to haunt me later. Anyway, as we made our way into the starting crowd, I felt really good. Really confident and excited to make good on 18 weeks of hard work. so, the race starts and we get goin...I'm feeling good and Jack is keeping up through the first 6 miles. Around then he decides to stop and walk a bit and I figure I'll stop and walk with him. We did this off and on, sometimes just stopping altogether for a minute or so until mile 13. We did the first half in 2:13, which was great! I was feeling a little sore but nothing I hadn't already felt during the training. Jack was kinda hurting as he just had neck surgery. We saw my parents and rested for a minute or so and then got going. Jack was fading around mile 14 and I was ready to get going. He told me just to go on and he'd see me at the finish line. I decided that I'd stick with him a little while longer....I just felt bad leaving a friend out on the course all alone as I just ran off. I stayed with him until mile 16 when he just told me to go and I did! I took off feeling excited about the first half and knowing I was feeling good! What I didn't think about was how all the starting and stopping, running and walking, warming up and cooling down would effect my legs in this cold weather. At mile 16, the cramps set in. They were unlike any cramps I have ever had....they weren't the kind you get, you rub, you stretch, so they go away.....these bad boys stayed!!!

First, my hamstrings went, then my quads, then my calves, then the arches in my feet, and finally, my big toe!! It was the worst pain I have ever felt and it would not go away. I ran the final 10 miles in severe pain. The cramps never went away. My brother JJ ran with me for about 100 yards before he got too tired (na, just kidding, he dropped his camera). My friend Courtney took over and ran the last 5 miles with me. She walked with me when I needed to walk, stopped when I needed a break, and jogged when I wanted to jog. I think she could tell how much pain I was in....running 10 miles in a full-lower-body cramp had made me feel nauseous, dizzy, and I was honestly close to tears most of the last 5 miles. I began seeing little red dots...I think running with the cramps had totally exhausted my body. I finished in a time of 5:04.

I felt good that I finished, but finishing so weak, knowing I didn't run the kind of race I could have (or trained for), made me feel very unfulfilled. That's when I decided to run another marathon.

SO THAT'S MY MARATHON STORY. I KNOW I'VE HEARD FIRST-MARATHON STORIES THAT WERE MUCH WORSE THAN THIS. In the end, I feel fortunate to have finished. I have my brother (who was as giddy as a little kid--which was kinda cool), Courtney (who ran with me), my parents, and the million or so screaming fans (who lined the entire course) in Chicago to thank for gettin me through. I can't wait for the next marathon...

Come along for the ride!

Thanks for reading this post today.....

SEE YA ON THE HILL!
Michael

I forget I'm old

Last week, Jesse and I went for our Monday run (2 miles) and after the 1st mile, I had to stop because my knee was hurting. It was a sharp pain in the inside of my left knee (which I am wimpy about because that's the one I had ACL surgery on). Anyway, I did the lifting (which didn't hurt) and went home and rested. I went out the next day to do the 2 mile run and speed work. I ran a mile and stopped (the knee, again, and some pain). I couldn't do the speed work either. I think the first full-week of running, speedwork, and lifting all at once took it's toll on my body and fatigued me a lil' too much. I took the rest of the week off and although my knee is sore today (played a soccer game Thurs, whiffle ball tourny Sat, and then a baseball game yesterday), I had no pain during the soccer, whiffle ball, or baseball games. So, I'm gonna go out and give it a go today. I'll do a mile and lift...no legs though. I'll just do upper body and a lot of core stuff. We'll see how it goes and play it by ear. If I have pain, I'll stop and rest again this week. There is no rush. As I wrote in the last post, the training schedule we're using is an 18 week program so the actual training won't start until early July. If it were late June, I might be worried but July is a long time off.


It's funny how you are sometimes reminded of things at really appropriate times...if you make yourself available to listen. I turn 31 this week (Friday if anyone wants to take me out for dinner and drinks...I'm available), and I thought it to be interesting that as I turn another year older, my body chose to remind of it in a very real way.

Jesse and I have talked about the upcoming training this summer for our marathons and one thing I've said over and over is "listen to your body." If my body is telling me that it is not ready to train that day...not listening to it and training anyway could be a really bad idea. Although I'm training for this marathon so that I can improve upon my previous time, my main goal is and always will be, to finish the race. I order to finish a race, ya gotta get to the starting line and you can't do that if your body breaks down before the race even starts.

I've had some positive feedback from those of you checkin in on me and the site....please keep it up. If there is anything you think I should/wish I would/could add, lemme know. I don't want my posts to get stale and boring.

It's gonna be a long slow summer of training...hopefully without too many weeks off due to injury...but it will get done.

Thanks for sharing this with me (again),
SEE YA ON THE HILL!
Michael

Changed the color scheme

Sorry for those of you who liked the black and baby blue color-scheme...upon a lengthy and heartfelt discussion with my Uncle Kenny, I changed the colors up a bit (I hope you sensed the sarcasm in that statement). Seems (he felt) the site seemed a lil'dreary. I could see that...it was a lil'dark (with the black background and pale colored text). So I brightened it up a bit, made it a lil'more happy colored (although you'll notice the baby blue). Ya gotta keep the baby blue! That's my color...it matches the eyes and the ladies dig the baby blues.....

Pre-marathon training

Good morning! This will be my 2nd post on this new blog. I'll try to keep this updated (at least) on a weekly basis. If you read the first post, you'd know that I am planning on running either the New York City Marathon or the Harrisburg/Hershey Marathon. The 2 events are only a week apart so training for one verses the other wouldn't be any different.

After my (as he put it) inspirational trek to Chicago emails, my good friend Jesse Woodrow was moved to decide to run a marathon this year. He is planning to run the Harrisburg/Hershey event so he and I have decided to train together this summer. It's good for him cuz it'll be his first marathon and so he'll get to learn everything I went through last summer and all the stuff I learned along the way. It's also good for me because having someone to run and lift with offers a little more motivation than going through the training alone (like I did last year).

Anyway, If any of you are interested in running this summer (maybe even running a fall marathon), lemme know (Harrisburg also has a half0marathon event in Sept). Maybe we can all get together and train as a group. Jesse and I started a "pre-training" phase last week. The actual marathon training program we are going to use is a total of 18 weeks. It has 3 phases: strength (getting the body ready for daily running), endurance (getting the body ready to handle the pounding of 3-4 hours of running), and taper (resting the body so you enter the race rested and recovered). The "pre-traning" phase isn't an actual phase, but it's the time before you begin the actual training. During this stage, it's all about preparing your body for the amount of training you'll be doing during the 18 weeks of training. Right now, we are doing low mileage 3 days a week (mon, tues, wed), lifting 2 days (mon, wed), 1 speed training session a week (tues), and 1 longer run on friday. The lengths of short runs range from 1-4 miles and the longs run max out at 10 miles a week before the real training starts. (sometime in July). I think this "pre-training" will give us a very strong fitness foundation and alleviate a lot of the pain you go through during the first couple of weeks. Last year (some of you who may have seen me early on in my training may remember), I was soooo sore the first couple of weeks because my body wasn't ready for the 3 or 4 days in a row of running. I plan on being better prepared this time around.

I'm still gathering info on what Diabetes Foundation I will support as well as working with my good friend (and computer wizard) Jacob on getting some stuff set up on this blog. I wanna make donating via internet possible (so you guys can help me raise some money for a worthy cause), add some music (maybe some Marley or something chillin' like that), and maybe a picture or 2 (for all the single ladies out there).

I hope you all are well. Thanks for checking in on me! Lemme know if there's anything I should add to this blog.

As always, thanks for experiencing this with me (again).

SEE YA ON THE HILL!!!
Michael

My first post!
Hey y'all! This is my first of what I hope will be many great and inspirational posts! My good friend Jacob turned me on to this site as a means of giving you all an opportunity to catch up with me as I train for my various events (mostly marathons but I do have some long-term goals down the road). I'll update this with new info as often as poss.My first marathon gone (The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon) and I already have the fever to do it again....better! I've been reading a lot, asking a lot of questions, and subscribing to periodicals all in hopes of improving upon my previous marathon time (5:04) which was rather disappointing to me.I will recount that marathon story in a later post. Right now I just wanna get this baby up'n runnin and let you all know I'm here...so bookmark this joint and visit it at least once a week.I will also be updating this with fundraising info. I believe in doing what we can, when we can, as well as we can. It was with that in mind that I raised over $800 for the Walter Payton Foundation when I ran my first marathon last fall.I'm currently in training for either The New York City Marathon (11/4) or The Harrisburg/Hershey Marathon (11/11). I say either/or because NYC is such a large event that they choose the entrants based on a lottery....if they pick your name, you run! So I have begun my training hoping to run in NYC but if I don't get in, Harrisburg/Hershey is the week after NYC so I can still train and plan to run a marathon in November.For this next marathon adventure, I am raising money for Diabetes....it seems to run in my family (my dad, my cousin, and even my dog have diabetes). As I get this whole blog set up, I will give you more info as to what exact foundation I am supporting, and (of course) how you can donate. I will be trying to set upan internet donation site where you can go and donate right from your computer....EASY!!!!Anyway, enough for this blog, it was a good one. More to follow. The Page will get spruced up as well. Gimme some time.