My results where

5/5  Four miles in a 10:13 pace @ 40:50 with mile four run at 9:51

5/7  Five miles at 10:46 pace @ 53:50 with miles four (10:36) and five (10:25) bieng my fastest.  I burned 1050 calories and had an average 146 BPM heart rate.

5/8  Eight miles @ 11:10 pace  @ 1:29:24 with miles seven (10:57) and eight (10:45) being my fastest.  I burned 1681 calories and had an average  142 BPM heart rate.

 I am fairly happy with the last three runs but I am missing the motivation I used to have.  To some extent, I almost dread running.  Similar to the feeling I had during my tapering for the marathon.   I am signed up for two more Half Marathons over the next 5 weeks.  I think we will see how they go I go wild about running again.  Then again, There is a half marathon in Hoffman Estates that perfectly coincides with the Chicago Marathon Training schedule, so maybe I wont.  It’s so hard to predict. 

SPECIAL THANKS:  I would like to thank all my faithful readers to this blog.  You have stuck with me for nine different months. I appreciate your support.  Special thanks go to Trainer Tina for whom I would never have done a squat or a lunge and probably not finished the marathon and to runner friends Bob and Jill for whom Bing and I have shared many stories and many laughs. 

I would like to give an EXTRA special thank you to Bing, for whom this Blog is really  for.  I can honestly say that without Bing, I would not have run my first step, my last step and every step in between.   Also, making her laugh was  most of my motivation to keep the blog light and funny.   At least it was funny to us.

I have come a long way in my life, to missing my kids after my divorce, to spending 16 days out of 30 in four different hospital stays a few years ago, to losing 75 pounds on Weight Watchers to running my first 1/4 mile on a tread mill to finishing a marathon.  Bing has been with me through out.  Thanks for your love and your support.  You rock!

One of the things I did so was lose some weight and some inches.  As mentioned above, I did lose some weight and as noted below, did reshape my body.  The one thing I did learn was that it took me man years to put my body in the shape it was and it was going to fight to keep itself in that shape, no matter how hard I work.  O the other hand, maybe I have to work harder than I did to see my abs again and I just don’t think I can work that hard.

But on a positive note, the body shaping I did accomplish ended up as follows:

Earlier in the week, I talked about all the things that occurred as I participated in the marathon.  Recently, I though about all the things (Most of them bad things that could have happened that didn’t) that didn’t happen during the marathon and the fact that these things did not happen may indicate the marathon was a success as much as finishing did.  A recap of what did not happen follows:

I did not:

Have Hemorrhoids

Have bloody Nipples, I did see them though

Get hungry

Have diarrhea

Have a back ache so bad I could not continue.

Have my solius ball up

Have my left leg act up

Have my plantar faciitis act up.

Need a second pair of shoes

Stop

Feel like quitting

Hit the wall

Sit down

Get rained on

See lightning

See someone through up

Chafee

Listen to my ipod the last several miles.

Finish last.

Need cold weather gear.

Cry when I finished (Bing Did)

Crawl across the finish line

Run much of the last 8 miles

Get a massage or eat any of the after race food at the race.

Wear the wrong clothing (Except my shoes)

Have to use my marathon shuffle.

Get passed by a senior female runner (I  did get passed by a senior male)

Trip or fall

Think about work.

Run out of hydration.

Need to use my emergency cell phone.

Get blisters

Get black toenails.

Hurt my knee or ankle

Lose weight

Wear sunglasses

Become friends with anyone.

Decide never to run a marathon again.

Almost lose my bib (It happened on my first half marathon)

This weekend I will try to run five miles on Saturday and eight on Sunday.  Next week I plan to run similar to this week with maybe a 10 mile long run, then the following week is another half marathon.

Random Sights Seen at the Marathon:  It is very hard to remember some interesting sights from the almost 6 hours of moving my body from one location to another. (To think about that for a moment, I started at one location and finished around a quarter-mile away from that very same location.  It seems like I really went out of my way, maybe 26 miles out of my way, if all I wanted to do was finish at that quarter-mile away location.  Next time, I need a better map.)

The cheering throngs where fun but I think the Grapes and the Banana where the best.  Unfortunately, I did not have time to stop and take a bite from either.  The numerous homeowners (I think three) who were kind enough to spray hoses at us were appreacaited.  At least by me.  I saw a couple of ladies that shied away from the cooling waters.

Bing and I liked the cheerleaders.  They where probably highschool girls.  As I ran by, I suggested they cheer for me (i.e. “Bob”), which they did and one did a back flip and yelled “Go Bob” as I went by.  That was interesting.

Bing liked the women who was running in leggings and a below the knees skirt, many women that REALLY needed running bras, the couple holding hands as they crossed the finish line, the 100 Marathon guy (That looked like he could barely run a mile,  kicked my butt throughout), various runners forms and the finisher that yelled out “Ice!!  Ice!!! I Need Ice”

I liked the guy that finished around my (i.e. Slow) time that had mowzied up the a railing and just placed his head against it as he tried to compose himself.  It was a tough race for him too.  I enjoyed talking to the woman who wanted to run the marathon “Because her Asshole ex-husband told her she could never do it” and to the guy at the beginning of the race who had not run a marathon before or anything longer than a 5K.

My best was 3-1/4 miles in an 11:00 minutes pace.  The best part of the run was seeing and petting a humongous Great Dane and talking to it’s owners.  The other good part was that I was able to run almost pain-free.  Sweet.

I referenced my Road Crew during the Marathon.  My oldest son Jason, his girlfriend Michelle and Bing where kind enough to run (OK, run is a misnomer.  They actually drove) around Champaign/Urbana meeting me at miles 10, 14, 20 and 24.  They helped refill my Gu stores, my hydration, brought me changes of shirts and hats as well as cheer me on when I needed it.  They made a long day seem shorter.  If that is possible.

One of the strengths of my relationship with Jason and Bing is that we love to laugh and make jokes.  The Road Crew brought me a change of shirt at mile 10 and at mile 24, Bing asked me if I needed a change of anything and my response was “Yes, a change of venue.”  That might not seem so funny now but at mile 24, it was hysterical.

The other laugh I got was at mile 20 when I found the Road Crew unexpectedly standing at a corner.  I was actually running at that point.  A rarity in the later miles.  Once I saw them and saw that they were taking pictures, I yelled “Just because you see me running now, doesn’t mean I have been running all along.”  Again, not so funny now but I made all the runners,volunteers and the Road Crew laugh out loud.  Every one knew how much we runners where walking.  It was just funny to acknowledge the effort at the time.

Pain: I am probably experiencing more pain today, the 2nd day after the marathon, than I have during or after the race.  Today’s pain mostly lies in the quads.  Still, they don’t hurt anywhere near as bad as they did when I ran my first 10 mile run in 2008.  This time I was able to get up out of chairs and walk up and down stairs without crying.  I must admit that the nice and flat course probably  did benefit me quite a bit.

I would say that the most pain I experienced during the race was the pain I felt in my ‘innards’.  I had met Kathryn Switzer, the first woman to run Boston, the day before the race, and to commemorate her effort of breaking the sex barrier of endurance running (Women weren’t allowed to run because they thought the women’s womb would fall out), I ran up to Bing and my Road Crew and responded to her question of how I was feeling with “My stomach hurts so much that I think my womb is going to fallout.” Luckily, she got the joke and didn’t call the medical staff on me.

Eventually, I was able to get rid of the pain by passing gas.  You have no idea how happy some one can be when they pass gas.  I didn’t just pass a little gas.  If I could have bottled my output, I could have energized the entire City of Chicago for a week.  I am not sure how the runner behind be felt but I was in heaven.

Other pains felt during the race were slight right hip pain and some left ankle pain.  Both went away after a few strides.  The biggest concern I had was when I was running into the wind.  I tried running behind a VERY tall dude, probably 6’7″ or taller, but I never felt any reduction in wind velocity.  I kept waiting for my back to squawk but it never really occurred. Luckily for me.

One area I did not experience pain ws in my right shoulder.  Or my mouse shoulder, as I call it.  I had been icing this shoulder for several weeks after having it hurt me for over a month.  The icing had let me sleep on my right side, (my normal side) for the first time in a long while.  I was very happy ans surprised that the icing was all it took.

Or so we thought.  The morning of the race, I put on my shoes only to find that I had retained my oldest shoes to start my race instead of the ones I had been training in or the brand new ones I just bought and I had put the other two better sets of shoes in my car (so my Pit crew had easy access to them) which was several blocks away.  I was really bummed because I had my chip tied and pinned (Yes I pinned the chip to my shoe in that I found my original method of adhering the chip to the shoe allowed for it to fall off. As it was, Bing and I found numerous chips where their owner did not have my foresight) in place.  Finally, I decided I would have enough time to get the proper shoe and start the race on time, so off we went and all was well., but boy, did I beat myself up.  How could I prepare so well with so much foresight and NOT give myself the proper shoe.  Yes, all three sets of shoes are the same but one is a clean white, one is dirty and the one I wanted to run in had miles written in all along the inside of the left sole.  Boy was I stupid!

Another thing we did not prepare for, but I had thought about it on Friday before we left was hemorrhoids.  I have not experienced them in a year.  (The last time was in April of 2009 while at this very same race.  I guess stress can do wonders to ones body.)  My thought was to bring some of the necessary cream associated with hemorrhoids but, being the old man I am, I forgot before I left the bathroom.

On race morning , I had some irritation  and bleeding but no cream.  Bing looked through the medicine bag and only found A & D ointment.  Believing that you never try anything new on race day, I passed on the A & D.  After getting the correct shoes from my car and seeing 20 person lines in front of each porta potty, I went back to my room which was near the race start and let nature take its course.  Again, feeling the effects of hemorrhoids, I decided to take a chance and go with Bing’s suggestion.  Luckily for me, the hemorrhoids where not to act up again.  This is not an endorsement for A & D for hemorrhoids, only a note to self to put the proper cream in the medicine bag, which I did on Monday morning.

Another thing I did not prepare for was the weather.  Bing feels the heat and the humidity took a toll on my body.  I replied that 1724 people ran in the same conditions and beat me.  Her retort was that they weren’t all in their 50′s and my response was that 120 of them where. Game, Set, Match.  Either way, during the race, I was not so tired I wanted to stop or quit.  I would start to run and then stop so many strides later.  I never tried to outwit myself by doing a walk one minute, run a minute or anything else to keep me moving.  After a while, I was just happy to enjoy the experience by walking.  Again, I would try to run but there just wasn’t the ability of motivation to keep it up. 

I found it interesting that I was having trouble with enough energy to get my heart rate up.  Early in the race, I could reach a max heart rate of mid to low 150′s and then walk to lower it.AFter mile 18, I couldn’t run long enough to get into the 150′s, just the mid 140′s.  In fact, Mile 19, 20, 21 and 22 had a max heart rate of 146.  The miles after that had a max heart rate of 138 and 139.  I am fairly experienced but I can’t yet explain that situation.  I guess I will need to run more marathon’s to understand this one.

You can tell by the temps and humidity that the conditions weren’t the best but I can ‘t possibly blame my time on the weather.  Maybe I should but I can’t.  One thing I am very pleased about is that I am hoping to be able to set a new PR at the Chicago Marathon in October.  I doubt I can run any slower.

There is too much to share in one day’s blog so I will be writing about the race for the rest of the week but I wanted to share with all my faithful readers that mission was accomplished.

Most everyone will congratulate a finisher and then ask, “What was your time?”  My answer will be “Not as good as I wanted but better than hundreds other participants and millions of other couch potatoes.”

I will detail more of the race latter but I believe that weather may not have been my friend and more of a negative impact on my performance than my 5o0 miles had a positive impact on my potential.  At 7:00 (Start Time) the Humidity was 95%.  By the finish time, the temperature was 75.  Better than the thunderstorms forecast for the last two weeks but not optimal.  I might not have run any better if the weather was more conducive to my performance but we wont know until October when I run my next marathon.

I have been told not to try to lose weight while endurance training and I guess ”They” are right.  At least in my case.

Marathon Weather:   Bing and I have been watching the weather for the marathon for over two weeks and it has been anywhere from lousy to bad.  There has been thunderstorms, high heat, 20 MPH wind and high humidity.  We have been preparing for heavy rain by putting together three “Sets” of clothing/shoes in case I have to run the entire 26 miles in the rain.  I am prepared trade off into dry hats, shoes, socks and shirts.

This morning, I pulled up the forecast and, lo and behold, I find that there is only a 10% chance of rain and sub 10 MPH wind.  I think all the prayers my friends have made to Mother Nature have started to pay off.  I think this weather is doable.

Back Ache:  This last pre-marathon week has been tough for me.  Earlier in the week my back started to act up due to sitting too much at my desk.  Since wind, which was forecast, and its effects on my back was my biggest challenge during my 20 mile runs, I was very concerned that I would have major difficulty finishing the race. 

I have been trying to correct the back pain by getting an hour massage, icing my back regularly, staying off the computer as much as possible.  In addition, Bing has been applying “BioFreeze” to by back as often as legally possible.  In all, I am feeling better but the three-hour drive to the race could be a challenge.   We are not home yet but we can see the destination.

I can’t believe that I have done 7 months of resistance training and four months and 500 miles of marathon training and I start to jeopardize my effort by sitting at a desk.  OMFG!.

I needed to do something, so I went for a one hour massage that focused on my back and spent some time on my left leg.  Trainer Tina suggested Biofreeze and Nurse Bing (She’s not a real nurse but she looks mighty fine in her little Candy Stripper outfit, but that’s for another discussion.) suggested a warm bath too.

I did the bath earlier in the afternoon and Biofroze (Is that a word?) later in the evening.  I really don’t think I am getting markedly better but I do feel some improvement.  Most of my running friends tell me I will be fine but I see through their fear that I will flame out in the race and cry like a baby as I fail to finish.

On the other hand, I may not be able to finish anyway in that there are forecasts of scattered thunderstorms and that could include lightning.  I have heard that the course could be shut down due to lightning.  That would really stink.  Train, Train and Train more and then get shut down due to dangerous weather.

After hearing that, I thought I would ask my experienced Marathon friends and customers their race day advise and they shared the following with me.

Maria says ’Sadly, my problem was never going out too fast!  I don’t know about you, but I have issues with heartburn when I run longer distances.   I have learned that I can control the heartburn by eating a Clif Block at the onset of the discomfort.’    

Running customer/friend Bob and veteran of double digit marathons says”Don’t do any thing different.  I know your shoes are relatively new, but they have enough miles on them by now not to be considered new.  No new socks.  Nothing new for breakfast.  Don’t sleep with any one new the night before. Don’t get out of bed on the wrong side.  If it has not been run tested, don’t do it.

1.  Lube every area of your body where you think there may be friction.

2. And take a pain reliever somewhere around mile 20 even though it probably won’t work. You may think it will.   Also know that your legs will hurt like hell around 21-22 but they will still work  (or should)