It's been more than two weeks since the Mini.
I've had pain in my knee off and on ever since, and as a consequence, have not run since.
The pain ranges from very mild to bad enough that I can't actually lift or bend my leg.
I went to the doctor this morning. He bent my leg in a bunch of different ways, and decided that I need to give it a couple more weeks of rest - no running, but biking is OK.
He thought it was tendonitis and/or something or other banding syndrome.
If it still hurts in 2 weeks, I'm to see an orthopedic guy.
Also, according to the BMI chart in his office, I am still "Obese". I would need to lose 10 pounds to move into the "Overweight" column and 50 pounds to move into the "Healthy" column.
So I've got that going for me...
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
I Finished!, or A Mini-Miracle
The Mini has finally come and gone.
Pre-Race
On the registration form, you have to put an expected pace, and then you're assigned to a corral based on that pace. The idea is that the slower people are in the back and the faster people are in the front. Based on my guess of a 12min/mile pace, I was assigned to the X corral. Paris was assigned to 'F' but chose to join me at 'X'. (Faster runners can move back, but slower runners cannot move up).
I arrived at 6:30 and made my way to the corrals, where I was eventually met by Paris. We waited in corral X until they dropped the rope. Then everyone shuffled forward, stopped, shuffled, stopped, and so on. After about 35-40 minutes of shuffling, we were finally near the starting line.
When we hit the start, more than 25 minutes had passed from the starting gun.
Miles 1-4
Paris and I stayed together, dodging our way around many, many people who were walking from the very start - it became obvious that most people must lie about their pace, since I was passing walkers pretty much all day.
We made the first mile in about 12 minutes, which was artificially slow because of all the dodging of slow movers, and a lot of discarded clothing. By the time we hit mile 4 were were averaging 10 minutes per mile.
Somewhere after mile 4, Paris decided to run a little faster than I wanted to, so we split up.
Mile 5
My time at the five mile mark was 53:29 - about 10.6 minutes per mile.
Mile 6 - 10
We entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by going into a tunnel with a sharp decline and then a sharp incline - this did not feel good on my knee. :-) We exited the tunnel, coming out in the infield, turned left and came out onto the track. Running on the track was really interesting - it's the nicest, smoothest asphalt you'll ever see. It's about 2.5 miles long, so I was on the track for what seemed like a long time. Finally, we came to the exit and were back on the street. I was still running, passing more and more people as I went. My time at the 10-mile mark was 1:54:18 - or a pace of 11.4 minutes per mile. About a quarter of a mile past the 10 -mile mark, I finally had to walk.
Mile 11-12
As soon as I slowed to walk, my knees and legs were in quite a bit of pain. I limped along for quite some time, occasionally attempting a weird half-run, half walk that just ended up being painful. People seemed to feel free to come up and talk to me about my knee, which didn't really help. During this time, many of the folks I had passed earlier passed me.
Mile 13- 13.1
With about a half-mile to go, I finally ripped off the knee brace and was able to return to a run. I was able to run flat out for last 25 feet or so.
Post-Race
After crossing the finish line, I was handed a bottle of water, a finisher's medal, and then someone collected my time-chip, then I was handed a bag, a cookie, an apple, a banana, two more cookies, and some Gatorade. Even though the cookies were some bizarre mix of apple and oatmeal, I couldn't stop myself from devouring them (I had forgotten to eat anything that morning).
Next, I had my picture taken, and then I devoured my banana while I looked for Paris.
My final time was 2:42:07 - or about 12:23 per mile. I placed 11,355 out of 35,000 participants.
It was definitely an experience worth having - I can't say that I'll do it again, but I would kind of like another shot at running the whole way.
Thanks to everyone who gave me encouragement and support, even if they don't read this blog. Especially thanks to my wife, without whom there's no way I could have done it.
Days to the 2009 Mini: 363 ... ?
Pre-Race
On the registration form, you have to put an expected pace, and then you're assigned to a corral based on that pace. The idea is that the slower people are in the back and the faster people are in the front. Based on my guess of a 12min/mile pace, I was assigned to the X corral. Paris was assigned to 'F' but chose to join me at 'X'. (Faster runners can move back, but slower runners cannot move up).
I arrived at 6:30 and made my way to the corrals, where I was eventually met by Paris. We waited in corral X until they dropped the rope. Then everyone shuffled forward, stopped, shuffled, stopped, and so on. After about 35-40 minutes of shuffling, we were finally near the starting line.
When we hit the start, more than 25 minutes had passed from the starting gun.
Miles 1-4
Paris and I stayed together, dodging our way around many, many people who were walking from the very start - it became obvious that most people must lie about their pace, since I was passing walkers pretty much all day.
We made the first mile in about 12 minutes, which was artificially slow because of all the dodging of slow movers, and a lot of discarded clothing. By the time we hit mile 4 were were averaging 10 minutes per mile.
Somewhere after mile 4, Paris decided to run a little faster than I wanted to, so we split up.
Mile 5
My time at the five mile mark was 53:29 - about 10.6 minutes per mile.
Mile 6 - 10
We entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by going into a tunnel with a sharp decline and then a sharp incline - this did not feel good on my knee. :-) We exited the tunnel, coming out in the infield, turned left and came out onto the track. Running on the track was really interesting - it's the nicest, smoothest asphalt you'll ever see. It's about 2.5 miles long, so I was on the track for what seemed like a long time. Finally, we came to the exit and were back on the street. I was still running, passing more and more people as I went. My time at the 10-mile mark was 1:54:18 - or a pace of 11.4 minutes per mile. About a quarter of a mile past the 10 -mile mark, I finally had to walk.
Mile 11-12
As soon as I slowed to walk, my knees and legs were in quite a bit of pain. I limped along for quite some time, occasionally attempting a weird half-run, half walk that just ended up being painful. People seemed to feel free to come up and talk to me about my knee, which didn't really help. During this time, many of the folks I had passed earlier passed me.
Mile 13- 13.1
With about a half-mile to go, I finally ripped off the knee brace and was able to return to a run. I was able to run flat out for last 25 feet or so.
Post-Race
After crossing the finish line, I was handed a bottle of water, a finisher's medal, and then someone collected my time-chip, then I was handed a bag, a cookie, an apple, a banana, two more cookies, and some Gatorade. Even though the cookies were some bizarre mix of apple and oatmeal, I couldn't stop myself from devouring them (I had forgotten to eat anything that morning).
Next, I had my picture taken, and then I devoured my banana while I looked for Paris.
My final time was 2:42:07 - or about 12:23 per mile. I placed 11,355 out of 35,000 participants.
It was definitely an experience worth having - I can't say that I'll do it again, but I would kind of like another shot at running the whole way.
Thanks to everyone who gave me encouragement and support, even if they don't read this blog. Especially thanks to my wife, without whom there's no way I could have done it.
Days to the 2009 Mini: 363 ... ?
Friday, May 2, 2008
One more day to go
The Mini Marathon starts at 7:33 tomorrow morning.
I've rested my knee since Tuesday and it feels pretty good - I hope that bodes well for tomorrow.
I've been assigned to "Corral X" which sounds more like an adult film title than a marathon starting point to me.
I picked up my race packet last night - it had quite a few goodies in it - a shirt, a hat, shoelaces, suntan lotion, Donatos and Subway coupons - as well as approximately 74 ads for other marathons and mini-marathons all over the country. Thanks, but no thanks. :-)
I've been trying to decide what will constitute success tomorrow. Is finishing enough, or do I have to run the whole way, or does the attempt alone constitute a success? After all, most people will never attempt to run a half-marathon in their entire lives.
I have no way to know how I will feel afterwards, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that anything other than running the whole distance isn't failure.
Days to the Mini: 0.5
I've rested my knee since Tuesday and it feels pretty good - I hope that bodes well for tomorrow.
I've been assigned to "Corral X" which sounds more like an adult film title than a marathon starting point to me.
I picked up my race packet last night - it had quite a few goodies in it - a shirt, a hat, shoelaces, suntan lotion, Donatos and Subway coupons - as well as approximately 74 ads for other marathons and mini-marathons all over the country. Thanks, but no thanks. :-)
I've been trying to decide what will constitute success tomorrow. Is finishing enough, or do I have to run the whole way, or does the attempt alone constitute a success? After all, most people will never attempt to run a half-marathon in their entire lives.
I have no way to know how I will feel afterwards, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that anything other than running the whole distance isn't failure.
Days to the Mini: 0.5
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Run, Forrest, Run!
"Mama said they was my magic shoes. She said they could take me anywhere."
— Forrest Gump, 1994
Yesterday it was cold and raining, so I only ran an exploratory lap around the block with the new brace. It seemed like an improvement, but one lap is only about 0.5 - 0.75 miles, so I didn't know how a longer distance might feel.
Let me take a moment and describe the new knee brace. As I said in my previous post, it's a "Maximum Support" sports knee brace. It's blue, and made of some sort of blue fabric. There's a little hole in it that goes over my knee cap. After I wrap it around my knee, it's secured with three velcro tabs, and then there are two additional straps that thread through two brackets before being secured with velcro. And if all of this splendor wasn't a grand enough embellishment of my knee, there are two metal — yes, metal — bars, one on each side of my knee. The bars are hinged so they bend when my knee does.
I'm sure that this brace is the very finest technology in athletic support, but I'm reminded of nothing as much as the leg braces young Forrest Gump had to wear. It also restricts the amount of bending my knee can do, and so I think my gait looks a little Gump-ish as well.
Today was less cold and the rain had stopped, so I went for my three mile run today.
The good news - the new brace felt very solid and I posted 10-minute miles for the first two miles. The bad news, I had knee pain throughout the third mile.
I realized today that the distances are really all about context. In the context of I couldn't run 3 miles at all two months ago, it's a very good result. In the context of I have to run 13.11 miles on Saturday, it's not really all that comforting.
I have found that heat treatments improve my recovery immensely, so I warmed up the heat pack and applied it to the knee as soon as I got home.
Days to the Mini: 4
— Forrest Gump, 1994
Yesterday it was cold and raining, so I only ran an exploratory lap around the block with the new brace. It seemed like an improvement, but one lap is only about 0.5 - 0.75 miles, so I didn't know how a longer distance might feel.
Let me take a moment and describe the new knee brace. As I said in my previous post, it's a "Maximum Support" sports knee brace. It's blue, and made of some sort of blue fabric. There's a little hole in it that goes over my knee cap. After I wrap it around my knee, it's secured with three velcro tabs, and then there are two additional straps that thread through two brackets before being secured with velcro. And if all of this splendor wasn't a grand enough embellishment of my knee, there are two metal — yes, metal — bars, one on each side of my knee. The bars are hinged so they bend when my knee does.
I'm sure that this brace is the very finest technology in athletic support, but I'm reminded of nothing as much as the leg braces young Forrest Gump had to wear. It also restricts the amount of bending my knee can do, and so I think my gait looks a little Gump-ish as well.
Today was less cold and the rain had stopped, so I went for my three mile run today.
The good news - the new brace felt very solid and I posted 10-minute miles for the first two miles. The bad news, I had knee pain throughout the third mile.
I realized today that the distances are really all about context. In the context of I couldn't run 3 miles at all two months ago, it's a very good result. In the context of I have to run 13.11 miles on Saturday, it's not really all that comforting.
I have found that heat treatments improve my recovery immensely, so I warmed up the heat pack and applied it to the knee as soon as I got home.
Days to the Mini: 4
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
