Training Background
I'm only providing this brief information so you
can capture the big picture and why the outcome of
this race meant so much for me.
I began, in earnest, to run in March '99. This
particular starting point was another
"courage-to-start" phase in my running/exercise
life. My goal at that time was Chicago. Over the
next several months I trained with the Jeff
Galloway Training Group. In early August, while
out on a routine mid-week run, I twisted the left
ankle. I was devastated. I was sure Chicago was
out. I stopped running completely for 12 days. The
day my ankle had no pain I started my training at
the point I left off. I unwisely assumed I lost
nothing. This would probably have been a good
assumption if I had more than just 3 months of
solid training. Towards the end of August I was
beginning to develop tall-tale signs of severe
shin splints. I ignored them. I wasn't going to
quite. I so desperately wanted to "finish" the
Chicago marathon (held in Oct). After all, I told
myself, I had already reached 15 miles in my long
run. At around this same time I entered a 10 mile
race on Labor Day. My goal there was to join
Penguins for a race encounter.
I completed the race but I also fatally wounded
all hopes of even starting Chicago. The injury I
was ignoring reared its ugly head so much I could
not walk on my left leg for 3-4 days. I made the
decision to officially DNS the marathon. So, the
only hope I had was Disney 1/2 marathon. I had
registered for this race in July. I now stopped
running for an entire month.
I didn't do much cross training either during the
month of September. I lost much if not all of my
conditioning. I restarted my training in earnest
on Oct 3 when I ran an easy slow 2 miles with
fellow Penguins, Liz C., Amy M. and Pam R. My leg
had healed to 98%. Very little pain or discomfort.
For the rest of October I ran short distances
every other day. I did no long runs. The longest I
was on my feet was 50 minutes. I was doing the
run/walk technique. The running in October allowed
me to build back my conditioning while further
actively recovering my leg.
In November I began to step up the long runs on a
weekly basis. My goal was to get to a 12 mile LSD
run two weeks prior to Disney. I was having no
problems with my leg and my training steadily got
better. I even did a LSD run in another country
(Japan) and in another state (Delaware). Nothing
life was throwing at me was interfering with my
running.
In early December I made a major life change. I
entered an alcoholism recovery program (Some
thought this would totally derail my running. I
did not allow it.) I admitted to myself I was an
alcoholic. I was also smoking a pack-a-day of
cigarettes (had been all during my training to
that point). I was leading two lives. I could no
longer fool myself. It was time for honesty. The
last I'll say of this subject is, I've been sober
for 35 days and New Years ended my life as a
running smoker. I'm grateful for that.
I completed my last LSD run the day after
Christmas (two weeks prior to Disney). I felt real
good about my conditioning and was ready to start
tapering. The VERY next morning I woke with that
nasty flu/cold that has hit others. My lungs
filled with mucus. In addition, this flu bug
aggravated my asthma. I had difficulties
breathing, let alone going out to run. So over the
next two weeks I ran only twice. My taper did not
quite go as planned. I began to worry.
Race weekend
So now it was finally here. Disney was my first out of town race event. All
the training and preparation was done. My taper was 2 weeks. Was this good?
I would soon find out. Probably not the best taper but, that was the card I
was dealt. I was excited and yet scared. I was excited because I had formed
virtual friendships with other Penguins, through our contact on the Team
Penguin Disney egroup.
Coming from the sub-freezing temps of the midwest I packed for warm and
sunny Florida weather. This run was to be my first run in shorts in some
time. I was wondering how I would hold up to the heat and humidity. I stayed
very hydrated even during the cold months.
I arrived at my Disney Resort Hotel early Saturday afternoon. There I met
up with Penguins Kathy F., Marsh A. and scream team maestro Linae B.. We all
managed to get rooms close by. We headed to the Expo to pick up race numbers
and try to meet up with other Penguins. The expo was *weak* I thought. But,
after all, this was my only second big expo.
We hung around the expo for a while and finally met up with Sue B. and Pam
B.. The pasta dinner was close by to the expo so we migrated over there. As
Sue and others mentioned, the pasta dinner was great. I had seconds and
thirds. I couldn't get enough. It was fun to sit around and *jab* with
everybody. I got back to my room around 8-9:00. I prepared my clothes and
tried to lay down and sleep. Finally around 10:00 I fell asleep.
The next morning came quick. I rose from my sleep around 2:30. The plan was
to meet the others at 3:30 or so. The bus ride to the staging was filled
with anticipation. It was pitch dark outside. At the staging area I met even
more Penguins; Marce Z., Suzanne D., Charles C., and others. The starting
line was some .4 or .5 miles from the staging area.
Others have described the pre-race festivities Disney put on so I won't
elaborate, except to say it was motivating. The gun went off close to
6:00am. I crossed the start less than 3 minutes later.
When I run long distance I don't pay much attention to my surroundings. I
focus my energy on my body, lungs and where I'm stepping. So I missed a lot
of the Disney environment. The first 5 miles was SO effortless I hardly
realized an hour had passed. I did manage to hear Linae scream to me several
times (thanks!) But, I can't tell you at what mile marker she was at. After
passing mile 5 I started to believe that I was going to do ok in this race.
-- As I articulated to Pam, Marce and Sue at the start, my goal was 3 hrs.
--Mile 10 brought me into the Magic Kingdom. I was increasing my pace at
this point. The first 5 miles were run doing 5/1 run/walk. The second 5
miles was done doing 10/1 run/walk. I was feeling some magic at this point
(pun intended). I had NO body aches. My leg did not twinge once. My lungs
were processing oxygen as perfectly as they could.
I reached 10 miles in 2:04:xx. I said to myself, WOW! Maybe I can do a 2:30
half. I decided to kick. -- This was a strategic mistake -- I started to
just run, no walk breaks. I was passing, off and on, another Penguin wearing
a TNT shirt. I believe her name was Sally. Finally, at 11 miles I really
kicked and left Sally to continue. But, my kick came a mile too short. At
mile 12 I had to stop and walk for a minute. My lungs were being overworked.
From there I ran very hard the last mile into the finish. I was not looking
at my splits at miles 11 and 12 so I did not know how I was doing. Coming
into the finish shoot I looked up and saw my time, 2:35:xx. I covered the
last 3.1 miles in roughly 31 minutes. This is my normal 5K time.
I could not believe it! All the training had paid off. All the proper eating
paid off. I had no problems with hydration. I DID IT. My *official time* was
2:33:xx. I completed my race and long project started in earnest last March.
What's next
Stick with race distances below a half marathon. Take it easy this month. In
February I'll start preparing for another 1/2 marathon in April. I'm going
to make a decision, soon, to run MCM2000. If I train steadily until May or
June I should be ready to step up training for MCM. I believe I can do it.
Cheers,
Larry
Fox River Grove, IL
...Life is not a race,
But a journey to be savored...
