Oct 4

Written by: Ken Florian
10/4/2008

I’m hurting today and stairs are brutal. Yesterday afternoon was a new kind of “tired”. I had slept very well the night before the race. I took a short nap about mid-day after the race but for the rest of the day I felt fatigued. Of course it makes sense but it was a new sensation and difficult to describe. Certainly that was the hardest 5.5 hours of physical labor I’ve ever put out.

Naturally, I am second-guessing myself already! I knew that my total weekly mileage was not where it should have been but it was still the most I felt physically capable of during the last 3 months. I got a re-education in how important “form” is…which is where I am second guessing myself. A better form could have meant a slightly faster time. But, when all is said and done, I went twice as far as I’ve ever gone before…so I will be content with that. Having complete one, there is no part of me that doesn’t want to go for it again…not today but certainly next year.  

My average pace was 12:34…there could have been a few moments of 5:42 but that is more likely an electronic “boo boo” on the part of my watch. My fastest mile was the last 1.5. I figured out that I could get in under 5:30 so I just went nuts and found I had a little left. It also drove home the whole form thing on which I’d been meditating for the prior 5 miles. My hamstrings should be screaming today but it is the quads that are non-functional….which means my step was way too flat….like a shuffle rather than a relatively high knee lift with the resultant kick. I think I got through the last 5 miles by focusing on kicking rather than shuffling. Even in a semi zoned-out state, I could definitely tell the difference. Core is a huge factor in that and something I need to recommit to developing.  

My single longest run, ever, whether training or racing, has been doing the half marathon. I did one in May then about 4 weeks ago at the Chicago half. The September Chicago half was my 10th half. In the past 2 months, my routinely longest run has been 7. I absolutely knew that I was way under the normal minimum to complete a marathon but it was what I felt my body was capable of doing. Even though my training was too light by most standards, I also knew that I might never have this amount of time available again. Hence, my decision to run it this year.

I know better that building for a marathon is a multi-year process if one wants to achieve one’s theoretical personal best.

Oh to be 25.  

The first tough part was at mile 13.1….when I was still rather alert and realizing that I had to complete my weekly longest run of 7 more miles before I still had 6 left! The second tough part was at mile 15 where it got real: “How DOEs one finish a marathon?”  The last 4 were just plain tough.  

The chart gives pace, heart rate, elevation.

Copyright ©2008 Ken Florian

Tags: