Grandma's marathon recap

It took far to long to write this but here is a race recap for Grandma's marathon back on 6/18.    It is still painful to think about marathon number 19.

As I posted previously I signed up at the very last minute on June 1st for this race.   I had run it a couple times before and really love the course.   The weather unfortunately in my previous attempts was terrible for running. Both years were very hot and one of them the course was even black flagged. Despite that these were still two of my fastest marathon times.   I just hoped the weather would be OK this time and besides that my wife and kids were not going to be around that weekend so it just made sense to me to try it.   I had run the IceAge 50k only 5 weeks before but was feeling good as race day approached.   Running back to back long races makes training properly difficult. I t's hard to rest for a couple weeks, train hard for one, and then start the taper again.   On the other hand you are not starting all over again with base training so resting properly actually becomes the most important facet of the short cycle.

I paid extra to have my race packet sent to me.   This allowed me to leave a little later in the day Friday as I didn't need to get to the expo.   Previously I had stayed in Superior with my sister, but this time because the rest of the family was away I had to take the dogs with me.   I stayed at my mom's house in Bayfield instead. This meant I would need to get up a little earlier, but not by much.   I had to be in Superior by 6AM to catch a bus to the start line so leaving by 4:30 at the latest would give me plenty of time.   I made it to Bayfield in time to watch the local news to catch the forecast for the next day. All week the forecast looked like it would be perfect running weather with only a real small chance of rain introduced late in the week.   Well Friday night that all changed.   They now were calling for soaking rains all night and well into the morning.   I was able to get to sleep shortly after 10:00 and actually slept pretty well for a race night.   The rain pounding on the roof did wake me at least once.

Waking in the morning it was pouring.   A quick look at the weather channel and it looked like the forecast from the previous night was going to be right on.   Nothing but green well back into western Minnesota. I ate my usual prerace meal of pancakes and a couple banana's.   Accounting for what looked like a race in the rain I repacked my drop bag to be sure I had enough warm and dry gear for after the race.   A cut out garbage bag for the start of the race and an extra rain poncho for the time waiting until I needed to get the drop bag in the truck and line up were added as well.   I was underway well before 4:30. It rained hard the entire way to Superior.   It rained hard as I made my way to the bus.   It rained the entire way to the start in Two Harbors.   Funny thing though as our bus stopped the clouds got lighter and the rain quit.   I didn't expect it, but it didn't rain again the entire day.   We arrived about 6:45 or about 45 minutes before the race start. I quickly got in line for the  porta potties.   I knew this would take a while and I was right. With about 20 minutes to go I changed into my race shoes and got my other gear (watch,  Gu, etc...) ready to go and packed up my drop bag.   Got the drop bag to the truck and fought my way towards the appropriate starting place.   The temperature at the race start was about 50 degrees with a NE wind off the lake.   This is as perfect as it could possibly get. I decided I would attempt to go for it.   I was going to run with the 3:10 pace group and at least give myself a chance for a PR.

The race started pretty much on time at 7:37. Taking off with the pace group I didn't have to worry too much about a fast start.   These guys are usually pretty good at keeping pace.   The beginning was crowded.   As with most races there are people up in front of you that should not be there.   It didn't take more than a couple miles for things to spread out so you could get settled in.   I was feeling real good and passed the 10K mark right around 45 minutes.   About mile 12 I was back of but still had the 3:10 group in sight when I felt a little twinge toward the back of my heal.   Affected me for a few steps so I didn't think much about it at the time. I passed the half right around 1:37. I had fallen a little back of the 3:10 pace group, but was still feeling OK. I felt at this time I was still in for a good race, but didn't think a PR was possible any more.   I've never run the 2nd half faster than the first in 18 previous tries. So unless some magic would happen it was not to be.   The weather was good, the crowd and scenery were great and I felt good so I was just going to do my best and enjoy the day.   A few miles past half way the issue at the back of my heal started up again.   By mile 18 it was becoming a big deal and by mile 20 I had slowed from an early 10K pace of 7:14 pace to 7:42 for 20 miles.   It was right after this that I almost fell to the ground as I took a step on my right foot.   I stopped for a bit by the curb and pulled my shoe off to check for anything.   The back of my heal had swelled but that's all I could see. I starting walking for a while to see if the sharp pain would go away.   It did not. I contemplated dropping out at this point.   I had never DNF'd before so my stubbornness kicked in and I decided I was going to get that finishers medal if it meant crawling to the finish.   Little did I know it almost had to happen.   After walking for a while I tried to run again.   After realizing it hurt just as much to "limp run" as it did to walk I decided I would try to run.   Each step for the last 6 miles was harder than the one before it.   With the cool temperatures and the walking I really cooled off.   I believe I was becoming hypothermic as I was shaking uncontrollably.   I found a cut off garbage bag along the road and put it on to save some heat.   I wasn't running fast enough to generate enough to keep me warm though.   Now I'm coming into town with people lined up on both sides of the road.   I must have looked terrible.   At least people were offering lots of encouragement.   Nice as it was I really didn't want to hear it.   If they only knew.   Every time I heard "come on 4587 you can do it" or "one foot in front of the other 4587" or "almost there" as people were passing me all the time it was just frustrating as hell.   I just put my head down and tried to ignore it all.   These last miles were the worst running miles I have ever experienced.   Not anywhere soon enough the finish was in sight.   I struggled through the chute to pick up the well earned medal.   My finish time was a very disappointing 3:40.   I know many people will never run a marathon that fast, but for how optimistic things were after the rain quit and the race started so well it could only feel that way for me. Now I could barely walk.   My right foot was almost useless. I made my way painfully to pick up my drop bag.   I limped to the closest table I could find and changed into dry and warmer clothes.   I still couldn't stop shaking as I had gotten so cold again after stopping.   Now I had to walk almost a mile back to where I had to catch the bus.   On my way I stopped at the beer tent to spend the free beer ticket they give you when you finish.   I actually found another on the ground so I had a couple. I actually warmed up a bit in the tent and enjoyed the beers.   The alcohol didn't help much with the pain though. That was one long miserable walk to the buses just to pile on for the day.   I eventually made it back to the bus and then back to my car in Superior.   It hurt, but I was able to use my right foot to drive.

What a day.   I certainly hope this is not how I end my marathon career, but it just might be.   The update on my heal is that is is a bone spur or traction spur.   It is located at the back of the heal where the Achilles tendon joins the heal.   Underneath this is a bursa sack.   This also became inflamed and really swelled the back of my heal. I could not wear my normal shoes for about a week. I spent three days on crutches.   To this day over six weeks later I still have not run.   It is very possible I will have to have surgery if I am ever going to run again.   Second opinion coming tomorrow.

Marathon ready?

Running:
Marathon 19 is now only a couple days away.   For this marathon I will have to rely on the volume of training already in the books and hopefully a little race day magic.  At this point all training is completed and the only thing that can possibly help my time now is a couple days of complete rest.  Last week I ran a total of 31 miles with only one longer run.  On Saturday I ran 12 miles with most of the middle miles at expected race pace.  This was a good run and gave me a little confidence for my expected time on Saturday.  This week I only put in 14 miles with runs on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I will be resting tomorrow and Friday.  My miles for this month are a little light, but that was on purpose.  A high volume since finishing the 50k about 4 weeks ago would not have been helpful.  For the year I've logged 1229 miles which is above where I have been the last few years.  As mentioned I will be relying on this base to get me through Grandma's.  Right now the weather is looking to be as good as I could ask for.  Low of 50 and a high of 70 with a chance for NE to E wind. 
Logistically this race will be a little tougher than usual.  I will be staying overnight in Bayfield so I'll need to get an early start in order to make it to Superior were I intend on catching the bus transport to the start.   If I get everything ready the night before I won't have to get up much earlier, just need to eat and get going right away.  Hope everything all works out.   Miles through today.
WTD 14
MTD 77
YTD 1229
ODO 28500

Hunting:   
Not much going on here.  I did manage to get the corn and sunflowers planted in the food plot.  I got them in yesterday just in time for the rain today.  I have some minor repair to do on my hunting blind in the back yard.  The wind blew off one of the windows.  The hinges were small and only into some thin particle board doors I had cut in half to use for the windows.  Didn't hold up too well.

Gardening:
Right now I have everything in the garden planted except one more crop of beans.  I saved a place to put in some bean towers to try growing pole beans for the first time.  First I need to build the bean towers.  I've seen a few model designs on the internet to try.  I still have a few weeks if I need it to get this done.   As usual there are a few seeds that didn't sprout requiring replanting of partial rows and to fill in squash and pumpkin hills.  The carrots got the worst of it.  They sprouted right when we had the three 90+ degree days.  Not good for such small fragile seedlings.  The strawberries are starting to come in.  This is a couple weeks later that usual for here.  There are quite a few though and they are quite large this year so far.  After I return from the marathon I will have the rest of next week off to try and completely catch up with all the yard work.  And there is a lot of it.
 

May wrap up

Running:
Since I’ve been on Facebook my postings have become much less frequent.  Much easier to just post a quick status update that type a long blog post.  First to recap the rest of May since my last post.  Running has gone quite well since the IceAge 50k.  Recovery was pretty quick from the longer effort.  I remember discussing this with a couple other runners on race day that it is actually easier to recover from the longer trail race than a road marathon.   Basically the weeks after the 50k were a reverse taper.  A couple days off and then 38 miles the immediate week after, followed by 44 the next.   No runs were longer than 11 miles.  On May 30th I made it out to Lapham state park and ran 9 miles on the trails.  It was a nice change of pace, and a great day for a run.  I’m beginning to learn the trails a bit.  There are a couple loops of the ski trail called “the rollercoaster” and “the wall”.  These portions are properly described.  After completing about 6 miles on the hilly east side of highway “C” I ventured across the road to the west side to see what those trails were like.  This area is much more open and prairie like than the heavily wooded hills on the other side of the park.  I added a nice 3 more miles before calling it a day.   Adding on 5 more miles on 5/31 and I brought my monthly total to 206.  A pretty good total considering there was a target race in the middle of the month requiring a reduction in miles both before and after.  This is the 5th month in a row over 200.   June 1 was the deadline for signing up for Grandma’s marathon in Duluth.  With only a few hours left I decided to register.   My dilemma now is to figure out how to train these two weeks until race day.  I’m thinking now I have a pretty good base.  I have 6 runs of over 20 miles in this year so far including a marathon back in April and the 50k last month.  I will likely go for something in the 2 hour range this weekend and then 1.5 hours next.  In between will be a few off days and runs of 5 to 7 miles.   Probably just some race pace miles,  short tempo, and fast finish thrown into the shorter stuff.  If the weather is OK on race day I will try to tag along with the 3:20 pace group.  If it is hot again like the last two times I ran this marathon I will adjust appropriately and also will never even think of running this again unless they move the registration close much closer to race day. 
Totals through May 31:
WTD 14
MTD 206
YTD 1153
ODO 28424

Hunting:
The clover I put in my food plot is doing quite well this spring.  My design will change a little this year.  I’m going to leave the clover grow basically in a circle outlining the area.  In the very center well within bow range I will plant several short rows of corn since this is what the deer seem to come in for come late season.  Whatever room I have between the corn and the clover I will plant with a fall crop such as winter rye or forage oats.  It is definitely fawning season now.  I’ve seen a couple probably ony a few days old over the last couple weeks.  You can also tell by the large number of animals on the side of the highways.  During rut season or fawn drop you always see an increase in road kill because of the increased activity.

Gardening:
I always try to have the garden planted by the end of May.  This year was no different.  After tilling once more a couple weeks ago I took a few hours before or after work in the succeeding days preparing the rows.  Then started planting this same way.  Potatoes one day, onions the next, sweet potatoes and peas, then sweet corn, then last weekend finished everything else including carrots, kohlrabi, beets, beans, lettuce, spinach, three kinds of watermelon, cucumbers, summer squash, and 4 kinds of winter squash.   Asparagus and Rhubarb harvests are well underway right now.  I have some space saved for an addition few rows of sweet corn and green beans that I will plant in a couple weeks.  My last thing to finish is my pumpkin patch.  This year I will plant 20 hills of pumpkins, 16 of an orange variety and 4 white.  As long as I get this done by this weekend there should be plenty of growing days left before we get a frost.   Here are a few pictures of the garden before much growth or the weeds try to take over.