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one more marathon try -- Potomac River Run 5/5
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steinbej
May 4, 2013, 8:52:54 PM5/4/13
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Hi folks,
Missed Philly with calf injury last November. Life getting busy, so I thought I'd try for one more marathon. Ramped up my running in March, really cranked the base mileage in April. Towards end of April, calf started hurting again, so pulled back and lightened up on training, no last long run. Maxxed out at 13 mile long run, but at least had very strong base. No telling whether calf will hold up. And never done a spring marathon. Weather here in DC supposed to be crisp and sunny -- sun never a problem with a November marathon, but I'm gonna have to slather up with sunscreen for this and I hate the thought of doing so, but gotta do it, I figure. Running the Potomac River Run Marathon, starts in the western edge of DC on the northern bank of the Potomac along canal trail into Maryland, then back. Must deal with heat, sun, chafing, hydration, fuel, salt, blisters, injury, and general eternal issue of not being made for marathon distance. But we will see what happens.
Hope you all enjoy a nice sunny spring day yourselves.
Best,
-- Josh
Missed Philly with calf injury last November. Life getting busy, so I thought I'd try for one more marathon. Ramped up my running in March, really cranked the base mileage in April. Towards end of April, calf started hurting again, so pulled back and lightened up on training, no last long run. Maxxed out at 13 mile long run, but at least had very strong base. No telling whether calf will hold up. And never done a spring marathon. Weather here in DC supposed to be crisp and sunny -- sun never a problem with a November marathon, but I'm gonna have to slather up with sunscreen for this and I hate the thought of doing so, but gotta do it, I figure. Running the Potomac River Run Marathon, starts in the western edge of DC on the northern bank of the Potomac along canal trail into Maryland, then back. Must deal with heat, sun, chafing, hydration, fuel, salt, blisters, injury, and general eternal issue of not being made for marathon distance. But we will see what happens.
Hope you all enjoy a nice sunny spring day yourselves.
Best,
-- Josh
rms
May 5, 2013, 8:26:18 PM5/5/13
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>But we will see what happens.
So how'd it go :) I've been browsing _Feed Zone Portables, A cookbook
of on-the-go food for athletes_, and think I'll try some of the rice cake
recipes for long runs.
rms
steinbej
May 6, 2013, 10:17:48 AM5/6/13
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Race was great success!
Gorgeous weather. Started out partly cloudy, gentle breeze, crisply dry, temp of 45, and probably rose to around 55 by noon when nearly every runner was finished. Course was 6.55 mile straight line out-and-back x2 on the canal towpath of the old C&O canal next to the Potomac River starting in DC and extending a bit into Maryland. The whole course was covered in lush trees, so blazing sunshine was minimal. Water/gatorade/powerbar stops at the 0, 2, and 4 mile marks on the 6.55 mile out-and-back course which means essentially there was support every 2 miles or so. As it was a canal towpath, it was very flat which was nice.
More importantly, I did surprisingly well! I did the first 13.1 in 2:09, which surprised me. I pushed hard to do a half-marathon in 1:59 last spring, so I thought that 2:09 was good. I felt myself getting very achy in hips knees calves and especially soles of feet in the 2nd half, felt my pace slowing, thought my last few miles were dreadfully slow. But turns out I arrived at the finish at 4:33:48, and since I started exactly 5 minutes late (7:05 AM, got lost finding the dang place), my real finish time was 4:28:48. I was elated. At 44 with many injuries including a sore L calf currently, I bested my personal best of 4:33 which was my first marathon 17 years ago in 1996.
So all in all a good race and good experience. With baby on the way and reduced ability to train, this may be my last marathon, so it's good to go out on a successful note!
Best,
-- Josh in Binghamton
Gorgeous weather. Started out partly cloudy, gentle breeze, crisply dry, temp of 45, and probably rose to around 55 by noon when nearly every runner was finished. Course was 6.55 mile straight line out-and-back x2 on the canal towpath of the old C&O canal next to the Potomac River starting in DC and extending a bit into Maryland. The whole course was covered in lush trees, so blazing sunshine was minimal. Water/gatorade/powerbar stops at the 0, 2, and 4 mile marks on the 6.55 mile out-and-back course which means essentially there was support every 2 miles or so. As it was a canal towpath, it was very flat which was nice.
More importantly, I did surprisingly well! I did the first 13.1 in 2:09, which surprised me. I pushed hard to do a half-marathon in 1:59 last spring, so I thought that 2:09 was good. I felt myself getting very achy in hips knees calves and especially soles of feet in the 2nd half, felt my pace slowing, thought my last few miles were dreadfully slow. But turns out I arrived at the finish at 4:33:48, and since I started exactly 5 minutes late (7:05 AM, got lost finding the dang place), my real finish time was 4:28:48. I was elated. At 44 with many injuries including a sore L calf currently, I bested my personal best of 4:33 which was my first marathon 17 years ago in 1996.
So all in all a good race and good experience. With baby on the way and reduced ability to train, this may be my last marathon, so it's good to go out on a successful note!
Best,
-- Josh in Binghamton
John Hurley
May 6, 2013, 3:36:32 PM5/6/13
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child will both be happier and healthier if you stay active. Gotta
force yourself up early ... good luck and thanks for the race report!
Anthony
May 8, 2013, 8:31:26 AM5/8/13
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Nice going Josh!
Can't believe that you missed the start - although
having almost done the same thing on my last marathon....
I got into running a couple of years before our youngest was
born (she is now almost 12...) - and managed to keep going...
Good luck with everything.
Anthony.
Can't believe that you missed the start - although
having almost done the same thing on my last marathon....
I got into running a couple of years before our youngest was
born (she is now almost 12...) - and managed to keep going...
Good luck with everything.
Anthony.
Ed Prochak
May 8, 2013, 9:50:24 AM5/8/13
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On Monday, May 6, 2013 10:17:48 AM UTC-4, steinbej wrote:
> Race was great success!
>
[]
> Race was great success!
>
> my real finish time was 4:28:48. I was elated. At 44 with many injuries
> including a sore L calf currently, I bested my personal best of 4:33 which was
> my first marathon 17 years ago in 1996.
>
>
>
> So all in all a good race and good experience. With baby on the way and
> reduced ability to train, this may be my last marathon, so it's good to
> go out on a successful note!
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> -- Josh in Binghamton
Congratulations on the baby and the great marathon result!
> including a sore L calf currently, I bested my personal best of 4:33 which was
> my first marathon 17 years ago in 1996.
>
>
>
> So all in all a good race and good experience. With baby on the way and
> reduced ability to train, this may be my last marathon, so it's good to
> go out on a successful note!
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> -- Josh in Binghamton
steinbej
May 13, 2013, 12:17:58 AM5/13/13
to
On Monday, May 6, 2013 3:36:32 PM UTC-4, John Hurley wrote:
> You need to keep running Josh ( and congrats on the baby ) father and
> child will both be happier and healthier if you stay active. Gotta
> force yourself up early ... good luck and thanks for the race report!
Thanks. Will definitely keep running. But will not be able to spend 1, 2, and 3 hours doing training runs (not that I was ever good at doing the long runs), nor doing the twice-a-days which make up for my inability to do single long training runs. When I had my son 8 yrs ago, I kept running, but pulled back to a level more modest for keeping in shape.
> You need to keep running Josh ( and congrats on the baby ) father and
> child will both be happier and healthier if you stay active. Gotta
> force yourself up early ... good luck and thanks for the race report!
I kept the Baby Jogger all these years -- the original model -- and I'll get it in good shape again for new baby if all goes well.
-- Josh
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