Marine Corps Marathon 2010

This was my 9th Marine Corps Marathon, 19th overall since 2000, and 9th consecutive BQ marathon. 


Getting to the starting line was tricky this year.  My bout with tendonitis mostly sidelined me from May through August.   I set my VFFs aside and began increasing my mileage methodically and aggressively, tapering late only 2 weeks before the marathon with an 80 mile week.     My legs and feet felt good.  


I wasn't sure what my goal should be besides maintaining my Boston Qualifiying streak by completing in 3:30.  I still intend on breaking 3:00, but was under no illusions that I could achieve that this time.   My reach goal would be to break my PR of 3:06.  


As a bonus, I enlisted a visiting friend, Mike Nossal, to run this as his first marathon.   He signed up for it but for various reasons, including moving to Seattle, he wasn't able to devote himself to a full marathon training program.   I persuaded him he could complete by running slowly.   We went on fairly easy runs Monday through Thursday prior to the marathon fora  total of 25 miles, minimum training needed for him; taper runs for me. 


Mike and I arrived at the marathon reasonably early (for me)  with more than 30 minutes before the start.   THe weather was clear in the lower 40s, excellent conditions for a long run. 


When the howitzer went off, I went out and tried to deliberately pace myself according to what felt comfortable,  conscious of my history of starting out too fast.    I found myself running with the 3:10 pacers, the team leader running with a stick and balloons over his head marked "3:10."     There were quite a crowd with that group, so I made an effort to stay ahead of them, though I was wondered to myself whether I might be going too fast.   I was pretty strong going up the hills in the first 8 miles, having a pretty good hill regime built into my training; I took the downhills pretty fast.   II managed to increase my lead ahead of the 3:10 group!


The mile markers passed with regularity and focus.  I saw a few VFF runners, most sporting what looked like Bikila models.   There was one barefoot runner I saw. 


I made it to the 14th Street Bridge (m20) in good form.   I noticed I was starting to slow down a little, and was concerned that my legs might be getting ready to cramp.  Fortunately, there was no cramping.  


By the time I was running to Crystal City (m22-m23), I was starting to wonder how far back the 3:10 pacers were.   Leaving Crystal City (m24-m24), I saw the 3:20 pacers going in the opposite direction.  That meant to me that the 3:10 group would be narrowing the gap.    Around Mile 25 I heard the 3:10 pace team leader barking encouragement to his followers ("you've got 50 seconds in the bag!"): they had almost caught up with me.   I kicked it up a notch.   However, I was running out of gas for the last mile.  I still managed to stay ahead as I headed up the Marine War Memorial hill (m26_, but I had no kick left in me for going up this hill.  That disappointed me a little, as I find inspiration in the memorial and it usually allows me to go that final .2 miles.   The 3:10 pace team leader sprinted up the hill, balloons and all, passing me.  I could not make it a race!   Fortunately, I was still ahead of the larger group and finished in 3:09; my MCM PR and 2nd best marathon time ever!




MCM Marathon Personal Statistics
========================================
age: 48
chip time: 3:09:43
overall: 363/21,941
sex place: 332/13,247
45-49 div place: 25/1646
pace: 7:15
half: 1:33:44
Age grade: 72.2%

mile    elev    pace  net pace
---- ---------- ----- --------
(each * counts as 50 feet in elevation)

m0  .           -
m1  .*          7:30-

m2  .**         7:30- 7:30 

m3  .***        7:07  7:22
m4  .**         6:44  7:13 
m5  .*          7:07  7:12 
m6  .*          6:50  7:08   

m7  .**         7:26  7:11
m8  .***        6:51  7:08

m9  .*          7:02  7:08 
m10 .           7:00  7:07  

m11 .           7:14  7:07 
m12 .           7:12  7:10  
m13 .           7:23  7:09  
m14 .           7:05  7:09 

m15 .           7:14  7:09 
m16 .           7:08  7:09 
m17 .           7:11  7:09 
m18 .           7:19  7:10 
m19 .           7:26  7:11 
m20 .           7:27  7:11 
m21 .           7:16  7:12 
m22 .           7:28  7:12 
m23 .           7:29  7:13 
m24 .           7:30  7:14 
m25 .*          7:11  7:13

m26 .           7:30- 7:15

end .**         1:30- 7:15  3:09:43

Peroneal Tendonitis!?

It was a Tuesday evening,  April 27,  and I thought things were going great (see my exuberant VFF post from the previous day).  I had run to work that morning (2.5 miles), another 11 mile run for lunch which I finished fast and strong, all in my VFFs.   I was pretty much convinced that I would be able to run the Frederick Marathon that weekend, though I hadn't signed up for it just yet.  

Good thing I didn't.  I was geared up and about to run home that evening when I felt a small cramp in my left foot.   I shrugged it off and started running.   About a mile into the run, the pain suddenly grew more intense.   I was unable to ignore it any longer and had to stop running.   I could only walk home with a heavy limp.   

The following day I went to an urgent care doctor to see what the cause was.   The doctor performed X-rays and found no fracture and diagnosed me with a sprained ankle.  I was told to take time off and RICE (Rest Ice Compress Elevate).  Having done this, I still noticed pain on the foot in the morning over the coimng months.    Further self-diagnosis led me to the conclusion that instead of an ankle sprain I have peroneal tendonitis, which is a very slow to heal injury.  

When it seems like it's ok and possibly healed, a short or longer run doesn't feel bad, but the pain will recur the following morning right after getting up, only to go away shortly afterwards.   Time proves again that stubbornness and optimism will only go so far.  It's been over 4 months now, so I've scheduled another appointment with the doctor. 

Needless to say, I'll be off of VFFs until it heals. :-(

Vibram FiveFingers -- I'm hooked

When I first saw someone wearing VFFs, I laughed.  They look just too different to not garner an extra long stare and curiosity.   It wasn't too much later that I started reading articles on barefoot running, and reading excited emails about them.   

One of their benefits is that they're supposed to minimize injury since it provides no cushioning, forcing your feet to run more naturally.   Instead of landing on the heel as I'm prone to do,  it encourages you to land on the balls of your feet, which is your feet's natural shock absorber.  Having overcome a six month long groin injury that was due to running within the past year, this resonated with me.  I decided to give it a try.

So, I went out and bought a pair of VFF Sprints at a local sports retailer.   I remember walking out of the store wearing them, after landing on my heel when stepping off of the curb, the resulting shock reverberated through my body: I would never do that again!  My feet remembered that lesson.

My friend advised to take it easy since this would be a major change in running style.   He told me of a friend that bought a pair and went out for a 5 mile run the first time, and was incapacitated for more than a week.    No problem, I thought.  I'll just start with an easy 3 mile run.  That can't be overdoing it.  Boy, was I wrong.    My calves were so sore I could barely walk for the next week.   I'm sure this is because I tend to be a heel striker, and my calves need to do a little more work than their used to to keep my heel from hitting the ground. 

I gradually got back on track with running, first in my normal running shoes, more and more in the VFFs. My calves would still get sore, but the strength gain was notable too.    Eventually, as I picked up more miles, it would be the bottom of the feet getting acclimated to taking an unpadded pounding that would eclipse and supersede the calf pain. 

Since December, almost all of my miles are run in VFFs.    It's always fun going out for a run more and listening to the comments or questions from a pedestrian, runner, or biker.   After sticking with the VFFs, it definitely feels like a superior alternative to the classic running shoes.  

I regularly run 15 miles a day in them now.   Am I ready to run 26.2 miles in them?   Time will tell.