Running with the Pack Podcast

I saw something on Gizmondo that pinged my gadget lust.  It’s a little disk that constantly broadcasts your location (detected via GPS) over the cell network so you can be tracked.  It’s like Spiderman and Batman’s tracer gadgets.  I guess you could attach them to the car of your arch nemesis without their knowledge if you wanted.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/geolocation/oreo+sized-pocketfinder-turns-you-into-orwellian-overlord-328065.php

Powered by ScribeFire.

I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d write about the marathon to capture some sense of the day. This is in no particular order.

I’m very happy with how I did in the run. My first goal was to finish, which I did at 04:11:52 (clock time) or 04:07:30 (chip time as measured by the disposable RFID chip that was tied into my shoe). The difference between these is because it took a few minutes after starting the race to cross the starting line. Jeff and I were in line to use the port-a-johns until about 10 minutes before the start of the race. Then we moved to the start line and were able to get in with the 4:15 pace crowd (i.e. the people around us expected to take 4:15 to finish). So even after crossing the start line, we were barely moving above a walk and then had to pass a lot of other runners. Both of us jumped to the sidewalk several times to get around a wall of runners.

Speaking of the start, I got really emotional at the beginning, running through the streets of Philadelphia with 16,000 like-minded people and among a throng of well-wishers. They came out to cheer us on despite the cold temperatures and sprinkling rain. I felt the same way when I hit the 13.1 mile mark and they were cheering on the half-marathon participants and playing the Rocky theme song. Those times in particular gave me an overwhelming communal feeling, like being a small part of something big. Those crowds were at the end as well, but by mile 25-26, I was more focused pushing through to the end and seeing Andrew.

The whole day was pretty cold, but it didn’t really bother me. Andrew bought me a nice set of Undergear as an early birthday present, so I had nice socks, underwear, and a long sleeved t-shirt. I wore fleece gloves, a newish pair of running shorts, and a running jacket that I had picked up about a month ago. I also wore Sue Swain’s running shoes, which is a total tribute to my absent-mindedness. I had all of this technical gear and no shoes. Luckily, my feet are pretty small and Sue’s shoes were nearly big enough to be comfortable. But I’m not complaining. They got me through the distance and I don’t have a single blister.

In any case, the weather was in the 30′s and sprinkling on and off all day. But I had my gear that kept the wind and rain out and wicked the sweat out of the way. The jacket was nice because it had a couple of pockets where I put the gloves after mile 5 or so. After I was warmed up, I really didn’t need them. I also used the pockets to keep some of the PowerGel that they were handing out during the race if I didn’t want to eat it right away.

The race had a good number of water/gatoraid stations along the track, about every 2 miles or so. They were pretty crowded with runners darting in and out to get a mouthful of whatever they wanted. There were a lot of cups tossed to the ground (as expected), but that didn’t seem to be a hazzard. Actually, the water stations were the only times that I walked during the race. Toward the end, I would walk for a few steps as I drank Gatoraid, mostly so I wouldn’t choke on it. But as soon as it was down, I was off again. I drank at every water station to keep hydrated and had to stop once in some bushes to releave myself (as other men were doing). I felt bad for the women who had to wait in line for the occasional bank of port-a-johns, but some women were finding bushes as well. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

I have been having problems with my IT band for a few months, during the race, I wore a strap above my knee to keep the IT band in place. It worked very well and I only had a problem when I was at the water stops. Running over to the table and darting out of the way of runners who would suddenly stop or move put some torque on my knee and cause a sharp pain, but it went away in a couple of seconds.

During the run, I saw a lot of people walking or pulling off to the side of the course to stretch, several people with IT band straps that were identical to mine, a couple of people throwing up, a couple of people with bloody shirts (which can happen if a nipple or mole gets irritated by your shirt — I never had that problem), and some people who were clearly out of it. On the good side, there is a long stretch of the second half of the course where you can see the people coming the other way, so I got to see all of the top men and women running toward the finish line. I also got to see Jeff (my running partner) when I was around mile 18 and he was around 22. The highlight was really seeing Andrew after everything was done. I was happy, he was beaming. It meant a lot to me to have him there.

I’d like to do another marathon — maybe two a year. I wouldn’t do many things different, but here are a couple of ideas: 1) DON’T FORGET MY SHOES and 2) start further ahead at the starting line. That’s it really. I trained enough. I hydrated enough. I was mentally prepared. I was a good day and a good run.

The Philadelphia Marathon is tomorrow.  I can hardly believe it.  I thought I’d do a little brain-dump to capture my pre-race thoughts.

Last winter, I  read a story in Wired about Dean Karanzes, an ultramarathon runner and since the weather was so nice, I started running around the neighborhood with my dog.  I also started running on the indoor track over lunch and on the weekends as a way to manage stress.  I added some miles without much of a problem and started running with Jeff (a co-worker). 

When we got up to about 10 miles, we started talking about doing a marathon.  Two of my cousins have done them before (Doug and Dave), plus we know several other people who have done them (Ann, Stevie, Nancy, among others). 

I got a Nike+ system to chart my progress, which was a motivator for a while, but now I don’t need it to get me out the door and on the road.  I also bought two books that I recommend.  The first is the Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer, which is a nice roadmap to take someone who can run a 5K up to marathon level in about 4 months.  The other is Dean Karnazes’s book, Ultramarathon Man, which I found to be inspirational.

The longest run that I have done so far is about 20 miles, which should be sufficient to be able to push through to 26.  I’m having some IT-band problems, but I have a strap that is supposed to help and I’ve been stretching a lot more lately.  I love running in cooler weather and it’s supposed to be in the 30′s and 40′s tomorrow morning, so that’s cool enough (maybe too cold, but we’ll see).  I’ll be running in some relatively new shoes and a complete set of Undergear that Andrew bought me as an early Birthday present.

So yesterday, I drove down to Philly to check into the hotel and pick up my and Jeff’s packets.  I stayed for about an hour at the Health and Fitness Expo that they had and it was pretty nice.  I bought a few things: Power Gel blocks (like a sports drink in gummy form) and the IT-band strap for my knee.  I also picked up some information about a couple of marathons in May, in case I decide to do another one in the Spring.  I drove back last night so I could be around for Andrew’s Mom’s birthday party and bring him back to Philly with me.  I have a good idea of how to get back to the hotel tonight and where to go to start the marathon, so the trip down was worth the time.

So today is a lot of drinking and stretching, the birthday party, drive to Philly, crash at the hotel, and hopefully get a little sleep before running tomorrow.

Powered by ScribeFire.