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Today was a great day.
As many of you know, the Portland Marathon was held this morning. I spent most of the spring and summer training for the race, suffering a series of injuries, and learning how real runners run. My goal was to run 26.2 miles this morning.
I didn’t do it.
I didn’t walk the race, either.
But I did go to the gym for an hour of upper-body lifting, followed by twenty minutes of intervals on the treadmill, and finishing with some stretching. It felt great.
I know that I’ve done the right thing, foregoing a mediocre race this year for a well-prepared race in 2009. I have a year to get ready, and my physical fitness is already way ahead of where it was when I started this year. (I’m about where I was in late June, I think.)
My legs still give me pain when I run, but it’s mostly minor stuff like shin splints. And because I’m only running twice a week for about three miles, it’s not a big deal. I take a day off when I need to. If the pain gets too bad, I walk, or I stop to stretch. I’m not pushing myself. I’m getting fit slowly.
About time, huh?
Congrats to Mac’s wife, Pam, for running this morning, and to everyone else who participated in the race (or any other marathon this year).
I’ll be on vacation this week, so my posting may be light (or non-existent). Have fun!
Mac
4 responses so far ↓
1 Matty // Oct 5, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Congrats on your attitude! That kind of positive outlook will help keep your goals within site!
Sorry to hear you’re still having shin splint issues… I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times, but what shin strengthening exercises are you doing, and what kind of inserts are you putting in your shoes? Happy feet? Those did wonders for me (actually a pair on TOP of my stock inserts). Can’t say enough good things about shin exercises to strengthen that muscle (it IS a muscle, after all). It’s a synergistic effect to getting rid of the dreaded shin splints.
Keep it up man!!!
2 Andrew is getting fit // Oct 6, 2008 at 12:01 am
Enjoy the holiday!
3 laxtosnoco // Oct 7, 2008 at 11:17 am
Hey JD, glad to see you’re keeping a positive attitude. I ran the Portland Marathon on Sunday. I wish I could say it was glorious all of the way, but it was a tough slog. The combination of cool weather/rain and the long downhill after mile 20 really exacerbated some underlying injury (ITB) problems I’d had a few weeks leading up to the race. It may not have been pretty, but I finished. I always thought I would do one marathon and quit, but now I find myself second guessing my training/race plan and wanting to do better in another one. I guess this fitness stuff really can get addictive!
Since you’re sticking with the goal of running the marathon next year, I’d recommend you pick a 1/2 marathon several months out as your goal (maybe Eugene or the Race for the Roses in Portland) and train for it. I’m a pretty novice runner and choosing a 1/2 marathon goal last Spring really helped me focus and stay sharp during the long, dark winter months.
4 brad // Oct 10, 2008 at 8:09 am
J.D., as you gear up for next year, you might want to read Haruki Murakami’s book “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.” I picked it up a few days ago (I’ve been a been Murakami fan for the last 10 years or so, so I usually get his new books when they come out), and it’s excellent. I’m not a runner myself, but I found it very inspiring and insightful, and much of what he says crosses over into other exercises and disciplines; in fact he draws a lot of parallels between running and writing and says that his career as a novelist really took flight when he began running. Highly recommended!
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