The great wall
Last Saturday was our 21 mile run. It was to be the longest run we would do before the marathon. Interesting tidbit for the non-marathoners out there : You never run the full 26 miles while you are training for the marathon - the wisdom behind that being you don't want to run the marathon twice. I didn't know that either. When someone explained it to me, I was like "Huh, of course, it makes sense!". I mean, really, it wouldn't feel the same way when you victoriously run past the finish line in the marathon and think "yeah, it feels the same as it did the last time on the practice run", right?. Coming back from the little detour and focusing on the last run again: As I was saying, the 21 mile run was on 29th September. I had been having issues with my shins for the past couple of runs and my legs weren't really feeling all that great. But I knew I had to do this run 'cause this was it. This was as close as it can get. So I planned to get to Davis Square (where our run was starting) 10-15 mins early and get a little warmed up and do a little stretching before the run. Obviously, I got there 10 mins early but the parking lot where I usually park was closed and after doing another loop and deciding to park at the farthest possible street parking slot, I walked back with a couple of mins to spare. On the way I also noticed that I'd parked abt a block from the City of Somerville's Parking/Traffic Office. The spot that I'd parked was a 2 hr parking spot without meters so according to citylore, the chances of me getting a ticket for exceeding the 2 hours were pretty slim 'cause the parking officer (? is that what they call them?) would have to come twice to make sure I have exceeded the 2 hours. Still, I wasn't helping my cause any more by dangling my car in a 2 hr slot in front of their office when I knew full well, it would be at least 4 hours before I would return. "Oh well, another 20 bucks to the City of Somerville" I thought and moved on.
So I got to the start point, jogged on the spot a little, did a little dynamic stretching while the other trickled in. Our coach came in and gave us a little pep talk. This run was going to be pretty interesting for another reason. The Chicago marathoners had their marathon coming up next week ( it's on Oct 7th) and so they were taking it easy and just running 8 miles. Me and U were the only two DC marathoners who were doing the full 21 miles. "This will probably suck but let's see what we can do", I mutter to myself as we set off. I have my ipod on me today to save me from boredom as I run most of the 21 miles by myself. The route is little intricate with a loop here, a couple of loops there, etc. My shins hurt when I start but after 2-3 miles, they warm up and feel better. At around 8.5 - 9 miles is when I first feel it. I can feel my quads getting tight and I am beginning to feel tired and my pace is slowing down. What I should have done right there is stop, stretch for a couple of minutes, and immediately down my first packed of Gu with some water and then continue. The doofus that I am, I decided that I should carry on till the 10 mile mark and then stretch, eat Gu, etc. Why? No idea - it just seemed like a good idea at that point. I am blaming it on the lack of a healthy quantity of Oxygen to my brain due to exertion. Anyways, I continue for a few more minutes and walk right into the Wall. The Wall. Typical marathon articles describe The Wall as the phenomenon of runners experiencing dramatic fatigue when glycogen, our fuel that burns to provide us with energy, runs low and the body must convert to burning fat for energy. Fat does not burn as readily, hence the fatigue. I would describe it as the phenomenon when you realize that exhaustion is not a sufficient word to describe just how very tired you are and when your legs feel like jelly and when taking a step forward seems like a complex three step process of 1. using your quads to pick your leg up, 2. giving all you got to push the foot forward by an inch and 3. co-ordinate all your leg muscles with superhuman effort to plant the foot back on the ground. I slow down to a snail's pace, breathe deeply and fight off the waves of exhaustion. I get to the 10 mile mark (Woo hoo, long live the doofus!) and finally take a good few minutes to stretch and down a packet of Gu and wash it down with some water. U does the same and after some more stretching, we coax each other into running again. We start running together but he's faster than I am so he ends up shooting off ahead ( well, at least at my pace, it did seem like shooting off :-) ) . After a mile and a half or so, I can feel the Gu (it's got a 100 cal) kicking in and I revive a little and start running ok. Around mile 14, my right shin and the left ITB (the side of the knee) start troubling me again. Keep going, just keep going. Nice and easy, don't worry about the timing. Nice and easy does it. Around mile 15, we have another water stop ( there have been abt 4 water stops so far I guess). I know that if I stop now, starting back again will be painful again but I have to stop. I need the water and the Gatorade. I also need another packet of Gu but of course, I don't realize it then. I down the water and Gatorade mix and do a quick stretch and get started again. One mile into the run, I hit The Wall again. You would think that I would have learnt the lesson and read the warning signs. No, I didn't - I walked right into The Wall again. I stop, eat my second packet of Gu and get a few sips of water from my Fuel Belt - I lug this annoying belt with little water bottles strapped to it on every single run and almost never get to use it. I walk while I am doing all this just to keep moving. I am so exhausted, I can't even begin to describe it. I start running again. And now, starts the Gollum episode. I start talking to myself, telling myself it's just a few more miles, and as soon as "we" are done, we'll get a nice rest and a nice stretch. "Yes, my precious, we will walk for a little bit, sit down and then get a nice, long stretch - and no one will make us run any more, my precious". Well, I don't use the exact word "precious" but something roughly equivalent to that in my language. At mile 19 I am actually talking aloud. I should probably get the Tshirt with "Smeagol" on it and wear it for the marathon. The last 2 miles of the trail back to Davis Sq are the most annoying miles. It's bad enough that they are the last 2 miles, but also I really don't enjoy that part of the trail at all. It seems really short when we start off in the morning but when we are returning it seems interminable. My sugar levels are way too low at this point and I am just angry. The phrase " I hate Davis Sq" keeps going through my head. Finally, more that three and a half hours after we start running, U and I stumble past the finish line. We are back at Davis Sq and S is patiently waiting for us with water and Gatorade. He seems like Gatora or Gatoreus - the ancient Egyptian/Greek god of Gatorade. I walk around for a little, gulp down a glass of the heavenly drink and sit down on the bench. Ah, the sweet, glorious relief of stopping! I look around at all the people sitting outside the Au Bon Pain cafe and walking and driving around and a wide smile spreads over my face. I love Davis Square. I spend a good 45 minutes stretching all my leg muscles and my back. I am the only person doing this and I am doing it right in front of all those people sitting outside the cafe but I don't care two hoots abt it. That done, I walk/limp slowly back to my car that seems to be parked half a mile away. I get to my car, check the dash board, check the hood and the back, walk around it to make sure there are no pieces of paper anywhere around it. I get into my car with a wide grin, drive out of my parking slot and join the rest of the traffic. My car's been parked for 4.5 hours in a 2 hour parking slot and nary a ticket. I am victorious!
So I got to the start point, jogged on the spot a little, did a little dynamic stretching while the other trickled in. Our coach came in and gave us a little pep talk. This run was going to be pretty interesting for another reason. The Chicago marathoners had their marathon coming up next week ( it's on Oct 7th) and so they were taking it easy and just running 8 miles. Me and U were the only two DC marathoners who were doing the full 21 miles. "This will probably suck but let's see what we can do", I mutter to myself as we set off. I have my ipod on me today to save me from boredom as I run most of the 21 miles by myself. The route is little intricate with a loop here, a couple of loops there, etc. My shins hurt when I start but after 2-3 miles, they warm up and feel better. At around 8.5 - 9 miles is when I first feel it. I can feel my quads getting tight and I am beginning to feel tired and my pace is slowing down. What I should have done right there is stop, stretch for a couple of minutes, and immediately down my first packed of Gu with some water and then continue. The doofus that I am, I decided that I should carry on till the 10 mile mark and then stretch, eat Gu, etc. Why? No idea - it just seemed like a good idea at that point. I am blaming it on the lack of a healthy quantity of Oxygen to my brain due to exertion. Anyways, I continue for a few more minutes and walk right into the Wall. The Wall. Typical marathon articles describe The Wall as the phenomenon of runners experiencing dramatic fatigue when glycogen, our fuel that burns to provide us with energy, runs low and the body must convert to burning fat for energy. Fat does not burn as readily, hence the fatigue. I would describe it as the phenomenon when you realize that exhaustion is not a sufficient word to describe just how very tired you are and when your legs feel like jelly and when taking a step forward seems like a complex three step process of 1. using your quads to pick your leg up, 2. giving all you got to push the foot forward by an inch and 3. co-ordinate all your leg muscles with superhuman effort to plant the foot back on the ground. I slow down to a snail's pace, breathe deeply and fight off the waves of exhaustion. I get to the 10 mile mark (Woo hoo, long live the doofus!) and finally take a good few minutes to stretch and down a packet of Gu and wash it down with some water. U does the same and after some more stretching, we coax each other into running again. We start running together but he's faster than I am so he ends up shooting off ahead ( well, at least at my pace, it did seem like shooting off :-) ) . After a mile and a half or so, I can feel the Gu (it's got a 100 cal) kicking in and I revive a little and start running ok. Around mile 14, my right shin and the left ITB (the side of the knee) start troubling me again. Keep going, just keep going. Nice and easy, don't worry about the timing. Nice and easy does it. Around mile 15, we have another water stop ( there have been abt 4 water stops so far I guess). I know that if I stop now, starting back again will be painful again but I have to stop. I need the water and the Gatorade. I also need another packet of Gu but of course, I don't realize it then. I down the water and Gatorade mix and do a quick stretch and get started again. One mile into the run, I hit The Wall again. You would think that I would have learnt the lesson and read the warning signs. No, I didn't - I walked right into The Wall again. I stop, eat my second packet of Gu and get a few sips of water from my Fuel Belt - I lug this annoying belt with little water bottles strapped to it on every single run and almost never get to use it. I walk while I am doing all this just to keep moving. I am so exhausted, I can't even begin to describe it. I start running again. And now, starts the Gollum episode. I start talking to myself, telling myself it's just a few more miles, and as soon as "we" are done, we'll get a nice rest and a nice stretch. "Yes, my precious, we will walk for a little bit, sit down and then get a nice, long stretch - and no one will make us run any more, my precious". Well, I don't use the exact word "precious" but something roughly equivalent to that in my language. At mile 19 I am actually talking aloud. I should probably get the Tshirt with "Smeagol" on it and wear it for the marathon. The last 2 miles of the trail back to Davis Sq are the most annoying miles. It's bad enough that they are the last 2 miles, but also I really don't enjoy that part of the trail at all. It seems really short when we start off in the morning but when we are returning it seems interminable. My sugar levels are way too low at this point and I am just angry. The phrase " I hate Davis Sq" keeps going through my head. Finally, more that three and a half hours after we start running, U and I stumble past the finish line. We are back at Davis Sq and S is patiently waiting for us with water and Gatorade. He seems like Gatora or Gatoreus - the ancient Egyptian/Greek god of Gatorade. I walk around for a little, gulp down a glass of the heavenly drink and sit down on the bench. Ah, the sweet, glorious relief of stopping! I look around at all the people sitting outside the Au Bon Pain cafe and walking and driving around and a wide smile spreads over my face. I love Davis Square. I spend a good 45 minutes stretching all my leg muscles and my back. I am the only person doing this and I am doing it right in front of all those people sitting outside the cafe but I don't care two hoots abt it. That done, I walk/limp slowly back to my car that seems to be parked half a mile away. I get to my car, check the dash board, check the hood and the back, walk around it to make sure there are no pieces of paper anywhere around it. I get into my car with a wide grin, drive out of my parking slot and join the rest of the traffic. My car's been parked for 4.5 hours in a 2 hour parking slot and nary a ticket. I am victorious!
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Surya.