I'm not even going to get into April's bike vs. dog incident, in which the dog went on to live a life of pillowy comfort somewhere south of the border while I spent days in the hospital and two months away from running. I wasn't really training then, just building the all-important base.
Once training did start, it went pretty well until the long runs of over 15 miles started. I didn't take them as seriously as I should have and frequently went out too fast and/or didn't take enough water. I would often come back over tired and sometimes dehydrated to the point of light headedness. One 18 mile run in September was particularly bad from the standpoint of dehydration. I scared everyone, including myself, and tried to get my act together after that.
I still always seemed to struggle through my long runs too much, and after my longest, a 21-miler, I suffered a severe cramp in the bottom of my left foot that before it healed completely blossomed into a ligament tear. That came right at the end of October, sent me to the foot doctor and then the physical therapist, and to the bench for two weeks. The training I missed there probably cost me in Dallas, because I should have peaked at the end of those two weeks. Instead, once I could run again, I was already in taper, a time when you should not be tearing up your body.
I still felt like I was in good enough shape to finish the marathon with no time goal, if only my foot could be repaired well enough to stand the pounding for that long. The doctor and physical therapist worked minor miracles in that regard. I went in hardly able to walk, and came out two weeks later feeling like I was in the game.
Then came Dallas. The whole notion of a cool, sunny, calm, flat race just went right out the window. Rain was forecast all weekend long, including Sunday, race day. It did rain, and it was cold, and it was windy. The conditions were the most miserable and challenging I've encountered in any of my marathons. I wore rain gear, but there was no way to stay dry in conditions like that. Water ran down the streets and into our shoes as we trudged along, we splashed through small ponds that formed at most cross-streets and in all other potholes and low areas. It didn't rain every minute, but frequently and sometimes heavily.
Once we got going I knew my only job was to find a way to finish.
I was determined not to start out too fast and was successful, averaging exactly 10 min. per mile for the first 6 miles and finishing the first 13.1 in 2:08, a 9:46 pace. As early as the 8 mile mark, with no pain in my foot and the rain temporarily halted, I knew I was going to finish.
Right about mile 11, however, I felt a very minor twinge in the bottom of my left foot, the foot that had been the subject of physical therapy. That came on a slight uphill, and I had no further problems as the course leveled off and went downhill. Still, I was officially on notice.
Then, about mile 15, the foot began to hurt moderately as I went up hill. The hills on the course were not particularly challenging, but the extra stretch they produced in my foot was becoming significant. At mile 16 I knew my foot would be a problem the rest of the way. If this would have been almost any other course, with a normal number of hills, I'd have been in big trouble. But this one was flat enough that the pain never got unmanageable, and I was saved.
That's not to say it didn't have it's effect. I changed my stride - I knew I was but couldn't help it - and that led to a lot of extra energy burn in my quads. I slowed my pace, and I had to walk quite a bit especially in the last 5 miles to calm down the pain in my foot before I could run again. Time wasn't important, but I was still determined to finish, and to do it without crippling myself.
I finally ran across the finish line in 4:28:40, a 10:16 pace. I've seldom done worse, but I was very pleased with the outcome. As I walked away from the finish line I had a flash of emotion as I realized how fortunate I was to overcome the injury and extreme elements and finish another 26.2 race. You don't always have to have a great time to have a great race.
Splits:
9:49
9:39
9:33
9:45
9:16
9:46
9:41
9:44
9:49
9:37
9:33
9:34
9:42
9:31
10:01
9:46
10:03
11:18
10:47
10:57
11:56
11:09
11:03
13:19
4:26 (11:54 pace)
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