Race time - 1 hour 48 minutes 13 seconds (or something like that) - Pace 8:17 per mile
I finished . . . I survived . . . I crossed the finish line . . . barely. I'll give you the recap below.
Race prep -
As you all know, I promised that I would run the race in a mustache, so last night I did the deed.
Race day:
It was a beautiful morning for racing. The sky was blue and there was not a cloud in the sky. As we gathered around Georgetown lake an hour before the race, the sun had not yet peeked over the mountains. It was definitely brisk at about 48 degrees. It was the 35th anniversary of the race and there were between 4 and 5 thousand people running. We all crowded onto the two lane road by the lake and waited for the gun.
pre race smile
First Half:
When the gun went off, it was definitely slow moving to begin with. Unlike the bigger city runs that span large streets, we were all funneled into the two lane country road. This ensured me not going out too fast and I felt really good. At mile 1, I was greeted by my cheering section and I stopped to give my two kiddos a kiss on their head.
look at how chipper I look early in the race
a stop for a kiss
Right after these pictures, we turned a corner and the sun came out. We spent the rest of the race running into the sun. It felt a lot warmer than the 50 degrees that the thermometers read. Despite that I was feeling good. I was averaging close to 7:30 pace for most miles and despite feeling super gassed on the uphills, I felt really good and was becoming optimistic that I'd make my time. I even took some time to look at the beautiful scenery that was all around me. Second Half:
Then came mile 8. I've had this problem before when I try to run fast and far. I begin developing some cramping in my anterior shin. It's hard to describe but I have difficulty raising the front of my foot off the ground. Usually it gets better after about half a mile. The problem this time is that it moved down to my feet as the race wore on. At about mile 9 my toes begin cramping and getting stuck in a curled position. Let's just say it's pretty hard to run fast (or at all) when you're landing on curled toes. I also quickly began developing blisters on my toes as they rubbed together in ways they hadn't before.
It got so bad that I had to walk for a bit. When I tried running again it seemed to be better. I still felt physically able to run fast so I started up again. About a quarter of a mile later the cramps came back! I began muttering fun phrases under my breath and started walking again.
Look at my cheering section - they were probably wondering why I was walking instead of running when I passed them.
Brooks had a great time!
So for the rest of the race, I alternated between walking 0.1 miles and running 0.3 miles. Each time I would slow down to walk, I was passed by many folks who offered encouraging words. They said, "we're almost there, don't stop now." I wanted to scream out, "my toes are cramping, I would be running if I could!!" But I just kept moving. I had to at least make my goal of finishing, and I didn't want to let all of my blog readers down! Finish:
The last 0.5miles went through Idaho Springs. By this point, I couldn't run at all without cramping. So I walked the final 0.5miles. At the final turn, Karyn and my Mom were cheering me on. I think they were surprised to see me walking. Karyn yelled out, "Run! So I can take a picture." I yelled back, "I can't!" Here's the resulting picture.
Me as I hobble down the last 0.3 miles
I lunged across the finish line, about 8 minutes slower than I wanted to. But I did it! I finished . . . despite my toes betraying me. It was a little frustrating, given how good I felt during the race . . . but I finished.
After the race, there were activities set up for the kids. Grayson and Brooks had a blast.
Can I do it again dad?
Checking it out
As I reflect back on the race I will say it was a tremendous success! I raised over $4500 for an organization that I care passionately about; one that is doing good work in this world. It's still not too late to donate if you want.
It also got me back into running. I definitely feel so much better when I'm running. I have more energy and feel less stressed with what life sends my way. And the funny thing about racing is that even though this was a super hard race . . . I want to do it again. I know I can run faster than 1:40 for a half marathon. I just might choose an easier course (at sea level) next time.
Thanks to everyone's well wishes, your support helped through the last, tough miles.
Tomorrow's the big day. The race starts at 8 AM and I'm getting pretty jazzed about it. I'm also getting a tad more nervous than I have for most of my races. I'm not sure if it's because of the added pressure of having blogged about the race for the past few weeks or because I've intentionally tried to get faster this time around, or because of all the wonderful support you all have given to HealthEd Connect. Regardless, it should be a good time.
Our family is staying in Georgetown tonight at this really nice vacation rental. We took the long way up over Guanella Pass and saw some spectacular views and experienced some spectacular hail! It was a stormy day today and it looks like it's going to be a chilly 48 degrees at the beginning of the race!
The night before the race, I usually look over the map of the race and go over my game plan. I'm already clear I don't want to go out to fast. The only thing I'm debating in my head right now, is how fast should I take the downhills.
Here's the map:
The green graph in the middle shows the elevation change. It's not completely a straight down hill but it is definitely mostly down hill. I'm hopeful that the downhill will make for the harder run at altitude. We'll see what comes on race day.
I feel like I'm rambling tonight, so I think I'll stop now. I plan on posting pictures and giving you all the play by play tomorrow. Now I'm off to shave a mustache! The latest tally is $4504.18! So close to the shaved head . . .
I have some great news! After 12 weeks of training, I am just two days from the race. I feel really good physically and I didn't even overdo it on pasta night! My parents came to town yesterday so my cheering section is complete. I think I'm ready.
Even more importantly, I had a fundraising update today that shattered all of my expectations. In the last week, HealthEd Connect received an additional $1,875 towards my run!
There's been almost 40 different individuals/families that have contributed. I think I should have set my goals higher or acquired a few more thermometers. These results are unofficial and I'll be sending out the official count next week after the race, but it's abundantly clear that I have very generous friends and family and that I need to sharpen my razor.
On a different note, I've been telling Grayson about my run to help kids in Africa who need food and good schools. He said that he wanted to give some of his money from his piggy bank to the kids.
Tonight we emptied his piggy bank and he picked how much he wanted to give. Though he has no real concept of money, he was able to separate his coins into what he wanted to "give" and what he wanted to save. His "give" pile was much bigger than his "save" pile. It's so great to see his generous spirit come out. I need to remember this when he won't share his toys. Though I've destroyed my fundraising goal, it's never too late to donate. If you want to support my run go to www.healthedconnect.org and click on the button donate now or follow this link. You'll see "Jeff's run for healthy kids" in the purpose of gift drop down menu. If you want to learn more about why I'm running for HealthEd Connect click here.
My good friend Mark just shared a 60 song playlist to aid in my running. Mark and I have had similar tastes in music dating back to college and his music was spot on, covering various genres. Listening to his music got me thinking about what people listen to when they run.
As I've been thinking about this, I've realized that I often run without the assistance of music. I own an mp3 player that is easy to run with, but I very rarely use it. Even when I'm training for a marathon and running 15 miles or more, I rarely run to music. As an introvert, I think I like being alone with my thoughts. . . and as a nerd, I do a lot of math in my head.
Still, I know that a lot of folks like to listen to music when they run or exercise. For some it is a distraction, others use it to pump them up as they try to run faster. Here are some of the different genres that people go to when they run:
1. Pump me up hip hop - a nice beat to help you keep the pace
Lose Yourself - Eminem
I had a couple of friends in medschool who would listen to Lose Yourself every day before studying for the boards.
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Gotta hope that feeling is a good one.
2. Hard Rock - nothing like a good guitar riff to get you going
Thunderstruck - AC/DC
Doesn't get much better than this for getting the blood pumping
3. 80's Rock - The bigger the hair the better
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
I'll never stop believing!
Jump - Van Halen
Would play this song during volleyball workouts
4. Music from your favorite artists - just listen to whatever makes you feel good
Some folks just like listening to the music on their playlist. This serves more as a distraction and you can often find yourself 5 or 6 miles down the road before you notice.
5. This American Life Podcasts - for all you nerds out there or Ira fanatics
He makes those glasses look so good!
6. Cheesy Rocky Songs
So what music do you listen to while you work out. I'll try to add it to the bottom of this list if I get suggestions.
With only five days to go before the big race, I have an update to share with you with a couple of caveats. The most recent donation report has us at $2470 which is well beyond my original goal of $2000 for the race. $530 may seem like a decent sized gap to close in just a few short days, but due to some technical issues this number does not include donations from last friday on. I know that there are at least a couple of folks who have made donations over the weekend so we may be much closer to the $3000.00 goal. The mystery of it all is what makes it exciting!
I have a good feeling about these final few days. So good, in fact, I am not going to trim my goatee so I can prepare to have a nice, thick mustache for the race if we meet our goal.
Maybe Grayson will sport an ice cream mustache too!
Regardless of the final numbers, I want to thank everyone for their support in this process. Your support will have a direct impact on children that are often forgotten because of harsh life circumstances. Thank you.
As always if you want to support my run go to www.healthedconnect.org and click on the button donate now or follow this link. You'll see "Jeff's run for healthy kids" in the purpose of gift drop down menu. If you want to learn more about why I'm running for HealthEd Connect click here. Because of the reporting process for donations, it's important that if you want to be counted toward the mustache goal, you need to get your donation in by early Thursday morning.
After this run for HealthEd Connect, I'm beginning to understand why our CPR (Colorado Public Radio) host Ryan Warner gets so giddy around pledge drive time. Raising awareness and money for something you're passionate about is fun - and Ryan doesn't even get to use donation thermometers!
I just got back from a trip to Grand Lake, Colorado. My mother-in-law was in town and we took the kids to spend a couple of days in the mountain. We had a blast hiking around Rocky Mountain National Park, checking out the lakes and we even saw a Moose!
We also had no internet in the cabin where we stayed. I always love the chance to "disconnect" from the world for a couple of days. Being disconnected definitely slows things down and frees my mind to focus on the things that are important to me such as eating ice cream with my son
ice cream goatee to match his dad's
I also squeezed in a couple of runs while we were there. Since Grand Lake is at 8300 feet, it gave me a chance to gauge my fitness and readiness for the race next week. All in all, the two runs went well and gave me a chance to explore the area on foot. I did notice the altitude when I was going up hill, but otherwise it wasn't much different than running around Denver.
On Sunday, I attempted to run 3 miles at my race pace of 7:30 minute miles. Unfortunately, the three mile course I chose had a 1 mile long uphill stretch that totally wore me out. I've heard that the course I'm running has some rolling hills but it does lose 1000 feet of elevation over 13 miles. I'm just hoping there aren't too many steep grades on the course. If there are, my goal time of 1:40 will be but a dream.
Fortunately, I'm getting closer and closer to my fundraising goal of $3000.00 and I think this goal is achievable. I'll post an update later today when I get the new numbers.
With a little more than a week to go, I thought I'd share with you all some of my experiences from my first marathon. After reading this blog entry, you'll realize that I'm not an expert runner by any stretch of the imagination.
I ran my first marathon the summer after my first year of medical school. One of my college roommates, Michael Morain, had thought that it would be a good idea to meet up in Iowa to run a marathon. I was getting a little nostalgic for seeing my college friends, so I thought it would be fun to reconnect. I should have realized from the beginning that Michael had way more stamina than myself and that I might be getting in way over my head. Michael is the guy who once did 100+ cartwheels in a row across our college campus.
Michael was more graceful, but you get the point
Michael was going to be spending the summer at a French immersion camp in Minnesota and I was going to be hanging out in Kansas City, so we picked the world famous Marathon2Marathon, IA as our race to compete in. Despite some IT band issues early on, I handled the training pretty well. It was the pre-race prep and the actual race where things weren't so good.
Carbo-loading
Everything I read about getting ready to run the marathon recommended loading up on carbs the two nights prior to running. This would allow my body to store the carbs as glycogen and allow for more energy on race day. Never wanting to do something halfway, I instructed my parents to make twice as much spaghetti as they normally would. I piled the noodles on my plate and after eating about twice as much as I normally would, I went back to the bowl for seconds. I could barely walk afterwards.
Then I got a call from my friends Dave and Doug who wanted to hang out. I barely made it to Dave's parents house. I tried to hide my discomfort but didn't move from my chair in the basement for a solid hour. Then it came time for us to go out. As we got near to the car that was parked out front, the feeling of utter fullness that was my stomach changed to a tremendous desire for release. Without any ability to control it, I began vomiting all over Dave's parents front yard. I'm pretty sure all of my seconds came up as well as some of the initial helping. Without being too graphic, there were noodles all over the lawn.
The only non-graphic image that comes up when you google - "puking spaghetti"
But, after the purge, I felt much better and we were on our way. I still feel bad about the mess I left in the front yard and I'm positive I'll never live that one down.
Though not the worst thing I ever done, I still can empathize with Chunk!
Lightning First Mile
I should have taken the "puking incident" as an omen for the race. I chose instead to stay very optimistic that I would break my goal of a 4 hour marathon. As may be revealed with this upcoming race, I tend to overestimate my ability to finish races in a timely manner. In order to achieve the goal of a 4 hour marathon, I needed to run at a pace of 9:09 minute miles. In talking with others about race strategy, I had learned that it's important not to go out to fast (it's a marathon after all!). I had set in my head a goal of a 9:30 first mile.
When I got to the start of the race, however, I became caught up in the excitement of the race. See, the Marathon2Marathon only had about 250 contestestants that year. And because of the flat landscape of Northern Iowa, the Marathon2Marathon is often seen as an easier course for qualifying for the Boston Marathon. That would have been good to know at the start of the race - I was running with a bunch of speedsters. To top it off, I was completely fascinated by this runner who was completely barefoot and wearing overalls and nothing else.
This is not the guy, but you get the idea
I definitely felt the adrenaline pumping through my blood vessels as we lined up at the starting line. The gun rang and we were off. Unlike most marathons where the start is slow because of the mass of people starting at the same time, there was plenty of room to get going. And boy did I feel good! I began thinking, "I can do this!" After a bit, I decided to check my watch to see when I might be getting to my first mile. I looked down and 10 minutes had already passed. The novice marathoner in me thought, "Dang, I'm already off my pace and it's only the first mile, I should speed up." There was no mile marker in site as I quickened my pace. At the 12 minute mark, I realized that I may have missed the first mile marker. I began to slow down.
Then in the distance I saw a mile marker sign. As I got closer it read "Mile 2!"
But where was the first mile marker???
As I looked down at my watch, my heart sunk. My watch read 15:00. I had run my first two miles at 7:30 pace - a full 1:30 faster than I was shooting for. This was not a way to run a marathon and I knew I'd be paying for it a few hours into the future.
Course Selection
The second biggest challenge was the course selection. We chose the Marathon2Marathon because of its geographic convenience. I thought running a flat course would be an easy way to start a marathon. What I had not taken into consideration was the importance of distraction and fan support as you run a never ending race like a marathon.
Here's the course map:
Six total turns after the first mile - yikes!
For those of you not familiar with Northern Iowa, the roads are straight and in a grid. It's super flat so you can see for miles in any direction. This makes for a very straight marathon course. As you can see from the map above, mile 16-24 is one straight line. And I am here to tell you that you can see that entire straight line. This does not build confidence when you're in the hardest part of the race.
The other challenge with this course is that there's not much to see when you run. The farmers along the course were supportive, but they did their supportin' from their porches that were set back 100 feet from the road. You would hear a cowbell ringing as you ran by and if you looked closely enough, you could see the folks on the porch waving. There would be a mile or two between houses, so most of the time it was just me and the corn.
The only advantage to this course was that one side of the road was open to traffic. I had several friends who would periodically drive up along side of me. They would pop their heads out of the sun roof and scream "Go Jeff Go!" Then they would drive off. My parents would then show up in their mini van and cheer me on. This pattern repeated every mile or two. I can only imagine the fun they had driving around desolate Northern Iowa, trying to find Michael and myself.
If it hadn't been for Bubby, Bruce, Doug and Dave as well as Vikki and Tom, I'm not sure I would have made it.
Nutrition
The trials didn't stop there. With all my pre race planning, I had neglected to think about what I would eat during the race. Strike that - I did have a plan and the plan I had was ridiculous. My plan was to eat a powerbar at mile 16. That was my entire plan. Disregard the fact that I would be burning 2600 calories during the race, or the fact that I had puked up most of my carboload two nights before, or the fact that I'd be running for 4 hours. I was going to eat a power bar at mile 16. The challenge with eating a power bar later in the race is that my mouth was as dry as a desert. Have you ever tried to eat a power bar with a dry mouth? It becomes really hard to breathe! I had to stop while I choked it down. And then I had to convince myself I could start up again.
This is good for camping or hiking, but not marathon running!
The wall
Every marathon runner hits a spot in the race that they describe as a wall.
The wall is a time in the race when you question your ability to finish. Your legs feel like cement blocks are attached to them. Each breath feels like it may be your last. You begin to question your decision to run this silly race. It usually happens between mile 18 and 24 and how you deal with the wall determines how you feel about the race overall.
Due to all the circumstances described above, you can imagine that I hit the wall hard. It came around mile 18 and my parents happened to be driving along side me when it did. The look on my face must have given away everything because my mom said, "You don't have to keep running if you don't want to." Though her intentions were good, this is not the thing to say to someone experiencing "the wall." I wanted so badly to jump in the van and ride my way to the finish. Fortunately, a friend of mind named Doug Hughes jumped out of the van and said he'd run with me for a couple of miles. Doug is one of those guys that always seems to be there when you need him and his support. I don't remember what we talked about, but his running along side me, helped me get past the wall.
The Finish
As i neared mile 26 I realized that my goals of beating the 4 hour mark were long gone. Now I just needed to finish. As I turned down the main street of Marathon, I was greeted by a street lined with people on both sides encouraging me on the last tenth of a mile. The marathon marching band was playing at the finish line. I crossed the finish line and felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. I was greeted by Michael who had finished the race about an hour before. I think my time was around 4:13 (that wall took a major toll on my time!). Still, I had finished and it felt good!
That's the crazy thing about running these races. No matter how bad the experience is for me, I always want to run another. Maybe it is because they don't always go the way I plan and I feel like I can do a better job the next time around. Regardless this experience left me wanting more . . . and wiser for the wear.
The race is almost a week away and I've spent the last few posts giving you fundraisingupdates. Tomorrow I'll be sharing a guide on how not to prepare for you first marathon. Today, as I cool down from an excellent speed workout, I want to share just a bit of the impact that these donations will have on children in Zambia. As I've said before, I work as a palliative care physician. In palliative care, when our patients die from a serious illness we realize that it's important to provide grief counseling and support for the family and friends who have lost a loved one. That is why hospices provide 13 months of grief support for the surviving family members. It takes time to work through the grief that comes with losing someone you love and oftentimes it is helpful to have someone with that expertise guide you through that journey.
In Zambia, one of the needs that the HealthEd Connect's community health workers quickly identified was the need to support the children who have lost one or both of their parents to diseases like AIDS or malaria. These children are often moved to their grandparents' homes, in different villages and are too often forgotten. They are not given the chance to process the feelings and emotions that come with losing one or both of your parents at a young age.
So we began training some of our community health workers to become child support specialists (CSS). Kelsey Welch has now travelled to Zambia three times to provide training and follow up support for the CSS. To give you a flavor of the impact that these Child Support Specialists are having I have copied a few of Kelsey's stories from the HealthEd Connect blog and shared them with you below. If you want to learn more about the work that Kelsey is doing click here.
Alfred is a double orphan both parents are dead). During group he had the most beautiful clear voice and would lead many of the songs the groups sang as they gathered. He said that he enjoys being able to talk about memories of his parents and his life before their death in the group. And now he also feels more comfortable and confident to talk about those memories with his friends and others outside of the group setting as well so that they are incorporated into his daily life.
Stanley is 8 years old. He is a double orphan from another province where they speak a different dilect. He moved to Kasompe after his parents died to live with his grandparents. When he was first in the CSS group, he would not speak and the CSS came to realize through talking with his teachers that he did not know the language. The CSS provided support as they had been trained and paired him with various children in the group to encourage friendship and learning. Stanley now communicates very well in Bemba and says that his favorite part about group is singing together.
Ernest is 11 years old and in grade 4. His father died by suicide at his place of employment. According to Ernest, it looked as if his father hung himself, but he feels his father may have been murdered, as there were many who were jealous of him at his job. Ernest’s mother is still alive, but he lives with an aunt. As he talked about his father’s death, he looked down and began to have big crocodile tears roll down his cheeks and said that it makes him sad to talk about his dad. However, he said a memory that makes him happy is when his father gave him a chain necklace (which was then stolen away from him). Ernest likes going to school and his favorite subject is math where he loves doing multiplication tables. He is set to begin the new CSS Support group.
Thanks again for everyone who has supported me in my run. Your donations do make a tremendous difference in the lives of these children!
