PLANET3RRY

I can look back now and the signs that my legs were starting to fail was around 14, but didn’t rear their ugly head until 15. And at 15.5, I flagged down one of the biker course support people to request Medical. However, the problem originated starting 2 days before the marathon gun was even fired.

“The marathons that I learned the most from, have been the ones where I have done the worst” – Terry Higgins Mile 4.5 of the 2009 Knoxville Marathon.

Everything seemed right on schedule on Race Morning. I was calm, collected and even early (technically a “little” late) to the race start. The pace group met in the Convention Center where we got our racing flags and last minute instructions. I had everything that I would need during the marathon, plus extra supplies in case I met a needy runner along the way. Needy as in “needs GU” or “needs Food”.

I didn’t have anyone in my group when the gun went off, but in about 0.5 miles, I had a guy who had been running for about 7-8 months and this was his second marathon. He had run St. Judes in December and had a 5:25 finishing time. I should have gotten his name as to try to see how he finished. My pace was slow at first and since we were pacing of guntime, I was about 4 minutes behind at Mile 1 (took me about 1:13 to get to the start line) and there was some congestion at the beginning.

I chatted with the guy for the first few miles and found out that he had “learned” from his first marathon and he was being smart this one. Unfortunately, he picked up the wrong pacer! He did have an athletic background, so the lack of a base (6-8 months running) and the fact that he was his second marathon with the intent to actually improve his running was something that I enjoyed. I was able to give him race tips and pointers that you can only get while running with me. By mile 5, I had found a very comfortable pace of 10:55 and had shortened the time that I was behind to just 4 minutes. Even the hills at that pace were easy.

We made it to the half, still with just a 2 minute deficit, something that would easily be filled in Miles 20-24 where the course was gentler on the runner. I had been having the sensation to use the bathroom off and on during the last few miles and so I had planned that when we passed the 1/2way mark, I would stop to use the bathroom. I had done a decent job of hydrating as I was still clear at Mile 14. But something wasn’t quite right.

I started back up and my shins were tight. They weren’t shin split tight, but they were something different. Not too much longer and my calves were starting to hurt. As much as I had enjoyed the slight rest at the porta-potty, I was beginning to crave a nice walk. Perhaps at the next water stop? That should be somewhere around here, somewhere soon. It also seemed that everywhere I turned there was another hill. And I know that the way they felt was magnified from what my eyes saw. “How could a hill that size be so hard to climb?”

And with a step or two, I could start to feel some twinges in my lower legs, primarily my calves. I thought to myself, “This isn’t good. I won’t even be able to keep this pace. I think I need to find aid.” Just before the water stop… somewhere around 15ish (I think), I found a wheeled course monitor. I told him my dilemma and what I thought might be the case, withholding that I thought that I would need to DNF at this point. He went off and I hit the water stop.

At this point, I think that I was just about 3 minutes behind on my pace, but it was more difficult to hold the pace without wanting or needing to walk. At one corner, my pace flag flew off the pole and I was relieved that I would have to STOP and go get it. I told the others that were in the group, just 3 to go along. Another runner brought me the flag and I walked while putting in on. It was “enough” time, that I could muster enough energy in the legs to get back on the pace and make sometime back.

If you have never had cramps (in the legs) they totally suck. They usually start with uniform ache and then, without warning, they give out. I have had them 2 or 3 times while playing soccer, and if you are running, you usually just crash to the ground because your legs can hold you up. They are too fatigued. Stretching them gets some of the lactic acid out, and they feel good, but this is short lasted and the more that you do this, the shorter the time. Thankfully, my legs never buckled under my weight while running. Close to mile 18, I saw that the 5:00 pacer was behind me, and I so I conceded that the part was over for me. I took off my singlet and lowered my flag, signaling surrender to Lactate Takeover and Poor Planning.

Just before 19, the Cyclist Course Monitor came back. He told me that he talked with the doctor and that I wouldn’t like the news. Given my condition and the cold due to the wind, I would be best to drop out of the race. My initial assumption had just been confirmed by one of the medical profession. I just had to make it to Mile 21 for the aide support to get back to the stadium to drop off my chip.

He did ask if I wanted any energy gels or anything like that. Basically, it was too late for that, the damage was really done over the last 2-3 days and eating a bunch of stuff now, would really only make my stomach sick and make the rest of run uncomfortable. The only thing that I really wanted was a banana with the Potassium that would help with the cramps. I crossed Mile 20, not exactly sure of my time, but not only was it picked up on the timing system, I did hit my watch. It felt like the longest mile making it to 21.

Since I was in survival mode, I did want I needed to do to make it to the aid station. On the course, I passed the 4:15 and the 4:30 pacer, the latter asking me about my condition (he finished in 4:28). I made it to the aid station and a Fire Department van was called for me. I got back to the stadium only to walk in the back entrance listening to the names of the finishers and seeing them in the mylar blankets with the medals around their necks. I took my chip back and turned it in, telling my story to the guy taking the chip. I declined all water and assistance as I was heading back to my car. In the tunnel, I met up with the 4:15 pacer (who is running Cincinnati in May) and then the 4:30 pacer who had a first timer finish in that 4:28 and told me about his DNF at Nashville on year.

Just as I was typing out my mobile message to Facebook and Planet3rry.com, I hear, “DADDY!!!” It was The Younger with Lola. My Lovely and Talented Wife was near the field with The Elder. I had placed my Race Recover Bag in her car, so it was right there for me, which had a much need sweatshirt and a ProMax Protein Bar. I had wanted to stay to see how the guy from Memphis did, but I didn’t want to see the people finish… so we left. Chalk on up for building Character, Learning a Lesson, and adding one to the “marathon story” list.

And today, I am reaffirmed that my plight out on the course was a problem of not enough to eat and improper carbo-loading before race day. My legs are fine today, except for my Quads, which are sore from what would be typical of a 20 mile training run with lots of hills. I think that someone is trying to tell me to stay off the course for the Marathon and volunteer else where. Out of 5 marathons, 2 of them I didn’t “Finish at the 50″, this year was a DNF and in 2005, it was a DNS (Did not Start) due to Pneumonia earlier in the month and I was a course monitor.

What a busy day! And now I have to start to wind down so that I can get some rest for that thing I am doing tomorrow… what is it again?

I felt very comfortable, even a little aspergian, at the Expo when I was at the Pacer’s table. I could talk about running and the course, with no qualms about thinking that I was boring (but maybe I was) or picking up on clues that they were bored. Okay, maybe that last one I totally overlooked.

I was excited to meet Marathon Maniac #128. He’s here at Knoxville. I am not sure that I put my name in the event calendar on the website. I need to do that for the Pig in May.

I got ALOT of stuff… most of it to carry incase the runners need anything during the race. I am debating HOW I am going to carry it. I stopped using a low rofile fanny pack at a marathon years ago after some post-race stomach distress. I now pin my gels to my shorts and flip them around. That won’t necessarily be prudent for this race for the other runner.

I did plant 2 Race Support Bags out on the course… around mile 21 and again at mile 24. The Mile 21 one, I have a chance to get twice, so that’s good and the Mile 24 bag is right after the “Don’t Be Cruel” Hill at Mile 24, just before crossing the Gay Street Bridge. I was going to put another, slightly different one at Mile 8, just on 3rd Creek, but I ran out of time to plant it. Given what I have to carry now, this will be fine I hope.

So, now it’s time figure out what the weather is going to be like and try to plan my attire.

Yesterday, my stomach was in knots… today, it’s not much better. I have that “I FEEL SO HUNGRYYYYYYY” feeling in my stomach but nothing is appealing. Well, except for comfort food. And comfort food to me is chocolate… LOTS of chocolate. But I know that what comforts me now, will ail me in the future. Woe is me!

So then, at dinner last night… my toe begins to hurt. Not just ache but HURT! I was surprised how much it hurt. Then when I got up from the table to leave, my big toe was SORE and it was tough to put weight on it. Before I left the parking lot, I had to take my shoe and sock off and see what was so wrong. Apart from being a little red, there was nothing of note.

When I got home, I tried to get the kids ready for bed, but at some point, I knew that I had to see what was up with my toe. I could see myself with a short fuse if I was upset that my foot was hurting and the kids were not listening.When I took a good look at my toe, there seemed to be some debris on the side of the toe, which was the focal point of the soreness. The toenail was in good shape, so that was good.

I found a tool that resembled a dentist’s tool that I could use to pry into the toe cuticle. My toe was already sore and I was thinking that getting the debris out would be instant relief. But I was wrong! It was still sore. I dug and scraped as best I could without yanking off the toenail (it’s been a couple of marathons since I have lost one, so there is good chance I will still have this after the race). It was still tender and there wasn’t anything that really stood out as being the culprit of the pain. All I can think is that some yard debris had gotten lodged in the cuticle just from jostling of my feet and such.

It was about 10 minutes later that I had a bacterial type scare. I thought “what if it gets infected before the marathon”… 4 hours and 45 minutes of “OUCH, Ahhh, OUCH, Ahhh, OUCH”. So, I took some hydrogren peroxide and poured it over the toe. If was manic about my toe, I was ready for the rubbing alcohol to do it’s killing, if it meant extra pain… I was going to run.

The amount of reaction with the hydrogen peroxide was underwhelming. Being unimpressed, I put the Hydrogen Peroxide back and started to leave the bathoom, toe still sore. Untill… “AH HA, where is that Melaleuca Oil?”

I took the pure melalueca oil and poured it over the wound. My toe felt better, less sore and within 5 minutes, I could walk without noticing my toe. And there was much rejoicing!

“Where are you?”

[With the fear that my already altered routine, would yet be rerouted again]

“Just about to get on Pellissippi…”

[My Spidey-sense telling me that a trip to a certain school]

“The School called, The Elder threw up alot in class. He’s with the nurse. Can you go get him? I don’t know how bad it is but they said it was ‘alot.’”

[Had the call been 10 seconds later, the answer would not have been as easy]

“Yep, See you at the house.”

“Thanks!”

“Come in Houston, this is Planet3rry. I have a change in trajectory. I need coordinate reroute and downloaded to the navigation system”

So now I need to worry about whether or not there is a viral presence and should it weild it’s ugly self, will it waylay me. There has been a lack of poop stories on this blog, because there hasn’t been any (of note) for this training cycle. Not like it was last fall when I basically cut my underwear supply in half because I had to leave it as fertilizer somewhere.

And there is this: The Weather Forecast

The Good Thing: Weather here is hard to predict. The Bad Thing: Weather here is hard to predict.

I can’t say that I am all to optimistic about the weather forecast for Sunday. I like that it’s partly cloudy with little chance of rain. But looking at the temperature, that’s a big nose dive. For me, the 50s area is the hardest to dress for during a run. It always seems that just a shred too much clothes and I feel overheated, but one layer too less and I am uncomfortable.

My Awetistic mind has come up with a concept that is already conceived, I am just converting it for marathoning. I’ve had the luxury of having wonderful support crews at many of my marathons (Richmond, Rutledge, Harpeth hills, etc) and so at this race, like in 2006… it’s me and the course (and all the people who I am pacing!). So, I am creating a few “Not Yet Named with a Cool Name” items for the course. I might have to include a pair of gloves in there. I can see it now, some Noob is going to have to get first aid because of frost bite or something. Not on MY watch. We are close enough to the river that if you can’t hack it, you are turning this marathon into a duathlon!

Well, I have some other things to get done. At least being busy has made me “forget” that I am in a taper… madness I tell you! Of course, as soon as Monday rolls around, I will have to be thinking about strategy on “The Pig“… will this MADNESS never end? Oh wait… I signed up for it… my bad. Carry On…

Good Morning all you party people out there… this is your host Intergalactic Planet3rry!

This crazy week is just a precursor to the crazy weekend that we are going to have. And by crazy, I mean FUN and Exciting! But very very busy.

Today we have the 1st of 2 TV spots for ASD Athletes’ event this Saturday here in Knoxville. It’s our very first fundraiser and first event and honestly if it wasn’t for My Lovely and Talented Wife, it would probably be super sucky on our part. But since I get to be the “pleasantly eccentric” founding president, she gets to be the smart and sensible Executive Director! She’s my missing Executive Function. The other TV spot will be on Friday leading up to the event… a birthday party for one of The Elder’s former classmates at a place called BoogieDownBaby, a dance party for kids 0 to 8.

Also today, I have some pictures to burn for a friend that we went to a birthday party over the weekend. I got some good picture, but I wasn’t exactly happy with the color balance of the pictures. Most of it was under low light or cloudy conditions. I should check my settings on Stella.

I am also meeting a friend tonight to buy him a drink (which might be two or three) on his recent acquisation of a paying job that doesn’t require 1) dancing in a G-string or 2)having to steal candy from a baby. We haven’t had much time to hang out so, this was the first time that our schedules cleared up (enough) to go to the Irish Pub for an hour. If you hear someone singing (badly) Desire… that’s just me.

Gravity episode is in the editing phase. If the podcasting gods, that would be God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, smile upon me there might be an episode as early as this afternoon. AND I committed to recording my Knoxville Marathon pacer run, so that will be a couple episode worth of stuff. I actually run on the same spot where I fell during Expo 10k when I was recording in my Gravity Episode.

So, I have to run and have face time with the masses… see you after this commerical break: ASD ATHLETES

Today’s run was a practice run of the last 6.5 miles of the Knoxville Marathon in which I am going to be (WAIT, let me go check… 7 Days Out and STILL 4:45 pacer) the pacer for the 4:45 finish group. It has been 3 years since I ran the race and while I usually run on many parts of the Marathon course, I still wanted the practice. Kinda like a Dress-Rehearsal… except, no pace group, no course monitors, no water stations, no crowd support, no course support and bringing DARKNESS and ChAOs… no volunteers.

It felt great, I ran the entire way, non-stop and with ease. I need to see what my pace was, but it was in the 9-10min range. I’ll have 2-3 more runs in this quasi-Taper before the marathon. I did decide on a few things…

1. I am going to record the entire marathon: I’ll use it for an episode of Gravity@1053 and I will use it as my first episode for my, yet untitled, ASD Athletes podcast.
2. I will twitter during the marathon, maybe 3 or 4 times depending on how I can manage it. I am incredibly new at Twitter even though it’s been around forever (in techonology years)… We have a twitter set up for ASD Athletes, so I will use that one. @ASDAthletes
3. I am going to call the phoneline for The Extra Mile podcast and send in a recording while running of my Knoxville Marathon experience. If you are a podcaster and you would like me to call in and leave a comment for you use on your podcast. Please let me know what the number is and I will “put it on the list”. Use the Contact Me in the Top Menu Bar.

Also in the upcoming week, look for the GUESS MY TIME, WIN CRAP contest for the Knoxville Marathon. I will have to change the rules a little (and I can, because I am the supreme universe ruler of the GUESS MY TIME, WIN CRAP contests) since my time SHOULD be 4:45:00 as a result of my Volunteer Position of being a Pacer. I am thinking that we are going to have some sort of “target” or “percent” type contest. I have to think about. I also have to find some crap to give away too… more on that in a day or two.

I just went through a series of clicks and discovered that I am no longer the 5:30 pacer for the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon. Instead, they have me for the 4:45 marathon. Boy, did my stomach just take a 45 minute lurch. And the marathon is 3 tiny weeks away!

Yesterday, being Terry Day and all, was a time for a run… a long run at that! I was hoping to get 12 miles run. With our wintry weather on Monday, I knew that it was going to be cold and since there wasn’t too much melting going on, I was a little afraid that some of the Greenway would be icy.

Despite my planning, I failed to put my sweatpants in my workout bag. So, I was stuck with a dilemma, do I either 1) Run in Shorts, 2) Not Run at all or 3) Run in my Cargo Pants. Since there is very few things that will stop a runner for getting their mileage in, I thought that I would go for the warmest option available… run in Cargo Pants.

The first mile in the cold was fairly brutal. Mainly from the fact that something in my body was not happy. I think it was a combination of being very bundled up and so there was a sudden jump in the heat of my core and that my body was processing some sugar (Gummy Cola Bottles) that I had eaten about an hour previous. So, I felt sick and like I could throw up. I forced myself to make it to the first Mile and then walk 1/4 mile. Shortly after walking, I let out a big belch and felt 1000x better. It was then that I put 2 and 2 together about the condition and how I felt. I decided that I would walk 1/4 of a mile and then run 3/4 of a mile. And it wasn’t that i would do this in a particular order, but that the overall mileage would be broken down that way. For example for mile 3 and 4, I walked the 1st 1/4 mile, then ran 1-1/2 miles, then walked a 1/4 mile. I wasn’t trying to make an interval of it more than I was trying to get my body used to running again. With an abbreviated schedule until Knoxville, I kinda have to stick to my training, because now I have people RELYING on me to run Knoxville. But there was a curious thing about my mileage yesterday and Shirley’s comment from yesterday’s post touched on something that I was mulling over the last couple of miles of my run… and HOW I was going to run 5hr 30 minutes…

Man, 5:30 hours is a LONG time to be on one’s feet running. For someone who usually runs much faster, I think it may actually require some serious time-on-feet training. Are you planning to do a Galloway run-walk interval like I know many slower runners do? That would also certainly add some time to your race

And there’s the rub… I don’t think that I will know who is really going to be part of this pace group until Race Day. So I won’t really know how to run in a lower gear. I use the Galloway (run/walk method) as part of my patent-pending “Marathon Survival Mode”, but even in that case… it’s a sub 5 hour marathon. I have to chuckle at myself because I starting to stress and worry about my race da performance, because this is something brand new to me. It’s always been “Let’s See How Fast I Can Finish This Race” and last year, it was “Can I Survive the Flying Monkey Marathon Just 8 Days After Another Marathon?” And when I have paced other marathon runners (as I did most recently in Rutledge), it has been runners that i have picked up along the way… not runners that I responsible for. And I do feel responsible for these runners, who ever they may be! And I have already started to think about what to do at the finish line, just to add that extra special Terryesque element. I want to be the Pacer with Extra Savoir Faire.

I am now the leader of the 5:30 Club. This is not to be confused with 5:00 Club which are those people inspired by the World renowned entrepreneur, Mary Kay Ash, who would get up at 5am EVERYDAY and get her day started. Could be one reason that her company is now a 2.5 Billion dollar company.

No, this is the “I run my marathon in 5hr and 30min Club”. that’s right! Some how I passed their quality control requirements and get to lead some poor unfortunate souls to their watery death into the Tennessee River during the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon. Oh, sorry, not a Disney movie. No, I get to lead (or act like I can lead) some other runners making their way to the finish line by either running, walking, skipping or crawling in 5 hours 30 minutes and 00 seconds. Okay, maybe I don’t have to have NASA precision on the whole timing, but I would like to be really close and BEFORE the 5:30 mark.

See, I was all whiny about not hearing and how I was being inconvenienced about my training and not knowing what I was going to do. Or maybe that was just in my head… but I emailed the person who sent me the application and inquired about my status as a Rock Star Marathon Pacer. Apparently, she wasn’t slacking off at all… it’s just that she lost her job earlier that month and well, has been preoccupied since then. Yeah, I felt like a total asshole to be soooooo whiny because it wasn’t about me me ME and making MY schedule work… [THIS JUST IN: THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND TERRY, REPEAT, THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND ME. THAT IS ALL]

So, now I have a time to think of in my head… 5-3-0 when I am training. It’s a tad bit slower than what I would like for a long run for my goal of 3:55 minutes for my Flying Pig Marathon (hint, hint… for winning Crap!) but the “experts” or some of them say, slower is better because it builds bigger muscles. We’ll see though.

Now, leading up to the marathon, I get to do the training by myself… although I may try to hop on with some of the sanctioned Training Runs so that I will be disciplined to run at the right pace. On Saturday the 28th (which is going to be a BUSY day) I will have to Meet and Greet at the Expo… I’m certain that there will be picture taking and I bet some of the runners will want me to sign their shoes for posterity and to sell on eBay after the race. Oh sorry, more Delusions of Grandeur…

And on Sunday (Race Day) I am told that I will have to get there not “Ha-Ha” early, just ridiculously early, like 5:15am. So, by being The 5:30 Club… I will have to be part of the 4:00am Club! Oi!