A Marathon Off the Couch

Man on first. 2nd batter of the game is up. A hard hit to left-center. I push off and take 5 hard strides to the ball. It is going to drop. I lay out and make the sliding catch. A cracking sound rips through my body. I know the guy on first could tag up or is caught off the bag from my catch so I throw the ball in, but I can't watch the play because I am unable to get up. After a few moments, I rise and finish the inning. I even bat 8 for 8 that day but can't even run to first base. I fear I have broken my ribs (cue flashback of my blown ankle 10 months ago).

An ER visit and several consultations later, I am convinced my ribs are not broken and that I have torn muscles.  I cannot run, jump, cough, burp, or sneeze without immense pain.  Sleep is negligible as every movement hurts badly. I lose about a week thinking it is skeletal, and then I start on the anti-inflammatory medicine and patches to clear it up.

I already have had significant interruption to my running. After the ankle healed in June, I got in a bit of jogging over the summer before a very minimal training plan going into Venice, which hurt due to a lack of prep. Then the bad air set in, and - demoralized - I hit the gym for mostly weak cardio and weights. A trip to New Zealand did nothing to boost mileage, and then I came back and lost 5 days training to the hockey tournament in Leh. The first day back from that I was cranking out 1km repeats with the high school boys. On the cool down, I felt the hamstring give a pop. That took me out for a week. Then, just as I was starting to get some real runs in, the softball injury.  Am I getting old? Am I unlucky? Is this karma for my life's choices?

New Delhi Marathon looked out. It sucked because I wanted that to launch me into real spring training. I also wanted it to be my 79th marathon because I have my heart set on a run this summer that I would like to be #80 for personal reasons. Now it looked like both were in jeopardy. I biked indoors for a week, then walked on the treadmill for another.  With 6 days to go before the marathon,  I walk/jogged a 10 miler on the belts. I backed that up with another day of walk/jogging and managed about 5.7 miles in an hour. My friend, Sarah, was running for a Boston Qualifier.  Why not join her? Best case I finish this thing with her, helping her with her goal. Next best I join for a while and limp my way in.  Worst case, I drop out, but I have never DNF'ed a marathon and I don't intend to start here.

This is stupidity. I would never advise a runner who has been hurt twice in two months with no base mileage to do a marathon. But I am not new to this event. And as the title of the blog suggests, the properly planned race gets little airtime. I toed the line with 164 miles in 53 days of 2020, or about 21.8 miles per week. 19 of 53 days I missed, mostly due to injury. The risk of a lasting injury is high given my current training. But I want this. I need this.

2:55am wake up, one canceled Uber and an hour later we were off. My friend, Sarah, agreed to keep it smart but I could tell right away she was in better shape than she thought. We ran 8:12 for each of the first four miles and I told her we have to back this off or accept the consequences later.  She agreed and we managed a bunch of mid 8:teens and low 8:20s for a long way. We hit halfway in 1:49:00 or about 3:39 for a marathon pace. Things got more difficult for her in the 2nd half as they do but there were no issues. At 19.5 miles, she bolted for the bushes and had to take care of business.  We rallied back for 2 miles before the issues returned. Self-doubt and struggle crept in at 22 miles but I tried to help her stay focused and keep moving through. She slowed a lot but we were ahead of pace and limiting the damage.  At 24 miles, she was off the course again and I could only wait. When it hits, it hits. I knew then we would not break 3:45 as we lost 3 minutes to stops and another 4 to just the slower pace on the road after the stops (the legs flood, the muscles tighten, and it seems too far). But I asked her to put in one mile of hard work and she did, getting back on pace and driving home. She finished and we were at 3:45:24, not sub 3:45 flat but still 5 min to the good of her Boston Qualifying time.  Not all races are about place or time - sometimes we run to test other things.

5 miles in near India Gate in the pre-dawn

1 mile to go

Keeping form on the track

Almost at the line

Pacing this woman reminded me of all the times I have been helped out there on the course. My mind goes to Sarah, my wife, Rod Y., Mike R., Michael T., and Kirsten L who have patiently guided me along the roads, over the hills, and down the trail, often, if not always, at expense to their sleep, time, family, and the cost of travel. We are always alone out there in the sport of running - no one can do it for you. But sometimes it is nice to have someone along for the ride. And I am glad I got to do that for someone today.

I felt very good despite not running more in a week than I did that day for the past 5 months. I played softball in the afternoon and now my legs are going to pay for that combination. But I got it done, and with some active recovery, I can start to train. March will be interrupted with travel, but April and May are booked for some actual running.