repost from icanrunaminute.com
In this blog:
- Two Marathons & One Half in 8 Days
- Week 19 Weigh-in
7 days, 18 hours - from 5 p.m. Saturday, May 9th until 11 a.m. Sunday, May 17th.
I think it started out with a single half marathon, the Moonlight Marathon, in Springfield, IL on May 9th. Then I heard my LPHM pacer was pacing a back of the pack group at the Starved Rock Full Marathon in Ottawa, IL on Saturday, May 16th. So, I signed up for that run as well.
Then I learned about a new ranking system within the Half Fanatics and Marathon Maniacs ...two groups which are dedicated to running nuts. I'm already a Half Fanatic (#10814) but, for people who are able to qualify for both the Fanatics and Maniacs there is a title known as a Double Agent. The minimum requirement to become a Marathon Maniac is to either complete 2 Marathons in 16 days or 3 Marathons in 90 days.
So....I chatted things out a bit with the race director of the Moonlight Marathon and I bumped that up to a full mary to meet the Maniac requirement and then get relisted as a Double Agent.
Then, this past Monday, I'm at my usual park looking to knock out an evening 10K and get an email before my run that there is a spot open with the back of the pack pacers for the Chicago Spring 13.1 event on May 17th. That race has been sold out since March 14th and not only did I have a chance to get in but, I was able to get in for free :)
It took two miles into my run to make a decision and reply that I would take that last spot available.
1994 was my first full marathon - 2004 was my 2nd. I was intimidated enough by the full mary coming up this Saturday and I have absolutely no idea in the world if I'll be able to walk the day after my 2nd full in 8 days. Literally doubling my number of fulls ...from 2 to 4.
As long as I don't break, I should be able to complete the full this Saturday night. I'm almost apprehensive about even posting this because I'm so far out of the norm that I have no idea if this is all even possible, especially doing a half mary the day after a full. The best I can think of doing after the Starved Rock full (besides eating soon after the run) is to get a couple bags of ice and soaking my legs in an ice bath, 20 minutes at a time to help reduce any inflammation.
I just looked up the Chicago 13.1 course for the first time and it looks like an out and back course which runs just east of Lake Shore Drive along the Lake Michigan. Should be flat anyway.
One thing at a time. For Saturday, I picked up the mandatory headlamp earlier tonight. Found my biking shorts, CEP compression socks are washed & ready to go. Ate first round of pasta a few hours ago, maybe 300-400 grams of carbs right there. Doubled up on supplement packs over the past week and am constantly drinking water - enough to make sure my urine is clear, especially on Saturday.
I haven't had any of the traditional 15-20+ mile long runs so, all my toenails are still attached, which is nice :) I'm looking for the lowest intensity possible this Saturday night. I'm pretty confident that I'm good for 18-20 miles. The last lap through the cemetery. The last 6.55 miles will be very interesting. I'm going with the Brooks Glycerin for the two full mary's because the New Balance are getting a little loose feeling and want to avoid blisters. Got athletic tape and will probably go along the balls of my feet as well as a single wrap around the ankles and crossing anteriorly to meet up with the balls of my feet tape. couple bandaids in the appropriate spots (marathon runners know what I'm talking about)
Week 19 Weigh-In -
omg, I'm tickled to death with this week's weigh-in. :) Officially, and to the uninformed eye, it might look like I gained a pound ....LOL it's really getting funny to me to even comment on bland, all-inclusive weight because it means so little.
I had two DietBet weigh-ins this week, one on Tue and one on Wed and my confirmed weights were 252.4 and 247.2 respectively. Those would be my 14th and 15th straight wins. And - check out my late night snack last night....
I weighed 251 after that meal. In the past I probably could have eaten the entire box (3200 kcal) worth of spaghetti. I thought of just eating half but ....there was a LOT so, I ate a little over 1/3rd.
Anyway, here's my nifty new Weigh-in Wallpaper -
I added pictures from two additional runs. Below the future car are two pics from my last 5K. I like that one because it represents busting my butt. I actually had a kick at the end of that race. There were two people in front of me in the last quarter mile. Normally, that wouldn't matter to me because my gas pedal was already to the floor and I wasn't going to go any faster no matter what, my engine was already topped out ...reminds me of my first car, a 1977 Plymouth Arrow which had a top speed of 72 mph...
Anyway, I had another gear and was able to pass both people in that race. The lower right hand corner pic is from the Lake Ozark 10K and shows me running past the finish, nobody put a medal around my neck as is being done with the lady in pink, I grabbed the medal and kept on running :) That's what love looks like. Then I added a goofy pic with my brother at the GO! St Louis half marathon. I kept that picture small so as not to scare little kids....
What I'm tickled about though is the fact I'm starting this Month out in the 240s which means the probability of having an average weight this month in the 240s is - numerically speaking - outstanding :)
Those three pictures on the left that have been part of my Weigh-In Wallpaper for some time now - those remind me of a difference between endorphin and enkephalin. I think of endorphin as something more readily obtainable such as is often associated with a runner's high but enkephalins I have more closely associated with achieving a long term goal and victory. My time in the St Louis 1/2 mary was faster and much easier to achieve but, in that race I only had a sub-goal of simply repeating what I had already done the week before - ie, anything under 3 hours for my finish time. The first 1/2 mary of the year being under 3 hours - that was very hard and was one of my goals from last year which never was obtained. so - enkephalin.
The pics engender everything from determination to love and everything in between.
....pondering ....it's been 11 years since my last full marathon so.... and .... enkephalins are involved with nociception modulation - recalling that nociception is what pain impulses are called before they are interpreted by the brain so... during the last 6.2 miles when I'm in the most pain from this upcoming full marathon, I may also be generating some nice endogenous opiates to help quell that pain. YeeHaw! :)