I'm want (to be) a Hamburger

So, I haven't posted in a while, but I today I looked up quotes about Marathons, all of which are listed below. Some I like, some I don't, some I agree with, some I don't, but, to me that's one of the great things about training for a Marathon...it's ultimately about the experience of the individual. You can train with a group, you can stand at the starting line with a group, but, once you get going...it's all about you getting yourself to the finish.

I put my favourite, by the legendary Bill Bowerman first...hence the title.

"I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times, but they can always fulfill their own potential." - Bill Bowerman, legendary University of Oregon track coach

"To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind."
Jerome Drayton

"Marathon running is a terrible experience: monotonous, heavy, and exhausting."
Veikko Karvonen, 1954 European and Boston Marathon Champ

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."
Frank Shorter

"Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating."
John Farrington, Australian marathoner

"There is the truth about the marathon and very few of you have written the truth. Even if I explain to you, you'll never understand it, you're outside of it."
Douglas Wakiihuri speaking to journalists

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."
Emil Zatopek

"I definitely want to show how beautiful the marathon can be. I am the opponent of all those who find the marathon bad: the psychologists, the physiologists, the doubters. I make the marathon beatiful for myself and for others. That's why I'm here."
Uta Pippig

"I felt like I played in a very rough football game with no hitting above the waist."
Alan Page, former Nfl football star

"You can actually suffer a little bit more going slowly than when you're going really fast. A faster marathon might even be easier than a slow one, in terms of what it takes out of you mentally."
Frank Shorter

"At the two-thirds mark, I think of those who are still with me. Who might make a break? Should I? Then I give it all I've got."
Ibrahim Hussein, on marathon tactics

"I'm never going to run this again."
Grete Waitz after winning her first of nine New York City marathons

"The marathon can humble you."
Bill Rodgers

"I am too tired, even to be happy."
Gelindo Bordin, Italy, immediately after winning the Olympic Marathon in Seoul

"I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known."
Emil Zatopek's description of the Olympic Marathon win in Helsinki

"Get going. Get up and walk if you have to, but finish the damned race."
Ron Hill to Jerome Drayton during the 1970 Boston Marathon

"The New York Marathon: a fantastic event."
Pope John Paul II, 1982

"The starting line of the New York City marathon is kind of a giant time bomb behind you about to go off. It is the most spectacular start in sport."
Bill Rodgers

"When I came to New York in 1978, I was a full-time school teacher and track runner, and determined to retire from competitive running. But winning the New York City Marathon kept me running for another decade."
Grete Waitz

"I just run as hard as I can for 20 miles, and then race."
Steve Jones (when asked about his race plan, after he had won the "Chicago Marathon" in the then world's best time)

"Anyone can run 20 miles. It's the next six that count."
Barry Magee, marathon bronze in Rome, 1960

"A marathon is like life with its ups and downs, but once you've done it you feel that you can do anything."
unknown

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."- Unknown

"Good things come slow - especially in distance running."- Bill Dellinger, University of Oregon coach

"If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way."- Lance Armstrong

"Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes his mind to do. We are capable of greater than we realize." - Norman Vincent Peale, author

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"- Peter Maher, Irish-Canadian Olympian and Sub-2:12 marathoner

"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat."- Napoleon Bonaparte, legendary military leader

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."- Sir Roger Bannister, first man to break the four minute mile

"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."- Sir Roger Bannister

"Most men take the straight and narrow. A few take the road less traveled. I chose to cut through the woods."- Unknown

"Hills are speedwork in disguise."- Frank Shorter

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people."- Bill Bowerman

"What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races? All my life people have been telling me, 'You're too small Pre', 'You're not fast enough Pre', 'Give up your foolish dream Steve'. But they forgot something, I HAVE TO WIN."- Steve Prefontaine

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."- Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and marathon finisher

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts."- Steve Prefontaine

"I prefer to remain in blissful ignorance of the opposition. That way I'm not frightened by anyone's reputation."- Ian Thompson, 2:09.12 marathon at the 1974 Commonwealth Games

23K yesterday morning

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a couple of emails from people asking me for an update..

Here's a brief re-cap of the last couple of weeks for me.
As I've mentioned in the past couple of posts - I've been having trouble with my left knee. My last run was September 14th (29K) and I only made it through that run because of some Advil halfway through. However, I paid for it over the next week with not being able to walk properly.

I was then supposed to run 32K on Sunday September 21st. On Sunday, however, I was on a plane from Toronto to North Carolina and wasn't really in the mood for running. Plus, my knee was still bothering me. So, I didn't run the 32K and I decided to take it easy and keep off it. Other than a mild 40K bike along the Lake Ontario bike path that Suzanne and I did, I didn't do any major exercise.

I later found out that this knee thing left me in a bit of a funk. The thought of this injury not getting any better was weighing heavily on me. It was too painful to even jog on and I thought it wasn't getting any better. I thought "Will I be able to do this?" "What about my family and friends who have supported my fundraising and what if I don't end up running it!?" "Do I still go to New York?"

I've been doing Chiro, Massage Therapy, ART, etc., and it was still aching.

So, this past Saturday, September 27th - I was faced with having to run 23K the next morning at 8:30 AM. The knee actually felt pretty good and I said - well, I better give it a try. Around 8:00 AM I had an Advil in my hand and I was trying to determine whether I should take it or not. Should I mask the pain to get through the run or should I just try it without to make sure that I'm not further injuring myself?

For some reason, I decided to pop the Advil and grin and bear it.... Well, I'm glad I did!

I took it pretty slow (which is REALLY slow..) to make sure I paid attention to any pain, etc. I ended up finishing the 23K without stopping because of pain. I ran my normal 10 Minute / 1 Minute walk - and made it the whole way through. I was stoked!

I believe the issue was with my orthotics - I did not give myself enough time to work into them and so my body paid the price. I was warned a couple of times about this - but my first few runs, other than the blisters, were pain free. So, I took them out for this run and it seemed fine. The knee was throbbing a tiny bit - but that happens after 23K no matter what.

It was so energizing to finish without a ton of pain and I had the feeling that "I'm back!" This weekend, we run 29K and then 32K the following weekend - and then we start to taper down before the race.

Seeing the Running Room group again was awesome and running with that bunch of people has been really inspiring and helpful.

My brother-in-law, Chris, is in the early stages of training for the Ironman Triathlon and has started his running training. He's already strong on the bike. We've been talking about running and trying to find ways to improve our running technique and efficiency. He found a couple of links that you might find useful -

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Fundamentals_of_efficient_running_technique.htm

http://www.momentumsports.co.uk/TtRunTechnique.asp

I have picked up a couple of tips that I'm looking forward to trying during my next run. Even if you increase your efficiency by 5% of 8% - it is a considerable amount over a long distance run.

Only 33 days left!

29K yesterday morning and Advil as my new best friend?

Yesterday's run was technically much better than the previous week. Mostly because I finished the whole thing without having to stop for long periods of time.

However, the challenge is that the pain in my knee that appeared last week around the 24K mark appeared this week around the 8K mark. When I hit the 14K mark, it was pretty bad. Thanks to the ladies who were there for us providing water top-ups - I asked if anyone had any Advil - and I was given a gelcap. It took about 45 minutes to kick in, but then the pain pretty much went away. It enabled me to finish the run! (Is that performance enhancing!?) I liked the course this week a bit better than last week. I found it to be a more enjoyable run - even though there were 2 long hills - one being the very last leg.

Back to the Advil - I heard from a few people who say they take Advil before any long run, and if it's a really long run, they take 1 or 2 more throughout the race. This may seem like second nature to many - but I rarely take any type of medicine. I can't remember the last time I had an Advil or a Tylenol - it may have been the last time I had surgery or maybe a Tylenol Cold when I had a high temp. So, I'm not used to poppin' pills. This definitely helped mask the pain.... Trouble is - this morning - wow - the knee was on fire. All night I could feel that it was warm and puffy.

After I finished the run on Sunday, one of the trainers from The Running Room overhead me say that I had knee pain. He said, immediately: "Stop running." "I don't want you running anymore until you see someone." (About my knee) Whoa - ok. So, I booked into Performance Chiropractic and saw Garret this morning. (I normally see Suzanne there - and she was on her honeymoon - congrats Suzanne!) Garrett did a pretty elaborate review of my knee. After poking, stretching, adjusting and moving everything around my knee and asking me a lot of questions - we came to the conclusion that it could be my body getting used to my orthotics. I had been warned to 'ease into' my orthotics - but I didn't really do that. I ran 8K, then 16K, then right up to 29K... And it was on that last 29K that my knee started acting up. Garret also figured out that my right leg is a bit shorter than my left - and so my left leg would impact harder and that may have something to do with it. He gave me a new time-frame for wearing in my orthotics by wearing them a little bit at a time and working my way up to longer distances. The good news, Garett said, is that it wasn't inside the knee where there can be wear and tear. It appears to be a ligament issue where it is being stressed abnormally. I'm also supposed to ice it on and off.

These next few weeks should be interesting - we have another long run this weekend - 32K! - but I will be in Toronto and North Carolina. So, I am going to take it easy this week and see if I can run 10K or so without pain on Saturday. Then see if I can do some more on Sunday.

Also, I should mention that I had another great massage on Friday from Tania - I can take more pressure now and we're working on my other tight spots like my hamstrings, quads, etc.

And, my blisters are doing better. With a combination of second skin, NuSkin and bandages - I am able to run without feeling them.

So, this week will be a bit of a breather with no gym or running until the weekend.

“Anybody can be a runner, ... We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport.” Bill Rodgers

29 (30.67)K yesterday morning

We ran 29K yesterday morning. I would probably sum up the run as disappointing. The longest I had run before this was 26K.

On this run, I got to about 24K and my left knee really started bothering me. It got to the point where each time my left foot hit the ground, the pain was louder and louder, so to speak. So, I decided to start walking. I thought I would 'walk it out' - but it didn't work that way. It didn't get any better on the walk. So, here I am at 24K, thinking to myself "This is barely over half a marathon and I'm breaking down.." "If this was the marathon, I would have 18K more to go.." That's why it's disappointing.

However, I did what I could - I ran a bit, I walked a bit, I stopped and stretched a bit.

My goal for this marathon is changing around a bit. At first, I wanted to be under a certain time, then, I wanted to get a certain time. Now, after talking to a few different people who have ran marathons and remind we what a feat it is - I think my goal is "Finish the marathon uninjured." While I would love a great time - I want to remain uninjured. That's the first goal.

So, I've got to figure this knee thing out and I have to do 29K again next Sunday, then 32K the Sunday after that.

"The marathon can humble you." - Bill Rodgers

19.09K yesterday morning + lovely blisters

Yesterday morning we ran 19K. I had done a much better job of eating the days before and the night before and the morning of the run - so I felt physically ready. Except for the two small blisters on the inside of my feel that I had from earlier in the week. (We'll get to those later...)

However, I found that when I got to the Running Room - I just didn't feel like doing it. It was a nice day out, one of the last days of summer - and I would have much rather been crusing around with Suzanne. These runs are starting to seem SO LONG. It's tiring. In the last two weeks - I've run about 55K combined which is 13K longer than a marathon. We're really putting on the miles now. Next week is 29K, then 29K the following week, then 32, then 23, then 29, then 32, then 23... You get the point.

Anyway - I sucked it up and started running. I still didn't feel like doing it. As time went on, though - I forgot about it - now it's about running and improving my time over the last 19K that I did.

About 20 minutes into the run, my blisters started to bother me. For some silly reason, I thought that the blisters might be ok because they were pretty small. Other than that - things were pretty good. My back was ok, my left foot was still bothering me a bit - but these blisters - I could feel them getting bigger and bigger.

The weather was great for the run and thanks to Izzy again for her happy spirit and the fruit and treats that she brought us for fuel along the run.

All in all a good day. I 'beat' my last 19K time by a bit and therefore my average pace is improving.

It was a fantastic feeling to take off my socks and shoes after the run. This is what I found on the bottom of my feet!



Twins!

So, I'll have to take care of those this week. I've got some good tips from a few different people.

This week it's 7 hills and then 29K!