Just be relaxing my sore leg these last two weeks, with no effort or training on my part, my time in the 1/2 marathon improved by several minutes:

Yep. I went from 3:15:40 to 3:08:51! According to the email I just got:

A few of you experienced a delay with your half marathon results due to
some unprecedented power surges in the half marathon finish area. After
careful review of video footage from the half marathon finish, the results
are complete

So my time was almost 7 minutes less horrible than I thought (and this more closely matches my own watch), yet my rank has slipped dramatically from 16337th to 16560th! Oh well. Lost in the crowd.

My left leg has been more sore than it ought to be, it is now an ongoing soreness in the top shin and almost into the knee, and I’ve been limping noticeably. It has lessened slightly the nxt few days, but if it does not let up soon, I might need an MRI.

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I could certainly wait this year to check the online race results… here it is:

Wow, my time was 3:15:30, speedy! All I can say is that should I enter another half again, I am fairly certain I can best this one. I know, I know, I know, this year was not about the score or the time here, I did a training program, dealt with injury, completed the journey yadda, yadda…. If I run again, I really desire to go back to the times when I felt good running.

I’ve been told I either did too much too quick, especially with the late October half marathon.. though my shin splints were hurting 2 weeks before that, so that run was not the cause, though the results did knock my down psychologically.

But there is no value in dwelling in the rear view mirror. I’m looking forward to rest, recovery, and getting back into exercise again in the spring, maybe it is just biking (which I know I don’t hate), perhaps running, who knows?

It’s over, is mostly what I can say. I crossed the finish line at somewhere like 3:10. It was not pretty, not PR, but I was determined. I ended up walking about 2/3 the route– ran the first 2 miles, but ti was pretty apparent my shins were going to complain loudly.

And they are today, could barely walk until I got some ice and aspirin.

But rewind to yesterday. It was cold at 5:00 AM leaving the house. Not just an Arizona, faux winter chilly, it was 27 freaking degrees on the truck’s thermometer. Still feeling a know tin my calf, I thought of bailing, but also thought of the excitement, and writing less than 24 hours ago about how determined I was.

So, I got to ASU darn early, almost too early, as the main parking lot north of the stadium, has still more than half empty. I just relaxed in the truck for maybe 25 minutes, watching all the others bundle up, run back to their cars for forgotten items.

Time to go to the buses. What a surprise, and empty seat next to another Team D runner. We get downtown at 6:30, still dark, and time to kill before the Team D photo at 7am. How do the guitar players move their fingers this early?

The Tylonel I am taking is not having much effect, so although I hear suggestions, otherwise, I pop a few ibuprofen. Later, that does work, and I take a few more during the route.

First bathroom break- long lines already… tio, go past the long one on the end, where everybody falls into line. There are shorter ones towards the middle. Back in time for our group photo– what a big excited Team-D! Wish luck to the marathon runners leaving at 7:40am.

I walk down and get in line for a free sports massage. Talk to a guy from London, who has an afternoon flight home after the race. Crazy. The massage feels great, but they avoid working my sore calf muscle since they say it could lock up in the cold.

Time for bathroom trip round 2. Longer lines. Now a bit after 8, and the first bits of lovely sunlight break over the taller buildings. Grab a sliver in a parking lot, and begin organizing what goes on my and what goes in the gear bag. Get braver, remove the outer long pants and bare the legs in shorts. Not bad in the sun, worse in the shade.

Drop the gear off, and head for the starting corrals on Jefferson. Find the other red shirted Team D half marathoners. Fortunately, Corral 14 is in the sunlight! The announcements come that there is a delay at the start…. what can it be? Broken down bus? Oh well. We are shuffling forward towards the start.

And then we go. Ouch, I go out at a slow run, and can sense it will not be a pleasant few hours on this course. Turn north on 7th Ave. The first big sign I see is a huge banner:

YOU ARE ALL GOING TO HELL! REPENT AND FIND JESUS!

I tihnk hell must be in Tempe, cause that’s where us 25,000 sinners are headed. There were more than a few of these, provide some chuckles along the way. Still cold, a few people are already shedding sweatshirts and gloves– folks from Goodwill are collecting them to give away. A few times some runners go to the sidelines and grab something someone else has dropped before– once a girl dashed over, grabbing a sweatshirt almost before it hit the ground.

I check my time at one mile- 10:40, a bit surprising. Best slow down. This is not going to be a race for me.

Turn east on McDowell. Still running. At two miles, 23:06. After another half mile, time for a walk break. Run into Coach Dave, who takes a photo, though I doubt I was smiling. I am into walk mode for the rest.

It all goes in a blur, not really stopping, and where possible, trying to fast pace it. With time, the proportion of walkers to runners slowly increases. It’s still darn cold, especially in the shadowy underpasses below the freeway crossings.

Walk past a favorite restaurant on Van Buren- wish I could drop in for some ribs:

Honeybears, Yum!

but why that when I can eat gel?

Down Van Buren as it curves and becomes Mill. When is that darn bridge going to get here?

Cross the bridge over Tempe Lake. Cool, they have re-routed it so we go north of A Mountain and enter the north side of the Stadium. Lots of folks cheering, bend to the south, and finally it is there! The finish!

Head right to the medic and have them plastic wrap some ice to the leg. Have to give all kinds of info to get aspirin. Weird. Data gathering.

And its done. Sign out one last time at the Team-D tent, find the truck, and weave and snake north through the side streets to find a way across the race route. Scottsdale is closed at McDowell, Thomas, but get north on 68th across Camelback, and I am home free.

And that was yesterday.

Thye P.F> Expo is a chance ofr 36,000 runners to get their reace numbers and timing chips, as well as to sell them a whole lot of stuff. Set up at the Phoenix Convention Center, it can be a wonderful festival or a pain in the neck, depending on your social orientation.

For me today, ti was pretty much an in and out operation. My tips and bits….

The parking around the convention center is mayhem, with all those cars circling to drop off or try and get in the closest garages. Plus, downtown Phoenix is chock full of construction (it’s been almost a year since I was there, wow the giant hole where half of the old Convention Center used to sit!). My trick is to park about 3 blocks north at the Arizona Center; it cost me only $2.

It helped this year to know the steps and the process for getting through the Expo. My line to check in had no wait, I grabbed a timing chip (last year was the first time I had even seen one and spent a lot of time learning how to attach it). The next gauntlet is getting the t-shirt (they are colorful this year), the “goodie bag”, a giant plastic sling full of brochures (mostly recycled when I got home) and other stuff- there was some useful things this year, that my wife and I split (actually she got first dibs, leaving me with just the breath mist, but she put up with a lot of Saturdays devoted to run times).

And then it is getting through the maze of “official merchandise”– I’m not into souveniers, though last year I did by a nice fleece jacket there (and was even wearing it today, it’s COLD). The main floor is one human traffic jam of running gear, other marathon ads, food giveaways, beer giveaways, free massages, tourist info, car stuff (?), and more. I actually did splurge on The Stick when I saw the sore calves sign — it’s a massaging thingy. The demo I got in the booth felt great, and the guy hit a real sore knot in the back outer part of my calf.

I stopped by the Team-D booth, said hi, and scooted out.

How did I spend day before run day? Today’s paper had things listed by accomplished runners like eating weird yogurt or floating in a spa… I spent about 3 hours in the yard taking down the Christmas lights, raking up leaves, and turning the compost bin.

From 4-6 pm was a great pasta carb loading dinner for Team-D at Scottsdale Community College; the participating was grown from 40 some last year to almost 70 this year, and as a whole, we raised over $100,000 for diabetes. Way to go! This is pretty impressive as Phoenix os the only chapter in the US that still runs this program. We’re small potatoes compared to some of the other charity teams, but we’re committed!

With that, it’s just too hard to get to sleep, after organizing all the stuff for an early departure tomorrow, the coffee machine set to start brewing at 4:30, 2 clocks set, extra clothes laid out or put in the bag. Last year, the parking for the bus shuttles at ASU was really mayhem, and took much longer than I had anticipated, so I plan to head out earlier, and try to come in on Rio Salado Parkway rather than Scottsdale Road.

And we just went outside to cover the vegetable gardne since there is a freeze warning tonight. The thermometer on the back of the house is already at 38 degrees. This will be a big difference form last year when it was actually hot right after the start of the run.

The leg is just uncertain. It began to tighten up walking to the Expo (maybe I am allergic to this event) and is still feeling knotted in the calf. I am hoping for a reprieve just to run a bit of the half marathon tomorrow.

And that, will be the rest of the story.

How about that? Tomorrow is the PF Changs Rock and Roll Marathon. I wonder what that is all about.

So I will wake up really early, put on the running duds (plus more layers since it is supposed to be near freezing temps tomorrow), get in the unexpectedly long lines to park and get on the buses downtown, line up with Team-D, and…. I have no idea what my legs will want to do. I may run smoothly, slow, walk, etc, but sometime tomorrow, I plan to get my body across the finish line, not look at the time, and call it a “race”.

This is how not to train. I’ve not run in a month, bicycled maybe twice, as I wait for the pains in my leg to move on. On a daily basis, the pain might be in front, down low in the calves, up high in calves, and sometimes not at all. I’ll stoke up on my aspirin (the only thing that makes it go away), strap on my mp3 player (oops, the iPod Shuffle died, do I have another), and get out on the streets.

There was a great quote/headline in today’s Arizona Tribune:

Sunday’s P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon will be a chance for 36,000 people to push themselves to their physical limits, and for about 3.6 million Valley residents to wonder why.

Coach Dave has always said only about 1% of the general population runs, so his math seems right– although from last year’s experience a lot of the 36,000 are from our of town, so the local percentage is even lower.

As one barely in the sub 1%, I internally know why— there is absolutely nothing quite is self-inspiring, meaningful, and fulfilling as trying to take your body where you think it cannot go, and then succeed or just try your best. It’s much better than wondering at home on the couch.

Turning to some bike training, I took a spin this afternoon out on the Arizona Canal… I did have something I needed to photograph for work, though that excuse may be a little thin.

I also had a prescription pick-up at the new Walgreens near us (my doc thinks a stronger antibiotic will deal with the long standing dry hacky cough I’ve more or less grown to accept), so seeing no line, I cruised up to to the drive through window; I had done this several times at the Osborn and Scottsdale Rd store when I biked to work in Tempe.

But nooooo- The lady said through the intercom that they could not serve me there due to “threats of lawsuits.” Cannot I just sign a waiver saying I wont sue? Wow, has litigation fear crept another notch. It was not a huge deal, just meant extra time feretting out a bike lock, and waiting in line in the store. Just seemed werid and another tniy example of the energy wasting car culture carrying lots of weight.

The soreness in my left leg continues to have varying pattern-[ sometimes upper shin, others lower, almost around the ankle, other times it is stiffness in the back or side of the calf. I am starting to believe I am a victim of a voodoo doll, “Enough! I yield! Stop poking those pins!”

I am trying a variety of streteching exercises, found a good resource at Shin splints: These exercises will help to strengthen your lower legs, and prevent or repair shin splint problems and Cool Running: Lower Leg Pain.

Without any running really in the last 3 weeks, it pretty much looks like January 14 will be a Half Marathon walk. I will enjoy it and it would enable me to carry my big digital camera and take lots of photos.

Hands Up

Originally uploaded by cogdogblog.

For New Year’s Day I tried to get off the year to a good start by a hike– with some 30 friends from our UU congregation, we enjoyed a beatuful hike at Spur Cross Ranch Park, north of Cave Creek. 12 of us us did the “long” hike up the Tortuga trail, climbing maybe 700 feet to a view of Elephant Mountain, before dropping back down to Cave Creek. The trail back on the Metate Trail provided views of some of the biggest, most charismatic saguaro cacti anywhere.

It was a glorious, beautiful, post card Arizona Day. My left leg cooperated somewhat, no more or less pain that it’s been ther last 3 weeks. Mentally, though, I was sprinting.