CM Diary - September 18, 2007

Entry 19: September 18, 2007

Hi everyone – we made it! The high-intensity training week is over. I don’t know about you, but I am so ready to start tapering for the race. Back in May when I planned last week, it seemed so insurmountable – and it almost lived up to its billing. It was a very tough week with plenty of highs and lows – especially Thursday. Through it I learned that I’m tougher than I thought, and I have more resolve than I ever imagined.

Monday I ran a tempo seven, which felt good. Then on Tuesday I chose to do speed work again with my PR Training group, as this was the last opportunity to do so before the Marathon. On tap were five 1-mile intervals. I figured as long as I ran them controlled versus all-out, that I’d be OK. As I often did, I ran with Mike since our paces are similar. We’ve been training together since January and have become good friends. He was hit by a car prior to the Indy Mini and suffered a hip injury. His courage has been an inspiration to me as I’ve dealt with my own injuries. We ran consistent 8:12’s until the last one when I went all-out and ran sub-8:00 for the third time in my life and first since the four-mile race on July 4. On Wednesday, my hip hurt again so I made sure I did plenty of stretching.

On Thursday morning I set out to run an easy seven before work. Sunrise was still an hour and a half away so street and yard lights lit my way. As I approached the 2-mile mark my foot hit a crack in the concrete and I stumbled forward about 20 feet. In the past I’ve been able to catch myself but not this time. From my pain and abrasions, the best I can piece together is that I came down on my left elbow, Polar watch face and knuckles, jamming my arm into my shoulder. Then, I continued to roll forward and landed on my left shoulder, cheekbone, temple, and ear, scraping the left side of my face across the concrete. Then, since I didn’t flip over, my knees came down and scraped on the cement. It was all so surreal. I was bloody, bruised and in a daze. Fortunately, it happened in front of a homeowner getting in his car to go to work. He rushed over to see if I was all right and drove me home. Thank you Good Samaritan Greg for coming to my rescue. My wife took one look at me and realized I hit my head pretty hard. She drove me to the ER where they cleaned my wounds, gave me a tetanus shot and CT scanned my head. No concussion, but my face is definitely swollen on the left side and my jaw hurts. As I write this Monday, one of my teeth is still loose. I stopped by my dentist today and they said it might take 2 weeks for the tooth to heal. Looking back I can’t believe after spending two hours in the ER I actually went in to work.

This shows you never know when an accident can happen. Fortunately, I never blacked out, but just in case, I never leave home without my RoadID. If you don’t own one, please go to www.roadid.com and invest in some peace of mind.

Since I completed all 48 weeks of the weight loss program, I can call off the staff of the weight loss clinic at any time. I kept a Thursday afternoon appointment with Ashley, the other exercise physiologist, to get three things done: a resting metabolic rate test, measurements taken and a caliper body fat percent analysis.

I wanted to know what my resting metabolism is since I am going into the taper weeks. I want to better manage my caloric intake since I will be running less. According to the test, my body needs 2090 calories/day for basic living. Depending on how much I run, I now know how many calories I should consume to maintain the optimal weight.

Ashley measured my biceps, thighs, calves, chest, waist, and hip. Since early May I have lost an additional 7 inches. I’ve lost a total of 61.5 inches since I started the weight loss program in February 2006. That’s nearly equal to the height of my wife.

In July 2006 after I had lost most of my weight, my body fat percentage was 14%. Now, over a year later and only 15 pounds lighter, my body fat percentage is just 7%. I’ve gone from morbidly obese to having the body fat of an elite athlete. I was totally stoked with that news. I’ve been noticing more muscle definition lately but haven’t been losing weight. Apparently training for the Marathon has added muscle mass equal to the fat I’ve lost. I’ve been frustrated that my weight has been stable for over six months now, and I haven’t broken through the 25 BMI barrier. With this news I’m throwing my BMI chart in the trashcan. I may never be where the BMI chart says I should be, but I’m very happy with where I am.

While at the weight loss clinic, I stepped on a treadmill and ran for a couple of minutes. Nothing hurt. So when I got home I decided to “get back on the horse” and try running. My daughter Amy rode her bike alongside of me just in case. I felt great and was able to run another five miles at near race pace. Three of the miles were sub-9:00. I was amazed. I showed my daughter the evil crack in the street and waved to Greg as I ran by.

Saturday was my big long run. I wanted to run the same 23-mile course I ran three weeks earlier. I was concerned that my fall would affect my run. My bigger concern was that my son Stephen wanted to ride his bike alongside me. I’ve been training all summer for this run, but he hasn’t. When he has ridden with me, it was on runs 13 miles or less. A stopped train blocked our path so we altered our route and doubled-back (a much better choice this time than climbing over the train). I am proud of him that he was able to go 19 miles with me, but he was hurting pretty badly by the time he was done.

I felt good enough to continue and wanted to put in another four. At 23 miles I felt good enough to try the full distance. At 24 I started to feel a little of “the wall” but pressed on. Adrenaline kicked in as I got to the last mile. 26.2 miles in 4:40:25. Woohoo! Unfortunately, my Polar had a 4% calibration error and route-mapping web sites say I only did 25.2 miles. Bummer! Even so, I’m pleased with my run and am confident that I will do well on October 7. Other than being chased by two dogs, nothing weird happened, and we were treated to the sight of a beautiful white swan on a pond.

Growing up I thought of myself as an athletic failure. That changed forever this week. I rose above adversity and pressed on to complete a week that I once thought was impossible. I’ve learned that training for a marathon is more than just putting in the miles. It is setting a vision, developing a plan for success, getting up and making sacrifices each day to work a little bit toward the goal, never losing hope and rising above whatever obstacles come our way. Marathon training pushes not only our bodies to the limit, but also our character, our mettle, our resolve. These are the enduring traits of the human spirit. I am convinced that anyone who has trained for a marathon is a better spouse, parent, child, employee, citizen, and person because of it. I look forward to surrounding myself with 45,000 such people on October 7.

Let’s enjoy our taper, we’ve earned it, and remember; run with your feet not with your face – it works a lot better.

One step at a time,
Dave