Week XVIII (Race Week)

Race Week
26.2 miles

Here is why I am running this marathon. This has no order, but the numbers are based on when I'll need you the most in this race.

Without you, my life would be be void.

Mile 1- Laura- She is everything I have wanted to be my entire life. She is the reason I have a drive to live at all. All of my blood and sweat belongs to her. Mile one means I'm just getting started, which was the message she has always given me.
Mile 2- Caeden- He is both his mother and I. He worries and yet he perseveres. My son. You will be on my mind the entire race. When I doubt, I'll think of you and keep fighting.
Mile 3- Aevry- Once, she instantly mended my broken heart by giving me hers. My Daughter who leaves me notes and thinks of things so thoughtful that no one could imagine.
Mile-4- Olivia- I was robbed of you. I never gave up and I would never give in. I smile when I think of you.
Mile 5- Mom- She raised us with nothing and worked so hard to give us something. She fought until bloody and still stands.
Mile 6- Jason- Coffman We weren't as close as I wished we could have been, but we grew up side by side. We had different viewpoints, but the same heart.
Mile 7- Mrs. Hughes- You asked me once when I hated you for being hard on me if my father was around. I didn't answer, but you knew. You loved me more than the rest because of it.
Mile 8- My father, because F him for missing out. I'll run this mile in anger and finish it with a smile, knowing I am stronger than he was. Forgiveness of you is my second greatest battle, right behind myself. I'll run this mile in anger.
Mile 9- Jon Stewart- You brought me back to real life. You showed me that there is something out there that isn't generic and invited me to live in it with you.
Mile 10- Jim Stewart- I sat on a roof with you and you taught me that the world isn't so bad as long as you have God. I've learned to live this way.
Mile 11- Brandy Mattice- I have no idea where you are, but in the fifth grade you wrote something on the back page of my yearbook that took too much space for my liking. You told me not to stay in the shadows for too long and to lead because that is what I was born to do. I will never forget this was from a 10 year old.
Mile 12- Nicole Moore and her mom- This was my first job trying to help people. Nicole encouraged me and empowered me. Nicole's mom sent me a letter telling me the same thing that Brandy did 13 years later. I was something that God wanted to use.
Mile 13- Scott Shatzer- You may not know it, but you are a really great guy. You are one of the few people I genuinely trust. When I look at you I see a person that is pure at heart.
Mile 14- Eloise Ayers- You hated me from start to finish and told me I'd never be anything. You tried to steal my joy of being in high school, but you failed. This mile will be run against you and smiling. Mile 15- Kathleen- No haven't had much, but your loyalty to those you love has taught me that you choose your family and your family means everything.
Mile 16- Jeff Coaty- I bullied you in school. You grew bigger and stronger and became one of my brothers. There were a lot of people at Will's funeral and a lot of things said to me. One of the most comforting was you pulling my head to yours and weeping with me. You knew there weren't words to say.
Mile 17- Dave McWhorter- You are my mentor. Even if I'm not a pastor anymore, you taught me that people are going to hurt you even if you are loving them. Love them anyway and NOTHING IS BIGGER THAN THE CROSS. You were a major part of me becoming a man.
Mile 18- Jerame- You may think I've left, but I haven't. I'm letting you be a man now. You are a strong kid. You reminded me that I am useful and that I did something to better this world.
Mile 19- Andy- You are forever my brother. We would meet hell for each other. There are no words brother. You carry me
Mile 20- Patrick- You were the first student I had that I saw myself in. I have taken great joy in watching you grow. I have never been prouder of you in my life.
Mile 21- Josh Condon- You are literally always on my mind. You have been with me through everything. Joy and pain, music and sorrow. You're a brother to me. I'd never sing without you.
Mile 22- Jo-ann- My other mother. You are stronger than me. You are the strength that reminds me that I can keep going.
Mile 23- Audrey- I never had a sister, but I doubt that she would be anywhere near as loving as you. There isn't a bigger heart than yours.
Mile 24- Jim Doederlein- I didn't have a real dad, so you became him. You may not have all of the answers to fix everything, but you had the right ones to help fix me.
Mile 25- Joe- One of the last. The Dead End Kids. 2/3 Bearded. Nothing will be what is was. We can't go back, but we can lean on each other for strength. The Dead End Kids move forward always.
Mile 26- Will- I lost you. It was as much my mistake as anyone else's. I've been broken since you left and that isn't likely to change, but I've fought so hard. I'll finish this race for you and me. I'll bear the weight my brother. I'll finally run down the demons.
Mile .20- Me- This part is for me. I've fought hard and will finish standing. Our lives are so much more than our own strength. God puts people in our lives to make us what we are. We may break and we may collapse, but God will lift us. All 26 of you have picked me up out of the mud. This last .20 is for my own strength to endure this life.


Sing.
Migrate.

Week XVII

Week XVII
8 miles

I'm injured. I ran my 8 mile long run of the week on Monday and had significant pain the whole way. I finished the run, but I'm not going to finish the week...or the next. I need to rest until the race if I have any shot at all of finishing.

I'm grasping at straws now. All research and knowledge I have acquired is mute because I have a very real injury.

Despite the injury, I have come too far to cower. I will run this race and I will run it with every last bit of me that is left. I'm taking the last two weeks off to give me the best chance of rest. I'm going to gut this one out. I'm going to take all of the anger and grief and pride and heartbreak and make it propel my broken legs to the finish if I have to.

Sing.
Migrate.

Week XVI

Week XVI
17.09 miles

Taper Week 1

Started the week with a trail run after work with my work running group. It felt ok. The hip still hurts, but I kept a really slow pace and tried to enjoy the color changes in the woods. I'm trying to forget about my hip and knee. I'm afraid that I am actually injured and not just hurt.

I ran a twelve with my wife (Laura) and our friend Tracy. I wanted to keep my pace down so I welcomed the company for our last long run of the training. I took a place behind them to let them set the pace. I was really trying not to push the pace and this seemed like the best way. The girls kept a really fast pace and I thought that maybe I could benefit from a little slower, but I'm not gonna be that guy. My hip hurt the whole way and at mile 8, my hip voiced it's opinion on the matter. I stretched at every red light, but I couldn't keep it out. I am actually injured two and a half weeks before the biggest race of my life. I finished strong, but discouraged and angry.

I skipped the 4 and the 5 mile to give my legs some time to rethink their injuries. I
l'll give them a go next week. The long run will be 8 miles. I'll do that first to see where my knees are at and do the rest after.



Sing.
Migrate.

Week XV

Week a XV

34 miles

I started this week with a five mile run from my trustee route from home. I like this one because I don't have to think about my trip and there is a public restroom halfway though. 

I've had the 20 mile peak long run on my mind all weekend and decided to get it over with to get it out of my head. I ran this one at night to avoid the heat. The run started out ok enough. I wasn't feeling it going in, but the first five mile lap was pretty relaxing and I settled in pretty well. I didn't even need a drink during the lap. 

The second five mile lap felt similar. I ate a gel at mile 7 and had only expended about 5oz of water.  By the end of the lap, I had begun to realize this was going to be a fight. 

Lap three was pretty annoying as it was the only period of uphill in the run. I had to stop to use the restroom and found myself in Taylor, which doesn't seem to have sidewalks. I still felt ok. The hip was hurting pretty badly, but my calves and knees were golden. 

Lap four was brutal. It was one dark road without sidewalks after another. The hip became a real problem and now the knees had begun to cramp and tighten. I stopped every mile or two to do a quick stretch, but they weren't getting better. I gave the run over from skill and technique to heart and guts. My pace slowed and I gained about :30 per mile for the final three miles and I reached mile twenty limping in severe pain in the knees mostly. They hurt so bad that I actually forgot about my hip for a moment. I finished with a 9:35/mile pace, which isn't bad, but the pain makes 26.2 miles all the more daunting a task. Took an ice bath and a beer. I'll take a few days off to recover. 

The next two runs were forgettable. The first five miler was painful, but the only injury I feel is my hip. The knees are ok, so I'll chalk that pain up to knee cramping. The next four miler was better. 

Time to taper! Next week will peak at a twelve miler. 

Week XIV

Week XIV
29.8 miles.

Started the week with my 8 miler in the trails from work. It felt a bit labored, so I took the pace back. I'm learning to listen to my body instead of the numbers on my watch.

I coasted through a fun 3.8 with my wife and friends at the RunDetroit beer run, then followed it up with a Growler of Hop-A-Peel. I had a great time and someone who won a raffle gave me a free entry into a 5K next Saturday. If my twenty doesn't tax me too much, I may go for an age group win. It's a small race, so I can probably beat most of the field. But it depends on my legs.

Decided to get to the longish run of the week. I visited RunDetroit to try on some shoes. My Altras was wearing holes in the forefoot. I ended up with a new pair of Newton Gravity III and a pair of CEF compression calf sleeves. I ran the run. I met up with my friend Rudy at mile three and left him at mile nine and finished strong. I was tired on this run. It was a little warmer than last weeks long run, so maybe this was the issue. I ended up with a solid time of 8:58/mile for the run. I felt good about it because this would only be about 4:30 minutes off of my half marathon PR (1:52) if I had kept that pace for that distance. Not too bad. I wasn't trying for speed, so I was happy with it.

I finished the week with a six mile run after work with a very motivated kid from work. Made me feel good to see someone work so hard, using sheer will.

It was a pretty good week. I ended it by watching 4 Minute Mile with my wife. Now I want to run fast, right now. I took about 45 minutes and rolled out the legs and stretched. Every time I do this, I am reminded that taking care of the legs is the best thing you can do as a runner.

I've been thinking about getting a GoPro and filming some of my runs with some commentary. No one is likely to watch them, but I'm sure I will want to when I can no longer run. I'll look into it.



Sing.
Migrate.

Week XIII

Week XIII
34.2 miles.

Started the week off well with a trail run after work with my new and quite sizable run club. It's really nice to have people to run with after work. It takes the monotony out of running the same boring routes, listening to the same boring stuff. I think the run club has reached 11 active members. This is a very large group for one nursing unit. It has meant that I seldom have to run alone, which is cool.

Next run was at Gallup Park after work. Gallup is a flat course, so I preferred it to the trails this day as I was gearing up for my 19 mile long run. Again, the long run has been in my head all week. I got a decent 18 miler in last week, but felt pretty puny at the end, which is discouraging because I still had 8.2 more to go for the marathon.

Did you know that the first person to run the marathon was a courier that was just delivering Jimmy Johns to the King? Did you also know that upon arrival, he promptly died?

In other news, I can't be distracted by these terrible facts. The 19 miler was upon me. Due to schedule constraints, I had to run it in the late afternoon/early evening. I got really lucky with a fast approaching Michigan autumn and the day was chilly. I chose to run this one from home, as Brian couldn't make the date. I decided to run places in my past that spanned a large part of four different cities. I felt great at the start and let the fall air carry me through Wyandotte, to Lincoln Park, to Taylor, and finally Southgate. I hydrated well, but noticeably less than usual. I stopped to eat a gel three times and pushed forward. I was never in trouble on this run. I finished in three hours flat, with a decent pace of 9:39/mile. I felt so relived to be done, but also so ecstatic that I felt so strong during this one. I was encouraged and once again began to believe that I could really do this.

I finished the week with a 5K run (Growler Gallup) and a two mile make-up run to finish the five miles. I drank some beer and celebrated a great week with my family and friends.

I needed this one.

Next up, a step down week.



Sing.
Migrate.

Week XII

Week XII
36 Miles

This was the hottest week of the summer. I don't do well in the heat, so my anxiety woke me up for the first 5 of the week, so I ran with the wife at 4:45 AM. It was humid, but the temp was low so the run was a wet success.

The next day, my heat anxiety got me up at 5:25, just after my wife left for her 8 miler. I pulled myself out of bed and ran 8 beautiful miles in the closing hours of the night at a speedy pace. I got home feeling like I was strong despite the pain in my right hippish area.

The next five I ran in the trails after work and enjoyed most of the run as I do the majority of my trail runs. I opted to run the easy trail course instead of the hard one due to the fear that my legs couldn't handle it. I've been really careful with my legs and treat them like they are a very fragile family heirloom these days. I think I sometimes underestimate myself.

I had a last minute change of plans for the long run (18 miles). I forgot about my fantasy hockey draft, which is one of my favorite days of the year. It fell the night before my long run. A dilemma, as beer is a common temptation at the draft. I was moderate and went to bed at 1:30 am to be up at 7 am. I woke at 3 AM, never to find sleep until I had to be up.

I was nervous about the lack of sleep and the run itself. I had bonked my last three long runs over 14 miles due to the heat, I think. I got up and was determined to be better than what my body had previously allowed. I was scared and embarrassed, but angry enough to find a way to make this one better. I got some luck with the weather.


I ran hard and felt good. My legs started hurting at mile 10, but I kept my mantra repeating in my head that "I am better than this, I have fought through worse, and I can endure any pain left to endure." I powered on at a good pace. I had to stop a few times to stretch out cramps, but I finished on my feet with gas in the tank. I needed this one. I am proud of this run. It made me confident that given a cooler temp, I will be able to achieve my goal of twenty-six point two. The last four miles got hot without shade and I felt it and it put me into the battle again, but it was too late to bonk me. 4 miles isn't enough misery to lay me down.

Next week is 5, 5, 5, 19. Two more long runs until the biggest and most daunting run.




Sing.
Migrate.