Got my finishers certificate and the official results book for the 2010 Boston marathon in the mail today.

Out of the 23,177 people who started the race, only 22,721 actually finished it. And yours truly has the distinction of being the 22,721st person to cross the finish line. In other words…. I finished the race DEAD LAST! (Pretty cool eh?)
I mean if you’re gonna be slow at something, you might as well excel at it, right? But hey, last place or not, I still finished 15 minutes faster than last year. And who knows, maybe I’ll shave yet another 15 minutes off next years race.

( First place— Cheruiyot, Robert Kiprono 2:05:52)

( Last place— Stephen Gaudet 7:17;47)

And in case you’re curious to see what it looks like to come in dead last at the Boston marathon, here’s the last 6 and a half minutes of me doing just that.

Looks like I jumped the gun on this one. After polling my family, friends and doctors, and after reading up on high altitude hiking, Ive decided to heed some good advise for a change and will not be participating in the Mt Evans COPD Challenge hike.

The elevation just makes it too risky for someone with lungs like mine. There’s just too great a chance that I could get really sick. My travel schedule wouldn’t have allowed me enough time to acclimate to the higher elevations of Colorado anyway, so that would have put me at an even greater risk for high altitude complications. I would hate to ruin it for the other participants if something were to happen and I needed to be taken off the mountain for emergency medical care.

To say I’m a little disappointed would be an understatement. I’m the type of person who thrives on mental and physical challenges, so making the decision to withdrawal from this event was tough for me. I was really looking forward to pushing my body to the limits on this one and to see this magnificent mountain range up close and personal. I suppose I’ll just have to get my kicks in a safer , more familiar fashion.

Though maybe not as challenging or as memorable as doing a walk two and a half miles up in the air, later this year I’m planning on doing back to back half marathons ( 4-6 weeks part). I haven’t chosen the exact races yet, but Ive narrowed it down to the San Jose Rock &Roll , the Spirit of Pittsburgh and the Las Vegas half marathons, taking place in October, November and December.
Training for the those races begins for me in less than two weeks.

To the wonderfully wacky people who haven’t chickened out of the Mt Evans Challenge, Good luck up there!

Congrats to two of my favorite running people, Hansi and Francis, for completing the Boston to Big Sur Challenge this past Sunday. These 2 wonderfully nutty people, along with a couple hundred other crazy people, ran BOTH the Boston marathon in Massachusetts AND the Big Sur marathon in California just 6 days apart. Two tough marathons in less than a week on opposite sides of the country. Francis came all the way from Toronto Canada to do these races.

At Hansi’s Carmel home the day before the Big Sur marathon

To make the challenge even more rewarding, Hansi ended up taking 1st place at Big Sur. Francis had respectable finish times in both races as well. Heck, between the two of them, they’ve probably finished more than a hundred marathons in just about every country on the planet. My hat’s off to the both of them!

Read Frans 2010 Boston marathon race report. Lots of pics and vids too.

Ok, so I look really strong in some of my finish line photos, but believe me.. looks can be very very deceiving. I’m an expert at hiding what I feel inside (I think most asthmatics are, to some degree.) Behind those smiles were waves of excruciating pain shooting down my legs. My breathing was really labored at times and my calf muscles felt like they were going to explode, but I told myself at the start of this race that if I made it past mile 21, that no matter how bad my breathing was, or how much pain I might be in, that I would push on with positive thoughts in my head and a smile on my face….And that’s exactly what I did! And if for no other reason, that’s why I’m so proud of myself for finishing the race in style.

If you look really deep, you can see the pain starting to come through
(Finish line photos)

I don’t care how healthy you are, even if just walking a marathon, when you get to a certain distance in a race, your body starts to hurt really bad (I think that’s what they mean by “Hitting the WALL”). The problem is, you can’t really stop moving or you run the risk of your whole body cramping up. It’s happened to me before, and I’m telling ya..it ain’t a pretty scene. A full body cramp would end the race for you , right then and there. So after 20 miles, you do whatever you can to stretch out those muscles while you’re moving, but you never stop.

So what did it take to get this 55 year old severe asthmatic across the finish line at the Boston marathon?
Well, how about lot’s of training, lots of medications and a ton of determination and willpower! Having a good friend walking along side of you , who makes you laugh constantly, probably helps as well.. Thank goodness for Lizzy.

Here are couple photos I left out of the main photo set. I think you know why…

(Had to stop to sneek a neb treatment about every 7 miles along the course… this eats up a lot of time )

( Needed 3 neb treatments back to back after crossing the finish line. )

Here are a few other things you probably didn’t know

*To control my asthma during this 26.2 mile race, in addition to the neb treatments every 7 miles, I took appx 24 hits off my inhaler ( about 3 puffs per hour). On top of the inhaled drugs, I swallowed 10 mg of prednisone every hour , chased by an antacid to control the stomach burning that the prednisone causes in the first place . Thank You Jon ( our spotter who went and got me some TUMS in the middle of the race.

*To control the pain in my calve muscles and the metatarsalgia pain in my feet, I took 2 Motrins every 2 hours along the course, 6 in total.

*For energy and hydration , I consumed 2-4 oz of plain water every mile, alternating with Gatorade every other mile. I did this for the first 20 miles, then switched to a 50-50 blend of electrolytes and water (2 oz) every mile for the rest of the race. In addition, I swallowed one Powerbar gel ( tangerine with double caffeine) every 6 miles.

So as you can see, doing this race ( or any other for that matter) wasn’t as as easy for me as most people might think. I just make it look that way:-)

During this trip I took close to 500 still photos and about 20 different video clips, which I still haven’t sorted completely.
I’ll be adding more photos to these albums as I get them.

Rather than bore you with a mile-by-mile account of everything that happened during this entire 7 hour-17 minute very fun but challenging, and at times a excruciatingly painful journey, this year I decided only to post what I can consider to be the highlights. The experience was a little overwhelming and with so many pictures , videos and texts to prepare and post, I’m gonna have to dole them out little by little over the coming days.

But, first let me start by acknowledging some wonderful people who helped make this a truly special day for me.

My walking partner in the race, Mike Mc Bride.
Our super cool spotters, John and Chris from the BAA
Our fantastic crew, Pete from Apria Health Care, and Tom and Brett from Caire Medical and Brett’s wife Shay.
The wonderful folks at the University of Pittsburgh’s Asthma Institute
And finally, our special course guide, the one and only Lis Shepard , who drove the spectators wild and who stuck by me the entire distance just so she could cross the finish line with me. A pretty awesome lady I’d say!

Introducing
“TEAM WHEEZY”

(hey…where’s Lis at? )

( Oh that’s…right, she’s yacking it up with the Boston Globe reporter dude)

So here’s a collection of unedited short clips that I took with my phone camera. Sorry, the video quality isn’t too good, but I wanted to give you a sense of what it’s like to be the first AND last people out on the Boston course. This pandemonium goes on goes on for 7 FULL hours!! See if you can hear my name being shouted during the middle and end portions of the clip. Every time my spotter John would see I was having problems with my breathing or my legs, he’s get the crowd cheering for me. It was like a magic potion that kept me going.

26 miles and 7 hours later , watch how Lizzy works the crowd and helps me make it to the finish line 6 minutes later. Again, this clip is a little long, but I wanted give you an idea of just how many die hard spectators waited for us to finish and how much fun it was to have Liz along for the ride.

( read more)

Well, after all the training, all the planning, and all the hoping like crazy that my sore foot will somehow heal in time and that my lungs won’t act up too bad, for better or worse, to finish or not, the big daddy of race weekends is finally here!

Saturday night I catch the red eye out of San Francisco and should be in Boston bright and early Sunday morning. Mike was kind enough to pick up my Bib and Goodie-bag at the Expo today. This saves me from the hassle of having to go all the way into downtown on the subway after flying all night. The Boston marathon Expo is massive and a great place to buy race merchandise and get all psyched up about the race itself, but there’s nothing I really wanna buy this year and Ive already done the race once, so I’d just as soon skip the crowds and spend the day hanging around the hotel and resting up.The million dollar views of the Boston harbor and skyline from my hotel room are worth the trip alone.

My race top, courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh’s Asthma Institute and the best asthma doctor in the world, Sally Wenzel.
I figure that for every mile I walk, appx 10,000 people will see my shirt sleeves. My hope, is that my presence in this race will attract some much needed attention in the areas of severe asthma research, education and treatment.

Later on Sunday, Mike, myself and the crew are all gonna get together for an early dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. That’s probably where we’ll discuss the logistics of the race and who’s gonna to be doing what, when and where.The plan right now, is to arrive at the Athletes Village in Hopkinton around 7am. This will give us a couple hours to warm up and hopefully meet up with some of the other mobility impaired athletes, some of who’s stories are truly inspiring. The latest weather reports are forecasting intermittent scattered showers along the marathon course. Light, brief showers I can deal with, as long as it’s not too cold.

It’s weird, but I feel just as nervous and excited about this year’s trip, as I did last year. And even though I sorta know what to expect when I get there, it’s all still very much a big adventure for me. The only thing that will put a damper on the fun, is if I have to pull out of race because of my bad foot or my lungs. But no matter how the race turns out, I plan to have a kick-ass time in Boston!

So, that’s it. I’ll let you know how it all went next week after I return home.

To all the other runners out there who are doing Boston, good luck, have a blast, and keep an eye out for me!
To all my friends and readers, thanks so much for your continued support!

Oops…almost forgot, I know a lot of you who live in Canada and elsewhere might not be able to receive the Boston Marathon ATT athlete text alerts, so for those of you who are still interested on how we’re doing in the race, my friend Lis, has agreed to send out tweets throughout the day . Her twitter name is SFAUDIOGAL . I’m sure I’ll be updating on Facebook as well. Cheers!

This news came in after I posted……….

VIEW ALL NEWS HEADLINES

There might not be very many of us (only 26 this year) and we might not be as sleek as the other runners, but there are some pretty amazing athletes who compete in the Boston marathon’s mobility impaired division.

Take for example Keven Counihan. Kevin lost part of his right foot in an accident with a lawnmower. 15 years later, he was in a near-fatal car accident that caused extensive knee, arm, hip, chest, and shoulder damage. Despite all this, and after years of rehabilitation, Kevin focused on running again and set his sights on the marathon distance. In the 7 years since he started marathon running again, Kevin has finished 99 marathons, and hopes to complete his 100th at this years Boston marathon! Pretty amazing Id say. Check out this recent article and Video about Kevin.

Then there’s Kelly Luckett, another awesome athlete. This is her 6th consecutive Boston marathon. She’s also done 21 Ultrathons (50ks) and over 80 shorter races. Kelly came in at 3rd place in this division in lasts years race. Way to go Kelly!

Can’t forget this guy. He is absolutely amazing to watch. Richard Whitehead is a congenital double amputee from the UK and quite a celebrity there. He has broken several world’s records, including the 2009 Rome marathon. I was there when he became the first amputee athlete in history, to break the 3 hour mark in a marathon. Absolutely incredible!

Last but certainly not least, there’s my good friend, Mike Mc Bride, who climbs skyscrapers for fun. Mike will pull an 80lb oxygen cart behind him for 26.2 miles. The fact that he does what he does, given his type of lung disease, still blows me away. He may not be lightning fast, but he has more fortitude and guts than most healthy people half his age. Check out this recent article in the Boston Globe

So, how does it feel to stand next to these phenomenal athletes at the starting line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts? IT FEELS INCREDIBLE !!

As they say in the movie making business…That’s a Wrap!

Training for my 2nd Boston marathon (and my 7th full marathon to date), has officially come to an end. Ive trained and prepared the best I can what with little time Ive had. In total, I trained for 10 and half weeks in the rain and sun, racking up appx 250 miles in the process. This is about hundred miles less than I put into last years training for the same race. I hope it’s enough.

Every time I train for one of these things, I always seem to be hit by at least one over-use type of injury. Last year it was a plantar facsciitis , the year before that, it was persistent calf cramps and hamstring issues. This year it’s metatarsalgia ( ball of the foot pain). Probably brought on by old age ( arthritis) and over-pronation. How much this will impact me at Boston remains to be seen, but if yesterday’s 10 mile walk is any indication, I’m not feeling very confident. I can tolerate a lot of physical pain, but I don’t feel like limping my way through a marathon. I’m going to try to stay off my feet as much as possible between now and next week. Hopefully this will make a difference.

As far as my lungs go, they’ve held out surprisingly well during the actual workouts, but not so good afterwords. Even after some of the shorter walks (5-8 miles) I find myself getting tighter and more short of breath than in previous years. And after the really long walks ( 10+ miles), I’m experiencing more and more full blown flares (the whole delayed symptom onset pnenomina thingy). Fortunately, these mini exacerbations resolved on their own which allowed me to complete my training.

The big concern now is, how bad will I flare up after the race? That’s assuming of course, that I’m luck enough to actually finish the race given my foot problems. To try and stave off a potentially serious flare-up following the race, I’m going to prophylactically bolus myself with a one time dose of 40mg prednisone the morning of the race. Timing is going to be critical here, because if I take the drug too early in the morning, it could make me really nauseated, if I take it too late, it won’t have time to kick in. This is the first time Ive ever increased my pred during a race, so I have no idea what the effects will be. Hopefully it will keep me out of the slammer.

You might be surprised by how many people it takes to get 2 severely lung challenged athletes and an 80 lb oxygen cart across the finish line of the world’s most prestigious foot race.

Our spotters……………………………………Lizzy and Chuck

Not only I am privileged to participate again in this incredible race with my good friend Mike Mc Bride, but this year we have the pleasure of having Lizzy along for the ride. Liz will be Mikes official course guide and will also be helping me out by carrying some of my medications and other supplies. Also on the course with us again will be Chuck, our wonderful spotter from last year. Chuck will tail us on the course on his bicycle to make sure we don’t get trampled by the other runners or slowed down by over-zealous spectators as we pass by. We’re very lucky to get him again.

Our support team………………………..Tom………………………….Brett…………………………….Peter

Without the help of these wonderful people , it would be really difficult to pull this thing off. Thanks Guys (and Gals)! We really appreciate it.

Training for a marathon is no picnic..it’s hard work, but I’m a happy to report that I’m now 3/4′s finished with my training. With the exception of a minor, but troublesome foot injury, I’ve managed to survive this training session better than some of my previous ones. My lungs have been holding up pretty good too, with only a handful of bad breathing days so far.

Last Thursday I attempted the dreaded 21 miler, (aka, the marathon before the marathon). The walk did not go as well as planned. My legs were starting to ache from mile 1 and only got worse as I went on. Due to ill fitting shoes (the new Saucony’s) and that nagging foot injury, I was only able to complete 19.2 miles. Talk about pain, and this on top of an already arthritic body. The walk left me totally trashed and as expected, threw me into my yellow breathing zone for a couple of days after. I would have stopped at mile 10 and re-attempted the walk the following week, but there simply isn’t enough time.

With less than 3 weeks of training left , I can’t take the risk of anymore injuries, so Ive decided to start tapering off my mileage right now and just hope for the best. For the remainder of my training walks, which consists of 2 more long distance walks ( a 14 mile and a 10 mile) and 8 more medium distance walks ( 4-6 miles each), I will be back to wearing my Asics Hyperspeed IIs . They might not be the best shoes for me, but my feet are used them and they haven’t caused me any injuries. The Sauconies are OK for short sprints, but not for long slow walks.

Getting back to that foot problem, Ive developed what they call a metatarsalgia in the ball of my left foot. It’s a fairly common injury in older marathoner runners, and normally it wouldn’t be a big deal, but because I’m supposed to be walking a marathon in just 3 weeks, it’s a potentially huge problem. What happens, is that because I’ve trying to avoid landing on that part of my foot when I walk, I end up landing instead on the outer edge of my foot which is causing the rest of my leg to get sore. Add to that the pain of an already arthritic body, and it can make walking long distances pure torture. If it flared up during the marathon, it could prevent me from finishing the race. I’m hoping now, that because I’m finished with the majority of my long walks, that my foot will have more time to heal…albeit 3 weeks isn’t much time.

(See the redness circled under my big toe?)

On a more positive note, Ive had fewer problems this year with calf cramps, which I attribute to better stretching and better hydration.

As far as my asthma goes, my lung function has been been fairly stable. This time of year tends to be when I have my best breathing, which is a good thing. I do however, get short of breath much easier these days, especially when I exert myself. Even my shorter walks are taking a lot more out of me than they used to.

Assuming that I have the good fortune of crossing the finish line at this marathon, this will definitely be my last full marathon. As much as I love doing these races, my body just can’t tolerate 26.2 mile distances anymore and/or the training it takes to prepare for them. Ive now done 6 full marathons in just 5 years and I think that’s a respectable number to retire at. Half marathons are challenging enough, and I think I still have a few of those left in me.