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.
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.
I’ll have tons more photos and video clips in upcoming posts….
Took a while, but I finally got my race results for the San Jose Rock&Roll half….3:08:22
For some reason the results of dozens of people weren’t showing up on the race website. Turns out there was a glitch with active.com when they tried to upload them. Better late than never I suppose. I think there were people out there who were starting to doubt whether or not I actually finished the race.
Anyways, not my best finish time, nor my worst. I was 15 minutes slower than my fastest time ever , but a whopping 52 minutes Faster than my slowest time ever, so I’m very pleased. A 14:24 pace is kinda slow for me in a half marathon distance, but I think that was because I was afraid to push myself too hard. I guess I should have went all out, cuz I got sick after anyway.
I don’t have anymore half marathons scheduled at this time, but if I did, I’m pretty confident now, that I could still finish one in under 3 hours. I know my finish times seem really slow by running or racewalking standards, but considering that I’m working with lungs that are about 130 years old, I think I’m pretty fast. This might sound silly, but if there was a way to age grade my race results based on lung age, Id be one of the fastest runner/walkers in the world!
If you get a chance, read Mike McBrides story over at COPD International, and what it took for him to make it the finish line at the Boston marathon. Pretty amazing stuff… but then again, he’s a pretty amazing person! (that’s my head in back of Mike)
Mike , Cameron and I at the Boston Harbor the day before the big one
You can see more of Mikes Boston Marathon race photos on his Facebook page.
OK, so I didn’t PR. Actually, I set a new PW ( a personal worst) time of 7:31 . But hey, I made it to the TOP FINISHERS list..lol
Before I get into the details of the trip, first of all let me just say what an incredible experience this has been for me (and Im sure for the other 25,000 runners). All the hype that you hear about the Boston marathon is absolutely true. There is simply no other marathon like it on the planet. This was absolutely the best marathon experience Ive ever had! It’s the runners themselves, along with the fans and the people of the Boston area that make this event so special. It’s difficult to put into words the emotions you experience when you have a half million people rooting you on mile after mile, every step of the way… and I do mean EVERY STEP! From start to finish, the fans were there!
Hard to sum up this marathon experience in one word, but if I had to, I’d choose the word… ” Overwhelming” , cuz thats what it was. Now I know why people want to do Boston. The encouragement and support from fellow runners and the fans is overwhelming. My shoulder was tapped on so many times by passing runners telling me how awesome I was, that it was sore by the end of the race. My voice actually became horse from thanking literally thousands of fans along the course who took the time to acknowledge my presence in the race, and I felt like I was going deaf from 7.5 hours of non -stop cheering.
I trained very hard for this race and for the most part , I think it paid off. If I would have pushed myself harder, I could have perhaps finished in under 7 hours, but frankly I was enjoying myself too much to shoot for a silly 7 hours PR. After 6.5 hours, who really cares…right? As far as the hospital thing, well that was just a fluke. The medical people had never encountered an athlete like me and got a little freaked out by my numbers and my medical history. But, at least you know by my experience, that if you ever need medical attention at this marathon , you’ll certainly get it ….. and then sum . lol
I left San Francisco early Friday morning with a scheduled stop-over in Denver. I had lucked out an got an upgrade to First class on United. Wow..what a difference to fly first class. FREE FOOD ! Anyways, As my plane landed in Denver, Mike called me up and we all met up at one of the airport coffee shops. Mike lives in Denver, and because it had begun to snow, his flight was delayed . This worked out great for both of us , because I had a few hours to kill before my next flight left as well. By 1 pm , we both got on our connecting flights. And though we were on different carriers, we both touched down in Boston within minutes of each other. From the airport I called the hotel and they sent a bus out to fetch me. I arrived at the Hyatt Harborside at sunset.
This is the view I encountered when I entered my hotel room.
My jaw dropped…. I spend at least 2 hours sitting on the rocks at waterfront, taking it all in.
Saturday morning I caught the water taxi from the dock at the hotel, and in 7 minutes I was in downtown Boston. From the there I caught the “T” subway train heading to the Expo. Boston has a fantastic public transport system ( too bad California can’t learn from them) Even though I was staying on the other side of the river, total trip time from my Hotel to the Expo was only about 30 minute. I spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon at the Expo. I collected my Bib and goodie bag .There was so much to see and do. While waiting in line for the registration office to open, I met up with two young ladies from Modena Italy. When they saw that I could speak Italian, we became instant friends. Turns out that they had both done the Rome marathon . After picking up my Bib, I headed over to this little mini theater they had set up where they were doing a virtual video tour of the course. I watched that thing from start to Finish. OMG…. just watching the video was giving me second thoughts about doing this race.
As promised, friend and fellow running bloggerFrancis called me up and we hooked up out in front of the Expo center. Francis qualifying time for this race was something like 3:10. He’s worked so hard over the past 2 years to get to Boston, I was really happy for him. Francis had heard that Ryan Hall was signing autographs , so we went back inside and got in a line that seemed to wrap around the entire Expo floor. Hall was only signing autographs until noon and the line was so long, I thought for sure we wouldn’t make it. But, after an hour of inching our way forward , we made it to the front got out posters signed! This may sound crazy, but I didn’t really know who Ryan Hall was until I read about him later that evening. I know Francis was a huge fan, so Im happy he got to meet him.
In addition to seeing Ryan , I also got to talk to and meet with the Hoyts . These guys are amazing .
By 2 pm the Expo was so crowed, I was getting claustrophobic and decided I’d had enough . From the Expo I set off on foot do some sightseeing in the area. I wish I had spend more time checking out downtown Boston. There’s so much to see. Next time I will for sure.
Here are some pictures taken in and around the Expo as well as the Downtown Boston area.
Sunday at 5 am, Mike , myself and his crew all met in front of the Hotel for the drive out to Hopkinton ( the town the race actually starts in). The Oxygen company that was helping sponsor Mike for this marathon, actually flew a couple of there people out to Boston and provided us with a cozy van that took us out to the starting village. The ride from Boston to Hopkinton only took about 60 minutes, compared to 2 hours it would have taken on the jammed packed buses that were hauling most of the runners.
We arrived in Hopkinton at about 7 am and were allowed to hangout at a special gym across the street from the starting Village where all the wheelchair athletes were warming up. They provided us with foam pads to lay on and free hot and cold beverages to hydrate. After Mike put the finishing touches on his O2 cart, we wandered outside to watch all the pre-race stuff.
There were tons of Satellite TV trucks and News Vans parked out front. We were interviewed by several News organization ,but I cant really remember which ones ( it was all happening so fast.) I remember speaking with a couple Boston Globe Reporters , but there were others. Everyone was waving microphones and cameras in our faces, trying to find out what our story was.
As our starting time was growing closer, I was starting to get a little concerned about the weather. I had heard forecasts that were calling for a slight chance of rain in the late afternoon, but that it would be light. My biggest weather concern was the temperature. When we arrived in Hopkinton it was a freezing 33 degrees and foggy. I was debating whether or not I should wear a jacket during the race. Luckily, just minutes before the race started, the temperature had already risen to 47 degrees and the fog was starting to lift.
Here’s some pictures of the starting area:
About 30 minutes before the start we met up with our spotter and guide, Chuck. All I can say is ..thank god for Chuck! This guy had the tedious job of tailing us on his bike for 7.5 hours. Chuck was there to monitor us and be there in case we had any medical issues or if Mike had any equipment problems. I can’t tell you how reassuring it was to have someone right there on the course, encouraging you, assisting you , and making sure you had everything you needed.
One of the coolest things about having Chuck along, was that if I had to use the bathroom ( which happens a lot) I would let Chuck know ,and he would ride out ahead of us and scout out toilet locations.Then he would reserve a spot so that I wouldn’t have to wait in line when I got there. Now, thats what I call the Royal treatment!
Unbelievably , Mike did not one stop one single time to use a john. How he did it , I’ll never know .
At 5 minutes to 9 they had all the MI ( mobility impaired ) athletes line up at the starting line. I think there were a total of 18 of us.
At that time, they had us walk back and forth across the timing mats to make sure our chips were registering. After that, Dave McGillivray, Race Director of the B.A.A. shook our hands and then simply said……..READY, GET SET….GO! And so began our 7 and a half hour journey !
For the first mile or so, there were only 18 of us on the course. And except for the helicopters flying above us and the camera trucks in front of us, it was eerily quiet. There were only a handful of spectators, mostly people sitting in their front lawns. I thought to myself…this isnt so bad. Where are all the fans? I quickly got ahead of Mike , in fact , except for 2 runners, I was head of all of them. The problem was, that in order for me to maintain that lead, I would have to continue to jog , which my lungs were not liking. Looking back behind me, I could see that Mike was starting to settle in a comfortable, but slow pace of about 17/min.
As we crested the top of the first hill ( mile 2) , you could hear the faint cheers of spectators carrying on, but as we descended and rounded the first bend…Whamm! All of a sudden it was like we were the featured guests at a home coming festival. Both sides of the narrow 2 lane road were lined with screaming spectators for as far as the eye could see. I have never witnessed anything like this in my life. There was the men and women of the National Guard posted at ever corner, waving us on. There were tons children’s group, special organizations and just regular people, high fiving us, wishing us well, trying to shake our hands. Offering us food..you name it. The adulation was overwhelming and non-stop. At one point the fans got so aggressive trying to touch us, that our spotter and the motorcycle cops moved us to the center of street where we remained throughout the rest of the race.
About every 30 minutes or so, another wave of runners would pass us by. We would pull over the side of the road and let them pass. First it was the wheel chairs, then the Womens Elite and then the Mens Elite.
Here’s a pic that Mikes partner Cameron , captured as the Hoyts streaked by us:
About 3 hours into the race, The 25,000 other regular runners caught up with us and from then on it was pure pandemonium. It was like a huge rolling block party/running parade. It was as if everyone was high from the experience. People seemed less concerned about running fast and more concerned about having a good time.
Never had I experienced just comradery among runners in a single race. We were cheered on as much by our fellow runners as we were by the fans.
The course traverses through 8 small towns, but it seems like a lot more than that. Just Imagine that every time you would enter a new town, there would be another huge celebration going on, and that you were the subject of that celebration! That’s what it was like.
Here are some photos that either I took with my phone along the way, or that Mikes Pit crew took while they were waiting for us to pass certain areas so that they could change out Mikes tanks.
As promised, Heartbreak hill was brutal. Not exactly the way I had pictured it in my head, but nevertheless a tough climb. For some reason I had pictured this portion of the course as a steep climb up a narrow baron road. It wasn’t like that at all. It’s actually a series hills along a wide tree lined beautiful section of road, which gradually ascends it’s way up through what appeared to be very affluent neighborhood. It was at this point though , where you could see people pooping out. Some were literally falling down , and the people that remained upright were walking…not running!
This pic was taking at the crest of the final hill. You see me and mike at the 21 mile marker. From here on it was all downhill.
I think I faired better than most, because I live and train in a very hilly city. It’s not so much the steep steep steady climb of those last few hills, it’s their position along the course that makes them so tough. They occurred at appx miles 18-19-20 , not exactly the best place to have hills in a race, but I guess that’s what makes this marathon so challenging.
From here the last 5 miles are mostly downhill and I could have easily shaved 20 minutes from my time by jogging, but I decided that I would stay in pace with Mike and finish with him.
By mile 22 , I could feel my calf and thigh muscles starting to cramp and I was also getting nauseated. For the next few miles I would run out ahead of Mike , so that I could stretch out my legs against a tree or curb to prevent an all out cramp and look for a private place to puke if I needed to, then I would catch up with him. I would repeat this scenario every half mile for the remainder of the race.
Mile 23, the city of Boston was finally in site and you could actually see the finish area. It was at this point I knew I would finish the race within the time limit. The problem now, was that weather had gone from a pleasant 53 degrees to about 40 degrees in a matter of moments. In addition, the wind was picking up ,making it feel even colder. For the last 3 miles, I thought I was going to freeze to death. To make things worse, the constant headwind was aggravating my lungs, making me wheeze. By mile 25 , I was definitely feeling like I had done a marathon.
At mile 26, we made the first actual turn of the course where you head into the finish plaza. At this point our spotter, Chuck was not allowed to follow us anymore and we made arrangements to meet up in the VIP tent on the other side of the finish line.
As we entered the final 1/4 mile stretch to the finish line, it was starting to get dark outside and I could tell that we were probably going to be the last 2 people to finish the race. But, believe it or not, even at this late hour, there were huge crowds of people lining the streets that waited to see us finish.
Then in the last 100 yards or so, my emotions hit me like a tons of bricks. It finally dawned on me of what I had just accomplished. In the span of just 3 years, I had gone from an old out-of -shape COPDer who could barely walk a city block, and who was basically written off by the medical establishment, to achieving what many people said was silly, crazy and impossible. I was about to finish the Boston marathon!
As I set foot on the finish mat, I couldn’t control it any longer….. and the tears just gushed out. (I hope no one saw.)
I did it ! Me…..I did it !
I will deliberately end the story here , because I don’t want the wonderful memory of this most extraordinary experience to be tainted by what followed shortly after crossing the finish line. Instead, I will write a separate post regarding my little stint at Boston General.
For now I want to congratulate my partner in Crime, Mike Mc Bride on his incredible endurance and will power in this race. He is still an inspiration to me and was by far , one of the favorites of the fans that lined the course.
Let me end by saying, that I’m grateful for being given an opportunity to take part in this race. It was truely a dream come true and an experience I will never forget. I hope that other people with lung disease , will see by my example, that anything is possible if you try hard enough.
And Finally, to the BAA, the people of Boston , the nearby communities and to all the fans and runners who made us feel special.
Thanks from the bottom of my heart!
Well, this race definitely ranks up there as one of the strangest, yet one of the funnest Ive ever done. Too bad I was sick as a dog during 90% of it. Oh, my lungs were fine. The elevation didn’t bother me at all, it was the rest of my body that was going haywire.
I think the combination of lack of sleep, extremely hot temperatures, and lack of proper hydration did me in, and by race time, I was probably suffering from full blown heat stroke. Of course being the damn fool I am, I decided to go for it anyway, and as crazy as it sounds , I’m glad I did it.
More about me trying to kill myself a little later, but first, let me try to describe just how fabulous the event itself was. Actually, the word event doesn’t even do it justice….It was more like a great adventure!
If you’ve never been in the middle of a desert at night, let me just tell you that the scenery, though not very colorful, is absolutely incredible in scope! Kinda like the way I picture the surface of the moon. What made it even more surreal, is that there was a full moon that night that lit up the desert floor and the surrounding mountains, so even though it was way past midnight , it felt more like early dawn. Another thing that stuck me , was how quiet it was out there. Though there were nearly 400 runners and walkers out on the course, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. And because the road was still open to traffic, everyone was required to wear a glow necklace and form a single file line on the left side of the road, which gave the illusion of a long string of climbers scaling the side of a tall mountain. Oh yes, and along the course on a nearby mountain ridge , we saw one of those black SUV surveillance vehicles that the government uses to make sure civilians don’t get to close to “area 51″
I’m sure they were watching us with binoculars.
Getting there……
We set out on Saturday morning at 6 am from Fresno and arrived at the host hotel in Las Vegas around 12:30 in the afternoon. Man was it hot in Vegas. 107 degrees and windy that day. I was already exhausted from the long drive and lack of sleep from the night before, so by the time we checked in at the hotel and ventured outside on foot to find a place to eat lunch, I was already starting to to feel dehydrated and queasy. While my friends ate a huge pre-race meal, I had a couple french fries and a half a glass of water. I think, not eating or drinking in the hours before the race is what did me in. Going from the freezing cold air conditioned car and hotel rooms, to roasting in the outdoor heat, probably didn’t help either.
The plan for Saturday afternoon was to hang out in the hotel room and get some sleep until the Expo opened at 4pm , and then to return to the room afterwards for a couple more hours of sleep until the buses departed at 8pm. Well, by the time we got back to the hotel it was already 2:30 and I’m not one of those people who can fall asleep at will, so I just watched TV and put together the gear and outfit I was going to wear for the race.
The Expo ( if you want to call it that) consisted basically of two tables; one for the bib pick up and bus tickets, and one table for t-shirt pick up . I think there may have been one other small table with a few alien souvenirs type things for sale. The good bags contained one gel, one glow necklace and one advertisement for another race….that’s it.
Following the Expo, we went back to the room to get our racing clothes together and decide which stuff we wanted to bring ( or carry ) during the race. After that , we were supposed to take a short nap , get cleaned up and head out to the front of the hotel to catch the bus. Again, I was unable to get any sleep and by 8 pm , I was totally burnt out.
At 8pm sharp we head downstairs and out to where the buses were lined up. We exit through the side door ….and WHAM! …that heat hit me like a blast furnace. It’s amazing how much more sensitive to heat you become when you’re tired. I have never experienced heat like that before! To make things worse , they lined us along the sides of the buses which were idling and spewing out even more heat. Id say 20 more degrees to the already 105 degree it was outside. But the worse part of all was the waiting. We had to stand in that heat for almost an hour as they had to register and board each passenger one-by -one ( this is the only thing I can fault the organizers for). I got so over heated standing in line that I thought I was going to pass out. I kept on thinking to myself..” If I feel like this now, how on earth am I ever going to walk 13 miles up the side of a mountain 3 hours from now?” I was sweating so profusely , that my dri-fit shorts and singlet were soaked. I had already drank all the water that was in my bottle before I even boarded the bus!
Finally relief, we get to our seats on a nice cold bus, but now the sweat on my body is evaporating and I’m starting to shiver …This is not good. While almost everyone on the bus is talking and laughing and getting excited about starting the race, I was so nauseated from the heat, the cold and the motion of the bus, I just wanted to puke! But, we were already moving, so for better or worse, I’m stuck on this bus for the next 3 hours. Now I begin thinking..” how am I gonna break the news to my friends that I can’t do this race once we get there” I should’ve called it quits before I boarded.
Thankfully, it must have been becoming more apparent to my buddies that I wasn’t looking or feeling so good .They saved me the possible embarrassment by exclaiming ” You look like s**t !– Are you OK? –Maybe you better not do this race.” Those kind words took a little of the pressure off , but if I withdrew from the race now, where the heck would I go, what would I do for the next 7 hours while everyone is out on the course? The post race buses weren’t scheduled to leave until at least 5 am.
That means Id have to either wait on one of the buses, or sit inside the Little Ale inn cafe until the race was over. Either way , Id feel worse than I did now. For almost the entire bus ride, I was so exhausted , I couldn’t hold my head up. I just closed my eyes and tried to rest my brain as much as I could.
We’ve now been on the road for about 2 hours and the nausea was starting to subside and I was beginning to feel a little better. The women who was sitting next to me noticed that I was awake now and tried to start a conversation. Turns out , she was a nurse who worked the night shift at a Las Vegas hospital and was actually used to running at night. She was doing this half marathon as a prep for her first full marathon which was going to be the Nike Womens in October. The conversation eventually turned to asthma and I asked her what would happen if I were to get sick or have a severe attack while out on the course. She said the part of the desert we’re going was so remote that I would have to be air lifted back to Las Vegas ( 150 miles away) Boy.. hearing that really upped the ante . Now, on top of everything else , I’m stressed out.
Finally we arrive . Its midnight and buses are pulling over the the shoulder of the road at the infamous “Black Mailbox ” ( which is actually white now) where they were dropping off the full marathoners. We’re allowed to get off the bus stretch out legs and cheer the marathoners off. When I stepped off that bus, the first thing I noticed was the outside temperature had dropped significantly . It was now 74 degrees , pretty warm to start a marathon in , but a lot better than the 105 were standing in just a couple of hours ago. I wasn’t sweating or shivering anymore, but after sitting on the bus for 3 hours, my legs felt like jelly. I had a hard time standing up , let alone walking. Heck, even the healthy people were having a problems walking and stretch after such a long cramped ride. This is getting ridiculous. I need to bite the bullet and just admit that Im too sick to do this walk.
So, after cheering the full marathoners off, the rest of the people got back on the bus and we set off for the 1/2 marathon drop off point 13 mile UP the road. By this time, my heart is pounding. Am I going to withdraw or not? Finally I just said to myself…screw it. I’m gonna do it ! I knew that even under the toughest circumstances, I could walk 3 to 4 miles. And because I knew that there were aid station every 3 miles, I figured if I had to drop out ( which I had every intention of), I’d just have the SAG vehicle bring me back to the finish line and wait it out.
It’s Showtime
This is the moment of truth, we’re now at the drop off point for the half marathoners. I’m try to rationalize my predicament ……OK, you might be severely dehydrated and tired, BUT, you’re legs are very strong , you’re breathing is Ok. You can always get more electrolyte replacement fluids on the course , and you’ve done several half marathons…You can do this! So I got off the bus, pored some water over my head, turned my flash light on , waited for the starting signal…..and took off walking.
Within just matter of seconds , the crowd had thinned out to a single or double file line, and the loud cheers had diminished to barely a whisper. Moments after that, there was an erry silence. We were now walking through the one of the most majestic and serene places Ive ever been to in my life. The scenery was magnificent. The moon was giving up just enough light where you could see the grandness of the desert floor and the silhouette of the nearby mountain ranges. Your senses get overwhelmed by the sure vastness and nothingness of your surroundings, and soon you remember what drew you here in the first place. The beauty…the uniqueness ….the challenge ..the chance to see some weird stuff in the night sky.
The course itself was the toughest one Ive encountered so far, and although it only ascends 900 feet over 9 miles, it’s a constant climb for 9 solid miles straight up the side of a mountain, in a straight line… with no plateaus! From a runners vantage point, all you see are the white lines on the road disappearing up the grade. It’s like climbing a hill that never ends. I think that’s what makes this course so difficult for most people ( runners and walkers alike). In a way, the darkness make it a little easier to deal with the hill , because a lot of the reference points are hidden. I think if you attempted to do this course during the day, the sure monotony would get the best of you.
Getting back to my own experience; I basically set my walking switch to the on position and engaged the auto pilot. Once I got moving my legs felt surprising strong, and when we made it to the first aid station, I knew I had a good chance of completing the race ( albeit..very slow) The biggest problem I had during the walk, was brain fatigue, constant nausea and abdominal cramps. I think most of these were symptoms of dehydration. During the walk, I tried to drink as much water and electrolytes as possible to make up for what I had sweated out early in the day, but I couldn’t seem to catch up… the nausea was abdominal cramping was unrelenting. I brought along several gels with caffeine which seems to help, but at the same time acted weird on my stomach. I found myself constantly surveying the landscape along the side of the road with my flashlight, so I could pick out a place to either pee and/or vomit in semi privacy. Racewalking was definitely out of the question in this race, but in between my off road excursions to find a place to heave, I did my best to maintain a steady and even , albeit slow, walking pace. In fact, I don’t think I came to a complete stop even once to rest or stretch. I slowed down maybe, but I never really came to a total stop (except for a few brief moments where I had to relief myself). I even puked while in motion….How butch huh !
As far as my breathing goes, I was too distracted by my other aliments to really notice. I do remember however, my friend Brandon telling me that he could here me wheezing and to please use my inhaler.
Its difficult for me to give a mile by mile account of what happened , because in my mind , there we’re only two miles markers…. the uphill portion marker and the downhill portion. Everything else in between ( except the cow crossings) was kind of a blur, and sometimes I think I was actually sleep walking . I do remember however , that all the people on the course were very friendly, kind and courteous.There was none of that “attitude” you sometimes get as a walker from the elite runners. Everyone cheered everyone, regardless of where you were along the course or how fast or slow you were going. When we would pass each other, people would say things like ” Good morning! ” or ” Great Job! “. I guess being out in the middle of nowhere, its kinda nice knowing that you’re not alone out there. I also remember the occasional car full of teenagers passing by on the road cheering us on, and also an old ambulance that kept going back and forth with its flashing lights waiting for people to drop. Walking 9 miles straight up a hill is hard for anyone. Try doing it when you’re literally burned out from dehydration and exhaustion. Believe me, when you’re in a state like that, it takes everything you can muster to get through it. I cant even imagine what it must have been like for the full marathoners who ran( walked) 16 miles straight up. Many of them didn’t pass us up until the last 3 or 4 miles. They must have made their time up on the downhill.
Good thing I have strong conditioned legs, or there is no way on earth I could have gone half as far as I did.
We Made it…
After nearly 3 hours of walking non-stop uphill, we finally reached the summit and you could actually see the lights of the Little Ale inn ( finish line) 4 long miles below us. It felt so good to actually be walking downhill . As with even the easiest of races, the last 2 miles were hell. The little bit of pain I had in my legs and calves occurred during those two miles.
At exactly 4 hrs on the nose, my friends and I crossed the finish line together where I proceeded directly to the porta potties to puke my guts out…….repeatedly. After that , I joined the rest of finishers inside the Little Ale inn cafe for a spectacular breakfast feast they put on for us. There was hot eggs, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy..fruits and cereals ..you name it..they had it, and there was plenty of it.
Unfortunately, I was so out of it all the vomiting , that just the smell of food made me sick to my stomach. Instead I forced myself to down as much water and recovery shake( muscle milk) as I could, bought a little alien gift for my other half in the gift shop, and then headed back outside to catch the 3 hour bus ride back to the hotel.
It would be another 12 before I would eventually collapse from sheer exhaustion into a deep sleep on a very comfortable bed at the Las Vegas Hilton. I slept 8 solid hours, got up and drove 612 miles home.
As tough as the journey was to get to the starting line of this race, it was an extraordinary event , and I would do it again in a heartbeat (but not while dehydrated). It’s unlike any other event Ive ever experienced. Forget the finish times, nobody PR’s on this course. You do it for the adventure, you do it for the challenge, you do it to see mothers natures best.
Oh….and the reason I think I suffered heat stroke and dehydration syndrome, is because within an 18 hour period, I lost 6 lbs. My friend Brandon says he’s going to tattoo a race checklist on my arm so that next time, I wont forget things like, drinking enough water, bringing extra inhalers, warm dry clothes to change into. etc etc.
Its now 3-4 days post race and Ive totally recovered, though my lungs are starting to act up a little. Im not sure, but I think its probably from over stressing my body. I will take a few more days off from heavy exercise and then it back to flat land walking, as I have a full marathon to walk in just 6 weeks.
Aint life grand!
Thanks Joyce for putting on a great race ! See ya next year!
Some of the cool things about doing a short 5K walk is, # 1. It’s easy to bring your camera along. #2. There’s still some food left at the finish line , and #3. You can still walk the next morning !
I’m afraid I couldn’t put much of a race report together, because in less than 45 minutes …it was all over! I finished my first 5k race in 44:31. Certainly not my fasted time , but considering I was operating on no sleep, my back was killing me and my breathing sucked after the first mile…. I’m very pleased with the outcome. I was really afraid of pushing myself too hard, because I didn’t want to jeopardize the half marathon that I’m hoping to do in Nevada in two weeks. Also, this was my very first 5K walking event and I had no idea how to pace out the course , so I just made it up as I went along. I think I ended up doing one mile slow, one mile fast, one mile slow …etc. Anyways, my averaged pace turned out to be sluggish 14:20min/mile , but that would equate to a sub 6.5 hour marathon had I maintained that pace in a long distance race (which I know I could of), so that makes me feel good.
As with all my races though, the two days preceding the event are always the best. Got to take in all the favorite city sites and hang with my favorite people.
You probably wouldn’t know it by looking at my slow finish results, but today, I’m a very …very happy and lucky person . I know this wasn’t my fastest marathon, nor was it my slowest , but it was by far… my Favorite marathon !
Having been in the hospital just two weeks earlier, and judging by how rocky my recovery had been , I decided that I would not push myself too hard, and that I would deliberately keep my speed down and my racewalking sprints to a minimum.
To summarize briefly…. I’m proud of my performance in this race and that of my friends. For the first time ever, I think I did more things right, then I did wrong . That doesn’t mean I didn’t do any stupid things (more about that later), but I started the race with a positive attitude, finished strong, and I had a whole lot of fun in between.
And get this… I didn’t have a single leg cramp–not even a twitch during the entire 7 hour walk.. ..Nadda, Ziltch..Not One! and no knee pain either. Weird huh?
Finally, and what always amazes me, is the kindness of the people of Portland.
That’s what keeps bringing me back.
Here’s how the weekend went down:
Friday, I flew up to Portland where I hooked up with my friends and Walkingfasterclub cohorts, Brandon and Rachel .
(Friends Rachel and Brandon)
We set up camp at a cool little motel just a mile from the starting line, hung out,relaxed and ate like pigs.
(part of the fun is picking out your racing clothes)
Saturday morning , We headed over to the Expo and picked up packets and all the free stuff we could find. Later that morning we attended a scheduled lecture by Olympic racewalker Philip Dunn , and walking fitness expert Judy Heller.
(Racewalk Olympian Philip Dunn and my walking buddy Brandon)
(Philip and Judy)
It was basically a pep talk/inspirational speech for first time marathoners and what to expect afterwards. Phillip actually did the 26 mile Nordic walk on Sunday– his first time for that sport.
Philip has also qualified for the 2008 Olympic trials. I sure wish there was a way to help fund our Olympic athletes training. ( that’s another blog post)
Anyways, at the end of the presentation , I talked Philip into racewalking across the room for us. …in his jeans no less…( you can’t take me anywhere)
I was so pumped up after meeting Phillip , there was no doubt in my mind….I was going to finish this race!Marathon morning, we left the motel at 6am to allow for the one mile walk to the starting line. We only got a few hundred yards away when a young couple driving by stopped, and asked us if we’d like a ride down to the starting area.(the first example of Portland kindness ) of course we accepted , and in less than 10 minutes , we were in our starting positions near the back of the back.
The Start, The race was delayed for a few minutes due to road construction, but the gun finally went off , and with an inhaler in each hand , I headed out into the wild blue yonder.
Despite worrying all weekend that it was going to rain during the marathon, it never materialized , and you couldn’t of asked for better temperatures…56 degrees at the start.
Miles 1-3, The first few miles were, as they always are….easy , but a little nerve racking. I mean that literally, because for some reason I tend to get butterflies in my stomach during those first few miles of any race, so I’m always scoping out the nearby terrain for an emergency pit stop if needed. Thank goodness the churning in my gut subsided and I made it to mile 3 without any problems.
Mile 3.5 , I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was fellow blogger and friend Mike Mc Bride who come all the way from Colorado do this race. He had started at the very back of the pack and was already passing me up. He was pulling a specially designed cart which holds all of his oxygen tanks– an astonishing feat when you consider that he has severe emphysema . Not only does he have to walk fast , but he has to pull a large cart behind him. What a treat it was to meet this special person.
I would find out later, that his oxygen system failed and that he was forced to quit the race at mile 13. That sucks…… I’m sure he was disappointed.
(Mike hauling his oxygen cart UP a hill)
Mile 3.75, Sure enough… There was Anita, standing on the side of the road in her bright yellow hazard vest. At first I thought she was one of the racewalking officials. But why would they be rooting me on and taking my pictures and asking me if there was anything I needed.? lol I’m not that much of a celebrity.
Anyways, this would be the first of many encounters with this one- women life-saving, mobile cheer leader!Mile 5-6 , A piece a cake . I was finally starting to feel good and sure that I had made the right decision to do this race. I even did a little racewalking to make up for the lost time that I had wasted in the porta potty lines earlier. As I was racewalking I ran into yet another Walkingfaster member, Jackie. Looking strong, turns out she beat all of us with a finish time of 6 hours. (You ROCK Jackie !)
Mile 7 , OK…..remember when I mentioned something about doing stupid things? Well, this would definitely qualify.
I was starting to get a little short breath and wheezy , so I go to use one of my inhalers and guess what? They’re no longer in my hands ! I lost not just one…but BOTH of my albuterol inhalers.! They must have slipped out of my hands somewhere between mile 7 and mile 8 . I think it happened while was reaching for water at one of the aid stations. I had been carrying that stupid rain poncho with one of the inhalers wrapped in side,it must of fell out.
Inhalers are my life blood during a long walk race. During a typical marathon I’ll use my albuterol at least 12 times, maybe more. They’re more important to me than water.
Without the medicine, I can’t exert myself. Simply put …..no inhalers , means no race!
At this point I started panicking, so I turned around and back tracked a full mile searching in vane for these two lost inhalers. I think they were swept up with the paper cups on the ground. I was so pissed off at myself.
How could I be so careless? I had extra inhalers in my room, but I’m the only one who had the keys.
By this time I had all but resigned myself to the fact the race was over for me.
Then it dawned on me….I could use an over the counter inhaler like Primatine mist. But how would I get it on the course. Then the light bulb went off again…….. Anita is out along the course somewhere…..with a moped.
I immediately called her an told her the situation. Without hesitation, she told me she’d get on her scooter and find a drug store ( remember we’re talking early Sunday morning) and would call me back in 20 minutes. At that point my hopes were up again, so I decided to resume my walking , but at a much slower pace so that my breathing wouldn’t get worse.
15 minutes later, she calls me and tells me that she found a drug store that has primatene mist, but that it’s locked behind the pharmacy counter until the pharmacy opens at 10 am. She told me she would wait for them to open and get the medicine to me at mile 12 . (That was as close as she could get to me because the course was closed to traffic after mile 12.) That would save the race for me, but was going to put me behind another 15 -20minutes . Hey, I’m not going to PR anyway, so what’s another 15 minutes. Well, wouldn’t you know it… Anita worked her magical powers by convincing the people at the store to have pity on this poor pathetic little asthmatic racewalker. They agreed to open up the counter early for her and by the time I got to mile 12, Anita AND Brandon were both waiting for me with the primatene mist.
Anita saved the day for me and I was back on track with a total loss of only 10 minutes! This is the second act of kindness I received this day from the people of Portland.
Miles 12-20, absolutely awesome ! Even the climb up to the dreaded St Johns bridge was relatively easy .
For the next 4 and a half hours my friend Brandon and I would , walk , racewalk ,talk and basically acted like fools. We were feeding off each others defiance of going against doctors wishes and those of other people in our lives who think we’re crazy and careless for doing what we do. Brandon with his bad knees and me with my bad lungs–rebels till the end. At the same time though, we made it a point to slow down and cheer on all the wonderful musical acts that were performing for us along the way, and to voice our appreciation to each and every volunteer that cheered us on along the way.
The primatine mist was also working well as a substitute, and I had only minimal breathing difficulties throughout the rest of the course.
Anita would continue to pop out of the woodwork at various points along the way, offering up water and refreshments, not only to us , but other slow poke walker as well.
Miles 20-26 , Those last few miles were tough, but I still felt incredibly strong. Though we had made up a lot of time that I had lost earlier in the race, by mile 20 it was pretty evident that a sub seven finish wasn’t in the cards, so we decided to make it 7.5 hours instead and cross the finish line together.
Well,that’s exactly what we did. We finished those last 6 miles within 2 minutes of our new goal time and crossed the finish line at the same moment at 7:32:55. We came in 255th to last place. Hey…better than last years 50th to last.
Had it not been for my carelessness with my inhalers, or the fact that I was critically ill two weeks earlier, we would both finished in the 6 hour range.
But you know what? I wouldn’t trade a 5 hour finish, for the good time I had on that course.
You might not know it by looking at these pictures, but this was not a good race for me.
I felt fine at the starting line and was even able to jog a little bit during the first mile, but all the moisture in the air from the dense morning fog really exacerbated my asthma, and the seemingly endless hills made my leg muscles cramp up almost instantly.. (You know, I’ve done this same race three times , and I swear ..they added a few more hills!)
By mile 3 , I was so short of breath, I pretty much walked the rest of the way. My legs and lungs just couldn’t handle it .
After only the first 6 miles, it was evident that this was going to be a torture race. Instead of racewalking parts of the course as I had cleverly planned, I ended up going into total survival mode , propelling myself forward any way I could without cramping up.
I think what saved me from dropping out of the race all together , was my fixation on the 3 hour pace runner and her big yellow sign . Hovering just above the pack and within constant eyesight , I could see the bouquet of balloons she was carrying– It gave me something positive to focus on. We had been passing each other on and off, and towards the end, she knew I was struggling. When we got to mile 12.9 ( mile 26) she slowed slowed down, reached out for my hand, and literally pulled me into the finishing chute.. What a sweetheart! She hit her target goal 2:48:45 to the second! and let me finish a few seconds ahead of her.
As for the event itself, in my opinion it’s a bit over rated. It was way too crowded(over 14,000). Runners were treated like cattle at the finish line, and as always… the post race food sucked. (c’mon, a bottle of hot lemonade and a dried- up biscuit? )
They need to take a few lessons from the Portland Marathon organizers and start treating all of their participants like winners, not just the ones who finish in 2 hours.
Hey I love San Francisco, but I don’t think I’ll do this race again.
What made all this torture worth while , was getting to spend the weekend with some very special people( you know who you are) and the kindness of that pace runner ( whoever you are) .
(me and my friend Ann who left me in the dust back at mile 15)
Just got back from Portland and I didn’t want to leave everyone hanging. So, for those of you waiting on the edge of your seats, the answer is YES……….. I finished my first marathon
OK , now that my endorphin level has finally dropped to normal and there’s nothing in my system to mask the pain, I have to say…My body feels trashed. I feel like I was it by a train. Every muscle in my body hurts– from shoulders to ankles and everything in between. I can only imagine how my friend Brandon (who walked 26.2 miles with two bad knees), is feeling …
Dont’ get me wrong…I’m elated with my finish time , but I’d gladly trade it for a slower time if meant less post race pain.
With four half marathons under my belt in the past 12 months, you’d think my recovery would be quicker and less painful. You’d think ..wouldnt you?
Then again, looking back on this race, I see myself making the same ‘ole common mistakes, like pushing myself too hard and.. under-hydrating! ! When will I learn that the body needs fuel ! especially a sick body! During this race I thought I was doing good because I forced myself to drink at every station. The problem is…. drinking two to three ounces of cytomax or gatorade every two miles is probably not considered adequate hydration, certainly not enough to stave off the massive leg cramps that I get every single time.( Oh..and I think I did one Vanilla goo too)
Another thing to consider is…. this is the first time I’ve ever racewalked in a race!
Not only that , but I racewalked much more than I had planned to. In my training leading up to this race, I thought of maybe trying to racewalk a few hundred feet per mile… tops. Well, instead of doing two or three hundred feet per mile, I ended up doing two to three THOUSAND feet per mile–Tens time as much. This would probably explain the post-race pain in my upper arms and shoulders as I’ve never had my arms in continuous motion throughout an entire race.
Even though I set a new PR and made a strong finish, to be honest… There’s no way I could have raced another foot, let alone another 13 miles. I think I hit that proverbial wall , right at the finish line. If I feel this way after 13, how am I going to feel after 26? Is it even possible for me to do 26? After this last recovery, I’m really beginning to wonder if 26.2 is in the cards for me.
Well. It’s too soon to call it quits on my full marathon plans. In 4 weeks I’ll be attempting an 18 mile LSD … That’s when I’ll make a final decision on whether or not to postpone it.
In the meantime; I’m going to eat a banana everyday and try to get the right balance of electrolytes circulating. I’m going to eliminate racewalking from my longer walks to save my calves ( I’ll still racewalk on the short days.) I’m going to wear running shoes for my long walks and racing flats for my short walks. I’m going to do my best to down those 4-8 glasses a day.
I’m going to do all these things ….and more, because what’s the point of hard training hard for a race if your going to feel like crap afterwards. I haven’t even considered the “lung ” implications of a 6 to 7 hour walk.
We’ll see how things go when my full marathon training gets started next week.
It’s now three days post-race and the body aches have eased up a lot though, not completely. I hope to get out and do at least, a short walk by this weekend. I’m already planning my strategy for the San Francisco Marathon in late July and I cant wait to get out there and start working on it.
During this last race I made it sort of a game to observe the walking styles of as many people as I could. (also cuts down on the monotony of the walk) Without bragging, I think my striding technique was better than most. I was able to walk farther distances without breaking stride. In addition, my pace was more consistent and my leg transitions and arm swings were much smoother . Remember, I do a toned down version of racewalking, which means I incorporate the proper hip motion and foot placement ,but not as exaggerated .
Up to this point in my walking career, I’ve basically tried to increase my endurance by logging lots and lots of miles. Speed wasn’t really an issue. All I really wanted, was to be able to complete a 13 mile course and not die in the process. Asthma had always dictated how far , how fast and how long I could walk. Some of those parameters are changing. It seems that all of this training has made me a more efficient walker.
My focus of training for the next race ,will be to improve and refine my walking style even more. For me , maximizing efficiency to cut down on wasted body motion …. Is everything. I believe that with a more “efficient” stride , that I can increase my overall speed without burning out so quickly. In turn, this might give me the few extra minutes I need to break the 3 hour barrier.
Thank you for your patience. We’ve been working hard to acquire the medals misplaced at our 2005 event in San Francisco in addition to fielding 100’s of great emails about the event. We’ve come up for air, and placed an additional order and when they arrive, we would like to get these medals to you as soon as possible. To be created and shipped, we’ve been told 10-15 days. Once we get them in hand, we’ll send them right away.
Again, we apologize for this unfortunate incident. Everyone worked so hard and the finish medal is a fun part of the experience. We’ll have to make sure the UPS guy unwraps the package and places it over your neck… We have most of your addresses, but those who have not, please respond to the email below with the following: Name: Bib #: Address: medals@usraceseries.com< >Best, The US Half, San Francisco Team
Somehow , Having the UPS man hang it on me , just isn’t the same.
