Frederick Marathon 2009 Race Report

My goal for this marathon was to get under 4 hours and 30 minutes.  That didnt happen. I’ve been training all winter since mid January to make up for my humbled experience with the Marines Corp Marathon in 2008.  I finished in 4:34:57 A LOT better than MCM but failed to meet my goal. The thing about setting goal is that if you exceed or meet your expectation its a great feeling but for those that couldn’t quite make it due to various reasons there’s a huge sense of burden. Dissapointment will always linger until they confront what happened. The easy thing to do would be to find excuses and blame it on factors that are outside of our control.  I didn’t have the drive and motivation to push myself . There’s no sense in beating myself up about it, I am already in too deep. I must train harder and smarter in preparation for the upcoming Baltimore marathon in October. 

Now that’s out of my system, let me just take a moment to mention the weather. IT RAINED!!! The first 2 miles was fine as there was a little drizzle and everyone welcomed the nice breeze. After mile 3 it started pouring, there was no sign of it slowing down. Everyone was completely drenched and it took extra effort to shuffle on in wet and heavy clothes. But as marathoners go, we’re somewhat masochistic so a little rain doesn’t really put anyone off. A lot can go wrong in 26.2 miles, rain is but another inconvenience that we have to put up with . If anything, it makes for better post race stories.  

This was my first experience with the Frederick course and I must say, it is HILLY. The rolling hills punished the unprepared, myself included, and reminded us why it was a bad decision not to do any hills workout during our training.  I had to walk some of the hills to save my calves from cramping and locking up.  Unlike MCM I didn’t experience any sort of cramps at all for the whole distance. The decision to forego water and stick to only gatorade at the water stops was a big influence. 

I met a lot of interesting people as I made my way around the course. The most interesting was “barefoot Todd” running his 250th marathon today. He was quite an inspiration and a witty conversationalist, as there were other runners asking how he does what he does ? to which he reply “You guys have jobs” this is mine. There was a brief moment of silence as everyone within earshot wonder what it would be like to live a day as Todd.  Another interesting character was a tall and big build gentleman that have calves the size of my thighs. These things were freakishly huge and everyone couldn’t help but look at them. He overheard us talking about them and looked back to remark  ”Yea ya like it huh ?” I am not sure what it was about them but I just couldn’t look away. 

Overall it was a pleasant experience, I am a little dissapointed that I didn’t make my time but I WAS running with a callus on my right foot  <—- excuse  :) 

Frederick Marathon 2009 Official Results

 

Me at the Frederick Fairground

Filed under: Running , frederick marathon, frederick marathon 2009 race report, Running

Game on

“In running it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability with brain and heart to master himself and his emotions.”
GLENN CUNNINGHAM, American runner in the 1930s

Now that the dust have settled, I’ve come to terms with my disappointing performance in the Marines Corps Marathon. However it was truly my first marathon so I’ll take it for what it is. 5 hours and 12 minutes. That time is now a benchmark for future marathons. It will take months and months of training to best that time but I am up for the challenge. I lost something very dear to me at MCM, if you happen to see it around mile 18 near Haines Point please leave it where it is, I’ll be back to claim it in 2009. 

CRAMPS. The reason for my breakdown. My calves locked up and my thighs were contracted to such a point that it was very difficult to run. I had to let up and walk. I had been running for more than 3 hours, my sodium level was depleted to a point that cramps was the only way my body could tell me that its not safe to keep pushing. From the very start I never drank any gatorade, I took water at every water stops but neglected the gatorade. HUGE MISTAKE. The electrolytes in gatorade would’ve helped keep my sodium level and cramps in check.  It was a learning experience, for future training I will be using salt pills and gatorade to ward off the cramps monster.

I signed up for the Maryland Double Dare on Saturday committing myself to the Frederick marathon in May and the Baltimore marathon in October 2009.  I will also sign up for the Marines Corps marathon again. It will always be special to me, not because it broke me but rather it taught me how to be humbled. I will officially start training for the Frederick marathon in December 2008. I will be using the training program outlined at http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/128.shtm running 6 days a week while progressively increasing the long run distance week by week for 20 weeks. 

For now I will keep to the pre-training schedule as detailed in the table below.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Off	4 miles	6 miles	4 miles	6 miles	3 miles	8 miles

As Glenn Cunningham put it, running truly is a contest between you and yourself. A most formidable opponent, who know and feed on your doubt and fears. The satisfaction comes from the knowledge that you’ve bested yourself time and time again.

RUN

Filed under: Running , baltimore marathon, frederick marathon, Glenn Cunningham, marathon training, maryland double dare