• Tuesday, January 27th – 2 miles 18 minutes
• Thursday, January 29th – 3 mile 26.48 minutes
• Sunday, February 1st – 3 miles 28 minutes ? (didn’t write it down)
• Tuesday, February 3rd – 4 miles 37 minutes

So far the toe has been tolerable and slowly improving. I hope that it heals despite my decision to keep running. 

Time off

Taking a week off after a 13 mile race is not only recommended but in my case it felt very necessary. By the second day I my hamstrings were rather tight and my feet were a little worse. I was rather tired and fell asleep early both days.

What Stretch?

I think I had a few most race errors. I didn’t really stretch and I didn’t take an ice bath or even ice any part of my body. I did ice my left knee at the finish line first aid station after the race. I noticed a big difference between the iced and non-iced knee. I would say that icing your knees does have a positive effect on recovery given my personal experiences.

After a week of rest it is time to select another race and see if it can be done again.

Marathon Preparations

I started out the night before by gathering all my necessities and laying out my clothing. It turned out to be a good idea because I was not very motivated and a little out of it. Not having to think early in the morning is a good thing. Wendy made some terrific spaghetti for dinner and in the morning we had coffee, water (duh!) and oatmeal. Walking out the door I downed an eight ounce Gatorade.

Race Transportation

Wendy and I drove to the finish line area to take the shuttle. Getting there and parking wasn’t terribly difficult because we left at 6am and arrived at 640-ish (am). The line to get on the shuttle was rather long but when a fresh set of busses rolled up, the line moved fast. About halfway through the line I felt I had to pee. Must have been the coffee Gatorade mix.

Race Arrival

The bus ride seemed to take forever and by the time we arrived I was floating. I had to pee so bad my lower back was hurting but how long could the lines really be? Well, not too long but freaking slow (30min)! After FINALLY getting to use the facilities we were off to find the UPS trucks for bag drop off.

The UPS thing is really nice, they tag your stuff and transport it to the finish line. It’s cold so bringing a jacket an then dumping it on the truck is rather useful. We didn’t bring much but next year I will bring more stuff and make sure it includes some additional drinks and food for after the race.

Race Start

After dropping of our gear we mad our way to the starting area. Wendy was put in corral six and I was supposed to be in corral seven. We ended up going all the way to the very front of the race to take a peak at the “fast people”. Then made our way back to the proper corral and ended up going into corral 7 together.

Each corral is released in a wave with 1 minute intervals between each one. Being in the proper corral keeps you from running over people and from being run over. When it was our turn the announcer guy started chatting with the crowd. He was funny and very interactive. Then the horn blew and we headed down the road.

The Run

Once we started down the road I felt water on my back. Unfortunately my water bottle was leaking but because it had Cytomax in the bottle, it was sticky. So, I drank as much as I could and then tossed it at the next trash bin. About one mile into the run Wendy and I split up as we each started to hit our preferred pace.

My broken toe situation was painful but tolerable. I decided to ignore it and focus on my breathing and pace. I was passing people like crazy which made me think that I might have started in the wrong corral. Passing people isn’t an easy thing to do and it requires a lot of tricky movements and wasted energy.

The watering stations are crazy! People stop running without warning and throw half-full cups in the air. Occasionally the half full cups of sports drinks hit other people and other times they end up on the ground and you step on them while occasionally soaking your shoes.

I felt great for the first 8 miles and really didn’t feel winded or weak or anything. However, my toe and bottom of my left foot started yelling at me.  Then just after the GU and water station I hit mile nine (9)  and began the journey uphill.

I don’t think this is a huge hill as hills are concerned but it was enough to zap me. By the time I reached mile 10 my feet were on fire, my toe was screaming and my legs were spent.  People started passing me like I was standing still.

So, with 3.1 miles to go I felt as though I had nothing left in my legs. My only thought was to keep running and if possible run faster. I tried to move my legs faster but they weren’t cooperating.

When I finally reached the 13 mile mark, with the mass crowds cheering, I managed to pick up the pace and finish running at a decent looking speed. Well, it was a fast pace in my head but probably not to the spectators.

Post-Race Escapades

I was immediately offered water and began to hobble around while sipping it carefully. I didn’t see Wendy at our agreed upon meeting place so I made my way over to the medical area for some much needed ice. While sitting down my feet felt like balloons and I wasn’t sure that was normal. So I asked the guy sitting next to me, who looked to be seasoned and in-shape, and he admitted that he was feeling the same.

After an exchange of words and thanks I was off to find Wendy. She was there, at our spot, waiting and looking around frantically. As soon as she saw me she smiled and then admitted that she was worried that I might not be coming, lost or injured. After standing still my legs felt stiff and frozen in-place. Wendy was nice enough to help me navigate the crowded area to the finish photo.

After pictures we headed off to the UPS trucks to grab our bag. Actually, Wendy and I agreed that I would stay put and she would go grab our stuff due to my ever increasing lack of mobility. After that we headed to the family meeting area to see if any of our friends were there. We found Wendy’s friend Melissa and , by accident, Zach and Beth Miller.

Heading Home

We had to leave at noon because we were expecting a bunch of family to visit with Wendy’s sister who was visiting from Iowa and to hang out and watch the Cardinals play the Eagles. Unfortunately the foot traffic and vehicle traffic was horrendous. We didn’t make it home by our target time of 1pm but we did arrive around 1:30 and the Cards were up 21 to 6.  It was a good day and a great race!

Getting ready

I taped my injured pinky toe to its nearest and only neighbor, carefully put on my sock and worked on my shoe. I had to adjust the shoe so that it didn’t put too much pressure on the toe.

A quick jog through the living room revealed a decent fit with minor discomfort. I popped some standard pain meds, ate a banana, downed an 8 oz Gatorade and headed out the door.

Running With Care

Started my run with a slow walk and some testing of the foot situation. Walking, it turns out, is more painful than running. So, I bumped the machine to 6 mph (10min mile) and headed off. Shear pain on occasional missteps caused me to adjust my style to favor the inner part of my foot.

I didn’t like 6 mph so I moved to 6.6 but that was worse. I found my happy place at 6.4 with a decent pace and tolerable pain while focusing on how my foot was landing. Any misstep sent shooting pains, like lightning made of glass shards, straight into my toe, ankle and lower leg.

Dumb & Numb

After two miles a numbing feeling started to replace the pain. After four miles my toe and part of my foot was numb. I am gambling that this will be my experience on race day which will allow me to run the full 13.1 miles without constant nagging pain.

One thing that might be different on race day is the crowd and potentially uneven surfaces. both of those factors could have an unexpected impact.

Finish

I managed to finish in 46.33 minutes which is pretty good considering the circumstances. Looks like I will be running in the PF Chang’s half marathon on Sunday.

I am supposed to have my final 5 miles training run tomorrow. Since I have already invested $100 for the race, I think I am going to give the training run a shot and see if I can tolerate a run roughly 2.5 times the distance.

Should I run or should I sit it out? That is the question. Will a tiny pinky toe stop me?