Two runs post-marathon runs + SPECIAL GUEST BLOG! (Dr. E-Lamp

Of less interest--First post-marathon run on Saturday was an ugly and tired 2 miles. Monday's 5.5 through Southie brought back some speed, some confidence, and a tiny nag in one knee I'll be keeping an eye on.

Of primary importance: Evan's blog. He's running his first full marathon this Sunday, May 4, starting at 6:00 a.m.--please think motivating thoughts for him through 10:30!!

Also, as an FYI, Lampshade, you were definitely a motivating factor in my long-distance running startup:)

Without further ado...

Greetings, Dr. E-Lamp is guest blogging again.
I’m writing this only a few days prior to my running the Colorado Marathon EARLY this Sunday. Formerly, the run was called the Fort Collins Old Town Marathon. This marathon is Colorado’s oldest, and this year marks the debut of the half marathon along with the 5k, 10k, marathon, and kiddie run. We’ll start out of town at the Stevens Gulch campground in Roosevelt National Forest, follow the Poudre Canyon into the town of LaPorte, and end up in (obviously) Old Town Fort Collins, where all the other races will finish in an extravaganza of running glory. This is a Boston qualifier, and boasts the top US qualifying rate due to its downhill nature: 16-18%.

All right, the boring details are out of the way, now for my feelings about the marathon. I have been obsessing to various degrees about this since January: first I was very obsessed and trained hard until the end of February, then slacked off for almost all of March (and drank a lot of rum to boot), and then the time I spent obsessing and training increased exponentially through April and **science geek alert** there is no asymptote or carrying capacity in sight.
My training was by no means scientific, but I’m in really good shape. I ran 4:20 as my longest run with the intent of running 26 10-minute miles. Did I run that far? I have no idea. I hope it doesn’t take me much longer than that, as I got woozy at the end – although my nourishment/hydration while running was nonexistent. I run 9:15-30/mile half marathons. Entering a recent 5k effort into a pace calculator projects me at 3:43, last year’s half time projects me at 4:13.

Any distance runner knows that long runs are more mental than physical. My first half marathon I let the mental part get to me and ran/walked the last bit. I don’t want to do that this weekend, because once I decide it’s OK to walk once I stop and walk a lot.

My hips, knees, quads, calves, and lower back alternately harassed me at different points of my long runs. Typically, I’ve felt astonishingly good afterward, to the point of running 5ks the day after a couple of times. Probably won’t happen this time…

For four years I’ve been running half marathons and thinking about running the whole thing. Abby’s entry into the Boston Marathon was my clincher. It’s pretty cool; I like to think I at least somewhat inspired her to start long-distance running, and she definitely inspired me to run the marathon. Fargo was always destined to be my first, but I kept wimping out and moved to the mountains before running it. Fargo is only two weeks after the Colorado, but I have a hunch I won’t make it. Two girls from our high school ran the Fargo Marathon in ’07 but are running the half this year – apparently they weren’t very happy afterward. Last year three of my NDSU entomology colleagues ran the half (I finished 2nd out of 4), and this year two are running the full for the next time.

All right, wish me luck. I think most of the readers of this either are related to me or don’t know me, so anything helps. I didn’t raise any money, but the race fees I paid go to local charities such as Habitat for Humanity and groups getting kids to start running, which are good in their own right.

P.S. I can’t wait to eat pizza, drink alcohol, and eat candy again!