I have heard people complain about it, there isn’t a running publication that doesn’t write about it, but I never have come in contact with it……until now……..what I am speaking of is “the wall” this is described by others as a roadblock in a running race when you just lose it. It could be a physical, mental or even emotional breakdown when you bonk into this wall but there is no doubt you will know when you come in contact with it. The best way that I have heard it described is as follows……
"It felt like an elephant had jumped out of a tree onto my shoulders and was making me carry it the rest of the way in.”
Well unfortunately the elephant landed on my shoulders around mile 16 last weekend while running the Chicago Marathon…….and yup….BONK…..I hit the wall. This was a new experience for me, I have never in any of my training runs experienced this, yes of course I was exhausted and tired from running plenty of times but never felt like I was taken out of the game entirely. So there it was “the wall” and I am not talking about any ordinary wall I am talking about the big brick one that the smart third little pig built….. So I huffed and I puffed……and I walked …….and I sprinted….and I huffed…..sometimes the huffing wasn’t even due to the lack of breath I had but the utter frustration I was experiencing. This is the thing last time my body gave out, completely, hurt leg, absolute misery, but here I was walking and I didn’t have an ache on my body. I mean the cardinal sin is to walk, that means next comes cramping, aches, and numbness, I didn’t get any of that…..but I was still walking…..My mind and my body were at total combat with each other and I couldn’t talk either of them down from this standoff. It became sort of comical now that I look back….. I mean I would walk just because the heat and my head had a fueled debate about how it could be 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky in October and it wasn’t right what it was doing to me….. then my body would kick in get mad and I would full on sprint for a mile to make up for the stupid wall that I could not blow down……So the huffing and puffing continued for about five-seven miles and then finally the big bad wolf came to my rescue at mile 24 and blew it down. Take that little pig! So all in all I did finish which should be enough, but honestly for the training that I had I wanted more, I wanted the time I had set in my head, I wanted the victorious feeling of Yes, that is exactly how I wanted it to happen. But with marathon running I am now learning that I am not sure that you can ever control ALL the variables enough not to say…..”I wonder what it would be like if the ____________ cooperated” the blank could be filled with (the weather, my body, my shoes, my digestive track, my iPod, my attitude, my food intake, my liquid intake, my sleep patterns) So people constantly ask “why?” Well I think the answer is besides trying to get all the “variables” lined up, it’s the fact that when I run these races its possible for me a, normal Joe, to participate in the same event that an elite unbelievable athlete can, and that is pretty cool. Think about it if you had a chance to join MJ on the court or Babe Ruth on the diamond or even Yzerman on the ice, you would give it a go wouldn’t you? I say yes.
So am I done? The accountant in me still says I can make the formula for all those variables work......so I guess not.
Here are some pix of us enjoying the expo, the race and a well deserved night out on the town:
"It felt like an elephant had jumped out of a tree onto my shoulders and was making me carry it the rest of the way in.”
Well unfortunately the elephant landed on my shoulders around mile 16 last weekend while running the Chicago Marathon…….and yup….BONK…..I hit the wall. This was a new experience for me, I have never in any of my training runs experienced this, yes of course I was exhausted and tired from running plenty of times but never felt like I was taken out of the game entirely. So there it was “the wall” and I am not talking about any ordinary wall I am talking about the big brick one that the smart third little pig built….. So I huffed and I puffed……and I walked …….and I sprinted….and I huffed…..sometimes the huffing wasn’t even due to the lack of breath I had but the utter frustration I was experiencing. This is the thing last time my body gave out, completely, hurt leg, absolute misery, but here I was walking and I didn’t have an ache on my body. I mean the cardinal sin is to walk, that means next comes cramping, aches, and numbness, I didn’t get any of that…..but I was still walking…..My mind and my body were at total combat with each other and I couldn’t talk either of them down from this standoff. It became sort of comical now that I look back….. I mean I would walk just because the heat and my head had a fueled debate about how it could be 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky in October and it wasn’t right what it was doing to me….. then my body would kick in get mad and I would full on sprint for a mile to make up for the stupid wall that I could not blow down……So the huffing and puffing continued for about five-seven miles and then finally the big bad wolf came to my rescue at mile 24 and blew it down. Take that little pig! So all in all I did finish which should be enough, but honestly for the training that I had I wanted more, I wanted the time I had set in my head, I wanted the victorious feeling of Yes, that is exactly how I wanted it to happen. But with marathon running I am now learning that I am not sure that you can ever control ALL the variables enough not to say…..”I wonder what it would be like if the ____________ cooperated” the blank could be filled with (the weather, my body, my shoes, my digestive track, my iPod, my attitude, my food intake, my liquid intake, my sleep patterns) So people constantly ask “why?” Well I think the answer is besides trying to get all the “variables” lined up, it’s the fact that when I run these races its possible for me a, normal Joe, to participate in the same event that an elite unbelievable athlete can, and that is pretty cool. Think about it if you had a chance to join MJ on the court or Babe Ruth on the diamond or even Yzerman on the ice, you would give it a go wouldn’t you? I say yes.
So am I done? The accountant in me still says I can make the formula for all those variables work......so I guess not.
Here are some pix of us enjoying the expo, the race and a well deserved night out on the town:
Up before the sun ......getting ready to line up......its absurd that I had a fleece on and 4 hours later it was a great day for the beach.
We got to see the guys about 4 times this is early around mile 6 since I am still smiling.
Chris ran with me for a while at mile 12........
Nikki powering past Forest Gump.....
Okay so the legend is created......Long story short ...my running partner finds out at 8:30 pm the night before the race that she forgot her running shoes......I KNOW.......its not a typo....she forgot her shoes..........and she is running a marathon in less than 12 hours......So the boys spent the better half of the night banging down store fronts on State street when one woman finally opened up the store (they were ALL closed) and said they could buy a pair for cash since all the registers were closed........So $120 later Nikki who was probably one in 49,000 runners who wore a pair of Step Up Sketchers for 26.2 miles......Bless her heart! And bless her feet....This is why runners shouldn't forget their shoes!
SITTING and celebrating after the race.
This was Nikki and a homeless guy teaching each other how to dance like Michael Jackson....And I am the one who apparently hit "the wall" I beg to differ! She is sometimes in her own "sketcher world"
Marathon behind us ......a night out in Chicago ahead of us......
I literally think we were using each others head to stay upright.....we had to if we laid down it would have been all over.
We needed some assistance from some 5 hour energy drinks......
Luck would have it our college buddy Drew owns a bar in Wrigglyville and it was Karaoke night.....Perfect!
Here is a link to the professional pix if you care to view.......just enter name and event.
http://www.marathonfoto.com/
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