Bucket List: Half Marathon

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Bucket List: Half Marathon

March 20, 2020, 09:32:41 AM

I've been meaning to brag... er... tell you guys about an item I got to scratch off my bucket list last weekend. It's a long read, so no worries if you can't get to it. It's kind of a memoir thing that I need to put in writing for my own life journal. But I thought some of you guys might get a kick out of it. Especially the end.

For those who don't know, I'm 52 and have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was diagnosed at 26. Before arthritis, I was in construction, playing in baseball and softball leagues, 6' 4", 220 pounds, best shape of my life, etc. One year later, due to medication side effects, laziness and a lengthy pity party, I ballooned up to 275. It often took 10-20 seconds for me to get up the courage to even get up off the couch, the pain was so intense in my hips and knees. The arthritis moved into every major joint in my body in a matter of months, locking up my right shoulder and both knees, to the point I couldn't even squat or get on the ground, for fear I'd never be able to get up again. Every few years, I'd look in the mirror and feel sorry for myself enough to give daily exercise "one more chance." I'd last maybe a few months before quitting. The pain in every movement with light weights, or even stationary biking or elliptical work just wouldn't stop with every single moment in any given workout.

Fast-forward to 8 years ago. I remember having a very clear conversation with God about wanting to not only be around long enough to see my grandkids (not yet born), but to truly enjoy them, get on the floor with them, play catch, slide down slides at the park, run alongside them... you know. It seemed an impossibility, just thinking about the kind of pain I'd have to endure. So I committed to God and myself that I'd give the gym 12 months this time, 4 times a week, no matter the level of pain, and see if I could build enough muscle around my muscle-less joints to get to a pain-free place regarding movement. 3 months in, I can't tell you how much I wanted to quit again. 6 months, same. 9 months... and finally I started to have days where the pain in joint movement was almost gone. And by the 10-month mark, the pain in my shoulders, hips, ankles, elbows, and wrists was finally low enough to where I didn't even think about not going to the gym anymore. I felt like a new man. I wasn't pain free, but the difference that year made is indescribable.

The knees came along slowly. I remember being on the elliptical one day (around the 1-year mark) and watching a guy jogging really, really slowly on the treadmill right in front of me. He "ran" maybe a 14-minute mile pace for 5 minutes, and stopped. And I thought to myself, "I think I can do that." I hadn't run/jogged since high school. At the time, my wife had completed her 3rd or 4th of what would be 7 marathons, and I really didn't have much interest in running. But I got off the elliptical and walked over to the treadmill, figured out how to set intervals of 10 seconds running and 50 seconds walking, and turned it on. I think it took about 2 months to reverse the intervals. My knees didn't fall off my body, so that was a plus. Eventually I starting running around the neighborhood. I ran my first 5k maybe a year later. And over the next few years, keeping distances around 3-4 miles was good enough for me, I figured.

Fast-forward another 5 years, a few months before my 50th birthday. I started running longer. Got to 5 and 6 miles for my weekly "long runs," and finally got up the courage to join my wife's running club. I ran 10 miles on my 50th birthday. A month later was to be a half-marathon in Phoenix. But a week after my 10-mile feat, I blew out my left hamstring doing short sprints with the training group. The next 2+ years would involve injury after injury (fractured a bone in my foot, broke a couple ribs slipping on a muddy path in Hawaii, broke one of those ribs again playing dodge ball a few months later... IT-band issues throughout), but a few months ago, I joined a half-marathon training group again with my wife, and was really determined to gitter done this time. I got past 10 miles again and my arthritic body was getting very angry with me. Six and eight mile runs don't bother me. Something about double-digit runs just make the bones ache. But I was not to be denied. I went into this half-marathon-bucket-list idea with a "one and only" attitude. Crossing that finish line was gonna happen. Period.

Our half-marathon was set for March 15, the Arizona Distance Classic (ADC) in Marana just north of Tucson. On March 11, we got an email from ADC saying they were NOT cancelling the race (Coronavirus). Woot! But sure enough, just like a lot of other organizations were forced to do, on March 13, they cancelled the race. I was devastated. I was ready. And no, I was not going to "defer" my race money already given to 2021 and do this training all over again. Thankfully, the ADC offered a "virtual" run option. Runners could choose any "out-and-back" 13.1 mile distance wherever they wished, take a picture of their watch/phone to prove their time, and send it in. So all the folks Jessica and I were training with decided to meet along a paved river path and do it!

Now, I'm not a fast runner. I do it solely to stay in good endurance shape. My goal was an 11:10 mile pace, wanting to finish inside 2.5 hours. By comparison, my wife's fastest MARATHON was an 8:45 pace when she was 45 years old that qualified her for the Boston Marathon in 2011. Woman's a total studdette. Anyway, back to ME... I felt great the morning of the race and after mile 9, I was at a 10:45 mile pace, feeling really good. But at mile 11, I hit what experienced runners call "the wall." I can't tell you how much I just wanted to stop and walk it in - IF I could make it to the finish line. Thankfully, the out-and-back course we chose didn't feature any hills within 2 miles of the finish, so I knew if I just kept churning the legs, I could do this. If I stopped, I knew it'd be all over. But man, the fatigue and pain in some joints was starting to win over my head. I had to keep reminding myself this was a bucket list item. Once in my lifetime. I knew I wasn't going to ever do it again. Yes, I'm going to keep running, but no more double-digit mileage. So I kept running. Slowed to a manageable pace, but - doing the math in my head - keeping a pace that would get me across the finish line under an 11-minute mile pace. 25 minutes later (surely the longest 25 minutes of my life), I crossed the finish with a 10:58 mile pace (2:23:37 total time).

I can't tell you how exhausted I felt. My wife hit her own wall this time, back at mile 10. She has been my #1 encourager through all this, and was running the group this time just to be with me while I did this. So she found a friend to walk with and cheered me on from behind. So at the finish line, I wasn't sure if she'd decided to start running again and wanted to be there when she came around. So I found a tree to lean against and started stretching. Then the whole world went white. Literally, white. It was the strangest sensation. My hands and forearms began to tingle like I'd hit a funny bone. Stayed that way for a good 10 minutes. I downed some electrolytes and tried to ignore the increasing nausea, but it only was getting worse. Jessica came across the line, and after a group picture and some hi-fives, we started to make our way to the car, only my legs decided not to cooperate. One of the bigger guys in the group grabbed my arm just before I fell over, and helped me to the car. I sat in the passenger's seat for a few minutes. And then... yeah. The banana and electrolytes made an encore appearance. Not my finest social moment. Turns out salt is kind of a big deal in our bodies. I sweat it all out and didn't replenish it. Experienced runners apparently take salt tablets before longer runs. Good advice I might have appreciated BEFORE the race. But yeah. Made it home and took a 2-hour nap with a slight smile on my face throughout.

I did it. Bucket List, Check. I'll continue to run and compete in the 10k's every now and then, but double-digit mile runs are behind this old man.

People have asked me what the next item on the bucket list might be. For now, I have no idea. Having 6 grandkids now and being able to realize that dream of getting on the floor with play with them all the time provides more joy I could ever express. But I'll think of something. I answered "Sky diving?" to a friend within earshot of the wife, and she quickly shot that down. But hey... maybe someday.

If you've read this far, thank you. So, what's next on YOUR bucket list?

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #1 – March 20, 2020, 01:07:03 PM

I ran cross country, track in highschool and still run 5Ks here and there. Even in Highschool when I could do a 18:30 5k a double digit mileage run was painful. Congrats to you for doing that and keep it up. Zero chance I will ever run a marathon.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #2 – March 20, 2020, 01:33:51 PM

Wow! That's outstanding! Congratulations Kyle.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #3 – March 20, 2020, 02:53:02 PM

Congrats Kyle. You're story is similar to mine. I've always had a weight problem. Somewhere in my mid-40's I started to go to the gym. I did some lifting and my cardio was mostly on an elliptical. I always thought running was boring and stupid. In my early 50's at our family Christmas party, my niece and her husband announced they were going to try to run the Cleveland Marathon in May. I boldly (or stupidly) stated that if they were doing it, I would too. I started running after the New Year with my first run being a 1/2 mile and my second a mile. My cardio had helped and I was able to add about a mile a week to my long runs. Sometime about late January or early February, we all decided a marathon training would be too much and we'd scale back to a half marathon.

The pride in running one further mile each week was hard to describe. When 5 miles seemed like the limit, the next week you somehow did 6. I'm a planner and plotted out how many miles I'd run from the start of my training until race day. My short runs were on Tuesday and Thursday and my long run on Saturday. What was amazing as the training progressed, what I used to consider a long run was now becoming my short runs.

As race day approached, I announced my goal. I wanted to break 2 hours. Race day weather was great and all was going well. I was slightly ahead of pace but didn't have much room for error. Then, like Kyle said, after about the 10 mile mark I really started to fatigue. I had a mantra I always used during my training runs when I tired..."Plan the work, work the plan". I would repeat that over and over in time with my footfalls. I was giving back some time but still figured to break 2 hours. Then, at the last water station, I got boxed in. Stupid rookie mistake and my fatigue probably contributed to it. It broke my rhythm, probably as much mentally as physically. I slowed my pace quite a bit and even walked some stretches similar to Kyle's run/walk pattern while he was training. Eventually I got my head back together and got back to running my pace. It was going to be close. As I neared the finish I pushed as hard as I could; as much to get it over as anything else. But there was certainly an adrenaline rush at the end. My final chip time was 2:00:02! I missed my goal by 3 seconds. I cursed my lack of discipline for quite a while for not pushing harder over those last couple miles.

I was able to finish 8 more half marathons and did eventually break the 2 hour barrier twice. Along the way I tore the labrum in my left hip and had to back off on the long runs. Short runs were okay but long runs were too much. My last half was in 2015 and I had slowed to 2:13. Then in the last few years, I pretty much stopped running again. I still miss it and when I see someone running I think about starting again and think maybe the hip will feel better after a few years off. Who knows. Now that I'm over 60, I have fewer competitors in my age group. I always figured I didn't have to run faster than the guys in my age group. I only had to outlive them to medal.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #4 – March 20, 2020, 03:00:40 PM

Kyle, on another note I'll comment on your skydiving comment. We have some friends at our church. The wife always wanted to skydive and the husband said "no way'. For her 40th birthday he bought her a skydive package that included a tandem jump for both of them. Of course, her dive went off without a hitch. But during his dive, they hit some kind of wind shear just before landing. The result was a much more rapid descent than was planned. With the weight of the instructor on my friends back, the landing wasn't pretty and he shattered his ankle. That was about 10-12 years ago and to this day he has a noticeable limp.

I'd vote no on the skydive if I get a vote.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #5 – March 20, 2020, 04:19:05 PM

I don't run, I cycle. I've always loved being on my bike. I wouldn't run even half a mile unless there were a bear chasing me, but I'll ride for miles on end.

Much like Kyle and Dan, in my early 20's I stopped riding. Stopped exercising altogether. No injury; no underlying concern; just laziness. I ballooned from an athletic 180 pounds in high school and early college, to 265 at my heaviest. Then nine years ago, just before my 42nd birthday I was diagnosed with diabetes. And no mild case . . . my doctor told me I should be in a hospital bed with the glucose numbers I had! Told me if I didn't get things under control (weight, glucose), I could easily shave 10-20 years off my life.

No thank you...

I started immediately learning how to overhaul my diet, and did so. After several months of losing weight with my new diet, I got back into exercise. First that was to join my 10 year old, Black Belt son in taekwondo. That helped with my flexibility and coordination, not to mention the cardio workout a tkd session entails! After I too attained Black Belt (at the same time my son reached his 2nd degree Black Belt), I turned my focus to the gym for strength and cardio. My wife bought me a new street bike not too long after that and I was back to riding.

10 minutes and 2-3 miles at first seemed like it would kill me, but I kept at it and began working toward more and more miles. Going steady for weeks, I improved to 15-20 miles in an hour and then . . . pulled BOTH quadriceps playing soccer... I've never taken so long to heal from anything in my life! After close to 6 weeks, I was healed enough to start riding again, but only short distances. I literally took close to 6 months to fully heal my quads for anything longer than a 10-12 mile ride. And at that it was sllllloooowww...

Now back at full strength, I'm routinely riding 30+ miles and 60-90 minutes at a time. My goal is to ride to and from school with a coworker (who's less than HALF my age...), a 25 mile one way trip . . . 50 miles in the space of 8 hours. After that, who knows!

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #6 – March 20, 2020, 04:39:01 PM

One of the difficult things with exercise like long distance running and cycling is that they can be very time consuming. During tax season I'll work 80-100 hours per week. After tax season, my wife and I own a tent rental business so I'm still working 60+ hours a week between both companies. I would feel guilty taking the time for long distance training. But without the motivation to train for the next race, I just quit running. Twenty pounds later I need to do something. Maybe if end up having to "shelter at home" I'll throw my shoes back on and try hitting the road...assuming I can find a running shirt that fits.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #7 – March 20, 2020, 05:22:06 PM

DAN, that's amazing! EIGHT half marathons! And under 2 hours... dude, that's truly impressive. And you're right, our stories are really kinda similar.

And yeah, skydiving is probably just a dumb thought in my head. I really can't see myself doing it. I'll come up with something better, I'm sure.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #8 – March 20, 2020, 05:26:30 PM

Way to go, Brendt! Dude, like soccer for you, Ultimate Frisbee is my death trap. I love to play Friday nights with guys half my age, but I almost always end up getting injured here and there. Sometimes bigger injuries than others. My wife strongly suggested I NOT play frisbee while I trained for this marathon, and I mostly listened.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #9 – March 23, 2020, 10:33:49 AM

I loved ultimate but haven't played since tearing an abdominal muscle playing for my university club 12+ years ago.

Re: Bucket List: Half Marathon

Reply #10 – March 23, 2020, 03:47:53 PM

Like riding a bike, Craig. Comes back pretty quickly.