Mapping my Mind

A Marathon training update

As part of the AIDS marathon training program, this weekend was the 20 mile run. My previous 2 long runs had some “after-effects”. I was limping around for 7 days after the run.

The 20 mile run was originally scheduled for last weekend. But due to the fire in Los Angeles and the air pollution that it caused, the run was rescheduled this weekend. I have been mentally preparing for it and felt like the anticaption was prolonged.

Anyway, I started the preparation on Saturday by having 2 dosas at Annapurna Cuisine. It is my new fav indian restaurant. I like the food and service there. I was also stocked on Cliff Bars and shots.

The run started out very smooth. I breezed through the first 5 miles. It was too easy Around mile 10 I started to feel a bit tired. I was low on energy. Actually, I felt energetic. But my legs were feeling heavy. It is hard to explain. Thoughts of my “12 mile wall” flashed through my head. I would say running long distance is an experience in self-mastery. It is a lesson on how to break through my own internal voice (Yes. I do hear voices in my head ) and continue running.

The previous 2 runs, I had 2 main “pain spots”. My knees on the outer, lower edge hurt and the outer edges of my feet hurt. It is a dull pain when I am not walking or standing. And turns into a sharp, radiating pain once I start to walk or stand-up. It is not unbearable. I would rather not have the pain.

So at mile 13 (yes, ran through the 12 mile wall) my feet start to hurt. The previous 2 runs I didn’t feel the pain while I was running so never did anything about it.

Stu Mittleman says that our feet can expand upto 2 full sizes during long-distance running. I thought maybe that is what is happening to me. I mean, my feet had expanded and it is being held tight by the shoe, which is restricting the blood flow and hence the pain later.

I untied my shoes, and tied them again a bit loose. As I am writing this, I have very little or no pain at all on my feet. I will be able to verify my theory by tomorrow.

Finding Money
I noticed something curious during my run.

1. There were so many pennies and quarters on the road
2. No one else want to pick them up

I found a 1 dollar note (saturday), 1 Quarter and 6 pennies ($1.31) during my run. There would have been atleast 50 people from the AIDS marathon training alone run before me, so many other runners, walkers. How come no one spotted these coins? Is it my running style? Do I keep looking at the road instead of looking ahead? I don’t know. But I find a lot of money on the roads

So back to my running story — I ran out of energy at about 17 miles. Chewing on a additional energy bar didn’t make much of a difference in my every level. I walked for the next mile.

Mile 18 - I was talking to a fellow runner Matt. We started talking about his business. He buys and sells exercise equipment on ebay. I was talking to him about his business and what he does and before I knew it, we were about 500 feet from the finish line.

I felt good after the run. No major knee or foot pain (so far )

If you would like to donate to AIDS research please do so here: Aids Marathon