Grandma’s Marathon on the Horizon

Three Sundays ago on an unusually warm late April afternoon I did a 16 mile long run that turned out to be really ugly. I ended up walking several times that probably totaled about 2 miles. After the run my legs pulsated with pain for about a half hour. I was really getting concerned that I lost ground over that last two months. Back in February I ran continuously for 16 miles at a much faster pace. How could I finish Grandma’s if I was going backwards? Maybe the chemo did too much damage to repair between treatments.

Marathon coaches say not to worry about walking, if you have to walk do it, just make sure you complete your entire long run. However, I see that the need to walk is sometimes an indication of non-optimum technique, usually caused by starting out too fast at the beginning of the run. I found the fastest time to complete a long run is obtained if I start at a slower pace and keep my heart rate below 160 bpm for most the run maintain the same pace all the run. There were times during my last 16 mile run that I had to walk to slow down my heart rate. The chemo induced anemia limits my speed, but my spirit wants to go faster. To maintain a constant pace I need to be extra careful to set the right pace at the start of my run. I just need to find that right pace.

I planned an 18 mile run for Sunday last week. I saw this as a pivotal run since it would be the longest in my training to date, and close to 20 miles, which is the pinnacle of most beginner marathon training programs. This time I started out at a slower pace. My heart rate stayed in the low to mid 150s during most of the run. The change in technique really paid off. I didn’t have to stop or walk during the entire run, and I finished the 18 miles in less time (3:08) than the ugly 16 miles (3:12). I feel confident now that I will be able to cross the finish line at Grandma’s, even if I go through two more chemo cycles.

Last Wednesday I had another PET scan. The results will be used to determine if I need two more chemo cycles. At this time I’m planning my training around two more chemo treatments. This morning I’ll go for a 20 mile run. My next (7th) tentative chemo treatment is scheduled for this Wednesday. Then before my last (8th) chemo treatment I’ll go for another 20 mile run and a 23 mile run. If I can do that then I should be able to run Grandma’s and enjoy it. That’s the first goal in any marathon training, to get into a condition where the marathon race is enjoyable, not dreadful.

Last year when I ran the Twin City marathon my goal was to finish in less than 4 hours. I trained hard for that goal over last summer and based on my last 23 mile training run I was well poised to make it. However race day turned out to be the hottest TC marathon on record and the sweltering heat kept me from reaching my goal by 9 minutes. So after the TC marathon my focus was on Grandma’s, which is considered a fast course because it doesn’t have large hills and is downhill on the average. Then I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which at first erased any hopes of just running Grandma’s. Now I feel confident I can finish the race in the regulation time of 6 hours, and maybe within 5 hours. But even if I don’t receive any more chemo treatments, I will not recover fast enough to reach my 4 hour goal. So I signed up for the TC marathon that runs this fall on October 5th. Hopefully I can get my speed back over the summer. My oncologist says it takes about 6 months to recover from chemo treatments. I’ll have to beat that by a couple of months.