i actually got over the soreness pretty quick. i mean, sunday and monday were bad, tues was a little worse but it was all gone by wed. moving on to other things: flag football.
i was in a little post-marathon rut for those days, unmotivated to work or do anything but lay around the house, so i took some early afternoons and didn't do much. but after some relax-ation last night all is well within.
well, kinda. seems like people are getting hit on all sides with crap, i'm just moseying along, trying to help, but also trying to run away.
found some of my old posters last night, filled with michael edwards quotes (here is life, take hold of it, its real!) and even some from brittan. i do miss those days, in my dungeon of a study, listening to music, doing homework, and trying to grasp life by the horns. all the grad school apps, wondering where i was to end up. and if i saw myself now, i'd be: happy that i'm doing well, surprised that i have a girlfriend from ohio of 15 months, content that i'd run a marathon (smile appears on face), excited that i'm in a band (though not as exciting as pwd...listened to a recording the other day, man jesse is talented), and probably wondering why i still don't have stuff figured out. well settle down, year-and-a-half-ago Eric, because i don't think i'll ever be close.
thanks for the congrats. running a marathon is really hard. and if you've never seen one run before, check it out (SD, or even just toledo). you'll be amazed what 'ordinary' people can do, and excited that all of humanity is not turning into one obese, diabetic lump...(no offense to anyone who is either of those, but the idea of obesity as a disease is, well, strange, and those who are diabetic from natural (non-obese) causes, you definitely have my sympathy. what an ugly disease)
is voting for bush because of his stance on abortion and same-sex marraige the same as voting against the poor, the iraq war, and the environment (among others)?
i know its kinda lame, but here's an email about my marathon (but i think I forgot to send it to you justin so instead of sending it right now i'll just post it here):
Here's some pictures from the race (click on the picture for a bigger version) and from last week too.
Thanks for keeping up on me on the website and stuff! Will I do another one, and try to get through "The Wall" and run faster? ask me in three weeks when I can walk normally!
take care,
Eric
the other part of the story is this:
i was on pace for my 3:25 goal at 20 miles (at 2:37 hours). Then I hit the Wall. What is the Wall you ask? Basically...the average runner burns 100 calories a mile, and the average body stores 1800-2000 calories in the form of carbs at any one time. so after 18-20 miles, the body runs out of calories to burn and starts burning other things like fat (more exclusively, rather than just a little) and so the body basically runs out of energy and the running really, really starts to suck. the mind also loses the ability to concentrate on anything other than "i want to stop. i want to stop. why am i doing this?"
to get past the Wall you need a) mental toughness from having done this before, b) extra sources of carbs (gu energy gels, cookies, fruit, etc.), c) lots of water during the run (or sports drink for potassium), and d) an efficient body to utilize energy well. i tried to do all of these things to some extent but the marathon is brutal.
after mile 20 i had to start walking. i'd run for 5 minutes, walk for 2. those little 'shuffles' were horrible, so hard to start after walking. so hard. i wanted to quit. the temp climbed into the 70s, and peaked at 79 later in the day. too hot for oct. 31.
at mile 26 my friend karthik ran with me to the finish at 26.2. after receiving my finisher's medal, i proceeded to lay down on the ground for 30 minutes with some friends nearby to watch just in case i passed out. my legs hurt so bad that laying down on my back/butt even hurt. it was unbelievable. i swore off of marathons instantly.
justin, jeff, chris, mike, jason, kunal, and paul all ran well too.
lots of people in costume, including kermit, captain america, superman (who took a leak near the wash. monument i'm told), firefighters, etc.
my total time as 3:44 and 1086 place out of 16,500 runners.
and i'm done. i couldn't really walk today, so maybe i'll do things tomorrow.
