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I haven’t written much lately, because in truth there hasn’t been much to write about.  I haven’t done much running, but today that has finally changed.  I did my 5^th (4^th consecutive) NYC Marathon and I am feeling great.  I did this race completely on experience and not on preparation.  I had maybe 100 miles of training for it between the months of August through October, with my longest run being an 11 miler only the weekend before.  I had no idea if I would be able to finish it.

Marathon day started out much like any other.  Once you have done the NYC Marathon a few times, each one just bleeds into the next.  You take the same bus to the same start and freeze your ass off for the same amount of time before the race finally begins.  As per usual over the last 4 years I traveled to the start with my friend Larry.  I really need to give him credit for helping me to get through the race as it was with him that I trained with over the last few weeks before the run and it was by listening to his sage advice that I was able to run a nice and easy and consistent race.

The Athlete village was crowded as always.  This year we managed to find space inside a tent to shield ourselves from the wind that was blowing that morning.  We laid down some blankets and made camp for the next 3 hours.  The hours before the start are always the toughest for me.  I get so cold waiting for the race to begin.  I occupied my time by snapping pictures, eating and tweeting.  Eventually time gave way and it was time to store our belongings in the baggage cars.  It was during this walk to the baggage cars that I noticed one significant change.  The urinal trough that spanned about 50 yards was gone to be replaced by a line of port-o-sans; it seems as though some traditions are bound to die out.

 Another change to this race was the wave start.  Instead of everyone going off at once, there would be separate waves of runners with 20 minutes in between them.  I was in the first wave with the faster runners.  When I signed up for the race, I thought I would run close to a 3 hour marathon.  I had no chance of that now, so I lined up towards the back of the pack of the first wave.  I didn’t want to be caught up in the mad dash across the Verrazano Bridge and start out running too hard.  I just took it easy and ran a comfortable pace.  I even stopped to take a picture of the fireboats spraying water in the harbor. 

I’ll just get into the highlights of the race at this point.

·         I remember stopping around the 6 mile mark where my family was waiting for me.  I kissed my kids and told them I loved them.  My brother-in-law asked me how I thought I would do and I replied I had no idea.  Part of me just wanted to walk home from there.  I was only about a half mile away from home.  I kept going though and concentrated on maintaining my pace and running an even race.

·         I had to stop to pee like a million times.  I was luckily able to find port-o-sans without problems.  My bladder was definitely hyperactive.  It seemed like every other mile I had to stop.

·         I remember feeling good as I got to the 13 mile mark, which is good since this is one of my least favorite points of the NYC Marathon course.  I also knew though that it wouldn’t be much longer until I headed to the 59^th Street Bridge and made it into Manhattan.  I knew if I could get to Manhattan still feeling good I would be able to finish the race.

·         My friend Larry who was in the second wave caught up to me on the 59^th Street Bridge.   I thought of increasing my pace to keep up with him, but knew that would be foolish. 

·         I dreaded reaching the 17 mile mark of the race, because I knew the road would turn from asphalt into concrete.  This is always so much harder on my legs.

·         I t felt great to get in and out of the Bronx.

·         I really knew I had the race once I started running down 5^th Avenue.  I also knew I was running a properly executed race as I was able to begin increasing my pace as I headed south into Central Park.

·         With about two miles to go I really had to pee again, but I couldn’t get to the port-a-sans.  I decided to just tough it out.

·         I had a nice finishing kick as I reentered Central Park at Columbus Circle and was extremely pleased with another NYC Marathon Finish.

It took forever to get my bags after crossing the finish line.  Then again it always does so this was no surprise.  I call it the post marathon death march.  Everyone is just walking around with all these mylar blankets and are all quiet.  Plus it is quiet in general as the crowds that lined the avenues aren’t present.  Every now and then you see someone off to the side of the road waiting for medical assistance.   I finally got my bags, and changed into warm clothes and headed for the Subway.  As I was exiting Central Park I ran into my friend Larry again.  He was just about to start running back to Brooklyn.  I wish I had a backpack with me so I could have joined him.  I had too much stuff to carry so it would have been impractical.

I took an ice bath when I got home and had a small snack.  Then I rode my bike to a post marathon party about 2 miles from my house.  It was fun to recount the war stories about the marathon and of races past and to plan for races in the future.  I drank too much (4 beers) and ate a lot and just chilled out for a few hours.  I didn’t stay that late since I still had to get home and deal with the trash and I wanted to tuck my kids into bed.

Later that night when I got into bed with my wife, I was still feeling energetic so I smiled at her and said “How about some Victory sex?”  I was feeling real good and satisfied with my accomplishment and was up for a little more endurance activity.  Unfortunately, she was too tired to oblige me so I just took an Ambien to force myself to sleep.  I was working the next day and needed to get my rest.

This weekend I spent being a dad, rather than being an athlete. It was in the back of my head the entire weekend that I needed to do some workouts, but I really didn’t have the time to fit them in. The fact that I wasn’t going to be able to get in acceptable workouts only bothered me in the most primal level. I knew deep down I really needed to exercise, but my duties as a father really came first.

Truth though, in the past I would have woken up very early in the morning to fit my workouts in when I had family obligations during the day. As my kids have gotten older, this has become harder to do. Perhaps my own aging has something to do with that fact as well. Maybe I am just burnt out. Maybe I just really want to run and don’t feel like biking or swimming anymore.

On Saturday, my son had a baseball game at 11am. My wife had a field trip from school, so I was home alone with the kids in the morning and on pancake patrol. I suppose I could have woken up around 6am and rode in my basement for a couple of hours, but after the long week, all I felt like doing was sleeping a little late. A perfectly normal feeling I know, but not the feeling of an athlete. No matter though, what’s done is done and I made the most of it.

After the pancakes, I got my kids dressed to go to my son’s baseball game. I am happy to report that my son led off for the season and got the team’s first hit (a double) and scored the first run. My son went on to go 3 for 3, with 3 runs scored and made a nice play at second base during the middle innings and his team won the first game of the year. I was very proud of him and we were both very happy. Even his sister was smiling for him.

He wanted to hang around after the game to practice some more, but I had to take my kids to their to his cousin’s birthday party across town. We made it there a few minutes late, but I didn’t want to take my son out of his game early. The party was at an ice cream shop and I am afraid to say I partook in some of the ice cream eating even though I hadn’t yet gotten in a workout and it didn’t look like I was going to this day. After the party we went back to their cousins’ house and I was able to leave them there, while I went to the Time Warner Cable Service Center to switch out my cable modem for a faster device and my cable box for the DVR kind. I made it back from the Cable place just a few minutes after my in-laws brought my children home and then it was out to dinner with my parents.

When we finally got home, I connected the new cable equipment. I am happy to report that my Internet connection is faster than ever, but the Cable Box was a big disappointment. It is not working properly and I need a service technician to come by this week to repair/replace it. By now I was too tired for a workout, but unable to fall asleep, so I vegged out in front of the TV trying to get the cable box to work and being completely unsuccessful.

I finally fell asleep around 3am, but had to wake up early on Sunday to take my daughter to her soccer game. I thought I would be able to sit down, relax and watch the game, but her coach tagged me to be the line judge. I couldn’t really say no, so I spent the game running up and down the side line trying to keep my eye on the ball and the last player it touched before it went out of bounds. It was a big struggle to remember to point the flag in the opposite direction of the team that kicked the ball out of bounds. At least I really concentrated on the game, which turned out to be a very good contest, with my daughter’s team winning 3-0. While being the line judge I did have to run up and down the sideline, which technically is the first running I’ve done in a month. Fortunately, my legs felt ok. I am hoping this is a good sign or running to come when I begin again in May.

After the game and a quick trip to the playground it was back to home for lunch. I also arranged to take my son out to the ball fields for some practice with one of his friends. We spent an hour or so hitting and fielding, but for a change my son wasn’t so into playing. Turns out when we got home he started to feel very sick and started to run a fever. I took a nap while he rested and then finally roused myself to get up and spend an hour on my bike in the basement. My heart wasn’t into it, but I knew I had to do something. I just couldn’t bare to sit in the saddle spinning away indoors. I think it is time I took my bike outside.

I hate Spring. It always makes me feel bad for some reason. Probably something from my youth that brings back bad memories. But I’ve talked about this before and I am not going to get into it again. So anyway, I’ve decided to make the switch from evening workouts back to morning workouts. I’ve only been partially successful. I took off Tuesday night from working out, so I could get to bed early, with the intention of going to the pool. Well, I didn’t make it to the pool on Wednesday morning, but I did manage to get up and ride my bike, albeit indoors. It wasn’t what I was planning for, but at least it was a morning workout.

Today, once again, I intended to get up early and go to the pool. I abysmally failed. I didn’t get out of bed until after 7am. I’ll just have to go to the pool tonight as this is the only opportunity I have to get in a swim before the week is out. Tomorrow I’ll have to get in a morning workout, because I have my son’s baseball practice in the evening. Somehow, some way, I have going to have to reset my exercise clock.

My shins are feeling good, but that is because I am still not running. It is very tempting to go out for a run, but I think I am better off giving my shins a couple of more weeks to heal. It’s very frustrating not being able to run. I think I still have time to get ready for the VT100. I don’t think I have any chance in hell of getting ready for Ironman Lake Placid. I don’t have that in me this year. Perhaps I just need a break for a while. A break… funny words to be using, considering the state of my shins.

I do not have much to talk about in regards to my training.  All I have been doing is an irregular 1 hour bike ride as a way to pay lip service towards staying in shape.  My coach is telling me that I need to increase this time to 2 hours per session, but I’ll have to see about that.  I think 2 hours per night in the saddle is much more than I can “stand” at this point.

Actually, I can’t even stand when riding my bike.  I finally spoke to my doctor after my bone scan and the sad news is that I have 3 stress fractures.  Two in my right leg and a nasty one in my left leg.  What concerned him was the fact that I took the bone scan 3.5 weeks since I stopped running and the stress fractures looked like they were nice and fresh.  I guess I have quite a bit of healing to do.  So it looks like I won’t be running for a minimum of 8 weeks and possibly even 12 weeks.  I don’t know what this means for the VT 100, but it is still my intention to give it a shot.  I may not be able to do the race in the timeframe I was hoping for, but I am thinking that I could gut it out.  I even got my twitter friends @jacklhasa and @scarab to come to Vermont with me to be my crew.  I am sure with some encouragement and the appropriate moments that I can get through the race.  I just need my legs to heal.

So what else is new… Obviously my blog.  I’ve finally made the move to my own domain name at the prompting of my friend Greg Barnett.  Greg owns his own web design company Rock’n Motion Design and was good enough to set it up for me.  I think it looks pretty fancy.  Thanks Greg!

I also secured my entry into this year’s ING NYC Marathon.  Normally I would just call it the NYC Marathon, but I must give attribution to ING, since my entry is courtesy of them.  ING is the plan administrator for my company’s 401(k) plan and they reserve a couple of spots for their clients.  I am the happy beneficiary of one of these spots, so thank you very much ING! 

Getting back to my inability to run, I must say that I am not angry or depressed over it.  I am depressed for other reasons, but my inability to run right now is not one of them.   I am at peace with myself over this turn of events because I now know I pushed myself as far as I could go before I stopped running.  I didn’t stop because of the pain.  I stopped because the stress fractures were affecting my ability to walk.  In other words I am somewhat proud of myself for the fact that I was able to push myself to the point where I was virtually crippled.  Yes this is probably a pretty stupid way to look at it, but that is just me.  I didn’t let a little pain stop me, even though logically I know this was my body signaling to me that something is going seriously wrong and that I ought to stop.  It gives me confidence to know that I can push myself further than is reasonably possible and that I can deal with difficult circumstances.  It was a good fact for me to learn about myself, because I am going to use that knowledge to help me in other areas of my life.

I need to keep pushing and to keep trying.  I can’t let things get me down no matter how much they weigh on me.  I somehow have to figure out how to deal with my pain and continue on until I know that I will be irreparably harmed and then make adjustments or simply figure out how to deal with it.  Sometimes the only way is to step back and let yourself heal.