Race Report
Sun, Nov 18/07
Philadelphia Marathon
Philadelphia, PA
Marathon # 293 - State #50
4:02:40
Hooray!
I did it! I did it! I completed a marathon in all 50 States + DC for a second – and final – time!
Read my lips “I will not run the 50 States a third time!” Why did I do it a 2nd time? Good question!
After I finished the 50 States for the 1st time in 1995 followed by the provinces of Canada in 97 and the Continents in 98 I figured I needed another goal to keep me motivated. So I checked my marathon log and determined that I had already run about 20 of the States a 2nd time – so I might as well run all 50 again? Well it took three years to complete the 1st loop and 12 years for the 2nd! At that rate I don’t believe I will stay healthy or live long enough to do it a 3rd time? And I would rather spend my limited marathon/travel budget on countries instead of doing the States again! I have two running buds in Sarasota who are psychologists/psychiatrists and I have given them permission to commit me to an institute if I even talk about running the States again!
Now that the cheering is finished it is time to write the actual race report.
It was only fate and convenience of schedule that dictated that PA was the final State. I chose Philadelphia as the marathon because I had heard that it was a good marathon and I had not run it before (a rule of the 50 States Club). The marathon did not live up to its good reviews!
Since my Sports Manager is on the injured/disabled list I asked a good friend from Sarasota if he wanted to go along as Sports Manager? Frank – the only other sane person in the world- is recovering from back surgery but the allure and reward of also watching his lovely daughter Alexis (who lives in Philly) cross the finish line of the Half Marathon was enough to entice him to make the trip. Until we saw the weather forecast a few days before the race! Cold, windy and rain!
I flew up on Sat afternoon, picked up a rental car and tried to find my way to Temple University’s Liacouras Center to pick up my race packet. What a mess! The traffic in Philly is horrendous! The Liacouras Center was much too small to handle 16,000 runners and there were over 1,000 runners lined up to pick up their packet. I called Frank and Alexis and told them that they had better get down there asap because the wait/delay looked very long. Fortunately I was only half wrong – the line moved quickly and it only took about 30 minutes to get my packet. I didn’t even try to visit the expo because the crowds were too big and the space too small!
There was no race info in the race packet but luckily I had picked up a race guide while standing in line. It explained that instead of a timing chip the race was using a RFID Tag that attached to the shoelace and could be discarded after the race. It is much better than the old chip technology because you don’t have to struggle to hand it back in after the race! After another fight with traffic to drive two more miles to my hotel and find parking (very little parking in Philly and very expensive), I barely had time to check in before my support team picked me up for dinner. Alexis had a neat goody bag for me (made up for the fact that the race had no goody bag) – salted chips, M&Ms and Gatorade – all part of my evening ritual before going to bed! I didn’t have to find a mini mart after dinner.
We enjoyed a great pasta dinner (instead of paying $25 for a pasta buffet offered by the race organization?) and retired early since the race started at 7am. I watched the weather channel – the news was not good – cold and wet on Sun morning!
I dressed in layers for the race. Tights and LD race shorts with three layers on top – and gloves. Luckily the forecast was not 100% accurate. It was cold and windy with a temp of 42 F at 7am but the rain held off. There were some light drizzles before and during the race but mostly it was just cold and windy! I joined 16,000 runners at the start line in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts while the Emcee raved about Philly and delayed the start of the race by 15 minutes I was upset because I had arranged a late checkout (12:30pm) with the hotel and they were using my shower time! I lined up with the 3-hr pace group to reduce my delay in getting to the start line – I crossed the start line exactly 1 minute after the official start. By mile two I was concerned that I had overdressed. I was HOT! I shed my throw-away sweat shirt and continued on. I passed mile 3 in 27:38 but was still fighting with elbows to maintain my own space in the crowds. When I passed mile 5 in 45:44 I had settled into a smooth/easy 9-min pace. Decision time! That pace would get me across the finish line under 4 hrs but I would have to hold that pace over the entire course and I knew that was unlikely because of the lack of training. If I wanted to beat 4 hrs I would have to lower the pace to 8:50s for the next 10 miles! I didn’t feel comfortable/confident in doing that because this was only the 1st of three marathons I must run in the next two weeks and I was concerned about aggravating the injury to my foot. So I decided to hold the 9-min pace for as long as I could and see what happened? The first half of the course was interesting as it passed by Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, Drexel University, the Zoo and arrived back at the Museum at the Half. I passed the Half in 1:58:47. I was still on pace but my legs were telling me that the 2nd Half would not be as fast. I decided to hold the pace as long as I could. However when I reached mile 17 in 2:35:39 the split was 9:33 and I knew a sub 4-hr finish wasn’t going to happen. So I decided to slow down and let the old legs dictate the pace and not aggravate the foot injury. It started to drizzle again and the temps actually dropped and I was so glad that I had not discarded my 2nd layer of clothes as I was going to around the Half!
I continued to jog though 20 miles in 3:04:24. At mile 21 the 4-hr pace group passed me and my mind must have been foggy because I decided to stay with them figuring they would drag me to the finish line? The pace dropped to 8:50/9:00 and my heart monitor started beeping wildly as my heart rate soared past my upper limit but with the excitement of breaking 4 hrs the body started kicking in extra shots of adrenaline and I felt good! Until mile 23 (3:32:00) when the pace setter announced that they had crossed the start line at 3 minutes! They had 2 extra minutes in the bank! Poof! - my balloon/hopes burst immediately, the extra shots of adrenaline ceased and my legs suddenly felt like they weighed 1000 pounds! I had to really struggle to keep the old legs moving the final 5 Km to cross the finish line in 4:02:40.
I was happy. I had finished Marathon #293 and State # 50! And my foot had not hurt until about 20 miles into the race! In spite of not having to hand in a timing chip the finish chute was a mess and it took about 5 minutes to get through the food tent to the family meeting area where I had arranged to meet my support team. By then I was starting to feel cold because I had not left any warm-up clothes at the start line. After waiting 15 minutes I started to shiver and figured that Frank must have become cold and left – and I didn’t blame him! Unfortunately they had my camera so there is no finish line photo. The roads near the finish line were closed to traffic so I couldn’t hail a cab and it was a very long and cold walk back to the hotel!
I later found out that my support team and I missed connecting by only a few minutes and they waited around for about 30 minutes after I left. They were obviously tougher (or more stupid) than me?
Because of all the problems with the race organization, late start, poor water stations, etc I cannot give the Philadelphia Marathon a good rating! I would not run the race again!
For me the best part of the race is that I finished it and my 50th State so I am finished with my insane quest! I can now focus my energy and time on my next (immediate) goal. I must run another six marathons between now and March 2/08 when I line up at the start line of my hometown race in Sarasota to run my 300th marathon! And instead of running states I can spend my money on adding countries to my list. In fact my next four races are international marathons. If I can get through the next two marathons in Asia next week – I believe I will be able to accomplish my next goal!
Stay tuned!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
RR - West Virginia
Race Report
Sun, Nov 4/07
Marshall University Marathon
Huntington, WV
Marathon #292 – State #49 (2nd loop)
4:08:06
This was to be another ‘revenge or make-up’ marathon. Many will recall that last year I was forced to drop out of the Breakers Marathon in RI because of a painful leg? When the pain was diagnosed a few days later to be DVT I had to cancel a marathon in WV a few weeks later. I ate most of the costs but was able to rebook airline flights for 2007. This year’s problem/injury with the foot almost added insult to injury but thankfully I have been able to continue my marathon schedule and my one-year-delayed quest to complete the 50 States for a 2nd time.
Thus on Sat I flew into Lexington, KY and drove 130 miles east to Huntington, WV. I had learned that many friends/mates from the 100 Marathon Clubs (UK & US) and the 50 States Club were also running the marathon. We got together at the pasta party on Sat evening and shared new ‘war’ stories. Fortunately Sat night was the start of daylight savings time so we all enjoyed an extra hour of sleep before meeting again at the start line for an 8 am start.
The weather was great for running – sunny and a temp of 34 F at the start and only warmed up into the low 50s during the race. There were about 300 runners in the race that started at Marshall University and looped through the downtown area and suburbs of Huntington. Since I had managed to run 40 training miles since the last marathon and the foot felt OK my goal was to run the entire race at a sub 10-min pace! I had to get the old legs used to going the distance!
I was a wee bit surprised when I passed mile 3 in 27:10 – I was starting out too fast? I passed mile 10 in 1:32:21 and the Half in 2:02:30. I was ahead of my target pace but already knew that the 2nd Half would not be as fast. When I passed mile 16 in 2:29:55 my foot started to hurt but it was just a constant, dull pain and since it didn’t get worse I quickly learned to ignore it!
When I reached mile 20 in 3:08:06 my legs were starting to tire as expected and my mile split had slowed to 9:51 (my slowest mile in the race). And as most runners know the race was just starting! But I was determined to run the final 10K at a sub-10 min pace! The next few miles were tough but when I reached mile 23 in 3:37:07 I knew I could finish the final 5 Km on sheer willpower. By then I had developed another blister on the injured foot (3 races in a row thanks to the new orthotics) but I just ignored it and crossed the finish line in 4:08:06.
As I crossed the finish line in the Marshall University football stadium and stopped the right foot tightened up and the plantar fascia told me very clearly that it was not happy with being pushed that hard! I had to limp to the car to get the camera for a finish line photo. I hoped that I had not aggravated the injury too much? But other than my concern about the foot I was happy with my time and the fact that I had been able to run the entire race. And I had taken another 20 minutes off my last finish time! However my foot was telling me that I had reached the lower limits of time and I may back off some at the next race. I have two weeks to rest/recover but then I head into the toughest part of my schedule – 3 marathons in 2 weeks! If I can get through that hump I should be OK?
But for now I am very happy that I have finished state #49 in my second loop around the States. I am really looking forward to completing this insane goal at Philly in two weeks!
Stay tuned!
Sun, Nov 4/07
Marshall University Marathon
Huntington, WV
Marathon #292 – State #49 (2nd loop)
4:08:06
This was to be another ‘revenge or make-up’ marathon. Many will recall that last year I was forced to drop out of the Breakers Marathon in RI because of a painful leg? When the pain was diagnosed a few days later to be DVT I had to cancel a marathon in WV a few weeks later. I ate most of the costs but was able to rebook airline flights for 2007. This year’s problem/injury with the foot almost added insult to injury but thankfully I have been able to continue my marathon schedule and my one-year-delayed quest to complete the 50 States for a 2nd time.
Thus on Sat I flew into Lexington, KY and drove 130 miles east to Huntington, WV. I had learned that many friends/mates from the 100 Marathon Clubs (UK & US) and the 50 States Club were also running the marathon. We got together at the pasta party on Sat evening and shared new ‘war’ stories. Fortunately Sat night was the start of daylight savings time so we all enjoyed an extra hour of sleep before meeting again at the start line for an 8 am start.
The weather was great for running – sunny and a temp of 34 F at the start and only warmed up into the low 50s during the race. There were about 300 runners in the race that started at Marshall University and looped through the downtown area and suburbs of Huntington. Since I had managed to run 40 training miles since the last marathon and the foot felt OK my goal was to run the entire race at a sub 10-min pace! I had to get the old legs used to going the distance!
I was a wee bit surprised when I passed mile 3 in 27:10 – I was starting out too fast? I passed mile 10 in 1:32:21 and the Half in 2:02:30. I was ahead of my target pace but already knew that the 2nd Half would not be as fast. When I passed mile 16 in 2:29:55 my foot started to hurt but it was just a constant, dull pain and since it didn’t get worse I quickly learned to ignore it!
When I reached mile 20 in 3:08:06 my legs were starting to tire as expected and my mile split had slowed to 9:51 (my slowest mile in the race). And as most runners know the race was just starting! But I was determined to run the final 10K at a sub-10 min pace! The next few miles were tough but when I reached mile 23 in 3:37:07 I knew I could finish the final 5 Km on sheer willpower. By then I had developed another blister on the injured foot (3 races in a row thanks to the new orthotics) but I just ignored it and crossed the finish line in 4:08:06.
As I crossed the finish line in the Marshall University football stadium and stopped the right foot tightened up and the plantar fascia told me very clearly that it was not happy with being pushed that hard! I had to limp to the car to get the camera for a finish line photo. I hoped that I had not aggravated the injury too much? But other than my concern about the foot I was happy with my time and the fact that I had been able to run the entire race. And I had taken another 20 minutes off my last finish time! However my foot was telling me that I had reached the lower limits of time and I may back off some at the next race. I have two weeks to rest/recover but then I head into the toughest part of my schedule – 3 marathons in 2 weeks! If I can get through that hump I should be OK?
But for now I am very happy that I have finished state #49 in my second loop around the States. I am really looking forward to completing this insane goal at Philly in two weeks!
Stay tuned!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
RR - Rhode Island
Race Report
Breakers Marathon
Newport, RI
Sat, Oct 20/07
Marathon #291 – State # 48 (2nd loop)
4:28:31
As I play catch-up on my race/trip reports the good news is that the reports will be shorter!
After I returned from Ecuador we were very busy. The Sports Manager had flown to Portland, OR to visit Jason and Ami while I was in Ecuador. We met at the airport in Denver and returned home to close up the house, pack the car and head back to FL for the winter. We drove through TX for a family reunion in Fort Worth and finally arrived in FL on Oct 16. We unpacked and started to settle in. I had an appointment with a podiatrist in Sarasota on Thu to get a second/better opinion on the foot injury? I did an easy 5-mile run before going to the Doc to test the foot? And I did get a better opinion. He told me that I could continue to run the busy marathon schedule I had planned as long as I could stand the pain!
The worst case scenario was that I might rupture the tendon which would mean surgery and 9 months of healing – or I could take 6 to 9 months off and let the foot heal before running again? He thought the risk of rupture was small if I didn’t push the foot during the races. He gave me a shot of cortisone in the foot and wished me luck!
My next marathon was scheduled for two days later – the Breakers Marathon in Newport, RI. Many of you will recall that I tried to run this marathon last year and had to drop out after 1 mile because of severe pain in my right leg. That pain was diagnosed as DVT a few days later and I have never managed to regain my ‘marathon shape’ since suffering that problem? I was disappointed in not finishing that race because I needed that marathon/state to complete a goal to run all 50 States a 2nd time. Thus I immediately registered to run the marathon again in 2008! My plan was to be fully recovered, healthy and kick ass during the fall marathon season in 2008! Well, here it was – one year later and time to go to Plan B? Just try to walk/run/finish the race so I could scratch the state off my list! I should be finished my 2nd loop by now! I am determined to finish this goal in 2007!
So I flew into Providence, RI on Sat and arrived after dark in a pouring rain storm. The weather was so bad I got lost driving to Newport and arrived around 9 pm – ate a late pasta dinner and went to bed and listened to it rain buckets all night. This sure was looking like a pleasant event? I had to rise early to find registration and pick up my race packet. The race director found a bigger/richer sponsor this year and changed the course so there were about 600 runners for the new marathon. It started at the Newport Yacht Club in downtown Newport. The finish line was at Easton’s Beach, about 1 mile away so I parked at the start line to pick up my race packet. Luckily the rain stopped around 7 am but the temps were higher than forecast – 64 F at the 8 am start but never rose above 66 F!
The registration and organization were good at the start and we started off at 8 am. The 1st Half of the course wound through downtown Newport, along Ocean Dr and past the famous mansions on Bellevue Ave. The foot felt pretty good after the cortisone shot so I hoped to average a 10 min/mile pace for the first 20 miles and then I expected the last 10K to get ugly! I had only run one 5-mile run since the last marathon and had not had time to do any cross training. The blister on my big toe had healed and I had worn the new orthotics for the past few weeks so I wasn’t expecting any further problems with blisters?
I passed 5 miles in 48:26 and the mansions at 11 miles in 1:47:27 to reach the Half at Easton’s Beach in 2:07:27. I was doing well – I had at least beaten the winners to the finish line and I still felt OK? The 2nd half followed the old marathon course through suburbs in east Newport. When I passed mile 15 in 2:28:19 I could tell that I had developed another/new blister on the same big toe! Damn – I still had a long way to go! I reached mile 20 in 3:20:33. I had achieved my 1st goal and realized my fears were starting to happen. My legs were already tired, the blister was starting to hurt – the last 10 K was going to be ugly! I struggled until mile 24 (4:05:12) and at that point decided that I needed to again suck it up, ignore the pain and get the ordeal/misery over with. I needed to finish under 4:30 to have any chance of making it back to my hotel in time for a shower before going to the airport. I managed to get the pace back down to a blazing 10:15 for the final 2 miles and crossed the finish line in 4:28:31.
I was happy with my time – I was happy that the foot (other than the blister) hadn’t hurt much – but I was not happy that my legs were in such pathetic shape and got so wasted the last 10K! I need to change that! And I definitely was not happy with the race organization at the finish line! There were supposed to be buses to shuttle runners back to the start line/parking every 10 minutes. It took 30 minutes to get back to my car and by the time I got back to the hotel they had locked me out of the room and checked me out! I had to towel off the sweat in the car and dress without a shower. I felt sorry for any passengers sitting next to me on the plane!
But most importantly I was happy that I had finally finished this marathon/state for the 2nd time and now I only have two more states to go to finish my goal. I run the 49th state this coming weekend in Huntington, WV. I managed to run 40 training miles in the past two weeks in the hope/expectation that those miles will strengthen and improve the condition of my legs. I also switched the orthotics to a different set of shoes and haven’t had any problems with blisters during the training runs. I am hoping that I can run a 10 min pace for an entire marathon?
Stay tuned!
Breakers Marathon
Newport, RI
Sat, Oct 20/07
Marathon #291 – State # 48 (2nd loop)
4:28:31
As I play catch-up on my race/trip reports the good news is that the reports will be shorter!
After I returned from Ecuador we were very busy. The Sports Manager had flown to Portland, OR to visit Jason and Ami while I was in Ecuador. We met at the airport in Denver and returned home to close up the house, pack the car and head back to FL for the winter. We drove through TX for a family reunion in Fort Worth and finally arrived in FL on Oct 16. We unpacked and started to settle in. I had an appointment with a podiatrist in Sarasota on Thu to get a second/better opinion on the foot injury? I did an easy 5-mile run before going to the Doc to test the foot? And I did get a better opinion. He told me that I could continue to run the busy marathon schedule I had planned as long as I could stand the pain!
The worst case scenario was that I might rupture the tendon which would mean surgery and 9 months of healing – or I could take 6 to 9 months off and let the foot heal before running again? He thought the risk of rupture was small if I didn’t push the foot during the races. He gave me a shot of cortisone in the foot and wished me luck!
My next marathon was scheduled for two days later – the Breakers Marathon in Newport, RI. Many of you will recall that I tried to run this marathon last year and had to drop out after 1 mile because of severe pain in my right leg. That pain was diagnosed as DVT a few days later and I have never managed to regain my ‘marathon shape’ since suffering that problem? I was disappointed in not finishing that race because I needed that marathon/state to complete a goal to run all 50 States a 2nd time. Thus I immediately registered to run the marathon again in 2008! My plan was to be fully recovered, healthy and kick ass during the fall marathon season in 2008! Well, here it was – one year later and time to go to Plan B? Just try to walk/run/finish the race so I could scratch the state off my list! I should be finished my 2nd loop by now! I am determined to finish this goal in 2007!
So I flew into Providence, RI on Sat and arrived after dark in a pouring rain storm. The weather was so bad I got lost driving to Newport and arrived around 9 pm – ate a late pasta dinner and went to bed and listened to it rain buckets all night. This sure was looking like a pleasant event? I had to rise early to find registration and pick up my race packet. The race director found a bigger/richer sponsor this year and changed the course so there were about 600 runners for the new marathon. It started at the Newport Yacht Club in downtown Newport. The finish line was at Easton’s Beach, about 1 mile away so I parked at the start line to pick up my race packet. Luckily the rain stopped around 7 am but the temps were higher than forecast – 64 F at the 8 am start but never rose above 66 F!
The registration and organization were good at the start and we started off at 8 am. The 1st Half of the course wound through downtown Newport, along Ocean Dr and past the famous mansions on Bellevue Ave. The foot felt pretty good after the cortisone shot so I hoped to average a 10 min/mile pace for the first 20 miles and then I expected the last 10K to get ugly! I had only run one 5-mile run since the last marathon and had not had time to do any cross training. The blister on my big toe had healed and I had worn the new orthotics for the past few weeks so I wasn’t expecting any further problems with blisters?
I passed 5 miles in 48:26 and the mansions at 11 miles in 1:47:27 to reach the Half at Easton’s Beach in 2:07:27. I was doing well – I had at least beaten the winners to the finish line and I still felt OK? The 2nd half followed the old marathon course through suburbs in east Newport. When I passed mile 15 in 2:28:19 I could tell that I had developed another/new blister on the same big toe! Damn – I still had a long way to go! I reached mile 20 in 3:20:33. I had achieved my 1st goal and realized my fears were starting to happen. My legs were already tired, the blister was starting to hurt – the last 10 K was going to be ugly! I struggled until mile 24 (4:05:12) and at that point decided that I needed to again suck it up, ignore the pain and get the ordeal/misery over with. I needed to finish under 4:30 to have any chance of making it back to my hotel in time for a shower before going to the airport. I managed to get the pace back down to a blazing 10:15 for the final 2 miles and crossed the finish line in 4:28:31.
I was happy with my time – I was happy that the foot (other than the blister) hadn’t hurt much – but I was not happy that my legs were in such pathetic shape and got so wasted the last 10K! I need to change that! And I definitely was not happy with the race organization at the finish line! There were supposed to be buses to shuttle runners back to the start line/parking every 10 minutes. It took 30 minutes to get back to my car and by the time I got back to the hotel they had locked me out of the room and checked me out! I had to towel off the sweat in the car and dress without a shower. I felt sorry for any passengers sitting next to me on the plane!
But most importantly I was happy that I had finally finished this marathon/state for the 2nd time and now I only have two more states to go to finish my goal. I run the 49th state this coming weekend in Huntington, WV. I managed to run 40 training miles in the past two weeks in the hope/expectation that those miles will strengthen and improve the condition of my legs. I also switched the orthotics to a different set of shoes and haven’t had any problems with blisters during the training runs. I am hoping that I can run a 10 min pace for an entire marathon?
Stay tuned!
TR - Ecuador
TRIP REPORT
ECUADOR
Oct 1 -8/07
Guayaquil Marathon
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Sun, Oct 7/07
Marathon #290 – Country #85
4:47:28
Sorry for the 3-week delay in writing this report but there has just been too many (exciting) activities and things to do since I returned from Ecuador – had to close up the home in CO, pack the car, drive to TX for a family reunion and finally arrived back in FL in mid-Oct. Then we had to open up the home in FL, fix the A/C and hot tub, see another doctor for the foot and leave almost immediately for another marathon!
So where do I start? At the end of the last report – the ADT Marathon in CO Springs – I had limped home with a serious injury to my right foot. Unfortunately X-rays and a MRI revealed that I had suffered a severe (60%) tear in the plantar fascia. The doctor advised me not to run for 6 to 9 months in case I ruptured the tendon. I believed his advice since it had taken 1 year to heal the other plantar fascia when I ruptured it completely in 1991. But this time the advice was not acceptable to Maddog!
I tried desperately to get a better prognosis and treatment for the injury but there is not much you can do to treat a tear in the plantar fascia. I certainly had a dilemma! After following other doctor’s advice to take the summer off from racing to let other injuries heal I had expected to be healthy and in good shape for the fall/winter racing seasons and had scheduled 10 marathons over the next 5 months!
I needed to complete those marathons to accomplish my goal of running Marathon #300 at my home town race in March 08! And not only had I scheduled and registered for all those races – I had prepaid most of the travel expenses! Thus I had to try to complete the races – either by walking/crawling – whatever it took! And the most immediate problem was that the next marathon/trip - only one month away - was in Ecuador!
I had booked this trip in May before I left FL. I had a lot of problems booking the race and a tour of Ecuador because of language difficulties. I finally managed to contact an English-speaking volunteer for the race and completed all the details just before I suffered the injury. It was too late to cancel the trip. I had to go even if I didn’t run the race! Since I couldn’t run or even walk without pain, I cross trained at the Rec Center in Silverthorne, CO for 3 weeks before I left for the trip. I tried one 5-mile training run a few days before leaving and that aggravated the injury and made the foot very sore so I could only hope that one week of touring around Ecuador and resting the foot would let it heal enough to run the race?
I arrived in Quito on Mon evening. A tour guide met me at the airport and drove me to my hotel. On Tue we started the tour and my education of the country and its cultures. Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in S. America and lies right on the Equator. The population is 13 million – and very few of them speak English! There is not much infrastructure in place for tourism (except for the Galapagos Islands). There are three distinct regions and cultures – the Coast, the Amazon and the Highlands with inhabitants dating back to 8800 BC.
Quito or Quitsa-to, the original name, means ‘middle of the earth’ in the ancient ‘tsafiqui’ language. Quito is the only site on the planet where the Equator crosses over highlands. Quito lies at 9,184 ft and is surrounded by active volcanoes – Pichincha (15,000 ft) to the west; Antisana (18,700 ft) to the east and Cayambe (18,725 ft) to the northeast. When the Incas invaded in the 15th century they destroyed the city and then the Spanish conquered the city in 1534 and destroyed it yet again. The old part of the city dates back to the Spanish period and Quito has been designated a ‘World Cultural Heritage Site’. We toured all the main tourist attractions in the old city – the Government Palace, the Cathedral. Plaza de la Independencia, and la Virgen De Quito on the summit of El Panecillo overlooking the city. And in a country where the average wage is $250/mth we visited the Iglesia de La Compania dating back to the 15th century where the interior is completely decorated in gold leaf?
In the afternoon we visited the Mitad del Mundo and Museo de Sitio Intan-Nan, a museum/attraction built on the Equator – Latitude 0’0’0’. The guide showed me some neat physical anomalies that occur only on the Equator – you weigh 2.2 Kgs less; water drains straight down and does not swirl clockwise (or counter-clockwise) like it does north and south of the Equator and the strangest one – you have more strength on the Equator?? Don’t understand the physics of the last one but I saw it with my own eyes?
On Wed I departed on an early flight to Cuenca, the 3rd largest city in the country located in the Southern Highlands. Cuenca was built on the ruins of Tomebamba, a city built by the Incas after they destroyed Guapondelig, a city built by the indigenous people called the ‘Canari’. At the Ruins of Todos Los Santos you can see ruins of Canari, Inca and Spanish constructions. Cuenca is at 8,315 ft and surrounded by 16,000 to 18,000 ft mountains and has four rivers flowing through it. It was the former Northern Capital of the Inca Empire. After touring the city with a private guide I invited him to join me for dinner and a local delicacy – guinea pig! It was quite tasty – and NO – it does not taste like chicken. It tastes like pork. The guide was the only person I met in the Southern Highlands who spoke English!
The following day my guide took me to the Inca ruins at Ingapirca north of Cuenca. It is the most significant archaeological site in Ecuador. The Canari used the area as a ceremonial and administrative center until the Inca conquered them and rebuilt the site. The ruins include a circular Temple of the Sun and the knowledge the Incas had of the sun and the solaces was remarkable! The guide drove to Ingapirca over some back roads through the Andes Mtns where we passed many indigenous Canari people. They still live and dress as they have for the past 500 years! We passed women washing their clothes in the river and men ploughing the fields with a wooden plough pulled by two bulls. I thought: “ This would be a neat and cheap place to retire. The Sports Manager could make lots of friends while washing our clothes in the river with the other women and I could have a beer with the men after ploughing the fields all day”! Yep – a nice, cheap place to retire!
On the way back to Cuenca we stopped in Biblian to visit a Cathedral – the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Rock - that is built into the side of a mountain. The guide claimed that 50% of the male residents in Biblian had moved (illegally) to the USA and send back money to build new homes in the town. Half the homes in the town were new – and empty! I guess the illegal aliens don’t want to move back to their new homes?
On Fri I flew to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, located on the Pacific Coast. It is the main port for the country and the financial capital. The city was founded by the Spanish on Santa Ana Hill in 1534 and was burned down many times by pirates! The city had a reputation for crime, clutter and being unsightly/dirty but the city government has made significant improvements in the past few years to restore and clean up the city. I was impressed with the changes that had been made. They completely restored Santa Ana Hill and gave the restored homes back to the poor people who lived there! They demolished the old harbor and rebuilt Malceon 2000 – a 5km pedestrian walk along the Rio Guayas. It is a pleasant area to walk along and enjoy a drink while watching the locals. The city is currently restoring another old neighborhood along the river called Las Perlas. The downtown financial area is very modern! I spent all afternoon walking around the downtown area and along Malceon 2000 exploring many of the tourist attractions such as the Cathedral, the Morrish Clock Tower and Hemicicio de la Rotunda – a historical monument commemorating the meeting of two Latin American liberators; Simon Bolivar and San Martin when it was decided that Guayaquil be annexed to the Gran Colombia. In spite of the very hot (85 F + 80 % humidity) weather I walked up the 444 steps to the top of Cerro Santa Ana. Near the end of my long walking tour I noticed that the new orthotics I had custom built to help the plantar fascia had caused a huge blister to develop on the bottom of the big toe on the right (injured) foot. When I returned to the hotel I had to switch the new orthotics to an old pair of cushioned insoles to relieve the pressure on the blister. Oh Goody – now I had another problem to deal with during the race!
On Sat I found the registration office at the old airport. Registration and packet pick up were not as well organized as we are used to. Runners had to line up while two volunteers checked and entered everyone into a computer. Took about an hour to get my packet but the race director was kind enough to introduce himself and welcome me to his race and the city.
Sun was M- Day! The race started at 5 am because the weather is tropical (hot & humid)! The race started at the Puente 5 de Junio (5th of June Bridge). I took a taxi since I didn’t want to aggravate the foot (and the new blister) with a 1-mile walk before the race. I had decided to forget the new orthotics and run with my old insoles. I lined up with about 600 runners. The weather was hot (temps in the 80s) and humid (80+ %) as expected. I went straight to the back of the crowd since I intended to walk most of the race! I was surprised to find a runner back there wearing a ’50 States’ T-shirt? He was from MN and experiencing problems similar to mine. He was healing from a stress fracture in his tibia and wasn’t sure if he could ‘run’ the entire race? We started out together – running – and the foot felt OK so we ran the first 8 km at a 10-min pace. The first half of the course was interesting and scenic as it wound through the downtown area, along Malceon 2000, through a tunnel under Santa Ana Hill and back to the bridge. My foot still felt OK at 8Km but I was concerned about how it would feel at 30 Km so I wished my new friend ‘good luck’ and let him leave me. I started to walk! Since there were water stations every 2 Km I decided that I would stop and walk at every 2nd station and drink lots of water to prevent dehydration. I passed 15Km in 1:34:09 and reached the Half back at the bridge in 2:20:27. I was happy with that time until I realized that the cheers from the spectators were not for me - the lead marathon runners were crossing the finish line at the same time! Damn – they were finishing the marathon and I was just starting the 2nd Half! Pretty demoralizing!
The 2nd half of the course was not near as interesting. It wound through some industrial and poor sections of the city. I became frustrated! My engine (cardiovascular system) felt good but the foot and legs could not keep up with it and the blister was starting to bother me. Maybe that was good? I became more concerned about the blister than the plantar fascia? I passed 32 Km in 3:37:16. I should be finishing by now! Thankfully the skies were still overcast which kept the sun from heating up the roads. My foot started to hurt and the blister started to grow bigger and hurt and I thought “I need to push the pace to get this over with sooner”! I tried but quickly realized there was no ‘push’ in the old legs. They were tired and starting to hurt due to the lack of actual ‘running’ in my training the past month! Cross training may keep the engine fit but it doesn’t do anything to keep your legs in shape! I started to struggle! When I finally passed 37 Km in 4:12:06 I decided I needed to suck it up – ignore the pain – and run the final 5 Km to get the misery over with. I somehow managed to get the pace back down to a blazing 7 min/km and crossed the finish line in 4:47:28. That was my PW (personal worst) for a road marathon (other than when I helped a friend through Boston after his quadruple bypass)! And I didn’t care!
I had finished my 290th marathon and 85th country! And my foot hadn’t fallen off or exploded/ruptured which was a good indication that I might be able to pull off the other nine marathons in my race schedule? The foot did hurt like Hell the next day as I headed off to the airport to catch the flight back to the US but I was still optimistic that I could continue to walk/run the other marathons?
Stay tuned!
ECUADOR
Oct 1 -8/07
Guayaquil Marathon
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Sun, Oct 7/07
Marathon #290 – Country #85
4:47:28
Sorry for the 3-week delay in writing this report but there has just been too many (exciting) activities and things to do since I returned from Ecuador – had to close up the home in CO, pack the car, drive to TX for a family reunion and finally arrived back in FL in mid-Oct. Then we had to open up the home in FL, fix the A/C and hot tub, see another doctor for the foot and leave almost immediately for another marathon!
So where do I start? At the end of the last report – the ADT Marathon in CO Springs – I had limped home with a serious injury to my right foot. Unfortunately X-rays and a MRI revealed that I had suffered a severe (60%) tear in the plantar fascia. The doctor advised me not to run for 6 to 9 months in case I ruptured the tendon. I believed his advice since it had taken 1 year to heal the other plantar fascia when I ruptured it completely in 1991. But this time the advice was not acceptable to Maddog!
I tried desperately to get a better prognosis and treatment for the injury but there is not much you can do to treat a tear in the plantar fascia. I certainly had a dilemma! After following other doctor’s advice to take the summer off from racing to let other injuries heal I had expected to be healthy and in good shape for the fall/winter racing seasons and had scheduled 10 marathons over the next 5 months!
I needed to complete those marathons to accomplish my goal of running Marathon #300 at my home town race in March 08! And not only had I scheduled and registered for all those races – I had prepaid most of the travel expenses! Thus I had to try to complete the races – either by walking/crawling – whatever it took! And the most immediate problem was that the next marathon/trip - only one month away - was in Ecuador!
I had booked this trip in May before I left FL. I had a lot of problems booking the race and a tour of Ecuador because of language difficulties. I finally managed to contact an English-speaking volunteer for the race and completed all the details just before I suffered the injury. It was too late to cancel the trip. I had to go even if I didn’t run the race! Since I couldn’t run or even walk without pain, I cross trained at the Rec Center in Silverthorne, CO for 3 weeks before I left for the trip. I tried one 5-mile training run a few days before leaving and that aggravated the injury and made the foot very sore so I could only hope that one week of touring around Ecuador and resting the foot would let it heal enough to run the race?
I arrived in Quito on Mon evening. A tour guide met me at the airport and drove me to my hotel. On Tue we started the tour and my education of the country and its cultures. Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in S. America and lies right on the Equator. The population is 13 million – and very few of them speak English! There is not much infrastructure in place for tourism (except for the Galapagos Islands). There are three distinct regions and cultures – the Coast, the Amazon and the Highlands with inhabitants dating back to 8800 BC.
Quito or Quitsa-to, the original name, means ‘middle of the earth’ in the ancient ‘tsafiqui’ language. Quito is the only site on the planet where the Equator crosses over highlands. Quito lies at 9,184 ft and is surrounded by active volcanoes – Pichincha (15,000 ft) to the west; Antisana (18,700 ft) to the east and Cayambe (18,725 ft) to the northeast. When the Incas invaded in the 15th century they destroyed the city and then the Spanish conquered the city in 1534 and destroyed it yet again. The old part of the city dates back to the Spanish period and Quito has been designated a ‘World Cultural Heritage Site’. We toured all the main tourist attractions in the old city – the Government Palace, the Cathedral. Plaza de la Independencia, and la Virgen De Quito on the summit of El Panecillo overlooking the city. And in a country where the average wage is $250/mth we visited the Iglesia de La Compania dating back to the 15th century where the interior is completely decorated in gold leaf?
In the afternoon we visited the Mitad del Mundo and Museo de Sitio Intan-Nan, a museum/attraction built on the Equator – Latitude 0’0’0’. The guide showed me some neat physical anomalies that occur only on the Equator – you weigh 2.2 Kgs less; water drains straight down and does not swirl clockwise (or counter-clockwise) like it does north and south of the Equator and the strangest one – you have more strength on the Equator?? Don’t understand the physics of the last one but I saw it with my own eyes?
On Wed I departed on an early flight to Cuenca, the 3rd largest city in the country located in the Southern Highlands. Cuenca was built on the ruins of Tomebamba, a city built by the Incas after they destroyed Guapondelig, a city built by the indigenous people called the ‘Canari’. At the Ruins of Todos Los Santos you can see ruins of Canari, Inca and Spanish constructions. Cuenca is at 8,315 ft and surrounded by 16,000 to 18,000 ft mountains and has four rivers flowing through it. It was the former Northern Capital of the Inca Empire. After touring the city with a private guide I invited him to join me for dinner and a local delicacy – guinea pig! It was quite tasty – and NO – it does not taste like chicken. It tastes like pork. The guide was the only person I met in the Southern Highlands who spoke English!
The following day my guide took me to the Inca ruins at Ingapirca north of Cuenca. It is the most significant archaeological site in Ecuador. The Canari used the area as a ceremonial and administrative center until the Inca conquered them and rebuilt the site. The ruins include a circular Temple of the Sun and the knowledge the Incas had of the sun and the solaces was remarkable! The guide drove to Ingapirca over some back roads through the Andes Mtns where we passed many indigenous Canari people. They still live and dress as they have for the past 500 years! We passed women washing their clothes in the river and men ploughing the fields with a wooden plough pulled by two bulls. I thought: “ This would be a neat and cheap place to retire. The Sports Manager could make lots of friends while washing our clothes in the river with the other women and I could have a beer with the men after ploughing the fields all day”! Yep – a nice, cheap place to retire!
On the way back to Cuenca we stopped in Biblian to visit a Cathedral – the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Rock - that is built into the side of a mountain. The guide claimed that 50% of the male residents in Biblian had moved (illegally) to the USA and send back money to build new homes in the town. Half the homes in the town were new – and empty! I guess the illegal aliens don’t want to move back to their new homes?
On Fri I flew to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, located on the Pacific Coast. It is the main port for the country and the financial capital. The city was founded by the Spanish on Santa Ana Hill in 1534 and was burned down many times by pirates! The city had a reputation for crime, clutter and being unsightly/dirty but the city government has made significant improvements in the past few years to restore and clean up the city. I was impressed with the changes that had been made. They completely restored Santa Ana Hill and gave the restored homes back to the poor people who lived there! They demolished the old harbor and rebuilt Malceon 2000 – a 5km pedestrian walk along the Rio Guayas. It is a pleasant area to walk along and enjoy a drink while watching the locals. The city is currently restoring another old neighborhood along the river called Las Perlas. The downtown financial area is very modern! I spent all afternoon walking around the downtown area and along Malceon 2000 exploring many of the tourist attractions such as the Cathedral, the Morrish Clock Tower and Hemicicio de la Rotunda – a historical monument commemorating the meeting of two Latin American liberators; Simon Bolivar and San Martin when it was decided that Guayaquil be annexed to the Gran Colombia. In spite of the very hot (85 F + 80 % humidity) weather I walked up the 444 steps to the top of Cerro Santa Ana. Near the end of my long walking tour I noticed that the new orthotics I had custom built to help the plantar fascia had caused a huge blister to develop on the bottom of the big toe on the right (injured) foot. When I returned to the hotel I had to switch the new orthotics to an old pair of cushioned insoles to relieve the pressure on the blister. Oh Goody – now I had another problem to deal with during the race!
On Sat I found the registration office at the old airport. Registration and packet pick up were not as well organized as we are used to. Runners had to line up while two volunteers checked and entered everyone into a computer. Took about an hour to get my packet but the race director was kind enough to introduce himself and welcome me to his race and the city.
Sun was M- Day! The race started at 5 am because the weather is tropical (hot & humid)! The race started at the Puente 5 de Junio (5th of June Bridge). I took a taxi since I didn’t want to aggravate the foot (and the new blister) with a 1-mile walk before the race. I had decided to forget the new orthotics and run with my old insoles. I lined up with about 600 runners. The weather was hot (temps in the 80s) and humid (80+ %) as expected. I went straight to the back of the crowd since I intended to walk most of the race! I was surprised to find a runner back there wearing a ’50 States’ T-shirt? He was from MN and experiencing problems similar to mine. He was healing from a stress fracture in his tibia and wasn’t sure if he could ‘run’ the entire race? We started out together – running – and the foot felt OK so we ran the first 8 km at a 10-min pace. The first half of the course was interesting and scenic as it wound through the downtown area, along Malceon 2000, through a tunnel under Santa Ana Hill and back to the bridge. My foot still felt OK at 8Km but I was concerned about how it would feel at 30 Km so I wished my new friend ‘good luck’ and let him leave me. I started to walk! Since there were water stations every 2 Km I decided that I would stop and walk at every 2nd station and drink lots of water to prevent dehydration. I passed 15Km in 1:34:09 and reached the Half back at the bridge in 2:20:27. I was happy with that time until I realized that the cheers from the spectators were not for me - the lead marathon runners were crossing the finish line at the same time! Damn – they were finishing the marathon and I was just starting the 2nd Half! Pretty demoralizing!
The 2nd half of the course was not near as interesting. It wound through some industrial and poor sections of the city. I became frustrated! My engine (cardiovascular system) felt good but the foot and legs could not keep up with it and the blister was starting to bother me. Maybe that was good? I became more concerned about the blister than the plantar fascia? I passed 32 Km in 3:37:16. I should be finishing by now! Thankfully the skies were still overcast which kept the sun from heating up the roads. My foot started to hurt and the blister started to grow bigger and hurt and I thought “I need to push the pace to get this over with sooner”! I tried but quickly realized there was no ‘push’ in the old legs. They were tired and starting to hurt due to the lack of actual ‘running’ in my training the past month! Cross training may keep the engine fit but it doesn’t do anything to keep your legs in shape! I started to struggle! When I finally passed 37 Km in 4:12:06 I decided I needed to suck it up – ignore the pain – and run the final 5 Km to get the misery over with. I somehow managed to get the pace back down to a blazing 7 min/km and crossed the finish line in 4:47:28. That was my PW (personal worst) for a road marathon (other than when I helped a friend through Boston after his quadruple bypass)! And I didn’t care!
I had finished my 290th marathon and 85th country! And my foot hadn’t fallen off or exploded/ruptured which was a good indication that I might be able to pull off the other nine marathons in my race schedule? The foot did hurt like Hell the next day as I headed off to the airport to catch the flight back to the US but I was still optimistic that I could continue to walk/run the other marathons?
Stay tuned!
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