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DNFing the Portland Marathon
Oct. 7th, 2013 12:27 pmFYI: DNF = Did Not Finish. PR = Personal Record.
Yesterday I attempted to run the Portland Marathon, but I had to drop out shortly after reaching the five mile mark because of a strained left calf. It was supposed to be my first marathon outside of California and my 12th marathon overall.
I've had to DNF races before. I had to drop out of my first ever marathon attempt, and last year I had to drop out of a 10K because of a nagging injury that flared up. But this was different. This was the race of the year for me, one I had planned and trained for way in advance.
I registered for the Portland Marathon late last year, shortly after I acheived and new PR after running through a torrential downpour at the California International Marathon. I felt as if I had been cheated, because even though I did beat my PR by three minutes, I knew that I would've beaten it by a good fifteen or twenty minutes if it hadn't been raining so hard. I decided I would target the Portland Marathon for a new PR attempt. The course was fairly easy, and I'd have plenty of time to train after the Oakland Marathon last March.
Before this marathon I felt fine. I had a completely trouble-free two mile run the day before, and I didn't feel any discomfort as I walked all over downtown Portland the day before. Just before the race started I felt fine. I had no doubt that I would start and finish this race. The only part of my body that really concerned me was a tight hamstring on my right leg, which I had planned on paying attention to during my run, but I didn't beleive it was ever going to be a real problem. That's why I was surprised when my left calf tightened up shortly after about a mile into the race. After a few more miles it started to ache. By mile five it was getting bad enough that I slowed down for a walking break. After trying to run again, I stopped and tried to stretch it out. A few more test runs and I realized there was no way I was running twenty more miles on that calf.
( read the rest... )
Yesterday I attempted to run the Portland Marathon, but I had to drop out shortly after reaching the five mile mark because of a strained left calf. It was supposed to be my first marathon outside of California and my 12th marathon overall.
I've had to DNF races before. I had to drop out of my first ever marathon attempt, and last year I had to drop out of a 10K because of a nagging injury that flared up. But this was different. This was the race of the year for me, one I had planned and trained for way in advance.
I registered for the Portland Marathon late last year, shortly after I acheived and new PR after running through a torrential downpour at the California International Marathon. I felt as if I had been cheated, because even though I did beat my PR by three minutes, I knew that I would've beaten it by a good fifteen or twenty minutes if it hadn't been raining so hard. I decided I would target the Portland Marathon for a new PR attempt. The course was fairly easy, and I'd have plenty of time to train after the Oakland Marathon last March.
Before this marathon I felt fine. I had a completely trouble-free two mile run the day before, and I didn't feel any discomfort as I walked all over downtown Portland the day before. Just before the race started I felt fine. I had no doubt that I would start and finish this race. The only part of my body that really concerned me was a tight hamstring on my right leg, which I had planned on paying attention to during my run, but I didn't beleive it was ever going to be a real problem. That's why I was surprised when my left calf tightened up shortly after about a mile into the race. After a few more miles it started to ache. By mile five it was getting bad enough that I slowed down for a walking break. After trying to run again, I stopped and tried to stretch it out. A few more test runs and I realized there was no way I was running twenty more miles on that calf.
( read the rest... )