Maybe I'm Just Half (Marathon) Crazy

  So Saturday the 17th I woke up at 2 a.m. and drove three hours to run a half marathon. I was the 2:15 pacer for the Race 131 half in Roanoke , VA and it was a lot of fun. The drive really wasn't that bad but I don't think I would do it again, not driving to run, the getting up at 2 a.m. part.

  In the past I never was a fan of half marathons. They just kind of felt off, and I was too busy signing up for 10 and 5 k's to bother with them. This was half number four.

  Race 131 always put on a great race. They are fun low key events and perfect for beginners and advanced runners alike. Good aid stations, well marked courses, and a fun after party all make for a good environment. The out and back course followed the Roanoke River along the Greenway and had a hill at mile 5 and 9.

  I completed right on time and cheered the runners I was pacing that had fallen off due to the hill and then headed home. About an hour into my drive I realized my legs were not as beat up as they are after a full marathon. I felt great and in fact felt like I could make it a double day. I decided at that time to stop running marathons. I am pacing the Richmond Marathon this year and it will probably be my last. My last 2 fulls were rather hard on me and if I can go out and put in a good effort at the half and feel good after then it's a good decision for me.

  Plus my wife likes that I will not be spending half of my Saturdays on long runs training for a full.

  So go ahead call me half crazy. I don't mind.

Couple of updates: I'm not running the Marine Corps Marathon in the fall but I will be running the Crawling Crab Half and Hershey Half, so there will be plenty to talk about with those and training.

Blue Ridge recap

Well, Saturday April 22nd was the Blue Ridge Marathon and I was ready for it. Months of training and prep to make my goal. I was excited and really looking forward to "America;s Toughest Marathon" and it did not disappoint. Unfortunatly, this is as close to the finish as I got.

That's me in the back.

Woke up Saturday morning relaxed and ready and walked to the Start/Finish after breakfast with Dean, who was pacing for the Half Marathon. I stretched and warmed up and got into the corral between the 4:30 and 4:15 pacers, planning to take it easy at the start and make up time on the downhill sections and flats in the middle of the race.
 This is a beautiful course and if you get a chance to run it. It is also the hardest race I ever attempted. The hills are brutal and the downhill isn't any easier.
 I say attempted since disaster struck at mile 24. I reached the marker only to collapse and had to get medics to help me off the course and to the medical tent. Once there, I was pale, shaky, and short of breath. The medic hooked me up to a EKG machine and noticed my heartbeat was irregular so they started me on fluids and continued to monitor me. Ten minutes later, I was being wheeled into an ambulance and taken to the local hospital. They were concerned I had Hyperkalemia. This is where your body cant get rid of excess potassium and it gives you an irregular heartbeat. It usually occurs in diabetic's or people on certain medications, of which I am neither. Further research shows that it can show in distance runners, due to biochemical  changes while running.

 After several hours, 2 liters of fluid and a calcium injection I was feeling much better. I drove home wondering what had happened and how will I prevent it in the future? I have been researching online and scheduled an appointment with my doctor to see what can be done. For now I will continue to research and post my findings.

I do know this, I will be back to running and achieving my goals.

Update on Breaking 20, the plan is being worked on right now and should be ready.

Thanks for reading.

Breaking 20 Project

Training beard

This is just a quick post 2 days before Blue Ridge to start my next goal/project. For the past 3 years I have wanted to break 20 minutes in a 5k. Injury, family and other things have always come up but this year I should have a good chance to attempt this. My goal race is in July, which gives me a little over 2 months for training.

 Part One: Find or make a plan. I have been looking around at different plans, and with my schedule I will be able to get in the training needed. Most of the plans I looked at are 6 days a week with a mix of track and road but I will drop this to 5 days so I will will modify my own plan.

Part Two: Weekly training updates. That's right, WEEKLY. I can do at least that, and maybe throw in an extra post or two when something happens.

During training for Monument Ave 10k and the Blue Ridge Marathon I would use Sunday afternoons for track work. Usually these were mile repeats where I would run a mile then rest for 30 seconds and run another. I thinking about switching my watch to kilometers so I can get a better idea of my splits and see where I need to work and improve, therefore whatever plan I use will be converted into Km from miles.

As of my last training session I am sitting at around 6:45 per mile so I need to take off at least 30 seconds to get to 20 minutes.

Next week I will post my plan.

Ben

PS: IF you read my earlier post I was planning on running MCM this year. I decided not to and will be running the Crawling Crab Half Marathon in October so I will post about training for that during the summer.

Allow myself to introduce myself

Welcome to Run, Bigfoot, Run. My attempt to get my thoughts and experiences out about running and whatever else comes up. I thought this would be a good time to introduce me so you're not wondering who this random guy is.

 My name is Ben and I live in Central Virginia. I've been running going on six years now and have tried everything from a 5k up to 50k. Like others I thought running was stupid and pointless but after my first 5k I was hooked with improving and making myself better. The weight loss didn't hurt either.

 I decided on the name Run, Bigfoot, Run as I wear a size 14 shoe and always have a shaggy beard. It actually looks nice for once in the photo above. 

My favorite distance is the marathon even though I have ran more 5k's, but that's probably true of most runners after awhile. I enjoy the pace and seeing what's around when doing a marathon. This year I have 3 marathons, maybe 2 half's, and several 5k's so I will have a lot to talk about, but first up is entering the Marine Corps Marathon lottery and running the Monument Ave 10k. 

I figured entering the lottery and tracking my training if I get in would be a good series of blog posts so we shall see.

Until next time,

Ben

You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @bwachter70

Letter to my team

So this was my week to write something inspirational to the training team I help coach and I drew a complete blank. After several drafts, I cam up with the paragraphs below.
 Every year I told myself I would try to write more but never started so we shall change that starting today.

When Chris asked me to write something for this weeks email, I really drew a blank. I asked several of you on the Novice team what we should discuss and received several suggestions,

but none of them felt right. So maybe this is a good time to reflect on what we are aspiring to and want from our training.

I started running six years ago when a good friend was told to start by his doctor. My friend stopped running but to this day I still do. At first running for me was about just getting out of the house for a bit. When it was cold or rainy I would use the elliptical. It wasn't until I ran my first 5k that it became something more.

About halfway through, I stopped running and had to walk the rest of the way to the finish. That was the day I almost quit, but my wife said something that changed everything.

“You’ll do better next time.”

I had not thought about the next time, up to that point I had quit almost every hobby I had started or picked up. After that 5k I decided to train harder and started reading anything I could. I realized my mistakes and started to correct them. The one constant on this journey has been to be better than I was last time. Many of you I remember from years past and other events around town and whether you notice it yourself I see you getting better and improving every week. To the new members of the team I see you improving every week. I was going to use this email to review some of the tips I have given out over the past few weeks but I can save that for Saturday.

When April 1st comes and you’re in the corral getting ready just remember to enjoy that moment. Hold your head up high, run tall, take full breaths and relish in the fact in what you have accomplished.

This year I will be trying to get into the Marine Corps Marathon and will use this blog to document my journey. The lottery opens on march 22nd, and if I miss that then Richmond is in November so that will be the back up. Or I will do both if I get in.