Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

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Hammie
Jerome Drayton
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Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Hammie » Sun May 27, 2012 10:02 pm

Where to start?

Well, after my cr@ppy DNF at Vancouver 3 weeks ago, one of the first things that Mike (Turd) said to me in the finish area was, “Calgary’s in 3 weeks!”. I believe my response was something along the lines of “no ****ing way”. But, just like you should never get your hair cut after a bad breakup :lol: , the exit of the medical tent after a DNF is no place to decide about your next marathon. I had a great vacation the week after, with plenty of time to think about what to do next, and after a few days I didn’t even get dizzy anymore when I blew my nose.

It took a while to get better, so there wasn’t much running going on. 14k the week after Vancouver, 40-something the week after that, and 27k this week. Not ideal to have a 6 week taper, but whatever. The more time I gave it, though, the more I realized that I really wanted to run. Not to have another shot at a good time, not because I’d feel like a failure if I didn’t, but because the desire to run a marathon was still there, irrational or not. I thought through all sorts of scenarios – what would happen if I DNFed again? Or had to death march it in? Or got injured? In the end, I figured I’d be able to cope with whatever the outcome is, so I signed up. I was curious about the new course, and I can say that almost all of the changes they made were excellent. Well organized, fast package pickup, marginally less disappointing expo than previous years, and the grandstand is a great start/finish venue. I liked the course – no heavy traffic on most of it, usually a full lane on the road closed off (or the whole road), and I like the grand tour of Calgary’s neighbourhoods. After today, I can say that I would happily do this one again.

I didn’t actually say anything online about my plans to do it – it wasn’t a secret or anything, but I just didn’t feel like talking about it. Mike, Carla (CinC) and Krista (Size5) knew, mostly because Mike kept asking and Carla was booked to hang out on her bike with me while she was in Texas with Krista! I picked up a 3:50 pace band at the expo – I actually had no idea how much fitness I had lost between the last 6 weeks of “taper” and almost 2 weeks of no running because of illness, but you have to start somewhere.

Today was COLD :shock: – 2C when I got on the train. I made 2 mistakes today – one, not wearing long sleeves and two, leaving my arm warmers in my checked bag. I assumed I’d warm up running. Got up to the bag check for a personal greeting and fist bump from Carla, who was working the bag check, then hit the washrooms and lined up. And, before I knew it, we were off!

I concentrated on keeping my pace even and right around 5:27/k. The first several km just seemed to fly by. Lots of people around (at least until the half and full split after 8k), nice overcast day, and a comfortable pace. I wore my iPod for this one – I almost never use it running outside, but decided that I needed a little something extra this time. When it came time to take my first GU chomps, my stomach turned over at the thought of eating one – wtf? That hadn’t happened before. I know they say never try anything new on race day, but I certainly wasn’t going to repeat what I did last time, so I just took Gatorade at all the aid stations. It seemed to work.

Before I really knew what was happening, I was at the halfway point at 1:55:29 – almost right on track for 3:50. And still freezing cold! Blue fingers! I didn’t actually warm up until the 24k mark! From 21k to 30k was fine. Slowing down a bit (still a few more hills to go up and two stops at the portapotties), but feeling fine. By my garmin, I hit 30k at 2:45 (~5:30/k). And, at 31k – Carla and Mike! Carla got a great photo of me giving them two thumbs up – and that was how I was feeling! I knew my family was going to be at 34k, and despite my legs feeling sluggish, I was still going. Sure enough, my DH and kids (along with my mother) were there cheering! Apparently, my kids like cowbells :lol: .

After 34k, the lack of running in the last 6 weeks was really making itself felt. My legs were killing me and I was starting to struggle. I started alternating running and walking at this point. I thought I’d feel worse watching the bunnies passing me and leaving me in their dust, but I wasn’t totally surprised. At this point, Mike popped up on his bike on the sidelines to cheer – and kept it up all the way down Memorial Drive! I joked that it was a bit like Whack-A-Mole (Whack-A-Mike?!) the way he kept popping up! At one point he saw me walking and called out, “if you’re going to walk, walk like an angry schoolteacher!”. That kept me laughing every time I walked after that! And there was quite a bit of walking, but I still started running again every time.

Mike got some photos around the “one mile to go” point – and I was sooooo ready to be done! That last section is tough. No spectators, running around the back of the Stampede grounds, and you can SEE the stupid grandstand long before you’re there! I was so relieved to see that finish line. I crossed it and did what any mature, rational professional would do – I burst into tears. I got my medal, my finisher’s hat (a nice surprise), and they wrapped my up in a foil blanket (I think I was still blue). Some food, some water & Gatorade, picked up my bag, and headed for home. That hot shower felt fantastic. And I now have a massive belt buckle for stampede this year. We’ve been joking that they’re big enough to eat off of, so some perspective:
Image

So 4:06:39 chip time – not my original goal (or even close), but everything I had in me today. And I’m thrilled with it. The race was part of it, but marathons are like Vegas - the House always wins. I'll keep training and keep running marathons, knowing that more things can go wrong than right - but I'll play the odds. More importantly, I’ve been amazed at the wonderful people I’ve met through running. I’ve been really touched by the posts, PMs, texts, FB messages, and actual in-person support I’ve gotten from everyone on RM. Huge thanks go to Mike (who enabled me and then spent 2 hours after running a half marathon keeping me going) and Carla (despite her own disappointment (and sore chin!), was volunteering and then out on her bike as well). And there have been enough other people who have had disappointments and even tragedies recently, many worse than mine, that have put this in perspective. Any day I can run a marathon is a good day.
Last edited by Hammie on Mon May 28, 2012 10:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
2014: the year of new awesomeness!
Rogers Insurance Run for L'Arche Half March 22 - done
Calgary Marathon Wild Rose 50k June 1 - done
Stampede Road Race 5k July 6 - done
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Seawheeze Half Marathon August 23 - done
Subaru Banff Sprint Triathlon September 6 - done
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chunkymonkeymelonhed
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby chunkymonkeymelonhed » Sun May 27, 2012 10:10 pm

Hammie this report makes me :D :D :D :D :D :D
To come back and do this after the DNF in Vancouver :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
I am so glad that you decided to go for it- congratulations.

And huge props to Mike and Carla for being terrific Maniacs and supporting you along the way :D
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La
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby La » Sun May 27, 2012 10:16 pm

Glad to hear you ran this - I was wondering if you were going to do it in "stealth mode."
Hammie wrote:At one point he saw me walking and called out, “if you’re going to walk, walk like an angry schoolteacher!”. That kept me laughing every time I walked after that! And there was quite a bit of walking, but I still started running again every time.

Funny - someone said the same thing to me at IMC in 2006 (actually, what they said was that I WAS walking like an angry school teacher)! :lol:
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby RobW » Sun May 27, 2012 10:30 pm

Happy to hear this, Hammie! I'm glad you enjoyed your date with the marathon. Awesome support from CinC and Turd too.

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Darth Tater
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Darth Tater » Sun May 27, 2012 10:31 pm

:D
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Size5 » Sun May 27, 2012 10:31 pm

Marathons are like Vegas- the house always wins :lol: :lol: such a great
Ine!! Well done! I'm stoked you did this and I like how you've walked away from it and are happy with the result! You train well beyond what I can comprehend given your life and what you have on each day. I know the house won't always win!
Vancouver 2012 Done!
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Habs4ever » Sun May 27, 2012 10:44 pm

So happy to hear you did Calgary. :dance: When you get bucked off, get back on the horse as quickly as possible. That you most certainly did, and you have the belt buckle to prove it. Well done. :D
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Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby CinC » Sun May 27, 2012 10:46 pm

Wuhoo!! So so proud of you! Your Vegas description is a little better than Dave's description to his friend mark who was doing a Boston redemption run today (and it fell off the rails at 36k)
His words 'thats the marathon for ya. Every time you think you got it figured out, it up and kicks ya in the balls'
Ok so maybe not so applicable to females, but you get his idea.

Glad I could fist pump ya and cheer you on at 31k! I went to support M and sorry...you got Turd! Lol!

Congrats Melanie!!
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Jwolf » Sun May 27, 2012 10:52 pm

I'm glad you did this today, Melanie- took a lot of guts.

Good on ya, girl. :)
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Half-Mary
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Half-Mary » Mon May 28, 2012 1:09 am

Awesome! :D

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Joe Dwarf
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Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Joe Dwarf » Mon May 28, 2012 1:40 am

Way to go!

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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby trixiee » Mon May 28, 2012 5:50 am

Way to take the bull by the horns! Congratulations!
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Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Kelodie » Mon May 28, 2012 5:57 am

Great report! Congrats on completing this marathon. :-)
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Tori » Mon May 28, 2012 6:03 am

Glad you got to do that after Vancouver. You did great!!!

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jes
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby jes » Mon May 28, 2012 6:34 am

Yay! What a great surprise marathon!! :D

Way to get some revenge on the beast. Sure, not the finish you wanted, but you finished :dance:
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby HCcD » Mon May 28, 2012 6:37 am

Congratulations, on your marathon redemption Hammie ...

Great to hear that you were able to get this spring marathon monkey off your back, and successfully end your Winter/Spring training cycle on a positive note ....
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby BJH » Mon May 28, 2012 6:44 am

Any day I can run a marathon is a good day.


:D

Way to make a comeback and well done to your family, size5, CinC and Turd for awesome support.
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orleansrunner1962
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby orleansrunner1962 » Mon May 28, 2012 6:56 am

LOVED reading this report.... made me teary ..... I just DNF'd this weekend, so your report is very timely, and really helps put everything in perspective....

Well done!!!
2014:
Mar - Around the Bay 30 km - Done
May - Sulphur Spring 100 miler - DNS
Sept - Army HM
Sept/Oct - 50 miler
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby IronColl » Mon May 28, 2012 8:14 am

Great job Hammie!
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby purdy65 » Mon May 28, 2012 8:22 am

Awww..

So glad to hear you did this, and feel so good about it!

Congratulations! :D :D
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Tisha » Mon May 28, 2012 8:28 am

Very happy to hear you finished after having a tough go in Vancouver. A full scares the carp out of me. You didn't let it intimidate you!

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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Spirit Unleashed » Mon May 28, 2012 8:29 am

Congrats!
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Avis » Mon May 28, 2012 9:30 am

Hammie, what a great race you had! And yes, you should have remembered your freakishly cold hands :wink: (I remember you talking about your hand-warmers this winter!). Anyway, good for you for tackling another marathon after your DNF. It sounds like you had a happy expereince, and I loved the way Mike cheered you along. Well done! :D
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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby oobinsnaffa » Mon May 28, 2012 9:43 am

Congrats, Hammie! This is totally what I was hoping to read when I logged in this morning. :D Good for you for jumping into another one on the heels of your DNF.
PBs: 5K: 32:52 - 8K: 55:08 - 10K: 1:05:57

2013 Races
Mar 24: Vancouver Spring Run-Off (8K): Finished, 55:08 (PB)
Aug 17: Spartan Sprint Calgary (3 miles): Finished
Sep 7: Spartan Super Red Deer (8 miles): Finished
Sep 28: Spartan Beast Sun Peaks (13 miles)
Nov 2: Banff Winterstart (5 miles)
Dec 31: Resolution Run Calgary (5K)

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Re: Hammie & the marathon kiss and make up

Postby Robinandamelia » Mon May 28, 2012 9:51 am

Sounds like you ran a great race to me. Congrats! Well done...


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