Poison Ivy PR!!

People are creatures of habit. Some habits are deemed good and some are bad. Habits can be helpful and harmful, but they cannot be hidden. I am no exception. I have habits that I would like to break and some others that are an important part of my running career. A few bad habits that I have struggled with for years include chewing my finger nails and saying what I would deem as minor swear words more often then is acceptable. These three words that I need to quit saying include one that is a place talked about in the Bible, another is a substance you flush down the toilet, and the last one is something beavers make on rivers. The habit of chewing my nails and saying foul words can be harmful, likewise the habits I do to aid my running career that are helpful can also be harmful if they are neglected.

Poison ivy on left thigh

A few of my quirky running habits include always brushing my teeth prior to any run, showering the morning of a race, stretching my legs multiple times throughout the day, using my Roll Recovery R8 on my legs nightly, each of the 3 GU gels I use during a marathon must be a different flavor, and I drink 32 ounces of water prior to bed each night. None of these habits are detrimental to my health, but I have found them to be extremely helpful for aiding in my racing and recovery. Unfortunately this past week I contracted a bad batch of poison ivy on both of my inner thighs and my abdomen area. This inconvenience interrupted my routines and habits. My legs were too raw to utilize my Roll Recovery product. While taking care of my rashes I overlooked drinking my fluids. Speaking of fluids, showers had to be replaced by soothing baths in baking soda and vinegar. To summarize the week leading of to the Veterans Marathon was anything but typical. My legs were tighter then normal, I was dehydrated from lack of regular fluids, and it has been several days since my last Roll Recovery massage. Basically all I was assured of on race day was 3 different flavored GU gels and some minty fresh breath!

Had this been any other race besides a local marathon I would have withdrawn from competing, but missing the Veterans Marathon did not seem right. I have been fortunate to be able to win the 3 previous editions of this local marathon. In fact I am the only athlete to have run under 2 hours and 40 minutes on this course! That gives you an indication to the difficulty of the course. With that in mind I knew I was in for a tough day.

The first 5 miles of the marathon found 6 of us athletes running in a pack. There were 4 half marathon runners, another marathon entrant, and I cruising along at roughly 5:42 per mile pace. At mile 5 one of the athletes, Ryan Smith, broke away from the pack. He would go on to win the half marathon. I kept a steady pace along side Lance Wood of Huntington University. It just so happen that his goal for the half marathon basically matched my goal for a first half split. It is always fun when that happens. Lance was able to achieve his half marathon goal and I was off to a solid start for my marathon. I split the half way point in 1:14:35. The second place marathoner still had me in his sights as my lead was barely over 1 minute.

Notice the poison ivy?

Things starting rolling just past the half way point. By things I really mean a motorcycle with a cameraman riding on the back filming segments of the race for a documentary being done about me. Talk about added pressure! Imagine how embarrassing it would be if I had to stop to use the bathroom. One can only assume that the audience of this film will think my legs were either chaffing really bad or that I suffer from a skin disorder, bad timing for the poison ivy! Besides the annoying itchy feeling, the oozing of the sores, and the stinging sensation that occurred when sweat hit the open wounds the poison ivy really was not much of an issue. On the other hand failing to maintain my habits this past week would soon become an issue.

Prior to the marathon starting and during the race my legs never seemed to loosen up. My stride seemed shorter and more rigid then usual. I think this was the lack of massaging and stretching during the week. I also knew entering the race that I was low on my fluids. At mile 22 my legs starting cramping further proving that fact. My main focus from then on was to finish respectably. With a half mile to go the cops riding along side of me cranked up their sirens to alert the crowds that the winner was approaching. I followed their lead and cranked up my pace. At near full speed I sprint the last few minutes into the finish line to break the tape in 2 hours 34 minutes and 28 seconds. A new poison ivy personal record!! I also want to brag that I did not say one swear word during my painful race and miserable post race bath...