DNF - Did-Not-Finish. Sigh. This is another first for my running career. This is the first time I have pulled out of a race. It was a very, very difficult decision. After pouring yourself into training for months it is very difficult to let go of a goal. Ultimately, I think it was the correct decision though.
I was feeling great through 3 miles then I felt a twinge in my left calf. At first I thought, or hoped, it was a cramp. I wanted to ignore it and make it go away. It came and went for the next couple of miles, keeping that hope alive. After 6 miles though it became a continuous and increasing pain. It was undeniable at that point. It was an injury and not a cramp. Immediately my mind shifted gears to focus on the Disney Marathon in January. I had to stop running to minimize the damage.
Let's back up.
The Soldier Marathon is held at Fort Benning, Georgia where both of Shelly's sisters, Julie and Miranda, are stationed. They are both doctors. Several family members signed up for the half marathon as a stepping stone to their first full marathons at Disney in January. Training for the HM were Miranda, her husband Jeremy, Julie's husband Kevin and their son Reed. However, Jeremy and Reed had recent injuries that prevented them from starting the race. Out of the 5 of us, only 2 finished the race.
I was the only member of the family to sign up for the full marathon. With only 8 weeks between the Soldier and Disney marathons, I realistically could not expect to make improvement between them. What I could do was maximize my chances of getting everything right on one of them. I prepared to race the Soldier as my primary goal race but then my plan was that if the weather was bad, or if I experienced an injury or illness, or if I made some horrible pacing mistake, I would have a second chance at Disney. My goal is to break 3:10 in one of these races. Good plan in retrospect.
Prior to the race, I put this table together to help me visualize how my training for this race compared to my previous efforts. In each case, I looked at my training log for the relevant data in the 4 months leading up to the race. If you are training for a marathon you can compare this table to your own training.
Average miles/week | Peak miles/week | Number of Long Runs (17-22) | Number of Medium LR (11-16) | Result | |
| Little Rock (Mar 2010) | 25.8 | 40 | 2 | 7 | 3:59:05 |
| Chicago (Oct 2010) | 37.8 | 48 | 4 | 12 | 3:29:11 |
| Boston (Apr 2011) | 47.0 | 66 | 7 | 16 | 3:17:02 |
| Soldier (Nov 2011) | 58.1 | 75 | 9 | 21 | DNF |
Looking back at the table now and knowing an injury derailed me, I suppose it is possible that I overtrained and that contributed to my injury. I must admit it is possible. I don't really think so though. I increased my training the right way. I increased gradually and scaled back periodically to allow my body to recover and adapt.
When the injury occurred, I wasn't running particularly fast, just slightly ahead of my 7:15 goal pace. I had rested well in the two weeks before the race, so there was no lingering fatigue in my muscles either. It was cold (33F) but before the race I warmed up reasonably well. I felt loose. I cannot find a satisfactory explanation. I'm chalking it up to just one of those things.
As the man says, "I'll be back".
