2019 Akron Marathon

It's about 5:20 AM, and Dan arrives at the starting area outside Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. But this isn't the start of his day. He woke at 3:05, drove to Medina Route 18 Dunkin Donuts before 4:00, shifted to Andy and Michelle Wolff's car at about 4:12, arrived in downtown Akron in time to catch the 5:00 AM bus... and now he's here and ready to go. But the race isn't starting just yet. Dan will need to wait until 7:30 AM for that.

Don't worry. There's plenty for Dan to do. He walks around. Talks with Igor Skalsky. Bumps into Michelle and Andy several more times. Uses the porta-john. Uses the woods. Meets up with other Medina County Road Runners for the group photo in front of the mansion. He even jogs a tiny bit, even though he shouldn't; it's too warm for a warmup today.

MCRR Friends   photo by Syd

Oh yes. The race. A couple raindrops are coming down as the race begins. Everyone appreciates the rainbow that's off to the right. Dan mentions to Beth Anne that she should arrange one for the start of the Medina Half Marathon. She says she will order one up.

It doesn't feel overly warm. Yet. Dan runs the first twelve miles in the 8:40 to 8:50 minutes per mile pace range. This is probably too fast for him, but he is beginning to think that perhaps Akron can be his 'A' race after all. Yes, he decides, Akron is now promoted. And he will try to hold this pace.

Dan enjoys this first half. But now it's time for the second. Going out one way, then the other one the 'Y' bridge, he's still doing fine. But it's beginning to get warm. Suddenly, when he's at about mile 15 or so a terrible thing happens: the sun comes out. It's now not just warm and humid; it's hot and humid.

It's not just hot and humid, he's going uphill. Uphill for what seems like mile after mile. It seems never-ending, and poor Dan is slowing down a little. It does end, finally, around mile 20. Dan's first-half joyfulness has now given way to grim determination. Without the determination.

Our runner is slowing, but even so, he's been passing a few folks. One of them is Doug Hradek. Doug is a good runner and he's in Dan's ancient age-group. This makes him an arch-rival. Another is training partner Theresa Wright.

Much of the final four miles are on the towpath that winds towards downtown Akron. It's nice, but Dan is now in full survival mode. His calf muscles begin to cramp up in the final mile and a half. He slows further - much further - to prevent a complete muscle-cramp tie-up. Theresa passes Dan in the final mile. Doug passes him in the final half-mile. Dan is now running so slow, he's in danger of being passed by walkers.

He looks at his watch. At 26 miles, it says, 3:59. He had been hoping for sub 3:50, then 3:55, then 3:59. Nope. Not gonna happen today. He finishes in the stadium with a final time of 4:05. He later learns that he's second to Doug in his ancient age group.

He meets up with friends Tim Pepe, Ladd Clifford, and Bob Pokorny, among others. The humid conditions were tough for everyone, and Ladd and Bob had trouble with cramping as well. After laying down on the baseball field for a while, Dan tries to get back up. EEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW! Every muscle in each of his legs cramps up and there is excruciating pain.

Tim helps Dan over to the medical tent, where he's stretched out and has four ice bags wrapped to his legs. He eventually recovers enough to find Michelle and Andy for the painful ride home.

All's well that end's well, they say. Is it possible the converse is also true?

Bonk

A bonk, by my definition, is an unexpected depletion of energy during a run. My perspective is that it is caused by a lack of nutrition and possibly hydration as well.

It's what happened to me today. Since returning home, I've been trying to get back into the swing of things, and I've sort of done so. Had some pretty darned good runs, and I've been fairly consistent and steady. Maybe the continuity of such running through today's planned long run was too much to ask.

Having had my Cape Breton Fiddlers Marathon canceled because of Hurricane Dorian threw me for a loop. Getting back in the saddle right away was a good thing. In the process, I also signed up for next Saturday's Akron Marathon. It wouldn't be an 'A' race for me, so I wanted to run an easy long one today - maybe 18 miles in about three hours. Piece of cake, no?

No. After about ten easy miles, half of them at the track, the wheels fell off. I barely made it home and only did 15 miles in those three hours.

Maybe I can make it up tomorrow. Or not.

Running in Nova Scotia (and environs)

Our plans changed due to Hurricane Dorian. Instead of spending eight nights in Nova Scotia, we started our trip in Quebec City, drove to Moncton, New Brunswick, and then finally made our way to Cheticamp, Nova Scotia. My plans for a fall marathon blew away with the Dorian winds as well. The race was canceled. That’s just as well; I couldn’t have gotten there anyway. My refund is in the mail.

We loved Quebec City, and although it wasn’t in the scenic old town area, my run was wonderful as well. There were all-purpose trails galore. I got lost for a while, but then figured them all out as it got lighter and I found the Walmart to use as orientation. After many slow miles, I picked it up nicely for the last three of the eleven. It helped that a) I could see now that it was light, b) I finally knew where I was, and c) they were downhill.

Not much shakin’ in Moncton, New Brunswick. It was all freeways and such.

My first run in Cheticamp was memorable. I ran over and onto the island and back for 8 ½ miles total. A bald eagle flew right over my head. My other runs in the area were nice as well. When I got up into the hills, the scenery looking back down at the town was sublime. And a longish run over to the national park and back was fine as well.

My second run in Dartmouth, which is a suburb of Halifax, went well. I ran around the Dartmouth Crossing shopping complex a few times, and then I found a Great Trail. Actually, not ‘a’ Great Trail; it was labeled as ‘the’ Great Trail. And it was truly a very nice trail. I would only be a little more careful with the superlatives. The trails seem to go a long way, but I never got real far from my trail-head in Shubie Park. Of course, I was singing, ‘shubie-doobie-do’ the whole time.

My third run in Dartmouth would also be my last for the trip. I once again ran around the shopping area, this time making bigger (3-mile-ish) loops. But after a nice, although slow, ten, I decided that I’d have to finish on the mill in order to be done on time. I managed to get eighteen in altogether.

Not a bad week. At least for being on vacation.