TITLE: On the whole...
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: October 01, 2006  7:54 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/wc-fields.jpg"
     ALT="W.C. Fields, who is attributed with this sentiment"
     ALIGN="right"
     WIDTH="150">

... I'd rather be in Philadelphia. -- W. C. Fields

My race today effectively ended today at the 21-mile mark,
when my legs cramped badly enough that I could no longer
run.  My training partner, who was running ahead of me by
a few minutes, suffered the same fate.  I will spare you
the details, but suffice to say, I relived much of
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-10.html#e2005-10-02T21_48_51.htm">
   this experience</A>
and ended with a time slower than
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/personal/chicago-marathon/">
   Chicago 2003</A>.

At least I was wise enough to back off when the truth made
itself know, which I had hoped to be
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2006-09.html#e2006-09-30T20_48_25.htm">
   yesterday</A>.
As a result, I enjoyed the back half of the Twin Cities
course more this year.  I saw many beautiful churches as
we moved down St. Paul's Summit Avenue.  I made a little
guy who was watching the runners with his daddy smile by
making a little face for him.  And, when we came upon a
couple of elderly ladies dressed nicely and giving their
time this morning to cheer us on, I connected with one
of the ladies, and the smile that lighted up her face
lifted my spirits.

When you end up walking as much as I did today, you have
a lot of time to reflect on what the world has served up.
What did I do wrong?  Peak to soon in training?  Taper
poorly?  Eat poorly in the last week, last days?  Hydrate
insufficiently on the course -- or too much?  (I drank
steadily throughout, and more than ever before.)  Was the
day out of my control, with soaring temperatures that
caught even the meteorologists off guard?  Am I just not
equipped physically to run 8:00 miles for a full 26.2?
Is it only Minneapolis?

I have no answers yet.  But I do have more doubts about
myself after this race than last year's.  I may need to
walk a lot more more miles to work through the questions
and doubts.
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