Not Just Sore, Marathon Sore!

That's Carlo Gabbi (sp?) of Italy as Dorando with Dorando's cup, me as Johnny Hayes with Hayes' gold medal, and Michal (rhymes with nickel) Kapral aka "The Joggler" as Tom Longboat. And, yes, I shaved the moustache to be Hayes...otherwise they might have thought I was Dorando.



Me, on the left, Bruce Kidd, the great Canadian runner of the early 1960's and an authority on Tom Longboat, and John Bryant, English author of "The Marathon Makers" at the press conference before the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

I set a new PW for the marathon, adding about 1:31 to my previous worst, but on about 70 days of training, I can't gripe.

Another Stroll

This time for an hour and 40 minutes, and I used it to test my new white shorts for my marathon as Johnny Hayes next week. They worked fine except the pockets, designed to easily accomodate tennis balls, tend to sit open a bit most of the time, as a result, my arm swing tends to make my thumbs catch occasionally on the pockets. I'll need to pin them shut to avoid this problem.
The other uniform item that I'm unhappy with is my Mizuno Itaden shoes. They're a great shoe for walking, but their bright orange color will be a poor match with the rest of the outfit. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of Adidas Sambas, a fairly inexpensive black soccer flat, to complete the look.

A Long Stroll

Today, I particpated in the National 40K racewalk. I say "particpated in" because I was not very competitive, nor did I expect to be. I had not done much racewalking this season, and rather expected that bent knees would likely prove my downfall, as had happened in the past. Sure enough, I got my first card on lap one, but was able to improve my form a bit and last until 14K before I got DQ'ed. When I came around at 16K, I saw three cards next to my number, and I took the number off of my chest.
I continued walking until 22K, as part of a test. I needed to "go long."
My plan is to walk the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in two weeks, dressed as Johnny Hayes. I have not gone that far in over two years, and have not run any distance longer than five miles in as long. I'm heavy (up about 30 lbs. from my "competitive weight" and 40 from my "really competitive weight.), and fairly soft.
At Toronto, there will be people marking three of the athletes - local boy Tom Longboat, first finisher at the Olympic Marathon, later disqualified, Dorando Pietri; and gold medalist Johnny Hayes. On display at the expo will be Dorando's cup, Hayes' medal, Longboat's 1907 Boston Marathon victory trophy and Hayes' 3rd place trophy from the same race. You can see a bit about Toronto's celbration here.

A Lesson From My Reading

I'd bought a belt about a year ago, and it recently delaminated (the layers came unglued). I replaced it, and the same problem happened on its replacement. Then, I thought about something that I'd read, I believe in Kenny Moore's excellent biography of Oregon's legendary track coach, Bill Bowerman (Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Co-founder), in which one of Bowerman's early lessons on shoes was "glue comes undone, sewing stays together," so when I went to replace the belt again, I got a sewn belt. It seems to be holding, even against by tremendous girth and the pressures thus generated.

Sore Legs

I don't get it. My legs are sore from the five miles I ran yesterday morning. I've run five in the recent past, so soreness shouldn't be happening, but I'm sore. Maybe it was that I was running with two guys who were a bit faster than I am. Anyway, if I'm sore, then I'm progressing.