Last month, I told of my plan to run back-to-back marathons, using Palos Verdes (PV) as the first half, and my own creation in Long Beach as the second half.
PV went well enough, though knowing that I had to run the same distance again the next day, without any rest, I decided to not push myself as hard when I was walking. Subsequently, I ran my slowest PV time in 6 years of 4:32.
My strategy was just to see how I felt and relax as much as possible. My legs were a bit sore and I spent most of the day lying on my bed.
I talked briefly with Bernard, who had said that he would run with me the last 3 miles, and he confirmed that he would be there.
I also tried to take a cold shower, but that REALLY didn’t feel good. I decided instead to try and stand in the pool for a bit (the unheated pool). I went out at about 8pm and stood up to my waist whilst my teeth chattered. When I went to bed, I figured I would be walking the entire way. However, when I woke up at 6:45 the next morning, I felt a bit better and just decided to do what I could.
I started out by jogging the course, stopping at stop lights (naturally) and walking any hills that I couldn’t run in under a minute.
When I got to the edge of El Dorado, I spotted Dave Kuntz and Sandy Draper. Bernard had mentioned that they might try and find me, although they were not very familiar with the area. They kept me company from Miles 7 thru 13 (and even stopped and walked when I got a little tired). I reached 13 miles at 2 hours, 17 minutes and parted ways with Sandy and Dave.
I returned a call on my cell phone to Chuck, who said he might meet me at Hill & Redondo. I told Chuck, who had run (and qualified for Boston Marathon at) PV the day before, that I estimated I would reach that point (17.6 miles) in about 45 minutes. I then ruined that estimate by stopping at Green Burrito to get some water to take with my Gu.
About 50 minutes after the call, I reached Hill & Redondo, but Chuck was not there. Although I wanted to simply stop, I continued up Hill Street, and called Chuck on the way. He and Laura were just leaving the house, and would find me. (Hope they remembered the map… Nope.)
I continued through the hilly section and eventually caught up with them at Cherry and 21s t. At that point, I was mostly walking, especially due to the hills and also foot tenderness.
We continued up Stanley, down Hill, Ohio, Redondo, Temple, etc. We looked in Joe Jost’s in case anybody was spectating. No one was, but I got a small beer anyways.
At Mile 23, I was about 14 minutes behind my proposed schedule. I know that because Bernard mentioned that he was going to wait 15 minutes beyond my time before leaving, so I had just made it. I thanked Laura and Chuck for their companionship, and continued with Bernard to the end.
Bernard was very frank with me, saying basically that I was crazy, but at least, I was taking the right steps – practicing beforehand, to see what worked and what didn’t.
I reached the end in approximately 5 hours, 55 minutes, completing 2 marathons in about 10:27. A few ultras during the summer, and in about 6 months, we’ll know if I can complete this crazy 50 mile/marathon double.