I’m detecting a trend upon returning from Boston.
As was the case in October, I caught a cold on my flight to the West Coast after running in last week’s Boston Marathon. The mask mandate on air travel in the US had already been lifted the previous week but, not wanting to take chances, I masked up on both of my flights. Nonetheless, something got through to me. I tested myself, it wasn’t COVID.
I felt fine most of the day Thursday, the day after the flight, and even got in a four-mile recovery run. But then in the evening the sore throat came on and by morning the cold had taken root.
We had stayed in Palo Alto with friends Wednesday and Thursday and then Lynn and I drove down to Carmel on Friday. The Expo for the race was in Monterey, which is a bit north of Carmel so we stopped there to grab my race packet before continuing on to our hotel.
By the time we arrived in Carmel, the cold had wiped me out and I spent the rest of the day and night in bed. Saturday, the day before the race, I felt a little better so Lynn and I walked around downtown Carmel and spent a few minutes on the beach. A short shakeout run was out of the question as I felt it better to conserve energy for the marathon.
Carmel is a lovely seaside town, very artsy, very touristy, that has resisted any attempts to change its small-town ambience. Big box stores have no place in it and although there is the occasional monster house, most of the homes are quaint, modestly-sized yet well-appointed cottages. Lynn and I have always enjoyed taking the family there for quiet, relaxing weekends when we lived in Palo Alto.
Though pleasant, the walk around town wore me down so I headed back to the hotel for more sleep while Lynn continued to check out the town. This cold had derailed my plans for the two days leading up to the race. I had hoped to do a rigorous carbo load but lost focus. Also, I had wanted to go back to Monterey Saturday evening for the race’s pasta feed and to socialize with other runners but couldn’t muster the necessary enthusiasm. We grabbed an early dinner at a downtown Carmel restaurant instead.
Fortunately, the extended bed rest did not trigger a back spasm like it usually does. Therefore, I did not have to deal with back pain during the marathon -just lingering fatigue from my cold.
The marathon course is point-to-point starting in Big Sur Station and ending in Carmel a few miles south of the tourist-heavy downtown area. A Marathon Finish Village was erected complete with portable toilets, VIP tents, and various concessions. A fleet of buses were commandeered to bring runners from towns near the finish line (Carmel, Monterey, Seaside, Pebble Beach, and Pacific Grove) to the starting village.
The marathon was not the only game in town. There were races of other lengths occurring simultaneously including 21 miles, 11 miles, 12K and 5K, as well as a marathon relay. All of the races used the same finish line and the portion of the course, along coastal California Highway 1, appropriate for the length of the race. That aforementioned fleet of buses was responsible for depositing nearly 7000 runners at their corresponding starting locations along the route. After all the runners were properly distributed, all of those buses were to clear out to allow the races to take place.
The massive distribution of buses and runners takes time. Bottom line: For my wave’s 6:40 am start time on Sunday morning, my bus left downtown Carmel at 3:30 am. After getting dropped off at Big Sur Station, runners hunkered down for the two hours wait for the starting gun.
My recent practice has been to pass the time waiting for the start by chatting with other runners. But my cold, together with the ungodly early bus departure, sapped me of the requisite energy. This was my biggest regret of the day because I have come to appreciate that sharing stories with other runners is the best part of these events.
The view of the California coast along Highway 1 is stunning. The world class scenery is the big draw for the race. There’s no room for spectators, though. Runners are shunted to the left lane and the right lane is kept open in the event emergency vehicles need access. Therefore, unlike the Majors that I have been running lately, there are hardly any spectators along the route.
That made me wistful for Monday’s Boston Marathon and the Wellesley Scream Tunnel, the Team Fox cheer sections, and my friends Darien, Ela, and Max who waited to urge me on from Coolidge Corner.
Nonetheless, besides the scenery, there were other pleasant diversions as runners made their way north. At mile 11, the Taiko Drummers banged out a virtuoso cadence and at mile 13 Michael Martinez was set up with a Yamaha grand piano to play a classically stylized version of Billy Joel’s Piano Man with enough amplification to allow runners to enjoy the music well before they came upon the piano.
The course is difficult. There is over 2000 feet of elevation to conquer as well as the corresponding quad-challenging downhills. On top of that, we had a cold headwind from about mile 5 to the end. I kept my pace fairly steady but my cold tamped down any attempts at speed.
As I did in Boston, I got my carbs from maple syrup packets from Untapped. Big Sur allowed hydration packs on the course and so I was able to sip from mine throughout the race. The water I carried was spiked with electrolytes from dissolved Nuun tablets.
But for the first time I tried SaltStick tablets for my electrolyte needs. I’m glad that I did. Total gamechanger. This product eliminated the cramps that have plagued me at every marathon so far. Even after the race and driving to our next destination, when a cramp started to come on, I would take another tablet and within seconds the cramps would stop.
These capsules include calcium, magnesium, chloride, sodium, and potassium — a smorgasbord of electrolytes. Suddenly I now had a solution for one of my most difficult running problems. I decided to try these tablets because several runners I met in Boston had raved about them. However, I could not help feeling foolish for never having learned this trick in the past two years.
Spectators were allowed to line the last quarter mile or so of the course and they cheered loudly and enthusiastically. At the Marathon Finish Village, entrants in the Boston 2 Big Sur (B2B) challenge were allowed access to the VIP tent for food and drinks. Besides earning the marathon finisher’s medal, B2B runners also received a special medal for the combination of the two marathons and a rather nice jacket commemorating the achievement.
My finish time for Big Sur was 4:33:54. Together with my Boston finish time this gave me a cumulative 8:51:52 for the two marathons. By contrast, the winner of the B2B challenge was Jordan Tropf, age 30, who finished with a combined time of 4:51:32. Clearly, I don’t live in that world. The fastest runner in my cohort (male 60–64) was Allan Van Dyne who’s combined time was 6:43:24. Oh well.
Readers of this blog may remember that my original goal one year ago was to run all of the 2021 World Marathon Majors in a single year. But Tokyo did not cooperate and although I did a virtual marathon in Seattle in its place, officially I only managed five of the six stars I was aiming for.
I have trouble giving up on goals. That’s well established. I expect to get my deferred entry into Tokyo in its 2023 edition so perhaps I could set my sights on 2023 to bag them all.
But I already have Boston now and within a year I should also have Tokyo. And the rest of them? Well, for 2022, they are all lined up just like they were in 2021 but without that pesky consecutive day Chicago-Boston doubleheader. See where I am headed?
So, game on! Boston done. Berlin, London, Chicago, and New York City in the fall and Tokyo next March. All six majors in less than one year’s time.
Last year it took me a cumulative 29 hours 23 minutes and 47 seconds to run all six of the marathons. This time around, given the more relaxed schedule, I should do better than that. Originally, I thought I would go for a cumulative time of one day (24 hours). That means averaging four hours for each of the majors. That might still be achievable but because of my 4 hour 14 minute finish in Boston, I have some work to do. I haven’t given up on 24 hours but it may turn out to be 25 hours (one day and one hour).
Hence my new goal: Six majors in one year, one day, and one hour.
I will be running the four majors in the fall for Team Fox again. To all of those readers who helped me out so much last year with financial contributions, thank you!
I will be reaching out to you again for my 2022 effort!
As mentioned in the previous post, I am writing a book about my Fall 2021 Marathon Majors. The intent is to help people within the Parkinson’s community, patients and support people, to deal with PD through exercise and positive thinking. I also hope readers of all types will draw inspiration from the exploits, mine and those of other athletes, described in the book.
Much of the book draws from my blog stories but I have restructured that material so that it is more suitable for book format. I hope to publish sometime during the summer of 2022. Any royalties I earn from book sales will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
