Saturday, November 2, 2013

The Crushing disappointment of a DNF.

D.N.F. - or 'The $90 Ace Bandage'

After looking at my GPS watch data, it looks like right around 0.4 miles is when I twisted my ankle on the manhole cover.

SPLITS
NAME PACE
1 MI 13:44
2 MI 16:42
3 MI 23:33

My first mile split was exceptionally good, about a minute ahead of what I was intending.  My watch was actually telling me "SLOW DOWN".  My aim was 14:30 m/m.

Then we can see that my 2nd mile was substantially slower.  It also dropped me way below the required 15:00 m/m pace.  I'll discuss more on this later.

Just around the corner from the 2 mile marker was a water/Gatorade/medical stop, I knew at this point that trying to continue on was a futile effort.  Just past the 2 mile mark, I was passed up by the sweeper vans.  

I just couldn't run on that ankle the way it was feeling.  The gal at the medical stop quickly wrapped it up for me and they called the return vehicle to come and pick me up.  It took almost 30 minutes for them to get to me.  I was really regretting having just shed my throwaway jacket about 3/4 a mile earlier!! 

I finally make it back to the Start/Finish area.  Having to bypass that end chute and NOT getting a medal was probably one of the hardest things I've had to deal with since I've started running.

Final:

Kipp Shinabarger  10866  Place: 0

Monumental Marathon's Monumental Change!

Sometime between signing up and the race, the Monumental Marathon changed the pacing requirements!!  There were a LOT of upset people being chased by the sweeper vans, suddenly being told that the minimum pace was 15 Minutes!  

I think that this was a MAJOR mess up by the race committee to change this without posting this change BOLDLY and OBVIOUSLY on their website AND they should have had big postings at the packet pickup/Expo.  

Huge Cloud of Doubt

I now have this huge cloud of doubt hanging around me like Pigpens' dirt cloud in Peanuts.  This half marathon was part of my training for the Marathon in January!  I'm probably going to be off of this ankle for about a week of no running.  

My nervousness about the Full Marathon is now becoming outright fear.

I'm really going to have to take a look at the rest of my training plan to see if I can figure out what is realistic now.

Consolation - Go see a movie

I had planned on seeing it anyways, I went to see Ender's Game.  I had never read the book, so I cannot say how true to the book it is.  I just know that it was a good movie.  I felt that it was a Sci-Fi movie that really made you connect with the character.  Many Sci-Fi movies tend to forget this and just try to impress you with really pretty images (ahem... Avatar).  

Ender's Game is a movie I can see myself watching many times, the other movie I mentioned... not so much, I've probably watched it twice since owning it.



Thanks for Reading!  Regards,
~Kipp

Going THE distance in 2014!
Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon
January 7, 2012-  FINISHED 3:48:49
January 12, 2013-  FINISHED 4:00:29
Indianapolis Monumental 1/2 Marathon
November 3, 2012-  FINISHED 3:37:29
Cincinnati Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon
May 5, 2012-  FINISHED - 3:32:27 PR

2 comments:

  1. i’m so sorry about your ankle but hopeful it will only be a week or so you are off it. i’m contemplating the full for 2015 and share your fears. i feel like you can do this!!!!

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  2. Kip - I am so sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope it gets better fast and you are stronger for this.

    Do not feel bad about the DNF. There are things that happen on race days that are out of our control and there is nothing to be ashamed of or upset about. You got out and tried and did your best and so many more people cannot say that.

    I can tell you from experience that fear of the marathon is not a bad thing. It helps you respect the distance and makes you pull from deep within to get you through the tough miles and to the finish.

    You still have a good amount of time to train and if you focus on your long runs you'll do just fine. Now is not the time to give up, it's time to dig deep and see what you are made of!

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