Carl Byington, professional engineer and owner of PHM Design LLC in Ellijay GA, is one of only about 500 people in the world to run marathons on all seven continents. In this latest installment, he shares some of his experience on training for his home continent marathon in Washington D.C. alongside some friends and the great men and women who serve in our armed services in October of 2008. This marathon would be his second road marathon after he nearly died in a rock climbing fall a few years before.
I wasn’t really committed to the idea or running marathons on all seven continents. Actually I wasn’t even totally enamored with the idea of running another marathon at all. It had been a year and a half since I had run the Athens Marathon in Greece. Before that 26.2 mile run, I was not able to train in typical fashion, building up long runs over an 18 week period of time. As a result, my pain and discomfort after finishing that marathon lasted for weeks. I had paid a price of long-lasting pain for the joy of that accomplishment. It was an intimidating thought to return there mentally and physically, but I also knew my leg was so much stronger now.
I needed a push. I lived in a small cul-de-sac neighborhood outside of Rochester NY at the time. Two of my neighbors had already committed to the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) in Washington D.C. later that year. They finally convinced me, with some plying over neighborhood wine night, that I should run it with them and for charity. I decided the next day to follow through, and I signed up and pledged to raise at least $800 for the American Lung Association. I easily surpassed that goal. It felt good to give back with this effort.
The training overall went pretty smoothly. I used a modified intermediate training plan adapted from Hal Higdon. It is an excellent progressive program concentrating on a medium long run during the mid week, a long run on the weekend, and shorter runs interspersed through the other days. The length of each of these runs increases as you progress through an 18 week training program. The last few weeks involves tapering your miles to allow your body to recover from the wear and tear, yet still maintain sufficient fitness for your marathon day.
The marathon run occurred October 30th, 2008. It was a cool start and moderate conditions for most of the 26.2 mile run. I wasn’t as fast as I was prior to the injury and recovery, but I put in a decent four and half hour time. As with most marathons, the end was a struggle fighting fatigue, muscle cramping, dehydration, and intestinal distress. In the end, it always comes down to mental strength and willpower.
The MCM was special for several reasons. First off, the US Marines do a fabulous job with logistics, organization, professionalism, and enthusiastic support of the runners. Running through our Nations capital, by all of our famous landmarks and tributes to our history and sacrifices of those who gave all, made the effort a prideful inspiration. One cannot help but to gain perspective that the struggle at hand is so much more manageable than what they faced. It is achievable.
This marathon was also a homecoming of sorts. I had run the MCM in 2002, the year before I fell rock climbing and injured myself. It had evolved to be a symbol of how I tended to define my outlook and viewed my accomplishments, pre and post fall. I was not the same Carl Byington after the fall injury and recovery as I was before. The trauma was significant enough to change my perspective in so many ways.
Discussion of those changes is fodder for another blog perhaps, but for now the completion of the MCM would go down as number 2 in my quest and represent a return to some of the fitness I had possessed before the fall. In other words, I was back! More or less.
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