Mark Wagner
Well-known member
Hi Everyone,
It has been awhile since I have posted. Life has been keeping me very busy this last year. I wish I had a good report from marathon number five, but I keep telling myself that finishing it is what really counts when all is said and done. My goal was to run in the 4:20 to 4:40 range; but my final time was 5:19:45. At the nine mile mark my left knee buckled, and for the remainder of the marathon I ran and walked with an obvious limp and just literally grit my teeth for the most part. I was clearly in pain, and was somewhat vocal at times.
My brother and sister were both running their first marathons with me, so I did not want to be the sibbling that let them down! My brother ran a 4:22 and my sister ran a 5:06; not bad for first timers. My wife walked the half marthon in 3:33, and I am so very proud of her and the effort she put in to train for it. My parents were there, so I think it must have been very pleasing to see the accomplishments of the family.
The mistake I made, was Wednesday, the first night of my vacation before
the marathon. My work called me in on an emergency. I was up and down a 10 foot ladder, literally I would guess around 40 times during a 9 straight hour period. The night before the marathon (Saturday night) as my brother and I sat by the pool, I told him, "I am sitting in this chair and both my knees are still throbbing, and I am going to run a marathon in the morning." At the one mile mark I knew I was most likely in for trouble as my knees were feeling so fatigued already. Lesson learned .... don't answer my phone the week of a marathon! Lesson number two (and I know better) don't run a marathon with only 7 miles on your running shoes. (dumb huh?) It certainly did not help.
Well marathon retirement lasted 2 days ( I have to finish on a better note!) ... Next up the Seattle Marathon on November 26th, this coming fall. This is a hilly marathon, but I'm up for the challange. It is very walker friendly, so Charyl will probably walk the half-marathon. Hopefully I will run this on my God given knees and not some new titanium ball and joints.
I aplologize for not checking in much. If I can be of any help to anyone training or whom may have questions about running post heart valve surgery, drop me a line.
Take care friends, thanks for always being there. ... Mark
It has been awhile since I have posted. Life has been keeping me very busy this last year. I wish I had a good report from marathon number five, but I keep telling myself that finishing it is what really counts when all is said and done. My goal was to run in the 4:20 to 4:40 range; but my final time was 5:19:45. At the nine mile mark my left knee buckled, and for the remainder of the marathon I ran and walked with an obvious limp and just literally grit my teeth for the most part. I was clearly in pain, and was somewhat vocal at times.
My brother and sister were both running their first marathons with me, so I did not want to be the sibbling that let them down! My brother ran a 4:22 and my sister ran a 5:06; not bad for first timers. My wife walked the half marthon in 3:33, and I am so very proud of her and the effort she put in to train for it. My parents were there, so I think it must have been very pleasing to see the accomplishments of the family.The mistake I made, was Wednesday, the first night of my vacation before
the marathon. My work called me in on an emergency. I was up and down a 10 foot ladder, literally I would guess around 40 times during a 9 straight hour period. The night before the marathon (Saturday night) as my brother and I sat by the pool, I told him, "I am sitting in this chair and both my knees are still throbbing, and I am going to run a marathon in the morning." At the one mile mark I knew I was most likely in for trouble as my knees were feeling so fatigued already. Lesson learned .... don't answer my phone the week of a marathon!
Lesson number two (and I know better) don't run a marathon with only 7 miles on your running shoes. (dumb huh?) It certainly did not help.Well marathon retirement lasted 2 days ( I have to finish on a better note!) ... Next up the Seattle Marathon on November 26th, this coming fall. This is a hilly marathon, but I'm up for the challange. It is very walker friendly, so Charyl will probably walk the half-marathon. Hopefully I will run this on my God given knees and not some new titanium ball and joints.
I aplologize for not checking in much. If I can be of any help to anyone training or whom may have questions about running post heart valve surgery, drop me a line.
Take care friends, thanks for always being there. ... Mark
