My Legs Are Killing Me!

My legs are killing me!
Before I tell you why, let me say that I have a problem! A Big one! However, it is a good problem to have…I think.

I, being a former athlete, feel like I consistently need to achieve new and bigger things, athletically. For some reason this motivates me more than you can imagine. Maybe I’m going through a mid-life crisis or something. I don’t know.

About a year ago I took up serious distance running. Now when I say serious, I don’t mean trying to make the Olympic team or anything. What I mean is trying to achieve more than I think I physically can do. Why? Because I know in the back of my mind it can be done if I just put my mind to it. I like to push myself to the limit at certain things, and then some, and really see how far and how hard I can push myself. Call me crazy! Most people do!

So anyway, about a year ago I decided to run a 5k on Thanksgiving day. Oh yeah, Thanksgiving day was only three weeks away and I had not run in over a year. I called up my uncle in Ohio and asked him to find a 5k for me ( and him) to run together since that’s where I was going to be during Thanksgiving. He called and said he only knew of a 5 mile run, not any 5k’s in that area, and somehow he convinced me to run it. I really didn’t think I was going to be able to finish it. I was truly thinking that I could struggle to finish a 5k, but 5 miles was an entire different thing. That’s 2 extra miles. To make a long story short, he convinced me that if we did it together, I could finish it, and guess what? I did. And I did it fairly easily, only after three weeks of training. By the way…Thanks Uncle Mac! I think that’s where this whole thing started. He convinced me to do something I didn’t think I could. And I did it!

So after that I joined a running club here in Bluffton. Why did I do that? Easy…to find a coach to help me train correctly. I started out wanted to run strictly 5k’s. And week after week I ran with this club and struggled through 4-5 miles. One day my “coach” said we’re going 8 today. I’m thinking 8 miles…are you kidding? Well I did it and felt okay. Ever since that day I have never once struggled through 4 or 5 miles. Never! Something clicked in me physically and mentally that 4 or 5 miles really wasn’t that hard anymore. So I started running some 8k’s, some 10k’s a lot of 5k’s and then I turned 39…

Yes, that’s old for my broken down athletic body that used to take beatings in sports for almost 28 years. Trust me, my body has suffered.

So yes, I turned 39 and I needed something else. I kept seeing something about a Mud Run with military obstacles and things. Finally I signed up even though I am totally scared of heights (the Mud Run had 4 or 5 15-foot walls to climb). This was something I knew I was going to not be able to do. However, just like before, I signed up, which was a big step for me, and got a few friends together, and did it. Oh yeah, you bet I struggled over those walls, but with a lot of encouragement and nudging, my friends helped me over each one. And I must say, that race was a blast. We didn’t go out to “race”. We just did it to finish and have fun and of course I did it to conquer a major fear of mine.

So my legs are hurting. Here’s why…

Finally! I know I tend to babble sometimes.

About 4 months ago, I didn’t something I really thought my legs could not handle any longer. I signed up for a half marathon. That is 13.1 miles. With all the punishment I put on my legs back in college sports and even after college, this would be a huge step for me.

When I signed up trust me when I say I didn’t think I could finish it. But I signed up anyway, because again, I wanted to prove to myself that I could. This would take some major training on my part and I knew I couldn’t slack off. I had one goal from the day I signed up…to finish. I followed a strict training plan as much as I could. Yes I waivered off every now and then, but I always got right back on track. I even had two injuries along the way. However, about half way through my training plan, I added another goal. No longer was it just about finishing. Now I also wanted to finish without stopping. 6 weeks before that I thought that was going to be impossible.

Now I was training not to stop. About 2-3 weeks before the race, I started thinking about another goal. I was training for running an 8:30/mile pace the whole time, which is about a 1 hour and 52 minute plus half marathon. Well I started thinking about breaking 1 hour and 45 minutes. That’s an 8 minute mile. Before this training started, I was barely running 7:30 pace during 5k’s. Now I had the thought of 8 minute miles. I am crazy? Yes.

So I went into the race saying I’ll be happy to not walk and to run an average of 8:15 pace.

Here’s how the race went and why my legs are killing me now…

It was dark, cold and dreary out at 5:30am when we had to be at the starting line. (even though the race didn’t start until 7am) I arrived there on time, ate enough in the morning to get me through the race, and even had pasta all day before the race. So I was fueled up, warmed up well and was ready to go. The horn went off and off we went (all 5000 people). I said to myself “don’t go out to fast, but don’t get caught in the crowd as well”. I came up to the 1 mile sign and the clock read 8 minutes and 52 seconds.

You really don’t want to know what I said at that point. But it wasn’t good. So I suddenly picked up the pace quite a bit thinking I’ve got a lot of time to make up now. I picked off people left and right and felt good until we came to the only hill in the race. I was already too tired to make it up the hill, so I backed off enough to make it up as many of those that I had just passed, passed me right back. Coming down the hill I just relaxed and let the decline take me. I passed many people again, but without using any energy, and found my groove. I passed the 2nd mile in 8:10 and found a nice couple to run with.

I asked them what their goal was, and they were trying to break 1:45. So I said “great! I’m going to stick with you guys if that’s okay”. Of course they said yes, and we chatted and chatted, and chatted. We were talking so much that my 3rd and easiest mile was 7:42. I just made up my time from the beginning, and now had others to help each other through. Guess what? My goal of 8:15 pace was no longer. I wanted that 8 minute pace and I wanted to break 1:45. We were running pretty much 8 minute pace from there on out, however…

At the 6 or 7 mile point, even though my lungs were doing just fine, my legs said to me “not today Chad”. They did…I heard them loud and clear.

My quads started to cramp up. Not sure why. As I said before, I ate well, was hydrating at every water station, yet it was still happening. The couple I was running with helped me through it, telling me to keep shaking them out and it will work itself out, just don’t stop. So that’s exactly what I did. That nice couple really helped me, but eventually got a little ahead of me with every step, even though I was still holding that 8 minute pace. I was really struggling. At mile 11, my legs just said “NO MORE”.

Well, I told my legs to shove it where it counts, and I kept going. I was not about to stop with 2 miles left. I was going to finish. I have no idea what my 11th mile pace was. I know it dropped off a lot. Probably close to 9 minute pace. Then…

With one mile left, I knew I had to do something or I was not going to finish. I had to change muscle fibers. So I stood up as tall as I could, got up on my toes and basically used my sprinting technique to change it up and get me through. My mind over-powered my body and I must have run close to a 7:30 minute last mile, because I crossed the finish line thinking I was going to collapse because of my legs, in 1 hour 45 minutes and 48 seconds.

And you know what? I was really proud of that. Not because of the time I ran, but because I proved to myself that I could finish it without walking, and to do that when my legs said “no” on that particular day was why I did it in the first place. I proved once again, that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If you really want something bad enough, just go get it.

I’m not sure what my next challenge will be. But whatever it is, I’m sure it will be hard and I’m absolutely sure I can do it!

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts in Bluffton, SC.