Dave – Spokane Half Marathon PR

Well Tom covered my Spokane Half PR of 1:28:08 so I won’t go into that too much but will talk a little about the weeks leading up to that. I had done a fast workout at the iRun Monday night interval training and pushed too hard and my hip started reacting. Like I fool (“Do as I say and not as I do”), on the Brickell Run Club Tuesday night run I also pushed hard and my hip was hurting. I didn’t run Wednesday or Thursday or the Friday we flew out to Seattle as my hip was sore. I did walk 8 miles as we kicked off our vacation in Seattle as we walked around the city. The following day we headed east to Lake Chelan, about half way across the state where we were staying for a week. The day after I went for a run to do some hill training, I knew about Doomsday Hill in the upcoming Spokane Half and coming from Florida I don’t get to run any hills. Immediately as I left out lake front condo I had to climb a small hill, I was breathing heavy as there was no warm up. I got to the main road and about half a mile later made a turn up a side street as I saw a hill. I started running up the hill as the road bent and then saw a steep climb, 1.2 miles later I was at the top of the hill and having to push real hard. About half a mile later I made another side street turn and found a 1.4 mile climb, the only thing that was saving me was the cool 50 degree weather with no humidity. I loved the climbs and the views of the lake below, the apple orchards and the lakes surrounding my climbs. When I got back I would go for a short swim in the glacier fed lake with a 62 degree water temperature, just like taking an ice bath it felt so good.  I could almost see myself living here, fishing the large lakes and running the hills to the various wineries. For the next 3 days I ran the hills to get ready for the race and found each day I was getting stronger. The 4^th day I took an easier route but didn’t even notice where the run was uphill or down ill, I felt good. Now to rest for another 3 days before the race. We left Lake Chelan and headed to Spokane where we met Tom and his wife Colleen, we had extended our vacation for 3 days so I could run the Spokane Half with Tom but unfortunately he had to have an operation on his knee and couldn’t run. We had a nice dinner and it was great to get to meet Tom and get to know him better. You know he’s a super nice guy from everything he does on the website but until you meet him in person you don’t truly appreciate how nice he is, if you get the opportunity to head to Washington be sure to make his Bloomsday 12K Race in May. The day before the race I don’t drink which I discovered is a lot easier when you’re at home than in a nice restaurant having dinner with your wife. Race day came and we headed down to the start line where we met Tom, I had told him I was aiming for around 1:33 given Doomsday Hill and my hip had been sore. It was about 50 degrees and a little windy when the race started. I set off and found a good rhythm right from the beginning despite hitting hills after about a mile. I knew about Doomsday but I was surprised how many other climbs there were, including Cemetery Hill. Tom was on his bike and kept popping up every couple of miles to shout his encouragement to me. I pushed hard as I didn’t want to let Tom down as I was representing The HipRunners, my splits were great and I felt good, that was until I reached the top of Doomsday Hill, by then I was really tired, it was about 10 miles and I really wanted to slow down and recover. Tom was at the top and told me I was still in 10^th position but there were people closing in on me, I hadn’t come all this way to finish 11^th and be in the top 20 so I was determined to hold my top 10^th spot. At about 12.5 miles I looked back and could see the person closing the gap on me, I kicked and hoped I had enough energy to take me to the finish line, which I did and finished in 1:28:08, a 3 minute PR on a very hilly course. Immediately my hip started screaming at me and I couldn’t move after getting my medal and a bottle of water. After about a minute I was able to start walking to walk off some of the pain, unfortunately when I race hard my hip always hurts, it’s about the only time it does. We headed down to the local Irish bar where we met fellow Hip runner Michelle for a quick drink before I had to return to pick up my award, a nice bottle of wine. We had a great time and had to bid farewell to Tom as we were heading home the following day. The good news is that I ran on Tuesday, probably quicker than I should, and I felt fine. I also ran Thursday 11 miles and only had minor discomfort with my hip. My next race is 3 weeks after this half, another half in Florida on a completely flat course and I’m hoping I can get a good PR.

One thing that came up talking with Tom was my diet and supplements. I have changed my diet and greatly reduced the amount of red meat I consume, I now eat a low more fruit and vegetables after listening to the book “The China Study”. After receiving my initial diagnosis 10 years prior to my hip replacement I started taking Celebrex until that wore off and then I went through a couple of other medications that didn’t sit so well. Eventually I started taking liquid glucosamine and chondroitin until my hip replacement. I then stopped taking anything until I was injured and had to take a year off and then switched to a different supplement that included Hyaluronic Acid, it’s called Flexacil Ultra.  Don’t know if it’s it makes a great deal of difference but when I started training for my ultra’s and stopped taking this I felt worse, yes I had increased my weekly mileage but not sure if it was due to stopping this so I switched back to it and have felt better since then.