As promised, the full report<br><br><b>Equinox Marathon</b><br><i>Fairbanks, Alaska<br>
September 15th, 2007</i><br><br>
The dark grey skies loomed ominous over Fairbanks this morning as I prepared for my running of the 45th annual Equinox Marathon. The grey skies seemed to foreshadow the events that would unfold during the day perfectly. The short version of this report is ugly. The long version of this report is <b>really</b> ugly.<br><br><b>SHORT VERSION</b>: I ended up being taken off of the course atop Ester Dome by medics who realized I was serious trouble. It's a DNF at mile 12.7.<br><br><b>LONG VERSION</b>:<br>
For the long version of this report, let me rewind to when I left Boston. I had two 5 hour flights ahead of me, Boston to Salt Lake City and then Salt Lake City to Anchorage. The next day I had to drive the 358 miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks. When I left Boston, I had gotten up at 3:30am Eastern time to catch a bus to Boston's Logan airport. By the time I arrived in Anchorage, it was 6:30pm Boston time. By the time I got my rental car, got checked into my Anchorage hotel, ran the errands I needed to in Anchorage, etc, it was about 6:00pm Alaskan time (10:00pm Eastern). I didn't get to sleep till 8:00pm Alaskan, 12:00 midnight Eastern. Translation: I was really run down when I got to bed in Anchorage.<br><br>
The next day, I started the ride to Fairbanks in the pouring rain. About 100 miles into the ride I ran into some road construction that had the road closed. It was at that point I realized I had a headache and a bit of a scratchy throat. Not a good sign. I continued the drive and got to Denali National Park and had lunch 15 miles into the park. It was a beautiful day in the park, and yet, I felt really cold. Another bad sign.<br><br>
I continued the ride to Fairbanks and got there around 5:30. I checked into the hotel, changed clothes and immediately went over to run down and then up Ester Dome as a training run for the marathon. I didn't think much of how I was feeling. The run down the mountain was easy, but the run up the mountain was a real struggle, more of a struggle than I ever remember it being. Since I was in great shape having had followed the Pfitz/Douglas 18/70 plan prior to the marathon, I knew something was up. When I got back to my hotel my suspicions were confirmed. As I laid down on the couch I had chills and a fever.<br><br>
The next day I didn't feel any worse or any better. I went over to Ester Dome again and ran the out-and-back portion of the Equinox course. Again, I struggled to do this run, and I was starting to get concerned for the race.<br><br>
Friday I took the day off from running, and hoped that my body would recover for race day.<br><br>
Saturday was race day. Unfortunately, I awoke race morning feeling worse than I had at any time during the week. I had considerable chest congestion, a very sore throat, and a slight fever. These symptoms had been common throughout the week, but they were at their worst this morning. For those of you who have never run, trust me, they are not good for running!<br><br>
Race morning broke with cloudy skies. The thermometer at the University said 41 degrees. I had opted for long sleeves, DriFIT tights, a Sub4 running hat and Nike running gloves. I brought shorts and a short sleeved shirt with me in case I wanted them right before the race, but decided against them.<br><br>
The pre-race meeting went off without a hitch. I felt lousy, but I had come 4,000 miles for the race. I <b>was going</b> to start! Before the race, I tried a simple warmup run and found that very hard. I knew this was going to be a pretty awful day at that point.<br><br>
We lined up, a cannon was fired, and we were off. For the first few miles, I felt okay, but my pace was very inconsistent. Some miles were faster than I had hoped, but a lot were slower.<br><br>
I felt a bit warm during miles 1 and 2 and I almost wished I had gone in shorts. How ironic that thought was, as you'll see later on.<br><br>
As the miles went on, my HR was good, but my breathing was really starting to give me issues. Despite not running all that fast, I couldn't get enough air. I was being passed quite a bit, and by mile 5 I realized I was starting to get cold. I knew if the sun didn't come out soon I'd probably be in trouble. Just before the base of Ester Dome at mile 9, a guy asked me "How are you?" I told him "I've had a lot better days."<br><br>
As I started the climb, I had to start walking. If I were healthy that would never have happened, but I was not healthy. I tried to continue running, but the early part of the climb is steep. The climb eases up a little bit around mile 10, but even then I couldn't run it. This should have been easy for me because of the training I had done, but it wasn't there. I just couldn't breathe well enough.<br><br>
Near mile 11, there is a short portion of level ground in the course. I thought for sure I could run that, and I did run for part of it. But, it was at this point I had to stop and double myself over trying to get some air. This was the first of many times I would have to do that. It was also where I noticed my calfs were shivering.<br><br>
It can be windy as you go up Ester Dome. The winds weren't as bad as I had seen them in the past, but they were enough to chill me even more.<br><br>
Somehow I dragged myself to the top of Ester Dome. As I was going up, I had to stop several times to try to get air (again doubled over). Many runners and spectators asked if I was okay. It was hard to admit I was in trouble, but I knew I was.<br><br>
I finally got to the top. Paramedics from the Chena Goldstream Fire & Rescue were at the top of the Dome with their ambulance. One of the medics is a former classmate from my UAF days. He told me "You look awful." I said "I'm in real trouble." The crew put me in the back of the ambulance and wrapped me in blankets and hot packs. I was shivering uncontrollably, particularly in the legs. The medics cranked the heat in the back of the ambulance, and I started feeling better. After about 10 minutes of that, the medics took my temperature, and it was still just 95.8. I can only imagine how low it was when they took me off the course.<br><br><b>Lessons learned:</b> - I should never have even started the race as sick as I was. The Equinox is hard enough when you are 100%. Obviously I was far from 100%.<br>
NEVER, EVER piss off the mountain running gods. When I drove into town, I saw Ester Dome. I looked over and said "You've got nothing on me Ester Dome!" I guess Ester Dome had the last word this year.<br><br>
I hated to not finish. I didn't come 4,000 miles to DNF. I didn't follow the Pfitz/Douglas 18/70 plan to DNF. But I also didn't come 4,000 miles to do something stupid. Had I continued, the medics would not have been able to get to me with the ambulance, and thus their response would have been delayed. As it was, they were able to help me without taking me to a hospital. If I went on? Who knows.<br><br>
Some questions:<br>
1.) Will I do the Equinox again? <b>YES</b>, absolutely. Not sure when, but I will.<br>
2.) Did the Pfitz/Douglas program work for me? <b>Inconclusive</b>. I'll wait to when I've run a marathon healthy to determine that.<br><br>
Thanks for reading. Sorry the report wasn't a happier one.
