It's been a long time -- probably two years at least -- but we can finally offer an instalment here on GWMD of the widely loved derided race report series! Many of you know that for the last two years Joelle and Pemulis have signed up for an epic 63 km run through the German and Austrian Alps involving thousands of meters of elevation gain and plenty of opportunities for one's soul to be either crushed or redeemed through personal heroics (or lack thereof). Because Pemulis would in all likelihood have fallen into the crushed / non-redeemed / lacking of personal heroics camp, the fact that Covid led to the cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 versions of the event can be considered, by Pemulis, to be one of the few (along with many aspects about working from home) quite positive outcomes of the still extant global pandemic. But, the strange compulsion to want to do a "race" -- an itch that was left unscratched by two (mercifully) cancelled races -- remained, and in the deep of summer when thoughts and intentions seem magical and one can imagine a fantasy future where time unfurls endlessly, the nights begin well into the very much later parts of the day, and kids never get sick, Pemulis made the foolish decision to register for the Munich Marathon.
The first several weeks of training went well. Warm summer evenings, kids busy doing whatever kids busy themselves with, injury free, and armed with a plan to propel himself to the upper echelons of the running hierarchy, Pemulis (running-wise) felt at the top of his game. But in mid-August, as it was bound to do, tragedy struck. Shin, ankle, foot, you name it, it was hurting. Pemulis dialled it back (aka did nothing) for a week, then the family went on holiday for a week, then Pemulis finally succumbed to the sickness that the rest of the family had been struggling through, and all of the sudden three weeks that had earlier held so much promise for running improvement had crumbled into the forgotten dust of history. Or something. The point is, you're kind of supposed to run most days if you're going to be doing a marathon, and Pemulis had ran 0 days in 3 weeks. Not the most auspicious approach to marathon greatness.
The good that came out of the extended break was that the injuries had settled down and Pemulis was able to run again. Not fast, and his fitness had all but disappeared in the days ensuing the initial back-dialling, but it was something, and the possibility of at least participating in the race started to gain a feeling of substantiveness (aka reality). While the injury pain had clearly subsided, it was by no means gone, and following a relatively long run 3 weeks before race day, severe tendonitis had arrived in Pemulis's right foot and it was not planning on leaving any time soon. This kept the distance of his longest preparation run at a paltry 28 km which is far short of the typical 34 to 37 km that one might typically "top out" at for a proper marathon preparation. The weekend two weeks before race date was no better and Pemulis settled for another medium-length run and then NOTHING on the week before.
While the preparation had been sub-optimal at best, his body was betraying him, tendonitis scored through his body, and his exhaustion levels were nearing all-time highs, Pemulis looked forward to the race and to the internal battles of the soul that it would entail. As is typically the case, most of the members of the Pemulis family at this period of time happened to be suffering from some kind of malady. A cold, a virus, coughing, sneezing, and the like. Thursday night before bed, Pemulis was struck down by the virus and the race seemed further away than ever. Friday was worse and Pemulis was even too sick to leave his bed and collect his race kit all the way on the other side of the city. Saturday was a little better and he managed, with Helga in tow, to make the long trek to the Olympic Park and collect the race kit. Sunday morning finally arrived and though he was now two night sleepless, coughing, nose running incessantly, and body aching like something fierce, it was time to race.
Now, it was not Pemulis's greatest display of athletic performance. But in the end he did OK and managed to finish the marathon in a time just over 4 hours. In the running community, we refer to this class of time as a "running room mom" time. But Pemulis will take it. He also beat this guy below (I think)...
