TDS

The morning started staring at a shirt. A few years ago, all my race gear would be laid out the night before neatly organized, ready at a moments notice. My race bib would even already be attached to the shirt I was planning on wearing. It was done under the pretense of preventing anything being forgotten, but honestly it was nerves and the excitement leading up to the race. That adrenaline rush has worn off and waiting until the last minute, seems more natural to my style. Seven o'clock? Maybe, I did it because I didn't have the vast selection of shirts to choose from. Now, heck, I have my choice of color coordinating the shirt to the race itself, the theme, or matching my shoes. The choices, oh my! Green it is!

Preparing for this marathon has me very unsure of how things will go. On one hand, I know I haven't put anywhere near the amount of time or miles getting ready for this race. On the other hand, a few weeks ago, I crushed by previous best half marathon time. Then there's my hip. It's been bothering me off and on since that run. Some runs by mile two it's bugging me, other's it holds off until mile eight. Rested legs versus nagging minor injury, roll the dice and see what happens today.  Uncertainty, just like selecting a shirt.

Lined up behind the pace group I wanted to finish.  Planned my GU spots slightly different for this marathon. I'm always paranoid carrying too much stuff. My new plan to avoid The Wall, has me taking more GU earlier in the race, specifically at mile six and every three after than. Compared to about every six in previous marathons. That's a lot of GU to carry, so I intended to run with three on my body and grab the two free ones along the course. Three GU's loading down my short shorts, lets get this party started!

The first miles were easy and relaxed. It seems like I've run this course so many damn times now, I feel like I almost know where the pot holes are. By mile three, I had closed the gap of space I gave the pace group and it was starting to feel congested. Hey, there's Steve! I'll probably regret this, but felt it was time to build my pace group buffer.

Four to nine miles were a blur. Hey, there's Rob and Chris! Whoops, I missed grabbing a free GU as I passed by.  Then, there's the turn off for the half marathon people, lucky dogs!  Why do I do this again? At this point the light bulb when off and dawned on me that at least my hip isn't bothering me.

Ten to fifteen are the prettiest of the run.  Here, I'm still feeling very good.  I've taken now all of my GU's. My half split has me on PR pace.  Still, tons of miles to go, but most happy about not having to deal with my hip.

Sixteen, there it is, that slight twinge of there is just something not right with my hip.  In addition to feeling it, it's the first time I notice my time being slower than what I thought I was running.  This is where the fun starts. Did I mention how much I despise this part of the course?  At this point it's an out and back on this awful graded trail.  I swear that tracking devices also don't work here in this twilight zone of a trail and every mile is in fact two.  By eighteen, I was in definite pain and was feeling funny.  Figured, I'd muscle through it as best I could until twenty, then decide what goals I had for myself.

By twenty, I knew a PR wasn't going to happen.  I was still ahead of the pace group I wanted, but was just offered the worst flavor GU, which I turned down thinking I'd have a chance to grab another flavor, nope that was it.  For all my planning on increasing my GU consumption, I was going to end up using the same amount I've always used.  I didn't ponder this long because now in addition to feeling a little funny, hip, now had a new source of pain coming from my inner thigh.

Even though I was feeling funny, I knew the tell tail signs of chafing. What is going on here? I've only had this issue one race where I was stupidly pouring water on myself in an attempt to cool off.  Besides, the occasional water stop spill while drinking and running, I didn't think my shorts were getting that wet. Regardless of why or how, this was the most immediate problem, hip pain was a distant thought.  Between twenty-one and twenty-two, the pace group caught and passed me.  Once that happened, all thoughts of going for a time went out the window and surviving became the plan.

The final miles were ugly, but I wasn't going for style points either.  Getting across the line for Marathon number eight was good enough for me.  When I did cross, I'm not sure if I was more relived to be done with the damn thing or surprised to the fact with how bad my inner thigh hurt, my time was respectable. I'll spare you, the reader, with the gross chafing picture.  You are welcome.

So, what is TDS? Is it the condition that cause the chafing? No, maybe, yes. TDS, I'm labeling as That Damn Shirt. I've spoken about how I've got my little runner routines, how I do them, but I don't believe them.  Well, I've had it with this shirt!  Only bad races have resulted when wearing this shirt.  Prior to selecting it this morning, I ruled out how silly that superstition was, and tempted fate.  The result, TDS. The result, is you'll never see this shirt on me again come race day!