My First Half Marathon: The Greater Binghamton Bridge Run

By Richard Docalavich  

So: it is Sunday May 3rd at 7-ish in the morning and I am at NYSEG stadium in Binghamton NY with a crowd of other people getting ready to run the Greater Binghamton Bridge Run 2015 Half-Marathon. This is my first half-marathon. It’s a beautiful day for a run - sunny and a little chilly. I am thinking to myself "what was I thinking getting ready to run 31.1 miles for fun. Who does this?" My stomach is in knots and my head is racing. I position myself toward the middle and the back of the crowd because my goal is to just finish I am not looking for a specific time. Next thing you know I hear the Star-Spangled Banner being sung - and quite well I may add. I hear the countdown then the horn! The race is on!!!

First let’s do a flash back. This all started about 8 months ago when I was going through some major issues in my life. A little background - I smoked and weighted nearly 270 lbs at 5”7’ in height. I was clearly obese. So I started walking because it cleared my mind - and walking a lot. The problem was the walking took a long time. So a friend suggested I try running. I did the "walk two minutes run two minutes to get started running" twice. Then one day I ran three miles straight. It took me almost an hour but, I did it. I felt like a superstar. I was pretty heavy to be able to just start running like that, but let me tell you the feeling of accomplishment from doing that was awesome. So I started running a lot. It was my new addiction. I went from 0 miles a month to 70 miles a month. I signed up for my first 5K “The Pink Dress” which I halfheartedly planed to do in September.

Needless to say I ran that and loved it. The people cheering was amazing and even the runners that finished before me stayed to cheer people on. I was hooked. I ran a few more 5ks then a 10k. In the process I have lost nearly 52 lbs from running. I lost weight so fast that I couldn’t keep clothes fitting. I was the incredible shrinking man. I know - not really a "bad" problem, losing weight really fast. So, lets get back to the point of the article: my first half marathon.

Like anyone that runs, I knew a good portion of the race is in the preparing for the race before it even starts. The race start time was 7:30. I planned the night before to wake up at 5:00. See, in my training I found out that around 5 or 6 miles I tended to have to go "number 2" and I wanted to avoid that in the race. My plan was to wake up early enough so that hopefully I could get that out of the way. So I woke up at 5:00 all ready and excited. I had laid my clothes out the night before. I went down stairs and made a smoothie for breakfast since I was afraid to eat anything that was solid. The smoothie consists of yogurt, a banana, peanut butter, and a blueberry\strawberry\raspberry frozen mix all blended up. Then I took 1 Imodium which I was hoping would help with not having to do the "number 2" during the race. I also drank lots of water to make sure I was hydrated.

I arrived at the race around 6:30 I walked around a bit and was hoping that I could take care of the "number 2" thing maybe get my system to work that out. Unfortunately I think my nerves were not letting that happen which in turn made me even more nervous! I ran into some fellow runners that I knew and we talked. I wasn’t sure if I was shaking because of being nervous or chilly. Everyone was telling me that I would do well and I, of course, was hoping they we right. I stretched a bit and was really hoping that I was actually ready for this. Thirteen-point-one miles is a long ways. THIRTEEN-POINT-ONE MILES! Am I crazy? I am not ready for this! "Stop. Stop." I told myself "You're psyching yourself out. Baby step it. I am just doing a 5k (4 times). I can do this! I am ready. -- I have run this distance before once and stopped a few times. I am not ready!!"

Back to the start of the race: I lined up with a friend that had run 4 of these before and she said she was running around the pace that I had set on my watch. I set my Garmin watch for a pace of 10:40 min/mile which was a little faster than I though I could run it in, but I could always slow down. 

Race starts: so the first mile's done. Not so bad, only 12.1 miles to go. I have been keeping up with my friend. The watch is saying I am ahead of my pace, OK not a bad thing. I notice there are a lot of bystanders watching the race and cheering which is really cool and actually makes it easier and the sign were great! “13.1 miles you are only half crazy” and “When you legs give out. Let your heart take you the rest of the way.”

Approaching mile 2: watch still saying I am head of my pace and I feel like I am really moving faster than I had trained for, which is great but I am doing 13.1 miles not a 5K. I check my watch my friend and I are running a 10:19-10:15 pace this is too fast I can’t keep this up for another 11. I tell my friend I am going to have to drop back I am afraid that I can’t keep that pace. She says "ok, good luck!" and now I am on my own. Half way between mile 2 and 3 I have to pee. No porta-poty until mile 4. I can hold it - well, I have no choice! I can’t just stop and go, people are all over the place. I will get arrested.

Mile 3: the sun really starts showing itself and I start really working up a sweat. It keeps running into my eyes and I can’t see well. I have to keep adjusting my hat and wiping. My eyes are burning and I still have to pee. But the running I am doing well. I'm still ahead of my pace. The watch beeps and I put in a cough drop. Oh I forgot to mention I don’t do well with drinking water so I take cough drops when I run to keep my mouth from getting dry and it keeps my nose free and wide open. All in all, mile 3 feeling good besides the eyes.

Mile 4: yes! Bathrooms coming up! I have to go pee. I run off to the side to the porta-potties and they are full. I wait a minute in my mind it’s an eternity I see people running by. I am in a race! Forget it, I can hold it till the next one - another 2 miles. So basically I was worried about making to the bathroom all of mile 4 and mile 5 and listening to my head phones. I had a good beat going. I had chosen club music for the fast beat to keep me going. The burning in my eyes stopped. Still sweating but I think I am just used to it by now. My body is feeling good. I got this!! Just have to pee!

Mile 6: yes! Made it! Pee time! I run to the porta-pottys - OMG full. People running by. I am getting passed waiting to pee. Seriously, I have to go!! Waiting: can’t do it. I start running again. Two more miles and I can go. Two more miles and I have to go. No ifs or buts - even if I have to wait. 

Mile 7: I have to pee soooo bad. I start thinking about how I have read articles that some people just pee themselves in the race. Now I am pretty dedicated to running, but to pee myself - not sure if I am that dedicated. I spend the next mile weighing the pros and cons on peeing my pants. Next thing I know.

Mile 8: bathrooms I make a bee line for them. One is open. Awesome!! You have no idea how happy I was that one of the porta-potties was open.  The release of pressure from my bladder was pure joy. My legs went weak for a bit it felt so good. OK, I don’t have to go pee anymore. I start running again and I am feeling awesome - you would have never guessed that it was mile 8. I had a pep in my step. I even drank a Gatorade. I am feeling surprisingly good.

Mile 9: noting special starting to get tired of running but not too bad. 

Mile 9.5: I think I hit a wall. My body is saying I am done. Everything is starting to hurt. I am convincing myself to keep going. How can I stop now I am over half way? Then it hits me. If I stop I will still have to walk back to my car. My car is at the end of the race. Why would I walk it when I can just run it and get it done faster?

Mile 10: I start joking with people that are cheering me on. That I am just looking for my car and that I will never park so far away again. I am trying to keep my mind off the fact that my body wants to quit. I am not going to quit I didn’t sign up for this to quit. Besides I have to get to my car to get home and that is at the finish of the race. This is what I keep telling myself anything to keep me going. Then I started thinking "wait I only have 3 miles left. This is a 5k. I do 5ks all the time! I got this!!"

Mile 11: Still have in my mind it’s a 5k and I hear in my head one of my run friends saying that you need to give it all on a 5k. Give it all so I keep treading through. I have yet to walk or stop except for the bathroom breaks I am doing good. Miles 11 and 12 are kid of a blur not really sure how I got through them. Half way through 12 I actually walked for a bit but I found that it hurt to walk. My body had been running for so long that it was painful to walk. My pace had slowed down considerably and my watch said I was behind pace. I did not care I just wanted to finish. At mile 12, I took 2 cups of Gatorade and sipped then as I really slowed down didn’t walk because it hurt but went as slow as I could without walking. It hurt to walk. I was still encouraged by the bystanders cheering me on encouraging me. These were people that had no idea who I was and they were telling me that you can do it you got this. More signs that I remember reading “Pain is temporary but the online stats are forever”, “ Run like you stole something”.

Almost to mile 13. Seriously what was I thinking signing up for this? I paid for this, what is wrong with me? Where is the finish line? My watch says 13 miles I see nothing but more road. Where is the finish line? Seriously what is going on? Freaking out a bit at this point thinking this will never end. I notice that everyone is turning left. I turn left and come over a knoll and I can see the finish line. People are lining the streets cheering for us for me. There is nothing more powerful that a bunch of random strangers cheering you on. Suddenly I feel lighter. I feel like I got my second wind, actually more like my 5th or 6th wind!

The last .1: This is where all the pain from the race was wiped away. I was sprinting to the end (not really but it was all I had left). I have people cheering. I remember they take a photo at the end. Strike a pose while running! I hear my name called over the loud speaker. Well not my last name - a version of it when you can’t actually say it correctly, but still awesome. I cross the finish line and the feeling of accomplishment is crazy. Friends are there congratulating me because most of them are faster than me and have ran these before and finish before me.

Richard before weight loss and after finishing his first half marathon!

All in all I am going to run more half-marathons. All the pain sweat and tears (yes, there were tears) are worth it in end. I am proud of myself for doing this and like the one sign said “Pain is temporary but the online stats are forever”. This is an accomplishment that no one can take from me and I did all by myself. I did have a lot of support and I would like to thank everyone for that. Also I would like to give a shout out to the all the bystanders and their signs and support you have no idea how much a part of a race you actually are. Thank you.

Running Smart: Hydration and Nutrition

by Joe Geronimo

Long before I was inspired to be a runner I never really drank, water that is. To be honest I cannot even tell you why. I've been running now for almost three years and my hydration habits are horrible. Research shows that an average male weighing 200 pounds needs 70 ounces of water per day to replace just every-day water loss. That does not include any extra effort or exercise. I can tell you this I don't think I've drank 70 ounces of water on a hot summer day. Throw in my running routine and it's a potential date with disaster.

I have a rule, its my own and I think it needs some modification to say the least. If I was running or racing anything less than a half marathon I would not drink water during. I never liked the "sloshing" feeling. After my run or race I might have a 16/20 ounce bottle of water and that is pretty much it, then it was "beer me!" Like I've stated I really have not been a water drinker. During the New York City marathon I carried no water but did make it through a few water stops along the course.

Over the past year I have been battling muscle injuries in my lower half, hip flexors, glutes & calves. I attribute a lot of this to my change in running shoes. I went from a stability shoe "i.e.. Brooks Adrenaline" to a more minimal drop neutral shoe as in the Brooks Pure Flow. I'm a big boned guy who hits the pavement hard when I run so I believe that lack of stability did some damage. It also didn't help that I rarely took a day off over the past two years and I ran 99% of my runs hardcore with barely a slow run. Yes I over-worked myself and I am paying the price. Fall 2013 through winter 2014 I was running 200+ miles a month in bitter cold temperatures before I fell to my injuries. My last race, the 2014 Binghamton Bridge Run half marathon, I was in so much pain I think I was crying crossing the finish line.  Recently and I mean in just the past few days I've been looking at how I am truly feeling. Muscles constantly tired, achy and sore. It hit me like a freight train, "hey dummy something else is going on here." I thought to myself: I wonder if my lack of hydration is play an integral part of my issues? After some online research, conversations with my wife, friends and trainers pointed me in the direction of hydration as a huge culprit.  

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Over the past several days I have been working very hard at hydrating myself and as of today I feel pretty darn good. My muscles don't ache and I feel quite considerably less sore than they have in a long time. This revelation of hydration came to me after my long run this past Sunday, don't ask me why. Over the last 20 years my nutrition had been terrible. This is why I weighed over 300 pounds before making some life changes. I never met a drive thru I didn't like or a foot long sub that was too big, pass me a 55 gallon drum of soda with a side of fries. In 2012 I ditched the Whopper with cheese so to speak for a more thoughtful and healthier lifestyle and it changed my life forever. I won't bore you with the details but a 3 ounce serving is VERY small. I've never been really good with nutrition.  How could I be? I work for the railroad and we were on call 24/7 365 with only a 2 hour notice to come to work. We'd work 12, 13, 14 hours a day, rest for 10 hours, and right back at it. We were zombies and I remember packing enough food to make sure I could stay awake for those long hours. Sometimes that wasn't enough and we'd find a Mickey D's or a diner. That poor nutritional lifestyle finally caught up with me and I needed to make a change. Finally, I have managed to keep my weight down with good choices and exercise. Lately though I have had this idea wrestling around my head that since I'm a runner I can eat whatever I want, WRONG! I've let things slide as of late, eating way to much candy (damn you chocolate & peanut butter), pizza, burgers, beer, etc. I love my family to death but I know when we all are together its going to be days of eating like crap.  Hey, we're Italians and we like to eat. It takes my body a full week, yes 7 days to recover from an eat-a-thon. I've gained several pounds over the last 9-10 months using this "I'm a runner" mentality and its time for me to get back on track. Its ok to enjoy that burger, pizza, beer and so forth but I am now making it a once in a while deal rather than more routine as it has been.

Don't miss out on our Nutrition for Runner's Clinic!

Feb 8, 2015

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I'd like to ask you this, do any of you struggle with hydration or nutrition? If so I would love to hear about it.

Cheers!

Joe

Why I Run: Bridging the Gap to Fitness

Flipping through my mental rolodex to the afternoon of February 24th 2012 as I stood on a scale in my doctors office watching in horror while the nurse continue to slide the weight on the scale higher and higher. The weight kept climbing like the thermometer on a summer afternoon. Two hundred pounds, two hundred and fifty, finally the mercury stopped at three hundred and eight pounds. I was mortified!

That afternoon while sulking and depressed I made a life altering decision to lose weight. The very next day drastic change came to my diet. I began to walk six miles a day five days a week and slowly things began to change for me. My body started feeling better. The digestive issues I had been having were suddenly gone. I began to have more energy and my walking began to speed up.

Fast forward to an afternoon in late April as I returned from the local Agway where I had purchased some fertilizer for our lawn. After lifting these extremely heavy bags from my car I happened to notice that each bag weighed forty five pounds. Taking a step back, standing there in amazement it had just hit me: I, myself had lost forty five pounds. Lifting those bags of fertilizer really put things into perspective for me.

Joe becomes a runner in his first 5k, 2012

A week later several friends had begun to push me to run a 5K race. Now, I had not run since playing high school lacrosse twenty two years prior. I was resisting all I could but my curiosity would eventually get the best of me. Our family registered for the Binghamton Bridge Run 5K as we had planned to walk it. Race day finally arrived and upon our arrival the half marathoners had just begun to come in. The atmosphere was electrifying. I was so excited to be a part of what was going on but really having no clue what was going on. All I knew is that it felt good.

Now it was our turn and as we stood waiting for the gun my wife looked at me and said “You know you want to run.” I politely replied no I’m going to walk.  BANG, the gun goes off and the tightly packed crowd of runners begins to move. My wife looks at me and says again “You know you want to run” and I looked back with a huge smile and I was off. Mile one, I am feeling great as a gentle pat on my back gets my attention and WOOOSH, my thirteen year old son goes flying on by.

Now with the finish line in sight, my adrenaline pumping I noticed that most of the runners who
ran the half marathon were lined up along the finish line clapping and cheering the 5K runners as
we crossed the finish line. Wow, I thought to myself, what a sense of community.  Runners of all skill levels cheering and supporting one another. I was hooked!

My first ever 5K race was now complete, finishing in 35:19. The Binghamton Bridge Run sparked an entire new lifestyle. Today, September 2nd, 2014, I’m in training for my first ever marathon. On November 2nd 2014 I will be running the New York City Marathon.





About the Author:
Joe Geronimo is a father, husband, runner, photographer & throw in locomotive engineer for good measure.  He is also an active member of Triple Cities Runner's Club and Team Confluence.