Dan Cummings, 50
Engineering / Real Estate
Southern California
Rock-n-Roll San Diego, 5:15:18 including photo stops
Why did you decide to give up your Marathon V-Card?
Just kind of “ran” into the marathon. I attended an information meeting for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and got caught up in the idea of celebrating their 20th year and my 50th birthday by becoming a marathon man.
What shape were you in when you began your training?
Pretty decent… After nearly twenty-five years as a smoker that tipped the scales over 200 pounds, I found running was the best way for me to drop a little weight. I couldn’t make a lap around the track on my first attempt to run but before connecting with Team in Training I worked on my own doing several 5k’s and two half marathons.
What was your motivation for running?
I was facing the decision to give up and become a fat man or make changes. I decided to lose some weight.
What was your biggest mistake in training?
Becoming over confident and under estimating the mental aspects of the marathon.
What was your eating plan?
I eat… Never mastered dieting and the more I train the more I gain. Most days I start with a double packet of oatmeal and have two morning snacks consisting of Nature Valley Granola bars. Lunch is a simple sandwich, banana and apple for an estimated total of 1500 calories. Dinner and afternoon or evening snacks probably add another 1500 calories or more to my day.
How did you deal with any injuries?
Thick Headed… My injuries were in the early stages of running before marathon training. Shin splints and IT band issues were all resolved within the first year of running.
What was your pre-race ritual?
I do not believe in rigid rules and have never repeated a routine before an event except for developing a habit of laying my stuff out the night before in hopes that I don’t forget anything.
Be brutal, what was the race like?
The first half of the race was great but in retrospect I went out too fast. After a slow first mile due to congestion I picked up the pace and by mile six was right on schedule so I started taking photos along the way. My race recap here: http://www.cummingsteam.com/rnr-recap.pdf
My time was pretty much on target of 4:30 finish during the first half so I took a little walk break but never recovered from it. The pace dropped way off and bottomed with a fifteen minute mile at mile nineteen and continual walking running spurts during the final six miles!
How did you celebrate your marathon?
After the ice bath I spent the afternoon with sitting around the outside café drinking beer… It was the Rock & Roll Marathon so my night was spent at the Pat Benatar concert.
How many marathons have you done since?
The marathon opened my eyes to a whole new level of fun so I went on to finish four marathons during my rookie year. So far I have completed six including the Goofy Marathon and a Half Challenge and will be returning to run San Diego in 2010.
What advice do you have for first-timers?
Pushing yourself too far too fast results in injury and actually slows you down. Whatever your speed, come to terms with it and learn to enjoy the run.
