Cesar Gamez had been one of the top finishers in each of the previous four Mill Race Marathons. But on Saturday, he had to cut his aspirations in half.
Gamez, who shared his thoughts and training regimen with The Republic as this year’s male diary writer, began experiencing pain on the bottom of his foot after a 16-mile run last weekend.
“It was a mistake in my training,” Gamez said. “All week, I have been icing, but it seemed like it didn’t work.”
Gamez set out to run the full marathon. He was on his goal pace of 7 minutes, 30 seconds per mile through the first 11 miles, but then instead of continuing on the full marathon course, he split off and finished the half-marathon.
Gamez finished in 1:38:38 for 13.1 miles.
“I started fine, but by Mile 6 or 7, I started feeling the pain,” Gamez said. “It was painful. I’ll really regret it. I wasn’t ready for the heat and pain.”
Now, Gamez plans to take a little time off before resuming training for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, which is in November.
Meanwhile, female diary writer Dipti Gore ran her first half-marathon. She finished in 3:01:43.
“I feel great about finishing, and finishing in a decent time,” Gore said. “I wanted to finish before 3 (hours), but I’m close to 3. It was a different experience altogether. I feel like a different person.”
Gore had been experiencing a swollen right leg and pain in her right side. She said her past month of training went well, and she began to understand her body a little better and when she could increase or decrease her pace and stretch herself.
As a result, Gore said she had less pain Saturday.
“It was much, much better today,” Gore said. “It was like a party with everyone. There were so many people cheering you along the way, and that kept our spirits high.”
So now that she’s conquered a half-marathon, is she ready for the full 26.2 miles?
“Last year, I couldn’t run a half-mile, so I said I’d never do a half-marathon, either,” Gore said. “Now that I’ve finished a half-marathon, we’ll see.”
