http://bouldernews.com/bdc/running/article/0,1713,BDC_2413_1470499,00.html
By Mike Sandrock, Camera Sports Writer October 10, 2002 Breaking his toe after falling on a training run could end up being a blessing in disguise for Louisville's Alan Culpepper, who will be making his marathon debut Sunday at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. Culpepper, 30, has the combination of strength and speed that has many believing he has the potential to develop into one of America's top marathoners. Culpepper is the sixth-fastest American ever over 10,000 meters (27:33.6) and has won U.S. track titles in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters, as well as the long-course cross country 12K championship. Culpepper remains a track runner, and decided to run his first marathon this year in part because there were no Olympics or World Championships scheduled. This first marathon, however, was nearly delayed when Culpepper fell and hurt himself while running on a steep, rocky trail near Wonderland Lake last month. "I was about 15 miles into a long run on the trail that goes by (Olympic runners Mark and Gwyn) Coogan's old house," Culpepper explained. "I was heading south down a steep hill and kicked a rock just on the end of my toe. I fell face-first down on the trail and when I turned over I was all cut up. I immediately knew I was hurt. I gimped home about five miles." It turned out to be a compression fracture, an injury that forced Culpepper to take a rare three days completely off. "I was in shock when it happened," Culpepper said. "I iced my foot all day, iced it every hour in a tub of ice, and I think that helped. My nail did not turn black, but it hurt so bad I thought there would be no way I would be able to run." When he resumed training, Culpepper had to wear shoes a half-size larger than normal, in order to keep the pressure off the toe. His toe was so sore that even putting on socks was painful. But when Culpepper was able to get through a 20-mile run, he knew that his trip to Chicago was on. "The toe is still broken and it will be broken beyond the race, but it is very manageable," Culpepper said. "After a couple of miles of running I don't think about it. When I started I had to run flat trails, on dirt. I was limited to three different spots." One of those spots was Harper Lake in Louisville. One week Culpepper ran 80 miles around the one-mile lake. It was not, however, boring. "I had not been injured in so long, and this allowed me not to take it for granted so much. I was just so thankful to be running that I did not mind running around the lake, and I feel the rest did me good. I was getting so caught up in all the details of the marathon mentally it was good to take a step back, and realize Chicago is just another race. With the marathon there are so many variables involved and I was getting caught up thinking about water bottles, how much to drink and when to drink. The broken toe helped me put it into perspective, and to go and try to run my best like I always do." Added Culpepper, who has the reputation of being a smart trainer: "I was burning it pretty hard (in training), and I saw the benefits (of the three days off) a couple of weeks after, when the rest caught up to me. I would never take three days off if I had not had the broken toe. I am pretty good about staying in the window of training hard and not overdoing it, but I was kind of feeling like I was going overboard. It took getting thrown down the trail to rest." Boulder's Silvio Guerra of Ecuador will be the rabbit, or pacemaker, for the front-runners in the marathon. Culpepper said he plans on running "aggressively," probably with former Boulder runners Eric Mack and Keith Dowling through the first half of the race. One factor in Culpepper's favor is that he has been running more than 100 miles 002 . 0009.02a week since he graduated from the University of Colorado in 1996, after winning the NCAA 5,000-meter crown. Leading up to Chicago Culpepper was able to handle training weeks of up to 130 miles. And if he has a projected finishing time in mind for Sunday, Culpepper is not saying. "I will just do my thing and go with how I feel, and not be too strict on time. I have had some of my best 002 . 0007.09races when I have been really relaxed and just let my natural racing instincts take over." Chicago marathon officials have compiled what they are calling a "historic field" for Sunday's race. The runners include London and New York City marathon winner Abdelkhader El Mouaziz, as well as both the men's and women's world record holders — Khalid Khannouchi (2:05:38) and Catherine Ndereba (2:18:47), plus the second-fastest marathoners of all-time, Paul Tergat (2:05:48) and Paula Radcliffe (2:18:56). The men's and women's winners will each pick up $100,000, with the total purse topping $500,000. =========== "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson _____________________________________________________________ Sign up for a 6mb FREE email from http://www.spl.at Join the buzz, chat with us! http://chat.spl.at _____________________________________________________________ Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get [EMAIL PROTECTED] w/No Ads, 6MB, POP & more! http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag
