Lincoln Marathon

As always, we were rushed to leave the house Saturday morning…I was trying to haggle on a new (used) car, grandparents were arriving to watch the kids, and Mendy was generally trying to cram too much into the morning as well. Nonetheless, we finally got on the road hoping to make it to Lincoln in time to see Jeff Galloway speak at the pre-race expo. Three hours worth of driving and great conversation later, we walked in just as he was beginning to speak. Our friends Brad and Adrienne, and Jon and Jen, were already there…they tend to be a bit more organized about these things. Galloway was very interesting to listen to, even though I don’t prescribe to his methods. The expo was the typical stuff, nothing too exciting. We made our way over to the free pasta dinner, met up with some other friends, and had a nice relaxing evening – complete with a movie!

Our hotel was within walking distance of the start, so we were able to sleep relatively late, walk over, and still be plenty early. (I don’t like being rushed before an event) I found Brad and we situated ourselves in the starting mob around the 8:30 milers. Before we knew it, the gun had sounded and the race began. It took us several minutes to get to the actual starting mat, but once we did, we were off and running. I didn’t really have a “race plan” other than to start out with Brad and then see how it went - maybe slow down and have a nice training run for the upcoming Berryman 50, but maybe speed up and go for a good finishing time.

Brad and I ran the first half side by side the whole way. Although I don’t remember what about, we talked most of the way, swapped snacks where we each grabbed the wrong things from aid stations, and kept good company for each other. I had to make one pit stop at a porta-john for a piss break that I couldn’t hold any longer, but other than that, I felt great the whole way.

At the turn where the ½ marathoners finished, I decided to turn up the speed a bit for the second half. I looked to Brad and told him I was going to speed up a bit and then just went on. I didn’t know if he was going to join or not, but after a few minutes a realized he wasn’t. After doing some mental calculations, I determined that I had a very slim chance in finishing in 3:30 if I ran hard for the entire second half – even though it would mean a negative split of around 7-8 minutes. What the heck, I might as well try.

Although I was now running by myself, the second half was a blast. While most others were slowing down, I was speeding up and passing people left and right. Nothing is more mentally encouraging than doing this. Mendy had ran the ½ and was now out on her bike encouraging those of us who were running the full. I was happy to see her a few miles before the finish, but didn’t have time to stop and talk – a glance to see her wave and cheer was all I needed. Fortunately I was able to maintain the pace all the way through and finished in 3:30:48. The 48 seconds kind of annoys me off because I my piss break in the first half was about that long. Oh well, I was still very happy with the time and looking forward to being under it next time.

As always, as soon as I quit running at the finish, the wall of weird pain, disorientation, and euphoria all wrapped into one hit me. I walked around for a few minutes to regain my bearings before all was well again. A few minutes later, Brad finished and we headed back out on the course together to find his wife and Jon to run them in. It was Jon’s first marathon and we figured he might be getting a bit tired by now. We found Adrienne first, so Brad started back in with her. I went on a bit further to find Jonathan. His wife Jen, was also riding along beside the course as encouragement, but I think he was happy to have someone run with him through that final grueling stretch. Seeing his excitement at the finish was probably the best part of the weekend.

After the race, Mendy and I gorged on some Chipolte, then headed home….great race, great weekend.

Gobbler Grind

Yesterday was the Gobbler Grind Marathon in Overland Park. I finished in 3:38, a little slower than my ultimate goal, but I am still happy with the time and a place of 35th out of 202 runners. At 16 miles, I was still on pace for a 3:30, but ended up hitting the dreaded wall somewhere around mile 21 and slowed down significantly. I was able to pull it back together for the last mile and a half, but that stretch immediately preceeding seemed to take forever.

At the finish area I caught up with a friend of mine, an experienced marathoner, who came in just slightly behind me and had set a new personal time record. The competitive side in me was happy to come in ahead of him, but I was truly glad he got the time he was after, and I could see on his face when he crossed the line that he was too.

As we talked and waited for our wives to finish, one of Mendy's friends who had come down to cheer her on found me and told me she had saw Mendy on the course and she wasn't doing well - her ankle was giving her a lot of trouble, and not to expect her too soon. We waited for awhile and eventually I decided to start walking the course backwards to find her and help her in. After walking 2 miles, I found her walking along with another girl. I was relieved that she had somebody to walk with because the course had really thinned out by this point. As it turns out, she had been walking for about 6 miles to that point, and we walked the final 2 miles in together. Obviously, she was upset to have had the troubles, but I was very proud of her for sticking it out and completing the entire distance, regardless of the her time.

It was while I walked the course in reverse for those couple miles and then in again with Mendy, that I gained a newfound respect for the folks in the back of the pack. I've always respected people for simply finishing their event regardless of distance or time, but I had never considered the extra efforts some people go through to get this done. Whether they were injured, elderly, out of shape, or just simply slow, these people were trying and they were trying hard. There were some that were obviously content and had planned on walking from the start, but ultimately they had set out on a mission and completed it, regardless of their circumstances. In many cases, they had more obstacles to overcome and had put in more effort in than the front runners. Not everyone can be the prototypical "runner", but they can put forth the effort to achieve something great.

Somewhere along the course I remember a spectator holding up a sign that read, "only 1% of people ever complete a marathon". I don't know if that's true, but I thought back to that as I witnessed these people pushing through the end of 26.2 long miles. They (Mendy and myself included) were in the processing of completing a task that very few people will ever have the courage to even embark on training for, let alone stick to the plan and ultimately complete. It is this kind of personal drive and motivation that I am happy to be associated with and love to see in people. It is something that transcends money, fame, or even climbing the career ladder. Nobody got a promotion or a prize for doing what they did, but we are all better for it.

26.2 - Almost

Oringinaly posted on the Merschaum Canteen 9/14/08

Mendy and I went to St. Louis this weekend to run in the Lewis & Clark Marathon. Hurricane Ike decided to roll through town as well. The downpour put a serious kink in my pre-race plans and almost caused us to not even start - little things like the parking lot being under two feet of water and runners having to push their flooded cars out in the dark before the race even began. Eventually we found some high ground to park on and decided to brave the elements.

Despite running through ankle deep water, pounding rain, and gusts of wind that hard enough to knock over some of the course porta-johns, I was pacing pretty good. I really didn't know how fast or far I had gone at any point because the course markers had mostly been destroyed or blown away, and I didn't wear my Garmin watch for fear of ruining it, so I was mildly disoriented for most of the event, but feeling good running-wise.

As it turns out, the last half of the course was under water and the race directors had to move the finish line up to the 10 mile marker and started shuttling everyone back to the start and parking area from there. 80% of the runners were only signed up to do the 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) so getting to 10 miles wasn't all that bad given the conditions. I, however, was running good, wanted to get my miles in, and was disappointed that the race had been shut down. So instead of boarding the buses with the rest of the masses, I turned around and did the 10 miles again in reverse. So, only 20 miles today instead of the full marathon, but a good war story none-the-less.

Next month - 50K Trail Run in the Ozarks put on by Bass Pro Shops and North Face...here's hoping for better weather.

video clip of the weather conditions at race start