The First Race

So, I completed my first race this past weekend…The Mercedes ½ Marathon. It rocked. Since I wasn’t able to do much training, my goal was to finish in under 3hrs (avg 13m 45s per mile). There was such a diverse group of people out there. Everyone was cheering and smiling. The amount of spandex out there was a little disturbing though. Here is how the day went..
4:00- Rolled out of bed, ate some hot pockets, took a couple Aleve, got ready, and headed downtown.
6:00-Parked and hung out for a bit waiting on Jeff to get there. A little miffed b/c I realized I left my knee strap at home
6:30-Headed to the start area




ME

Jeff
7:10-And we are off
Mile 1 seemed to drag, but I was ahead of my pace (12:02.25).
Miles 2 (11:08.25) and 3 (12:53.51) I’m feeling like I can go forever.
Mile 4 (14:02.10)…pee break.
Mile 5 (12:38.61) I got to see Heather in front of the Alys Stephens Center. If you haven’t ever heard my MH hoot ‘n holler, you are missing out. I heard her as soon as I rounded the corner and it brought a huge smile to my face. After a quick kiss, I was off.
Mile 6 (12:50.92) My pace started to slow a little. My knee was aching a bit, but luckily, I got to see Heather again in front of UAB Highlands. She gave me my knee strap so I took a quick 30secs to put it on. It definitely made a huge difference.
Mile 7 (16:42.02) Next time you drive on 11th Ave from UAB to Southside, pay attention to the grade. It is a long and steady slope, so I walked most of this
Mile 8 & 9 (26:27.85) I missed a marker somewhere so I don’t have a split for each mile, just the 2 mile stretch. Oh, and FYI, the firemen at the Fire Station on Highland need to put the flames on their pants out b/c they are liars…it so wasn’t all downhill from there.
Mile 10 (15:00.58) I had to switch b/t walking and running a good bit. My ankles and feet were pretty pissed to still be moving.
Mile 11 (13:40.89) I started to worry that I wasn’t going to stay below 3hrs so I picked up the pace a little more. Would have been faster, but I slowed down to drink the cup of beer that those blessed people were passing out. If by some chance you are reading this…Thank You!
Mile 12 (15:22.37) So now all the joints in my legs are griping. Walked for a bit and talked with another guy whose knee was about to burst.
Mile 13.1 (11:20.78) Decided to tough it out. For some reason, I kept thinking about the scene from The Replacements when they are about to run the last play to win the big game and in the huddle, Keanu Reeves’ character (Shane Falco) tells his teammates “Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever…”. With that as my motivation, I just looked down at the pavement and ran. I knew if I looked ahead, all I would do was look at the street signs and wish I was one block closer. I rounded the corner onto Park Place from 20th and new I’d be looking at the finish line after I took the next right. I could hear the crowds of people. The weird thing is that for those last few strides, the aching stopped. I looked up at the clock and saw that I was going to be done in under 3hrs (2hrs 55mins 12sec avg of 13:23 per mile). I crossed the finish line, got my medal and looked around for MH. If you haven’t ever done anything like this, I highly recommend it. Finishing was one of the coolest feelings. All along the course, people are cheering for you. It makes such a huge difference.

We had decided that after I finished the half, we would go back on the race route and catch my buddy Jeff finishing up the full marathon. We went back around to Avondale and were invited to sit with a family in their front yard. They were very nice people. After a while, we saw Jeff coming down the road. Heather started snapping pics (Toni you would be proud). Once he rounded the corner, I got out there and ran a couple of blocks with him. I could hear my feet going “What the hell do think you are doing? We’re done dude!”. I wished Jeff well and we were on our way. The rest of the day consisted of me laying on the couch with two bags of frozen peas alternating from my knees to my ankles. Thanks for taking such good care of me babe!

(I'll upload more pics later)