Rocket City Marathon Race Report

Well, I did it! It was by far the most physically exhausting thing I’ve done. The folks up there know how to put on a race. It was very well organized; the volunteers were wonderful; and the swag was top-notch. I felt like my nutrition plan worked out well. I took a Gu every 45-55 minutes. I didn’t feel like I was exhausted due to lack energy, my knees and ankles just didn’t want to work too hard towards the end of the race. Overall it was a great day. So, just sit back, relax, and follow along…

Pre-Race
The alarm went off at 3:10 Saturday morning. I was curious to see if I hit my fighting weight of 238….I did! My feet hit the ground and I went downstairs for a cup of coffee and my breakfast (Turkey Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Sandwich). I tooled around on the computer for a few minutes just to try to settle my nerves (see previous post). I jumped in the shower and got dressed and headed up to Gardendale to meet Jeff around 4:30. On the way, I ate half a peanut butter sandwich and sipped on some vitamin water. We met up and got on the road around 5:15 (had 1 Ensure on the way up there). We got up to Huntsville right around 6:30. It was definitely a little on the cold side up there. The wind was whirling around which would be the case for the rest of the day. We went and got our race packets. The Nike technical shirts are pretty awesome. We put on the rest of our layers and sat in the car to stay warm and then went for a quick jog to warm up the legs. The race director was very adamant about getting everyone lined up and sounding the gun at 8:00. At 7:45, I took the first of many Gu’s that would be taken over the next 6 hrs and finished sipping on some Gatorade. I lined up towards the rear near the 5-5.5 hr pace group. The gun sounded and our journey began

Race
As I crossed that first timing mat, I hit the start button on my watch and said a quick little prayer. I was on my first segment of 5 minute running. Doing a run/walk routine was apparently pretty popular. After the first 4 minutes, you could here beeps coming from everyone’s HR monitors, GPS watches, and stop watches. The first 4 miles were great even with a stop for a bathroom break around the 5K mark. I was going along at around a 12 min mile pace. I felt comfortable there for the time being.

Miles 5-8 were still good. I averaged closer to 12:30 minute miles. Some people passed me, but I passed some as well. So far, all the running had been thru neighborhoods. You’d think that would have helped with the wind, but somehow, there always seemed to be a headwind.

Miles 9-14 were pretty rough. These were in one lane of a big 4 lane highway. The wind was pretty brutal. I was so happy that I had bought a set of running gloves and an head band for my ears. My splits started to drop even more here. I was in the 13 minute miles. I was slowly getting closer to the 6hr cutoff pace. After I hit mile 10, I got a little nervous. My longest training run was just 10 miles. I did the half Mercedes Marathon last year, but for all intents and purposes, I was in uncharted waters. How were my legs gonna hold up? Will I start to cramp up? Will I have GI problems? So far, I was fine. No pains in my knees or feet. No stomach problems. Other than a runny nose, I was golden. I crossed the 13.1 mat at around 2:57. I was a little disappointed to have not beaten my time at Mercedes. It was beginning to look like I was going to be racing the clock to come in under 6hrs.

Miles 15-21 are where my mind and legs started to get in the way. They were yelling at me “Why are you still runnin?!” I kept asking myself, “what the hell was I doing this for? I’m nowhere near ready to be running 26.2 miles. Holy crap! Did I really sign up for an Ironman?” I started laughing thinking that in a little less than a year, I would be at mile 18 of a marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles. As scary of a thought as it was, it is what made me regain focus. I had a “come to Jesus” talk with my knees and feet. The pain was still there, but it wasn’t as sharp as it had been. I quit taking longer breaks and got back in my 5/1 routine. My splits didn’t really improve, but mentally I felt better.

Miles 22-26 were up and down. I felt good and then just needed to give my legs a break from the pounding. I walked a little more. There was a group of 3 of us that played leap frog there for a while. One of the runners, Susan, asked me if I wanted to do a 3/1 run/walk with her. So for the next couple of miles, we talked, and complained. It was nice having someone right there. She had just had a baby boy about 10 months ago and was out there doing a full marathon…wow! We got to mile 24 and saw the dreaded sweepers (two runners running at a 6hr pace to bring up the rear of the pack). There were police cars and an ambulance following them. We started to try and run a little more. We kept telling ourselves that we just have a 8 more laps around the track. Then just 6 more laps around the track. I wanted so badly to go faster. My knees were hurting so bad at this point. I clinched my fists and started running faster. I passed the 25 mile mark and couldn’t believe that I was 1.2 miles away from being a marathoner. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep up the pace I was running. I started power walking. Then with .75 miles to go, the sweepers were right there with me. I’d be damned if I was going to come in behind them. I started running again. Then I hit it, the 26 mile mark.

Just 0.2 miles left…not even a full lap around the track. I looked over to the sidewalk, and my buddy Jeff was there cheering me on. He jumped out into the street and started running with me. The finish line was right ahead. Susan was about 50yds ahead of me. Jeff split off to the sidewalk and I started kicking a little harder. I looked at the clock and was disappointed to see that it had already ticked past the 6hr mark but I still kicked those last strides hard. I finished! I was fighting back the tears. A volunteer met me with my finishers medal and hat and a blanket. I headed on inside to hit the food line.

Post Race
I was hurting. I tried to walk a little bit. Then I sat and did some stretches. My ankles & knees were pretty mad at me. The swimming complex next to the host hotel was open for runners to take showers (a very welcomed treat!). We got cleaned up and hit the road back to Bammerham. Our post race meal was a delicious pizza. Most would think that pizza is hard to eat in the car. I’m here to tell you that it is really one of the easier things once you find out what to do with the box.

A quick thanks to my buddy Jeff (Harper Fitness). Thanks for prepping me for this distance and making the trip. Your support on that last 0.2 mile stretch was priceless.

My ankles are still a little sore three days later. I feel like this was a great experience. I know what it is like to go 26.2 miles. My official time is 6:01:18. I’m an official finisher! I wasn’t last in my age group nor was I the last one to finish (not to mention all the people that couldn’t go the entire 26.2 miles). It was a huge accomplishment. I’m looking forward to taking the knowledge and determination I gained/showed in this race and pressing on in my journey to becoming Iron!

Eric's Quote of the Day: "Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn" ~ C.S. Lewis