Before the Race

It was a dark and stormy morning.  John, Mark, and I squeezed into my little car with all of our running gear, an insane amount of food, and a handful of electronic gadgets (we’re geeks after all).  The day started to go bad when I kept saying “I think we should have turned already.”  Eventually we realized that we really should have turned already but by that point it was way too late to turn around.  We let the GPS system re-route us and we continued on.  That snafu along with fog that reduced visibility to a less than a tenth of a mile added an hour to our drive on our quest to the 2008 Marine Corps. Marathon.

Eventually we made it to Alexandria.  We were very close to the hotel but had made a wrong turn and were looking to turn around.  I pulled into the left lane and the car in front of me stopped abruptly.  I too stopped abruptly.  Two seconds later: WHAM.  I saw Mark’s head shoot forward and then back.  The impact made me tap the car in front of me.  We were in a different state, off schedule, in a car accident, and still hadn’t found our hotel yet.  The accident did more damage to my mood than it did to my car.

I’d like to say that was the last bad thing that happened but it wasn’t.  The driver of the shuttle van that took us to the metro station was suicidal.  He had no sense of humor.  When asked “how many accidents have you been in in this thing?” he replied in a serious tone “are you serious?!”  After prying a few one word answers from him we learned that he was from California and didn’t seem to like Virginia very much.  We stopped talking to him for fear that he’d drive us off a bridge.

I was disappointed over and over at the expo.  The Miami Marathon booth had closed early and I wanted to register.  The Mizuno booth was out of Wave Elixir 3s in my size.  Even the DC Metro authority wasn’t at the expo to sell metro passes like they were supposed to!  I consoled myself by buying  a pair of Asics Kayano socks.  Things got better from that point.

Race Day

On race morning we hopped on the metro.  The only people on the metro at that time of day were runners and their friends and family.  We decided to meet at the family meeting area after the race.  I said let’s meet at “U for Unicorn.”  A woman in front of us burst out laughing and proceeded to address John as Tinkerbell.

The pre-race was pretty uneventful.  MCM is very well organized.  Even though we had a long walk from the metro to the start line it wasn’t bad.  It helped calm my nerves.  There were hundreds of porta-potties.  I used them a few times and barely had to wait in line.  I’m still impressed with that.  Accommodating the excrement of more than 20 thousand runners is no small task.

The Race

We lined up together at the 3:20-3:39 section which was frightening close to the actual start.  They had a V22 Osprey craft that flew overhead and converted from a helicopter to a normal craft in mid-flight!  Shortly after the flyover the howitzer fired with a thunderous boom and a cloud of smoke and the race began.

The weather was perfect.  It was in the low 50s, foggy, no wind, and sunny.  The fog and sun provided for spectacular views even if it did cause my sunglasses to be unusable.  Two views stand out in my mind.  When we ran over the first bridge you could see nothing but fog but through the top of the fog you could see the pointy towers of some building that I later found out was a church.  The other view truly made me wish I had a camera.  We rounded a corner up a steep hill.  The sun was shining brightly at the top of the hill illuminating the fog in a brilliant white glow and causing all of the runners in front of me to appear as silhouettes.  It was truly incredible.

Right away I knew my gel was a problem.  I pinned three gels to my shorts under my bib like I always do for races.  I even tested my pin job by jogging before the race started to make sure they weren’t swinging around too much.  I guess I’m bad at testing because they were swinging like crazy!  I considered carrying them in my hands but dismissed that idea.  I noticed that I had somehow lost one of the gels — it just fell off somewhere.  I tucked the gels into my shorts expecting to face painful chaffing later in the race.

At the first mile my pace was 8:41 — significantly slower than my true goal pace of 8:00.  I assumed, incorrectly, that the first mile marker was wrong.  This first mile may have been my downfall as I ended up running much faster for the next 3 miles.  That was not part of my plan.  The plan was to run easy through the first 8-9 miles which provided the only real hills to mention on the course.  Another part of my plan was to run as fast as was comfortable.  I didn’t want to finish the race and wish I had pushed harder.

At about mile 4 I saw Mark.  I didn’t want to see Mark and tried to pretend that it wasn’t him.  I tried not to look near him.  I didn’t want to run with Mark because I needed to run my own race and if I knew where he was I’d try to keep up with him.  I couldn’t escape Mark.  Mark and I are currently about as evenly matched in running ability as you can get.  We ran the exact same race for the first 13-14 miles.  At mile 9 he came up behind me and grabbed my butt (this is a peculiar tradition that John/Tinkerbell started).  We exchanged worries that we had gone out too fast.

I felt pretty good and continued at a pretty even pace.  Around mile 12 I started to get hungry so I decided to have a gel at the half-way point.  I ended up taking a gel from a Marine at a food stop instead of using the gels that were annoyingly pressing into my side.  I had the gel near mile 13 and it took away my hunger.  I passed the half-way point at about 1:40.  That was a full 5 minutes faster than my goal for the half but I felt good!

At mile 14 I really started to worry because I could feel the beginnings of fatigue in my legs.  I knew then that I was going to be in a world of hurt for the end of the race.  I tried not to think about it and continued running.

When mile 18 rolled around I was really starting to feel fatigued.  When mile 20 hit I had nothing left.  I started taking walk breaks at mile 20.  The first walk break was horrible.  It hurt me mentally as I really didn’t want to walk.  Whenever I feel like walking I hear the words of an elite runner I spoke to before my first marathon “whatever you do, do not walk.”  When I slowed and took my first walking steps I understood why he said that.  My legs were in rough shape.  My muscles were throbbing and just plain exhausted.

I heard lots of spectators say “the 10k starts now.”  They were referring to the common saying that a marathon is just a 10k with a 20 mile warm up.  That is absolutely true but it was also the last thing I wanted to hear.  I wasn’t in any sort of shape to run another 10k.  I was far ahead of my goal time of 3:30 but I could feel it slipping away.  I started to seriously question if I could reach my goal.

Around mile 22 or so I noticed that there was a switchback.  I decided to let myself walk as soon as I turned around onto the other side of the switchback.  That would have worked if the switchback wasn’t about a mile long!  I took another crushing mental blow by walking before my self imposed goal of making it to the turn-around point.  It was at that walking break that I started to dry heave.  I badly didn’t want to throw up because I knew it would ruin my chances for the rest of the race.  I choked back the feeling and broke back into the “marathon shuffle.”  At that point it wasn’t really running anymore.

At mile 25 I was done for.  I was starting to feel the heat of the sun on my back.  I took a very long walking break feeling sorry for myself.  Feeling broken I took the two gels that I had in my shorts, ripped them out, and tossed them to the side of the road.  They weren’t going to do any good for me anymore.

The Finish

The last mile was a blur but not because I was fast.  It was a blur because my brain wasn’t working anymore.  I somehow made it to the hill at the end.  The hill is a 40 foot climb over .2 miles terminating at the Iwo Jimo Monument.  There was an incredible number of spectators but I didn’t really notice.  I looked at my watch and saw that I was close.  I was very close.  There was a chance that I could make it under 3:30 but it wasn’t looking good.  Somehow, somewhere, I had something left.  I said out loud “I want this” and pushed as hard as I possibly could.  My lungs were on fire.  They’ve never felt like that before.  They closed up and I struggled to get air into my body.  My heart rate soared as I climbed up that hill thinking of nothing but reaching the finish line.  I’ve never been in as much physical agony as I was in that moment.  I crossed the finish line, stopped my watch, and struggled to stay upright.  I had done it.  I finished a marathon in under 3 hours and 30 minutes, 3:29:44 to be exact.  About 10 yards from the finish line I sat down and leaned against the barricade.  I stayed there for at least 10 minutes.  My family couldn’t be with me and I was thinking of them.  I cried a little bit.  I was proud, physically and mentally exhausted, and I missed my family.

This marathon humbled me.  In the 6 months leading up to the race I had run nearly 1000 miles and earned many PRs in races of different distances.  I had grown too confident and thought the race would be easy.  It was not and I don’t think marathons will ever be easy for me.  If they get easy I’ll probably lose interest.  What’s the point if you don’t have to work for it?

This was the first marathon that John, Mark, and I ran together.  It was awesome being able to share the experience with them.  Traveling to Virginia, getting in a car accident, and running a marathon together is something that we’ll never forget.  I had a lot of fun and learned things I never knew.  Apparently the “peanut butter” in Reese’s Pieces is made from unicorn smiles!

Video

The Washington Post made a video of the finish of the race available.  At around 3:28/3:29 you’ll see me zooming through the right side of the screen.

Results

My Stats

Clock Time        03:30:57
Chip Time          03:29:44
Average Pace    7:59
Overall Place     1189 / 18302 (6.5%)
Gender Place    1037 / 11142 (9.3%)
Division Place    195 / 1477 (13%)

My splits for each mile

1               8:41
2               8:12
3               7:11
4               7:04
5               7:35
6               7:28
7               8:00
8               7:18
9 and 10 14:53
11             7:36
12             7:38
13             7:40
14             7:46
15             7:52
16             7:49
17             7:57
18             8:00
19             8:07
20             8:21
21             8:18
22             8:42
23             8:47
24             9:02
25             8:51
26.2        10:51

My 5k Splits

5K     0:24:28
10K   0:47:54
15K   1:11:18
20K   1:34:57
Half   1:40:13
25K   1:59:03
30K   2:23:54
35K   2:49:55
40K   3:17:25

The nerves and the extra energy from the taper are making me a bit cranky.  I snapped at Mary yesterday for no good reason. A nice strong cocktail helped calm me down but I’m not going to have any more alcohol this week.  Alcohol messes up my sleeping patterns.  So to all who come in contact with me this week: I’m sorry I’m nervous and irritable and if when I’m a jerk it’s not you.

My “long” run yesterday was really good with the exception that it was 31.2 degrees out.  At that temperature even water doesn’t want to move.  I wore 4 layers of clothing and was surprisingly comfortable.  This week is supposed to be cold.  I hope I don’t acclimate to this weather!  The weather in DC is currently predicted to be a high of 70 with rain.  Since the race is run in the morning I expect it to be much cooler than 70.  If it rains I hope it doesn’t happen until after the race starts.  All things considered this could be very good weather for me since I prefer warmer weather.  Still, I think I perform best in the mid 50s.  I can’t worry about the weather because it is not in my control but I can worry about preparing for the weather with proper clothing.

I’m going to plan for the trip using the time that I’m NOT spending running.  I have only 3 runs planned between now and the marathon for a total of 13 miles.

Yesterday’s run went well.I set out knowing that I’d do fine.  Since it was my last real long run I decided that I should try to push myself a bit on the run.  I tried to run a bit more quickly than I normally would have especially after about 8 miles.  Not only was I trying to get as much benefit out of the run as possible but I also wanted to practice my race strategy a bit.  I’m hoping to take about the first 8-10 miles easy at MCM and then pick up the pace for as long as I can (hopefully to the end!).

The route I’ve been running for these 20+ milers takes me past a construction site that has a porta-potty.  I’ve not yet been able to figure out how to do a long run and NOT have to stop to pee.  Yesterday was no exception.  I had to laugh later in the run when I saw another runner make a sprint for the same porta-potty!  I saw that guy later in the run and I tried to catch up but he was just too fast.  It would have been nice to chat with him but it was also nice to have something pushing me to run faster.

Later in the run I saw another runnner.  Again I wasn’t able to catch up even though I tried pretty hard.

My overall pace of 8:10 was slightly slower than my other 20+ mile runs.  However this came at the end of a 61.7 mile week!  In addition I ran farther this time than any of the other runs.  I ran about 22.7 miles in 3:05:14.

And now I’m ready to enjoy the taper period as much as I can.  I have three weeks until the race and my mileage steadily drops until race day.  As my mileage decreases my level of paranoia about the race will increase.

Conditions for race day were not ideal- hot, muggy, and sunny.  Yuck!  I set out with a goal of finishing in under 2 and a half hours. I started out nice and strong and on pace for finishing the race in 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I was having fun.  I gave a gorilla (yes a man dressed as a gorilla) a high 5.  The crowds were really great!

The water stops…not so much!  The first 2 water stops (every 2 miles starting at mile 2) were out of cups.  They had water, but you had to drink from your own hands (which I tried and failed at) or from the gallon jug.  I did not want to stop.  So I opted to wait until the next water stop.  It wasn’t until around mile 6!  Yup…6 miles in the heat with no water.  At mile 7 they were supposed to have gels…nope…they were out of those too.  Oh well, I wasn’t going to let it ruin my first half marathon experience.

The race course was pretty fun.  I was hoping for more running along the canal path or in more scenic areas, but it did give the runners a nice tour of the city.  My favorite part was a downhill section.  I had just finished mile 9 (although I wasn’t sure because the mile markers appeared to be off) and had been talking to my favorite “Mom in Motion” whom I had been playing tag with for the entire race so far.  We were trying to stay together as much as we could.  I saw the steep downhill through the shady woods and said “oops…my legs said I gotta go” and I took off.  I never saw her again.  At that point, we were on pace to still finish in 2 hours and 20 minutes- ahead of my goal time.

And then it hit.  The heat and sun were killing me!  I had to walk a lot.  I did a lot of walk/run combinations.  I really wanted to run, but my dizzy head said to slow it down a bit.  Unfortunately, I slowed down a lot.  I even had to walk some of the last mile.  I had nothing left in me when I turned the corner to head to the finish line until I saw my family and friends.  Greg, Cassie, my mom, my mother and father in-law, Corey, Marie, and others.  I was so thrilled to finally be done. I gave it my all and finished the race up.  I finished in 2:33:26.  And then, I was done.  My body said…no more…all done.  It took me over an hour to recover from the run. I couldn’t stand to hold Cassie…I just didn’t have the energy.  Once I recovered, I was great for the rest of the day.  I felt great and loved the sense of accomplishment.

It’s weird how races affect me now that I’ve done so many.  I get very emotional for many different reasons: watching the 1st finishers come across the line, watching family and friends do their best, watching pretty much anyone, and being proud of how well I’ve done and having my family and friends be proud of me too.  I just get all choked up.  I don’t know.  Perhaps I’m more of a girl than I thought.  I’ve always said that I am not a girly girl…but maybe I am.  I think Cassie has helped me to realize how important family and friends truly are in life.  Thanks, Cassie Bear.  I dedicated this race to you.  Love you!  Thanks for making me stronger and happier .  (and yet again…tears…I’m such a girl!)

At the race start, I was flying high!  I felt like I was on drugs.  I guess it was just a good night’s sleep.  At the sound of the gun, I took off!  I felt awesome.  About .1 mile in, the rush left me briefly.  Corey caught up to me and decided that he was going to run with me, if he could keep up.  In some ways, I didn’t want to run with Corey- I was thinking “What if he beats me?  Will that cause me to not be motivated?”  But once we were running together, it felt awesome.  I was cheering people on and I think it motivated a lot of runners who had stopped to walk to pick it back up again.

Corey and I ran together for most of the race.  We really were flying by everyone throughout the entire run.  I was only passed a couple of times and near the end I passed them back.  Man that felt good!  I didn’t mind the turn-around this year either.  Last year it drove me nuts…perhaps this year it didn’t bother me because I expected it.  I really enjoyed getting to see Marie and Phaedra.  They both looked great!

Once we finished the turn-around, I knew what I had to do.  We crossed over the main road, and we jumped onto the canal path.  And then…sayonara, Corey!  Corey couldn’t keep up.  He said my stride got too long.  I think I was just too fast for him (this time- usually Corey creams me!).  I felt awesome!  I knew how much I had to complete and was so motivated to PR.  Once I saw Boots, he said that there was only 300 yards remaining. I knew that was less than .25 mile so I really pushed it then!  I saw the bridge that came before the finish line and I flew!  I was smiling like crazy because I knew I was almost done and had done fairly well.  I saw all my spectating friends (Greg, Cassie, John, Lance, and other misc people that came with the others mentioned) and I watched Cassie clapping for me and Greg telling me to look at Cassie.  I couldn’t help it, I teared up…and I booked!  I finished the race in 29:02…but there wasn’t a timing chip thingy at the start line and I was a few seconds off of the start…but I did okay.  All of this was done without my trusty stopwatch, which kealed over at the start line.

Corey’s time 29:31

Marie 39:17

Phaedra 34:33

Great race everyone!

Like many runners I’m a slave to my training plan.  I know it’s stupid but I feel compelled to do at least what the training plan calls for.  I don’t modify it very much.  So, being a stupid runner, I ran 11 miles on a painful foot. 

I worried right from the start if I was being just stupid or being really stupid.    When I started I was almost, but not quite, limping.  I very nearly stopped the run.  That would have been devastating to me.  After about two miles my foot didn’t hurt too badly.  In fact I’d say that it almost didn’t hurt at all!  I finished the 11 mile run and my foot actually felt better at the end than when I started!  That made me feel a lot better.

Still, I was worried.  I knew that the pain would come back.  Due to previous plans my 20+ mile run that I’d normally run on a Sunday was pushed up to Saturday giving me less rest than usual — and my foot could use some rest.  The pain did come back but not nearly as bad as prior to the run.  The pain was intense enough that I started to treat it properly.  I started icing it, stretching more frequently, and taking Vitamin I as necessary.

Saturday morning came and I didn’t want to go out on my run but I did.  My foot hurt nearly every step of the way for nearly  21.5 miles and 2 hours and (almost) 55 minutes (an 8:09 pace).  Not only did my foot hurt but I got very tired by the end of the run.  This run was better than the first 20+ mile run I did training for MCM but worse than the one ran two weeks ago.  I just didn’t have the energy at the end that I had hoped for.  I had hoped to run as far as about 24 miles but it just wasn’t happening.

I’m not disappointed.  My foot hurt.  I wasn’t trying to run super fast.  I was on the tail end of a record mileage week (54.6 miles).  I had been very tired during the week due to all of the running.  I ran a half marathon PR less than a week prior.  After the run my foot felt far better than when I started.  As I write this all down I can’t help but feel really good about this run!  Still, my foot is a concern.

The next day I volunteered at the Finger Lakes Triathlon (where John completed his first sprint tri!).  I was on my feet all morning which was not good for my feet right now.  Oh well.  I have a full day of rest tomorrow and I’m on a cut-back week.  My longest run this week is 11 miles.  11 miles was my shortest run last week!  I should get some decent rest for my foot this week and the icing and stretching and stuff should really help.

I have only one more intense week of training before my taper starts!  Next week is a cut-back week (all easy runs).  The next week is the longest planned week at 54 miles (I’ll likely end up with 56 or more miles).  After that it’s all downhill until October 26th!

Sadly all vacations must end. Our return home was …better than the trip out… but still not fun in any way.

While staying on Disney property we learned about Disney’s Magical Express.  This is a service where, coming or going, Disney will take care of getting your checked baggage to and from the airport.  Not only do they take care of your luggage but they also print your boarding passes for you right at the hotel!  Even though we didn’t use this service on the way out we were able to use it for the return home.  All we had to do was bring our luggage to a special checking area a few hours before our flight.  That was it!

We arrived at the airport and were able to return out rental car with no hassle.  This was a much welcomed change from our arrival.  We had taken pictures of the car when we arrived just in case the rental company wanted to play games and try to rip us off for damage that we didn’t cause.  On our trip to LA a few years ago we were ripped off this way.  In LA, because the rental company lied to me and I didn’t know any better, I bought additional insurance so we were only ripped off for the amount of the insurance we bought.  But in Florida we had no such trouble.

We weren’t too surprised when we found our departing flight delayed.  We were a little surprised because it was the first flight of the day.  We were not surprised because, at this point, we didn’t expect anything to go right with Jet Blue.  In that way Jet Blue did not disappoint us.  In so many other ways they did.  The flight was delayed because their crew didn’t meet FAA regulations for rest.  While I can appreciate that couldn’t Jet Blue have a few people on call to make up for these sorts of situations?

Eventually the plane did take off and we were delivered safely at Jet Blue’s terrible terminal at JFK.  Eventually we found our departing gate, we thought, after going through a maze and getting on a bus.  The terminal was cramped and dirty.  Luckily it wasn’t as hot so we were reasonably comfortable temperature wise.  When it was very close to our departure time and no one had mentioned boarding a plane someone sitting at the gate asked about our flight.  “Oh that flight?  That’s not at this gate anymore.”  Oh gee whiz, thanks once again Jet blue for not notifying us of delays and gate changes.  We then had to wait in a jam packed terminal in the center while people mildly shoved their way past us.  I became miserable at this point.

I arrived miserable but safe with Mary and Cassie in Rochester.  I think we actually made it in on time.  That shouldn’t be something to get excited about but Jet Blue was so bad that we were actually  surprised to be in on time.  That excitement was short lived and the time that we didn’t lose was quickly lost because Jet Blue lost our luggage.  One of our bags made it, though dirty, beaten up, and torn, and the other was nowhere to be found.  Had this happened on the way to Florida it would have been an incredible inconvenience that likely would have landed me a stay at the mental wing at some Florida Hospital.  I believe our luggage was returned in one or two days beaten and dirty like the other bag.

Jet blue also gave us a $30 voucher for the inconvenience of the lost luggage.  Oh boy!  Thirty whole dollars to fly again with a terrible airline that drove me, no flew me, at high speed to a state of mental misery!  Yes, I’d love to take them up on that offer and repeat the whole thing!  Maybe they knew that I really didn’t want the voucher because they never mentioned it to me.  I just looked at the crappy printout and learned about it that way.  You really had to look carefully to understand that there was a voucher there.  I believe that to be intentional.  Way to go Jet Blue!

Though the vacation was very frustrating during many different occasions it was still a good one.  Of course I enjoyed the break from work and spending time with my family.  Hanging out with Donna was awesome, as usual.  We all learned better how to travel with a baby.  Cassie will be very different the next time we travel and we’ll have to learn all over again but I’ll be better prepared mentally.  As Donna reads this I’m sure she’s saying “I’ll say.”

I enjoyed driving the Prius.  It was really fun for a geek like me to watch the battery charge and to unlock the car and even start the car never placing a key in the ignition.  I was happy to have had that vehicle as we drove nearly 800 miles on this trip.  That saved a lot of money in comparison to the mini SUV that we were supposed to get.

We learned that Cassie isn’t old enough to enjoy Disney yet.  We pretty much knew that but we thought she’d do a bit better.  We learned how important breaks and gettnig out and running around are to her (and in turn to us!).  We learned that we liked the TVs and extra leg room on Jet Blue but hated everything else about travelling with them.  We learned that Clearwater is a viable vacation destination for us and that Cassie loves big sandboxes (the beach) next to huge water tables (ocean).  We learned that Cassie, at least at this age, handled the plane rides incredibly well.

If we did it again the only thing I’d probably change is our airline carrier.  It would have been worth it to fly Airtran direct.  I can’t change it now but I wish I had handled the stress better — next time I will.  Next time will hopefully be next year.  Maybe we’ll go to Miami for the ING Miami Marathon and Half Marathon.  Maybe our next trip will be to some Caribean Island?  Maybe we’ll magically become rich and go back to Hawaii?  No matter what I’m looking forward to next time and I’ll post about it here, probably a full month after the vacation is over!

On Sunday September 14th 2008 Mary finished her first half marathon!  She’s run the distance before, actually she’s run farther than that before just never in a race.  The 2008 Rochester Marathon was on a warm and humid day.  It was a tough day for all of the runners.  …And there were a lot of runners that we knew.

The Rowe presence at the race was insane.  Donna, Mary, and I all ran the half marathon.  Molly, our niece, finished her first kids marathon with her dad (my brother Tom)!  Yes, that’s 5 Rowes a Running.  Soon Molly will be beating all of us old people at the races.  Joining the Rowe clan for the race was my brother-in-law Mike, John, Mark, the Hitchhiker, Jeff, and Jim.  Those were just the runners!  Our support crew included Linda, my Mom, my Dad, my Brother, my sister-in-law, my nephews, Chris, Kerry, Dave, and the Andaloras.  I’ve probably forgotten people; we had a lot of support!

It was already 70 and humid when the full marathon started at about 7:30.  At around 8:30 or 9 the sun poked out and it got significantly warmer but it didn’t feel any less humid.  It was a difficult day for distance running and the finishing times for the race reflected that.

Mike opted to stop running the marathon after 17 miles.  Faced with knee pain it was the smart thing to do.  Jim (a friend from work) finished his first marathon in about 5:45.  Jeff finished his second marathon and is looking towards his next.  The rest of us ran the half.

Mary finished her first half in 2:32, a PR!  Donna finished in 2:11.  John finished with a new PR at 1:48:52.  Mark finished in 1:41:29.  I think that’s a PR for Mark but it is deceiving.  He ran a 1:38 (or so) during the first half of the Buffalo Marathon.  He just runs faster when he’s got more ground to cover I guess!

After the race most of the people mentioned above came back to our house for a post-race celebration.  It was great.  We just chilled out and talked about the race and ate whatever we wanted because we ran a half marathon (or more for some people!).

The picture at the top is of Mary looking great coming through the finish.

The pictures below are, in order: Donna finishing strong, the blinding light of my bald spot, John finishing for a PR, and Molly after completing her first kids marathon!

Mark ran with me even though I was singing out loud.  As ridiculous as I may look I like singing along while running.  I think it helps me keep my pace under control and it just feels good. I should probably put in a little disclaimer.  I’m not belting out the lyrics and I’m not singing along to the entire song.  I’ll let out a few words at a time.  I’m sure Mark thought I was nuts but he stuck with me.  He’s a good friend like that.  About half way through the race I ran ahead a little bit at a water stop.  I didn’t know it at the time but it would be the last time I’d see Mark alive.  That’s not true; I just wanted to pretend I was Stephen King.  He writes stuff like that all the time.  It was the last time I’d see Mark until the end of the race though.

When I got to mile marker 8 I was surprised at my time.  It was slower than my target pace. I couldn’t believe that I had lost time in the 7th mile.  I came upon another runner who asked me if I thought the mile marker was wrong.  I was glad he thought it was because I really thought I was running faster.  Mile marker 8 was way off.  If I had to guess I’d say it was off by at least a tenth of a mile.

From that point forward the runners were few and far between.  People were slowing down noticeably.  The few runners that I did see I generally passed (yeah, that felt good!).  A little past the Ford St. bridge I saw Dave, John’s brother, and we shared a fist bump.  We made it explode.  It was awesome.

Approaching Frontier Field I knew I was very close to a PR.  I looked and looked for my friends and family but I couldn’t find them.  I ran through the finish and was very happy to see that I had earned a new PR!  I ran the race in 1:35:41, a 7:19 average pace.  My previous PR was at Buffalo this spring where I ran a 1:36:26.  Sure, it’s only 45 seconds but the conditions on Sunday were far more challenging than the conditions at Buffalo.  I also didn’t rest for this race.  It didn’t start as a PR effort.  I’m insanely happy about this time.

I placed 49th out of more than 1300 runners.  I placed 7th in my age group.  My age group had 65 runners.  I was the 41st male to finish out of about 620.

After leaving Treasure Island/Clearwater we headed back to home base — Orlando!  Home of Mickey Mouse as well as Donna.  Some of you may not have heard of Mickey Mouse but I’m sure you’ve heard of Donna.

Enough time has passed since we were there and the time that I’m writing this that I’m sure I’ve forgotten a lot.  I certainly don’t remember the chronological order of events anymore.

I’m pretty sure this happened the second night of the vacation  and not towards the end but I’m going to post about it now.  It was our first night in a hotel; the Port Orleans Riversie Resort.  Cassie went down with very little fuss (as is typical with her).  In the wee hours of the morning she woke up screaming.  We looked over and she was vomiting over the side of the portable crib.

We cleaned up as best we could and started planning for a vacation with a sick child.  When morning rolled around Cassie seemed fine and didn’t have a fever so we proceeded with our plans.  We did call house keeping asking for extra towels and informing them of the stomach emptying incident.  Cassie was fine for the rest of the trip.  We think that she maybe gagged herself on accident somehow.  The best part of the whole incident was that housekeeping left a towel folded as an elephant!  They couldn’t have known that elephants are Cassie’s favorite animal — what a wonderful coincidence!

I was also able to get in a run at the Port Orleans Resort.  I ran a figure eight twice.  I ran on the street surrounding the resort and along the paths at the center of the resort.  It was cloudy, raining a bit, and generally awesome!  I even came across a Disney Cast Member who wished me a good run!  That was the only run in Florida that wasn’t in oppressive heat and humidity.

In our time in Orlando we spent a lot of time at Disney.  We learned very quickly that Cassie doesn’t like rides very much yet.  She did like calm boat style rides like “It’s a Small World” at Magic Kingdom and “The Land” at Epcot Center.  Realistically we could only spend a few hours at the parks and didn’t really see much while there.  That’s just life with a baby/toddler.  It was new to us as in the past we’d spend an entire day at the parks hitting ride after ride after ride.

One of the Disney highlights was spending an evening at Epcot with Donna.  Cassie loves balls.  As we entered the park Cassie saw “Spaceship Earth.”  She pointed and very enthusiastically said “Ball!  Ball! Ball!”  It was super cute.  The night at Epcot was nice.  We went to dinner and it POURED outside.  We tired of waiting for the rain to let up so we went outside at Cassie’s urging.  We got slightly wet but it wasn’t bad.  Cassie had fun walking on Donna’s feet (you would have had to see it).

We spent a few nights at Pop Century Resort.  It’s not quite as nice as Port Orleans but honestly it’s not bad.  It’s really a great bargain.  Cassie and I spent some time together in the early hours of the morning because she and I were awake and Mary was still sleeping.  Cassie loved the massive elephant.

I had one strange night at Pop Century.  I couldn’t sleep.  At first it was because of the person talking on their cell phone outside our room.  After walking outside the person on the cell phone ended their call.  I didn’t even have to glare at them.  I tried to get back to sleep but I just couldn’t.  I ended up going for a walk at 1 am or 2 am or some insane hour.  I went to the car and searched for my missing cell phone.  I walked around the resort.  I did anything I could because laying awake in a bed in a darkened hotel room seemed to be the worst choice.

Cassie likes water…when it’s warm.  We wanted to take her to a water park for a day.  Thanks to Donna’s connections and the extreme generosity and niceness of her friend we received complimentary passes to the Disney water park of our choice.  We chose to go to Typhoon Lagoon as we had never been there before.  I had a heart attack the morning we were to go to the water park.  I thought I had thrown out the passes!  I felt terrible.  But, it was vacation so we’d just poney up the dough and enjoy the day anyhow.  It turns out that I hadn’t thrown out the tickets and after searching for a short time I found them.

We had a great time at Typhoon Lagoon with Donna.  That was another one of the best days of the vacation.