Houston- we have an H2O problem

Water- We need it. We are made of it, many of us hate the taste of it. I often joke that my marathon training always consisted of doing the best I can while eating everything in sight and drinking nothing but Diet Pepsi and Rum- and that really isn't that much of an exaggeration. I don't like water and have struggled over the years to drink enough of it. Summer in South Texas has become the one thing that really gets me to drink more water. There is just no way around it. Here are a few strategies I have used to drink more water and survive this summer on the Gulf Coast. You can call it the guide to drinking water for those of us that don't like drinking water.

Breakfast Water: I am a huge fan of making things habit. Things that we can make automatic we are more likely to do without questioning them because they become routine. With the COVID pandemic I've been working from home for the past four months and have started pouring a glass of water while making my oatmeal for breakfast. I usually drink this first glass and then eventually get another.

Two -Fisting: This strategy could alternately be called the water chaser strategy. I get a glass of water along with something I would rather drink as well and sip the water in between gulps of my preferred beverage. This has been especially effective for when after I work out and go for the Gatorade. admittedly sometimes I end up emptying an untouched glass of water at the end of the night but having some at hand at all times is at least going to make me more likely to drink it.

The switcheroo: I used to go for a walk and bring a can of Diet Pepsi  or have one while sitting on my recumbent bike simply out of habit. After thinking about opportunities to drink less soda and more water these were natural places to switch beverages where I really wasn't losing anything. As much as I love soda it goes flat when walking and in Texas heat I end up with warm flat soda on our evening walk.  For those who, like me, tend to grab another beverage all the time, is there a time when a switch to water might not impact you negatively or even improve your experience?

As much as I dislike water I cannot deny the benefits. I cannot count how many times I've been tired or sore and then realized that water brought me back to life. I will never be someone that drinks a ton of water daily but I can drink enough to support my lifestyle. If you have found additional strategies that help you drink more water I'd love to hear them.

Williams Route 66 Marathon- Oklahoma

Our young family has a few traditions. One of the most enjoyable is the Thanksgiving week road trip. For the last three years we have used the kid's week out of school to hit the road, run a race, and to have an adventure. This year we headed north to Oklahoma for The Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa. We also planned to sneak across the border to Kansas if possible and find some fun things for the kids along the way. If I crossed the finish line in Tulsa I would also be halfway done with the 50 States marathon mission with Oklahoma being state #25.

Goal Setting

Although I have run many races on a whim I do train the best I can for all of them and then run my best on race day. I had a year of slow marathons due to shin splints at First Light, snow at the Groundhog (planned slow) and a poorer than expected performance at Utah Valley. I enjoyed them all still and had knocked off 3 states in the process so no tears were shed but I still hadn't run really well or challenged a PR in a long time. Five months between races is something of an eternity for me. I had actually registered for the American Discovery Trail marathon over Labor Day weekend but had to cancel due to Hurricane Harvey. I ran a lot of miles in October (over 300) even if I only had one 20 miler in prep for Tulsa. I was running more "fast-ish" miles than usual and had run a 1/2 marathon about 3 weeks under 1:40. That race gave me the confidence to target 3:30- as we will see I missed in spectacular fashion.

3:30 and me

My marathon best is 3:38:04 set back in 2015. I was aiming simply to PR that race and did so by less than a minute in a well-executed race but 3:30 has been the magic number that has escaped me for years. Several times I have been in great shape and heat (Pocono, Missippi Coast) on race day made it impossible. I was in the best shape of my life for the first night running of the Las Vegas marathon and was cruising though the first half of the race when the half and full marathon courses merged so that I ran into a wall of the back of the pack half marathoners. There was a lane that was supposed to be set aside just for the full marathon runners, but the cones held nobody back and I spent the second half of the race running around people finishing in a still respectable 3:39. In 2010 I ditched the multiple marathon norm and trained a full 18 week cycle using the a training plan from Pete Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning book to train for Richmond and blew up on mile 16 after a Bart Yasso waive and quick pause at a rest stop to remove  rock from my shoe. For some reason I just couldn't get back up to speed after the pit stop. Bart was at Tulsa so maybe I should have known it wasn't meant to be but still I planned on starting off by running the first mile in 8 minutes and then adjusting from there.

Miles 1-9: wishing and hoping 8:08, 7:52, 7:50, 7:56, 7:53, 7:44, 7:53, 8:13, 7:59

I met the 3:30 pacer in the Corral and let him know I planned to follow. In addition to the half I may have run too much during taper although race week itself was filled mostly with hydration, salads, and core work. Tulsa itself was accomodating and beautiful. The team that puts on Route 66 does a fantastic job and they treat 50 States club members (along with Marathon maniacs) exceptionally well. We took off right on time and I fell in behind the pace. Right away I had to go to the bathroom for some reason and jumped off the course at the nearest porta-potty probably only a third of a mile into the run but caught back up with the group in short order. Still, something wasn't right- I was hitting the splits but even early on it was taking way more work to run 30 seconds or so a mile slower than I had run for the Houston Half. I decided to keep up as long as I could anyway since I had no real interest in slowing down and running just under 4 hours- I have plenty of sub 4's. In the end I guess I was hoping that magic would happen and my legs would come alive....they didn't, but still it was a great time. The weather was perfect, the crowds were excited and I have never seen so many people offering runners booze at unofficial aid stations...this is coming from someone who has run marathons in both New Orleans and Vegas.

Miles 10-26.2: The slide: 8:34, 8:26, 9:07, 9:04, 9:29, 9:39, 9:48, 10:29, 10:27, 10:30, 10:17, 10:01, 10:38, 11:12, 11:08, 11:08, 11:08 (3.50)

I let the group go at an aid station just before mile 10. I knew the rest of the race wasn't going to be fast but there were no regrets on strategy...I went for it and failed. Now to hang on and finish to get another state completed. On the way I would enjoy the day as well as the city and people of Tulsa. Shortly after I became untethered from the group the course went under the historic Route 66 sign and by the famous statue depicting an encounter on the Mother Road between a Car rider and Horse carriage. Because my run had turned into more of a jog I had my camera out and took a couple of shots. I got a few more the rest of the course but mainly just held on as best I could as my legs gradually slowed down. I also high-fived every kid with their hands out, thanked every police officer at every intersection and complimented all of the volunteers I came across- things that sometimes get skipped when lost in the quest for a time goal.

Finally I spotted Beth, Natasha, and Mitchell just after the sign for mile 25.9 and finished in 4:06:14- respectably 45 out of 145 in the male 35-39 group and 230th out of 829 males. I was wobbly and didn't even bother with a little sprint for the cameras at the finish. I reunited with the family and they lead me back to the hotel slowly after picking up the special medal the race had for 50 Staters- it was another nice touch.

State #25 was in the books and we were going to enjoy the rest of our vacation. I have some ideas on why my legs were not ready for anything near 3:30 pace and will address those as best I can before my next PR attempt. The great thing about travelling and running is that I'm never really broken up about if I miss a time goal because I have other reasons for being out there- exploring a new city, meeting new people, and of course new food!

Utah Valley Marathon

June 10, 2017

Its 4am and I am sitting in the dark on the ground in the bullpen of a mountain ranch outside of Provo Utah waiting for daylight. This wasn’t the start of a horror film but the beginning of the Utah Valley marathon and I was trying to stay warm for a couple of hours until we could begin running down from the mountains toward town. A ranch was the staging site for the start of the race. Porta potties were set up in a field and behind a wooden fence was a bullpen with small fires burning in metal canisters that runners could huddle around for warmth. The high temperature in Provo would end up in the middle 80’s but at this higher elevation and before morning, it was chilly. I had my trusty yellow sweatshirt on but that wasn’t much help so I pulled in my arms and huddled near a group by one of the fires. A couple of hours later and were lined up and beginning the descent down the road outside the ranch and toward Provo.

I didn’t know exactly where to line up so I hung out between the 3:30 and 3:45 pace groups. What I should have done was go further back to the 4 hour pace group but there was a slight overestimation of my ability judge the proper pace on this course. My plan was to run the first mile at an easy pace and go from there- probably too general a plan in retrospect.

The first few miles were in ranch country and soaking up the scenery. Huge farms, mountains, and horses that looked like they wanted to run with us dotted the landscape. A few smaller turns and then a left turn onto route 189 all the way into Provo.

Miles Splits: 1-8: 8:09, 8:06, 8:06, 8:27, 8:24, 8:18, 8:25, 8:57

It was really around miles 8 and 9 where I started the process of slowing down. I felt a little tug in my left calf and then some soreness in my left knee. It didn’t amount to much but since I had never felt anything in a calf that I could recall in any previous race I was monitoring for any worsening of the sensation.

I think the course during these miles went from being largely downhill to net downhill with a lot of uphill segments mixed into each overall downhill mile. I didn’t run enough hills in training was a thought that kept coming into mind. Regardless of these thoughts, the run was beautiful and I was having a great time running at least faster than I had in the last three marathons I had run in. No injuries (yet), Mountain Goat course, or need for snow shoes here.

Miles 8-16 Splits: 9:10, 8:39, 8:46, 9:15, 9:08, 9:02, 9:08, 9:45

At the midway point of the race we passed the half marathon start area and then later went through a mountain tunnel. There was a park near the Canyon that I made mental note to tell Beth and the kids about since it had a playground as well as views of the Canyons. The slowdown escalated on mile 16 and beyond as the repeated ups then downs took more out of me- but again the road was so scenic that I didn’t really mind. I knew that 3:30 was out the window from the start of the race and 3:45 and even 3:50 had since lost their status of reachable target finish times. It was late in mile 21 when I saw a shadow behind me and knew that the 4 hour pace group was about to pass that I mustered my one and only surge and had 2+ pretty solid miles putting space between myself and that group.

By now I was in the outskirts of Provo and more crowd support was lining the streets near BYU. My surge ended with a thud on mile 24 and the 4 hour group finally did go by shortly thereafter. By now it was warm but not truly uncomfortable, the citizens of the city were out enjoying their day and I was thinking about how I was going to keep up with the kids once I finished the race.

Miles 20-26: 10:10, 10:10, 9:50, 10:29, 9:47, 8:59, 8:59, 10:31, 11:00, 10:39 (Final Time: 4:03:33)

A little over a mile from the finish line was a CVS store on the right side of the road. I had watched a video of the course a couple of times and new right where it was and was relieved to catch a glimpse of it- although I noted that Coke was on sale but not Pepsi- so sad. I began to scan the side of the crowd for Beth and the kids. Usually this isn’t too hard but picking out a blonde family in Utah is a bit tougher than in many other places. I finally spotted them a block or two from the finish line and worked my way back to them as soon as possible. Both kids with bibs pinned to their shirts for the kid’s race.

Tasha did run the kids 1K and did a great job as usual. She now has medals from 3 states in her collection. Mitchell didn’t want to run and asked for his number to be taken off as soon as I saw him. I obliged since I don’t want the kids feeling like they are ever forced to run races…this is meant to be fun.

After the kids run the kids jumped in a bounce house for a bit and then we drove out to Wyoming to see some Bison and Prairie dogs and finish our family vacation.

Paavo Nurmi marathon 2016....a late post

A fellow runner asked a question about the Paavo Nurmi marathon and then I realized that I had written a race report for it last year but had never actually posted it here. So here is a belated report for a great little race in rural Wisconsin- that I would very much recommend.

Paavo Nurmi Recap

Weather: Humid but not hot. Most of the first half of the race was run in a fog

Course: Beautiful and very hilly. The definition of a “scenic” marathon

Results: 4:02:13  (13.1 in approx 2:05)

Overall: 32 of 105

Male: 26 of 74....and my 20th State

I have no split data for the race other than the half. Based on the elevation map for the race I knew that a PR wasn’t going to happen and since I had to drive almost 3 hours back to Marquette after the marathon to catch my flight home I decided to just use the timer without GPS on my watch and concentrate on keeping an even effort on the course.

Location: Hurley Wisconsin- a border town just across from the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. I was in Marquette on a business trip and every time I mentioned I was going to Hurley over the weekend before flying back I got funny looks until someone explained to me that Hurley had a reputation bars, saloons, strip clubs, etc. Indeed, after I picked up my packet the night before the run I walked down to Silver Street, where the Paavo Nurmi torch lighting ceremony was taking place at a trail head and observed that the other end of “famous Silver Street” was a glow with neon signs and a significant portion of the people I passed on the street were stumbling. I had pasta dinner at the Iron Nugget Restaurant and walked back to my hotel.

Race morning- boarded the bus to the starting line in Upson. My hotel had a spread out for the runners early enough to sit and eat while waiting. The starting area itself was a clearing across the street from a couple old bar/motels that may or may not have been still operational based on their condition. The morning was densely foggy but not cold. There were only 105 full marathon finishers but there was a half marathon and five-person relay as well. Paavo Nurmi is Wisconsin’s oldest marathon (48th annual) and is a really well run event.

Everyone was friendly and more than a couple of times I found myself beside someone who wanted to chat for a bit while we ran. The elevation chart looked pretty rough in spots- especially between miles 5 and 9. I met a guy who had run every Paavo since 1983 and another who told me that he had run it several times before and had counted at least 30 hills on the course if you didn’t include the small ones.

Volunteers were great. There were sponges, water, and Gatorade at every aid station with ice and treats in the later miles. Sprinklers were set up periodically to run through and one guy was using an old fire truck to pump water out of a lake and spray runners.

I was a little shocked by how slow I ran the first half of the race even with the hills but I felt fine so I just went with it. People kept saying this course was about 20 minutes slower than a standard one and that was pretty true with me. There were a few flattish miles beginning at mile 16 so I surged a bit and again from mile 23-25 before a big hill on 25 ended my hopes of going under 4 hours but I still had a pretty decent negative split on the course and was able to walk to my car and drive back to airport.

Overall: I ran 7 miles slowly today and other than sore quads I’m fine. I’ll take it easy and then start training again for Flying Monkey and potentially First Light in January. I’m glad I got to run this race. I had planned originally on running Marquette on Labor Day weekend but my business trip for moved up three weeks so I ran this one instead. It was early in the season and probably too close to my last marathon for me to have run better even if I wanted to. OC took a lot out of me but I feel good after Paavo so I think I took the right approach. I’d come back if I had the opportunity to see the people here again and would recommend Hurley and Paavo Nurmi to anyone who wants to get a scenic summer race in. I imagine if I was into Hunting or fishing it would be a great area to take a summer vacation and cap it off with a race.

Moments

• Just before the half there was a man who rang a Giant “Freedom Bell” for every runner that came by
• The guy pumping water out of the lake with an old fire truck hose suspended on a ladder to cool us off
• The narrow road over the Gille (sp) flowage where I looked around and there was beautiful mountain lake on each side of the me….breathtaking
• The grizzled runners with long beards- there were several talking about the ultras they were doing and how they come back here every year. I was behind one shirtless subject at the midway point who had found a giant feather he had stuck in the back of his shorts (I assume so he didn’t have to carry it) and kept thinking that based on the feather’s location it must now be both itchy and smelly.
• Mile 20-21 I came over a hill and there was a little black lab that came up to me with a cup in his mouth. I politely declined taking a drink from a canine but he was with a little blonde haired boy that was probably six or seven years old that was holding a cup of water and a cup of beer. I took a beer and he excitedly told his dad that they just had 11 cups of beer left to go before his table of beer could be refilled.

Groundhog Marathon- February 4^th, 2017

Looking down at the seat of a port-potty with a little apprehension is often understandable. When it is pre-race in Grand Rapids, Michigan before the Groundhog Marathon and the temperature is all of seven degrees outside the feeling is doubly so. There was a tent a short distance away where runners were gathered before the beginning of the festivities and kept relatively warm but out by the toilets it was another story.

I got the idea to run the Groundhog marathon once I knew that the week prior I would be in Baltimore for business. I always look for races in places that I travel too and figured the pickings would be slim to none in the northern states the first weekend in February but this one had turned up. The race director bragged about how snowy the conditions were usually but the timing was good and I am usually up for an adventure that gives me a good story to tell. I had thought Michigan would be crossed off the list last Labor Day in Marquette but travel had changed and I ran in Wisconsin instead. This time after the week in Baltimore I flew to Grand Rapids on Friday instead of Houston and checked into a hotel near the airport. I had never actually spent any time in the lower Penninsula of Michigan other than in the Detroit. I saw the snow dusted ground from the plane as we descended into Grand Rapids and felt a world away from Houston.

I had run in snow many times growing up in the Adirondacks but don’t think I had raced in it before that I can remember. It was 19 degrees in the mid afternoon when I arrived at Gerald Ford International airport and the “Welcome to Michigan’s West Coast” sign in the baggage claim. I took an Uber to the Hampton Inn by the airport thinking about whether to get some extra traction for my shoes. As I was waiting to check in I spied a copy of USA Today in the lobby with a picture of Downtown Houston on the front page and a story about it preparing for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I also took note of the Dixon Ticonderoga pencils on the desk. The reminders of places I either lived or were from were certainly evident. The event itself was Groundhog Day themed and of course I had met Beth on Groundhog Day at a race in Norfolk VA back in the day.

As luck would have it the hotel was within walking distance to a Target and a Dicks Sporting goods and I went there for suppliers after settling in. I did end up getting some YakTrax traction for my shoes as I was a little more concerned with the possibility of ice than snow and snacks for the morning. Dinner was delivery from a Michigan pizza chain called Jet’s which was quite tasty and then off to bed.

I layered on everything I had in the morning including two pair of tights on top of one another, two sets of gloves, multiple top layers a hopped in an Uber headed to the park where the race would take place. Another cool personal history connection was driving on Oswego Street very close to the race destination. I was dropped off by the driver in the dark and relieved to see there was a tent set up and that is where I spent most of the time before the run was ready to proceed. Packet pick up went smoothly (bless races that allow race morning packet pick up) and I made a last minute decision to wear the race hoodie as an extra layer on top of all the other layers I was wearing. There were several runners in Groundhog costumes and the Bill Murray movie playing on loop in the tent. I had Norf, my stuffed travel Groundhog with me in a fanny pack and figured in the spirit of the race he could ride along for this one. After the apprehensive trip to the porta potty I headed to the starting line, which was coated in a couple inches of ice- not a good sign. There I stretched a little and tried to stay warm until the race began.

The Groundhog Marathon is held in a park in Grand Rapids and consists of 6 4.4 mile loops around the park- in keeping with the Groundhog Day (movie and holiday) theme. After the ice patch at the Start/Finish line the course was covered by about 4 inches of snow other than about a mile patch that has been mysteriously cleared. There were some hills but nothing too bad. If you like beautiful winter scenery in the woods it is a good run. I tucked in on the first loop and concentrated on keeping my footing and getting a good deep breathe in the cold air.

The thing About running in snow is that pacing your self is really tough, at least for me. I was running slow to start with but probably too fast when you consider all of the energy I was spending getting through the snow and keeping my balance. I was amazed seeing some of the natives who seemed to glide over the snow. My shuffle is good for keeping balanced in the snow but not much good for being light and quick. Still, it was a beautiful trail that was especially stunning on the first couple of loops as branches were still frozen and the rising sun reflected off of everything. It didn’t really matter how slow I went.

Straight about a half mile, turn to the right up a series of hills and then the first rest stop. Leaving the rest another hill and then a downhill and turn (sharp) and onto the cleared part of the course. Over a snow-covered bridge after a left turn back onto the trail along a river with ice flows right out of the Frozen movie. Maybe I should have brought stuffed Sven instead of Norf I thought with a chuckle. A remember a final bear to the right after the mile 3 aid station and then down a long snow covered straightaway to the start finish line and back again…and again….and again 6 times.

Not all of the loops were particularly memorable. The scenery was pretty each time. The hills felt tougher even though they were the same hills. The Yack Trax were a blessing on the snow covered part of the trail but they made things tougher on the paved portion. I was enjoying myself but after the first two loops were somewhat reasonably paced the next four were progressively slower. That was fine with me and I started inserting walk breaks and hanging out at the aid stations talking to the volunteers I kept seeing again and again. Everyone was nice and although I knew that this was going to challenge First Light for my slowest marathon it was still a good experience. The aid stations even had Pepsi and Mountain Dew which was nice as I start craving anything but sports drinks after drinking them for hours during a marathon. It is also a tradition at the Groundhog to use Maple Bacon-flavored Gu brand gel which I sampled as well- it was tastier than expected. I met some interesting people, survived the cold, didn’t fall on any ice, finished in decent enough shape to be able to make my connection in Chicago at Midway airport with a jog across the terminal.

After the run I took an Uber back to the hotel and another to the airport after changing and sampled as much Michigan fare as I could get prior to leaving. I knew about Michigan blueberries but I didn’t know Cherries were a big thing there are well but all of the specialties at the Michigan Taphouse restaurant were flavored with Cherry sauce of one kind or another and there were bags of dried local cherries (good for inflamation) and cherry chocolates in the Hudson News type store.

So Michigan is the books which makes for State number 23. Despite knocking out few states and having some good experiences my last three marathons have all been pretty slow. My hope for the spring is to get some solid training in and remain healthy enough to get back comfortably under the 4 hour mark and even challenge my PR. This run at 5:20 and change was very fun but I can run much faster and would like to run in conditions where I can do so. Until next time....Thanks for reading.

First Light Marathon and Travel

Wake up Maggie I think I’ve got something to say to you…as if on cue started playing on the sound system at the Hampton as I hit the down button the elevator to get breakfast in the lobby. There are moments when it seems like the universe is trying to tell you that things are going to turn out fine and hearing one of my favorite songs mid worry is about as clear a sign as I could get. It was just a little after 5AM on January 8^th and I was within two hours of trying to run a marathon when I hadn’t been able to run at all for the last three weeks because of shin splints in my left leg. I had an insert in my shoe, a compression sleeve on my lower leg but little confidence in how this was going to turn out. Still, the race had been paid for long ago and I really didn’t want to have to reschedule Alabama for another time.

We had driven the 8 hours to Mobile on Saturday morning from Missouri City the day before and the kids weren’t really thrilled with the trip. Mainly because it was unseasonably cold and probably also because we didn’t have any kid-specific fun on the weekend itinerary. The trip on I-10 East was fairly uneventful. We stopped in Louisiana at a Popeye’s and again at the Mississippi Welcome Center to give the kids a chance to run around, but as much as they hated being in the car, they had no interest in picking up pine cones in the cold.

We got into Mobile just before 3 in the afternoon and headed straight to the Expo which was at a government building just down the street. My initial impression of the city was that it was incredibly pretty and a shame that we were here when walking around to see the sites around Mobile Bay was not going to be so fun. The Mississippi Blues Marathon which was to be held on Saturday was cancelled because of snow and ice in Jackson but where we were it was just cold and windy. We saw remnants of the winter storm all along our drive over but we were travelling just after it had passed. A lot of runners in the 50 States club run both Mississippi Blues and First Light so at least they would get one race in this weekend. I may not be the most stable person in the world but to date I haven’t been crazy enough to run two marathons in one weekend. The expo was small but nice. We were glad to be out of the wind and the kids played on a set of stairs as we unwound from the drive and waited to check into our hotel. There would be no walking around Mobile Bay and not one person suggested it.

I grabbed some food and made Beth her first coffee of the morning and headed back to the room where everyone else was asleep. The weather called for an overnight low of 23 degrees so we decided that the cheering section could sleep in, hang out at the hotel, and we would meet up at the finish line when it was warmer. We didn’t exactly know when to expect that meeting to occur since I hadn’t run in so long. It was entirely possible to get to the starting line feeling refreshed, not having any pain, and having a good run. In reality I knew that I would be lucky to finish and had made a plan to jog slowly and even insert walk breaks if need be. I had been perplexed by this particular case of shin splints as it seemed to take longer than the previous cases I have had and flair up again each time I had thought it might be under control. I had planned on doing a test run or two before the marathon but ultimately decided to just use the last few days to keep resting it.

The Hampton was only about a quarter mile from the starting line and I kissed everyone and headed out on the walk down Government Street. There was a relay and half marathon associated as well as Full marathon so there were quite a few runners shivering as I approached the Start line. I stretched out as best I could and kept reminding myself to not do anything stupid once the race started and with some luck we would be able to check Alabama off of the map today. After a rousing rendition of the National Anthem we were off. I settled in the back at a snail’s pace and the adventure began.

I felt my shin for the first time before the first half mile had passed but it was less of a pain and more of a tugging sensation. The compression sleeve surely was helping somewhat but this sensation quickly served as a warning that there would be no attempting to push the pace today unless I wanted to end up limping and not able to finish. I settled in and then began an internal debate over whether inserting walk breaks during the run would help or if they would make things worse and give my shin time to swell up- I decided against them

Splits (1-10): 10:49, 10:30, 10:26, 10:28, 10:20, 10:14, 10:11, 10:47 ,10:36, 10:30

I spent the early miles just looking around at the city and monitoring my leg. Still tugging, feeling best on flat ground, decent on ascents, and worst on descents. There were not a ton of spectators out other than the aid station volunteers but that was not surprising considering the weather, and they were all so nice. I remember a lot of nice old large houses and a couple of frozen water fountains in yards during these miles. There was a little panic near mile 8 as I knew the half and full marathon courses were supposed to split at this but we were all waived in the same direction. I was asking other runners and one advised that she had asked the officer at the intersection and apparently the split for the two races had been moved a little further along. When the two courses did split and the half marathon runners left us things did thin out somewhat but since the relay runners were doing the full course as well it didn’t get too sparse at any point.

Splits (11-20) 11:08, 12:37, 12:03, 11:45, 12:49, 12:31, 12:57, 13:03, 13:48, 13:12

As you can tell from the splits miles 11-20 were rougher. My leg hurt as we headed to mid-town although I could still keep moving. I figured if I could make it to the halfway point ok without walking then I’d figure out a way to finish- maybe not the brightest plan but that’s how it went through my mind then. We ran through two colleges- The University of Southern Alabama and another one later that slips my mind. I always love running through colleges- it reminds me of all the miles Beth and I logged in Charlottesville around UVA back in the day. I’m sure that things didn’t look real great as I kept having the guys roaming the course on bicycles come up and ask me if I was ok. At first I thought it was just Southern Friendliness but the second time it happened I realized that my stride probably looked like a mess to anyone watching. I distinctly remember running up a hill and having a lady running/power walking in front of me that I couldn’t catch.

Miles 20-26: 12:15, 12:51, 13:00, 12:42, 12:56, 12:49

I do not know what the slight speed up was a result of over the last six miles. There were more people out at the day went on and I knew that I would finish even if not in the best shape. I kept plodding, smiling at volunteers, and assuring the bicycle spotters that I would not require medical intervention no matter how bad I looked.

Finish: 5:10:14 (11:51 Pace)

I took my headphones completely out on mile 24 to appreciate the last two miles completely. As we got closer to where we had started I could see the large hotels near the Bay come into view. Mobile’s architecture is reminiscent of New Orleans in places with many balcony of ornate iron. As I passed the 26 mile mark and peered down the narrow street looking for the finish line I saw Beth and the kids cheering on the side of the road. They had gotten bored of the hotel and even though it was a little chilly still decided to come out and ended up buying some doll clothes from a local seamstress.

L’Arche Mobile supports adults with developmental disabilities. I had heard that the medals would be handmade but didn’t give much thought to the finish until I got near and saw participants of the program handing out the wooden medals, smiling proudly, and offering support and water to the runners. It was one of the neatest finish line scenes that I have encountered to date. I was irritated when glancing up at the finish clock of how slow I had run but that quickly disappeared as I finished and met up with my family.

We walked back to the hotel where I changed in a public restroom while Mitch amused himself with rocks he had collected from the landscaping. Everything seemed pretty normal. My lower leg was swollen and I left the compression sleeve on for the time being figuring it would be a little while before I knew whether I had made things any worse or not.

We got on the road back to Houston after the race driving pretty much straight through save for a McDonald’s stop and another at a Love’s to get gas, arriving back home about 10:30 at night or so. The post script to all of this was that my calf actually was no worse for wear after the marathon amazingly and actually ended up completely healed by the end of the week after the race.

I’m luckier than smart sometimes. On to the next adventure….

Happy 2017

Today is my first working day of the new year and I am happy to report that the holidays were spent the way holidays should be spent- with my family and too many calories to easily count. 2016 had its ups and down for sure but turning the page from one year to the next is always a little bitter sweet. The gets get older and so do us adults. My baby girl will be turning six in just over a week and the little man will be five by the end of the summer and ready to head to Kindergarten. On a running note this year will mark 20 years since I lined up at my first marathon way back in 1997. I will at some point write down the historic tail of that race as well as the others that are missing from here for posterity. I have four marathons scheduled for the first half of this year in the states on Alabama, Michigan, Arizona, and Utah which will bring me to the halfway point of my 50 states marathon adventure.

I really don’t know what to say about politics in the upcoming year other than it looks like 2017 will be really interesting. My hope is that the things will settle down and we can stop seeing those with different political views as enemies but I am not holding my breath on that one.

Here is to 2017 and hope that anyone reading this has a great start to the new year!