The End?

Spoiler alert...

I finished. It wasn't pretty, it hurt, but I finished.

Over three years ago, I decided to run a marathon.  I was on my way to losing some weight and I thought that I needed a goal.  What better goal than to run a marathon, especially for a guy who was a sprinter in a former life?

I'm not going to go into excruciating detail about the race.  No one wants to hear about every step.  My purpose in writing this has always been personal therapy and it's with that thought that I proceed.

THE RACE  - We began at 7:05am, before sunrise.  Temps were in the 40s with no wind.  The half and full marathoners were intermixed and the relay guys were also with us.  No great fanfare other than the sounds of grunts as we began running.  I started with a pace group who would eventually run a time to which I aspired (and didn't achieve).  We started relatively slowly, which help avoid the normal zigging and zagging around slower runners.  My immediate thought was that I could run this pace forever.

At the 5K mark, I felt great, as I did at 5 miles and again at 10 miles.  No pains (knees, Achilles, ankles all felt good).  Cardio was not (and never was) an issue.  I was moving with the pack around me, listening to the pace group leader try to make us feel good about feeling bad later.  There was a long hill about 4 miles in that wasn't easy but nothing more than I had done in training.

At the half-way point, we were right on schedule.  The course was pretty and the sun had come up and begun to warm us.  Truthfully, I remember very little about the first half of the run.  I wasn't lost in my own thoughts - I just don't remember what my thoughts were.

Somewhere between 13 and 14 miles, nature called and I decided that I needed to stop to get rid of some of the liquid that I have taken in.  When I exited the porta-pottie, I was about 250 yards behind the pace group.  Naturally, I thought that I would try to catch up to the group.  While my brain told me to go easy and catch them over many miles, my legs didn't listen.  I began to catch them over the next mile plus.

On a downhill around the 16 mile mark, I felt one of my calves give me a "I'm gonna cramp" warning.  As quickly as I felt it, it went away.  A mile or so later, I felt the same feeling in a hamstring.  I worried.  By the 19 mile mark, I was beginning to cramp pretty badly in both calves, and interestingly, my adductors, the muscles on the inside of my thighs, were cramping now as well.

At the 20 mile mark, Sara and Pat joined me and I was cramping pretty badly.  I was having to stop periodically to stretch but gained an enormous amount of strength from my new running partners.  With each water/Gatorade stop, I got something to drink and ate anything salty that I could (mostly pretzels) and took in some bananas.  The cramps continued, as did the necessity to stop and stretch.

Fast forward (although it seemed like slow motion) to the 26 mile mark.  Sara asked me if it was OK for them to peel off and let me finish on my own.  Nope, finish with me.  And we did.  The three of us crossed the finish line together.  Just the way it should be.

FITNESS - Overall, I think I was as fit as I could have reasonably expected.  I never really bonked.  I was expecting that at 20 miles, I would feel completely depleted, with nothing left in the tank.  That feeling of emptiness didn't happen until about 25 miles.  Starting from the top down, all systems were go - respiration, core strength, and even though I cramped, my legs weren't tired, feet were "pancakey" but not tired (there is a differenct that I can't explain).  Overall, I was very happy with my fitness.

SUPPORT TEAM - This was one of the highlights of the entire day.  Sara and Pat flew in from Chicago the night before and Sara, in particular, was really excited to cheer.  She makes a great, albeit unconventional, cheerleader.  Sandy was working for the hospital but Jake joined Deb and Ben and the 5 of them were visible at many points along the route.

Sara was the sign maker for the day, with gems including "I'M YOUR ATHLETIC SUPPORTER" and "THAT ISN'T SWEAT - IT'S LIQUID AWESOME" and my personal favorite, "TOENAILS ARE FOR SISSIES".

Jacob and Ben were cheering and waving at every turn and Ben was the designated driver for the FanVan.  I really appreciated seeing those two during the run.

Deb, of course, was the one I looked for.  I know she was worried about my health (needlessly, of course) and I really appreciated seeing her.  I tried to make it a point to make eye contact with her so that she would see that I was OK.  I don't know if I succeeded or not but it made me feel better.

Finally, Sara and Pat jumped onto the course at 20 miles, just as I needed the help.  I was cramping pretty badly at this point and they helped my through the worst parts without passing judgement on my condition.  Sara tried to take my mind off the running by asking random quesitons ("what's your favorite Springsteen song, Dad?"...."The End"..."I don't think I know that one") but unfortunately, I was focused on finishing so much that I wasn't a very good running partner.

Without family, I wouldn't have finished.  Plain and simple.

But it wasn't only family.  At the first (?) relay exchange point, I saw another friend, TOM WISNANSKY, who was running the final 6.4 mile leg of a marathon relay.  I passed the 20 mile mark, where I saw him waiting for his teammate to come in.  Tom quickly caught up to me (mile 22 maybe?) and ran with us for a little bit, giving me some much needed encouragement.  He also found Deb at the finish and told her about my cramping.

Another bright spot was seeing SHARON DONOVAN COFFMAN, an old high school buddy, at 13 miles.  I knew that she was going to be there but I didn't know where.  I caught someone taking pics of me but didn't put the face with the person until she caught up to me somewhere thereafter and we were able to run a few hundred yards together.  Again, it was wonderful to see her and to know that there was someone else on the course cheering me on.

Finally, at around 17 miles, JANET AND JERRY ORRIS were spotted in the crowd.  I saw someone familiar taking pictures but I couldn't make our who it was from behind the camera.  Finally, I saw Janet and was momentarily disoriented, the way you are when you see someone in a place where they don't belong.  I should have gone back and given them both a smelly high five.

At the finish line, I found everyone very quickly.  There is nothing like being reunited with family after an event like this, knowing that you are in good hands from that point forward.

Thanks you, each and every one of you, for the support, the help, and the love.  I am very lucky to have you in my life.  That goes for those of you at the race and those who gave me advice or wished me good fortune but were not at the race.  You know who you are.

RACE ORGANIZATION -  I don't know what goes on behind the scenes of a race like this but can imagine that the logistics are complex.  I can't think of anything that I might have changed.  We were safe, the water stops were plentiful and well manned, traffic was appropriately controlled and the finish line was not crowded or a mess.  The only negative might be that toward the end of the course, traffic was allowed to cross the path of the runners without much control.  We did have one driver who seemed a bit confused that we were in her way as we tried to find the apex of the curve.  Maybe we were on the wrong side of the road...

EMOTION - I have been involved in sports for a long time.  I started playing baseball at 6 and have been involved in some way ever since.  This was by far the most difficult physical thing that I have ever done and that probably made it one of the more emotional finishes for me.  As I look back, I can compare it to certain (athletic) milestones - my last football game, championships that I have won and lost, my last race for Penn - and this ranked right up to them.  It hit me when, shortly after we crossed the finish line, Sara looked at me and said, "DAD - YOU ARE A MARATHONER". While I didn't break down, I did get a little wet eyed.  I think the fact that this had been a 3 year journey made the finish that much more satisfying.

WHAT'S NEXT - During the last few miles, there was a sign that said "6 MONTHS AGO, THIS SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA".  My immediate reaction was that I would never make this mistake again.  And then Sara told me that she would like to run a marathon 2 years from now and wondered if I would like to run with her in Chicago, a nice flat course.  Of course, I said yes.  In the meantime, I'm taking a week of from running.  A whole week!


So, dear reader (singular), I'm finished with this chapter.  I am not going to stop blogging, however, since I've enjoyed the cathartic experience.  Thanks for any small bit of attention you may have given this blog but I'll be selfish and tell you that it was more for me than for you.  Sorry, but that's the truth.

Do me a favor and leave me a comment, drop me an email, send some smoke signals and tell me about yourself.