26.2 Miles: A Lesson in Forward Motion - Part 2

Click here for Part 1

Race Day.

Surprisingly enough, I got a decent night's rest. After a quick shower, and a stop at Starbucks, we were on our way down to the race.

6:45am - One hour before the race. We got down there after taking a slight detour. My sister and coach (i.e. - a very helpful friend who was along for the ride) bickered back and forth about where to park. All I know is that, at one point, we were not in an area of town that the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce would have on their brochure. That is, of course, unless they wanted to highlight boarded up houses with graffiti in Spanish. We finally found a decent place to park and we milled around the place.

7:00a-7:15am - We took pictures by our corral, stretched out, etc. No one had started lining up yet, but I thought nothing of it.

7:30am - I hear cowbells, a lot of cheering, and see wheelchairs whizzing by about 1/2 block away.

7:30:05am - Shit.

7:30:10am - I haul ass to the from the half marathon start to the marathon start. My sister is trailing me assuring me that I'll make it, but I'm too focused on getting to my corral. It's always something with me. I arrive just outside of my corral and in time for the national anthem. Whew!

7:40am - And we're off!

7:45am - And I cross the starting line! Not bad considering all of the people. I stake my claim on the roads, but there's really no need. There's a lot of space and people are maintaining their pace. Nice.

*note - at this point, time of day becomes irrelevant. It's now all about mile markers.

Miles 0-3 - If driving the course on Saturday didn't hit me, crossing the starting line sure as hell did I had Sirius by the Alan Parson's Project on the iPod to start this thing off. It's corny and cliche, but a whole bunch of adrenaline and/or emotion shot through me for the first mile. I was cognizant, though, of not starting out too quickly. I kept my pace at where I wanted all the way up until.....

Mile 9 - Hello Mr. IT band. Thanks so much for making an appearance. It started tightening up.

Mile 10 - It started to hurt. Shit.

Mile 10.1 - Here's where my strategy switched from a 4:30:00 finish to just a finish.:

• Gut it out
• Stretch every mile. If it locks up you're screwed. It's early in the race where I can still run and stretch.
• Walk through every water station.
• Finish in under 5 hours.
• If you don't finish in under 5 hours, no big deal. This is a victory lap anyhow.
• DNF is not an option

Mile 11-15 - I'm obsessing about the IT band. I know that if I stop thinking about it, I'll be better off. No dice. It hurts, but it's not altering my gait, slow as that gait may be.

**Chauvinist Alert**

I'm keeping pace with a woman that just so happens to have a very nice butt. It's hypnotic just watching it and her shorts have ridden up just a little bit. Like me, she's stretching every so often (calves). Maybe we can finish together. IT be damned, I'm keeping up with Butt Girl.

Miles 16-20 - My stretching/walking/running plan seems to be working. Is it bad that my fast walking pace is only about a minute slower than my running pace? I see a lot of people adopting my strategy. We're in it for the long haul. Unfortunately, Butt Girl has pulled ahead.

Mile 20.1 - I'm playing with the casino's money now. Longest run ever.

Mile 21 - There's coach sans chili dog. He does have the camera so I make sure I look like this is the easiest thing in the world. I even strike the Heisman pose that we discussed. Don't know why, but it's my race, damnit! Coach tells me that WifeDoodle and KidDoodles are cheering me on from Omaha. Quite a shot of adrenaline.

Miles 22-23.2 - We're heading towards Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. I can see it. At least, I think I can see it. Who the hell knows? It's getting warmer and I feel like I'm getting sunburned. Perfect. It's at the 23.2 mile mark that I say I'm going to gut it out. No stretching, no walking. You can do this.

Mile 24 - My leg semi-seizes up. One more stretch. Band name at Mile 24: "One Foot in the Grave". Really guys? At MILE 24????????

Mile 25 - 26 - It's all a blur. There's a Jimmy Buffet band and they're handing out shots of Cytomax and/or water. I opt for the water. The Cytomax was fine for the first few times, but then it became disgustingly sweet.

Lots of walkers and runners. Lots of fans. I see the bagel shop where we had lunch the day before. Almost there.

Mile 26.1 - MY SISTER!!!! I told her to wear yellow on race day so that I could see her. She finished her first half marathon! I was more proud of her than I was of me at that point! She was smiling and gave me a big high five. I'd like to say that adrenaline had me sprint the rest of this b**ch out, but it wasn't the case. I ran awkwardly, but I ran. That's all that mattered to me.

Mile 26.2 - Hands in air. I hope I didn't flash the Hook 'em Horns sign. That'd suck. DONE!

I'm a marathoner.

Part 3 - The Aftermath.