A New Type of Super Hero

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to open this blog post by saying, in a very official manner, that the 2005 race season has come to a close. And it has been done so with my last major race event of 2005, the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. That's right. Twenty six point two (that's 26.2 to you and me) miles of pure fun, in quintessential Upstate, NY Autumn weather.

This past week, we have had unseasonably warm temperatures here in the Capital District. With daily highs in the 80's and sunny, it felt more like the summer we never had then the crisp Fall we'd expect for early October. But of course, Friday night before the big marathon we had a pressure system move on in, and with it, 30 degree drops in temperature. To top it off, we had almost record levels of rainfall yesterday, leaving today a very wet, very cold day for running a marathon. But as I jogged down the street to the start of the race, I felt good. And I don't mean just sorta good, I mean, real freaky good. After tapering for two weeks, and keeping the workout load super light these past several days, my legs were turbo-charged and ready for the work ahead. And actually, the weather was perfect for me.

My goal going into this thing was to go 3:45 or faster. Based on the fact that I literally crammed a summer's full of marathon training into 5 weeks, and the fact that I'd never run anything longer than a 10k competitively, I'd be happy trying to hold 8:30 miles over the course. Well, as the gun went off today, I found myself pushing the tempo and running the early miles as 7:30s. I kept checking my monitor - and myself - to make sure that this was wise, and all indications pointed to yes. So on I ran.

Blazing the first half of the marathon (I clocked 1:44 at the 13.1 mark), I was on par for a sub 3:30 race. Bonus! But I should have known better, as by the time the 16 mile mark came, I was struggling to run 8:30s, and by the time 19 miles came, I was struggling to run 9:00s. And then it happened: THE WALL. Suddenly, my legs started locking up, my chest started constricting around my lungs, and soon it was all I had just to keep the legs turning over. By mile 22 I was running 9:45s, and had resorted to a run for 5 minutes, walk for 10 seconds and repeat game. Not a single muscle fiber in either of my legs was in the mood for running. I had knots, twangs, spasms... You name it. But on I pushed, and by mile 24, I was back running 9:00s through to the finish.

Despite my incident with said wall, I came into the finishing area with my number one fan cheering and running beside me all the way to the finish (well... Almost all the way). As I strode under the finisher's clock, it read: 3:44:59. No joke.

I did it. The 26.2 badge of honor is now mine, something that can never be taken from me.

What made today's race even better, was the fan club supporting me. Liz, and the newest member of the club, Ariana, drove along the entire course, frequently getting to the sides of the roads and paths to boost my morale and to take some great photos (available here). During my trouble spot, where I was running down the side of a major 4 lane road, with the highway to my left, a crazed Ariana in a zippy maroon Altima with Liz behind the wheel screamed such a loud "GOOOOO!!!!" that it actually frightened me from my running trance. With those lungs, she's made herself a perfect addition to the fan club, and a wonderful partner in crime for my Lizard.

After hobbling over to the beverage area (where Liz, who offered to go grab me a Coke but first questioned: "diet, or regular?"), I wrapped myself in the typical runner's Mylar, and took my shoes off to cool my feet. As the fan club and I were walking back to the car, it was brought to my attention that between my crazy socks and my silver "cape", I resembled a super hero. With my can of Coke as my super hero power (regular, not diet), we all climbed into the car, Ginger included, and headed home.

Thanks for reading.