After finishing my last marathon in Savannah, I am getting tired of the same training over and over. There is only so much of meeting early in the mornings over and over before you just need a change. I am training right now for The Goofy Challenge and then Snickers Marathon in March but then...........lets change.
I hope you are sitting down for this but the challenge is on. I am thinking of signing up for the Augusta Half-Ironman. YES I SAID IT! I know Steve I was not going to say it but there it is. It is on the table. I am going to start training and working on my swimming and if it gets better and stronger, well then I will sign up.
For now I will continue to finish my marathons and stop at #20. Then it is time to try and grow some gills and fins.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Savannah Marathon recap
Well marathon #18 is done and in the books. I have to say that this marathon will go down in the memory books for a lot of different reasons. I have to also say that this marathon has changed me forever. I will explain later in the post but for now the good stuff.
Mandie and I arrived in Savannah trying to find our way to the expo. We knew that we had to go over a large bridge but we were met with a large, long delay of runners trying to go the same way. I don't think the organizers of the race thought about a possible traffic problem. I heard of some runners having to wait over an hour to get across the bridge only to find themselves still waiting in line to find a parking place near the convention center. Luckily Mandie told me to jump in the left hand lane and go around everyone. I did and we went over the bridge passing about 100 cars and luckily a GSP officer let us go the front door and drop Mandie off. Then I had to drive about a 1/4 mile in an open field. I met Don Fitzgerald and we walked to the expo. OMG it was so windy. the winds were about 15mph the entire time.
We got inside to find a great, organized pickup line for our packets. We then made our way to the shopping portion where I got me some last minute gels, gloves and one awesome looking jacket. I love it. Mandie picked up a couple of goodies and then we found the MGD64 booth. Don and I got our wristbands so that we would not have to wait in line after the race to get our free beer.
It was now getting around around 6 so we decided to meet at Outback which was right down the road from our motel. I glad cause we could walk and not worry about trying to find a parking space. Kriste Pool met us there for dinner. Everyone else was doing their own thing. We were going to have our pre race dinner. It was nice to have a great dinner with friends and discuss some last minute notes about the race.
We made it into our room and I got all my stuff together. I had taken some Benadryl to help me sleep and also to try and help out with my head cold that I had gotten the night before. I was sleeping good until about 2 a.m. until WTH, FIREWORKS!!!! Yes they were shooting off fireworks off over the river. I could not believe it. Then I was waking up every hour until I decided to get up around 4:30 and get ready.
I met up with Angela Lewis and Teri Parker down in the lobby and we sat on the floor and talked about how everyone was feeling. Teri was just bubbly. It was her 1st marathon. We all took turns going back and forth going to our rooms to use the bathrooms. The butterflies were killing me. I was trying to eat a granola bar and all I could think about was it would be nice to just puke. Well its time to go and get in the corral.
Freakin A its cold. The wind was cutting like a knife. The flags were flying to their full expansion. As we walked down to corral #17, Teri and Angela left me to go find a tree to take care of business again. So while I was standing there, I saw Brad Walton. We then all got into the corral and the start was on. As they released a corral, it took 90 seconds for the release of the next corral. Well we finally made it to the start and it only took about 20 minutes.
The race was officially on. We were running the Inaugural Savannah Marathon. Mandie was on the sideline snapping photos. I will post some pics later. The first 3 miles were slow due to the congestion. I knew it would be bad but wow. When we got to mile #3, the official clock said it was 1:03:57. I told Brad that was the slowest 5K I had ever run. Then I told him that we started way behind when the clock started. After the 4th mile the times started to get better. But when we got to mile 5, THEY WERE OUT OF WATER!!! Yes, they were out. I was furious. Don had put the mojo on me. He said he thought it would happen. The race was combined with the half and the full until mile 11. When we got to mile 5, again no water. Luckily we had our fuel belts with our own water. I thought this is going to suck if it was all gone.
When we got mile 8, we ran into Mandie taking pics and all I heard was "T-I-M". I knew I recognized the voice but I could not see her at first. The amount of crowd support was amazing. People were everywhere along with bands and cheerleaders about every 1-2 miles. I finally saw Mandie hiding behind her camera with her hoodie pulled up over her head. Brad then said he was glad he was running with me cause if he could not find his wife, he knew he would get at least one picture from Mandie. When we went by, it sounded like a machine gun in her camera. But that's why I love her. It was C-O-L-D and windy but she was out there to get some pics of me. We then ran into Brad's wife at mile 8.5 and he gave her his jacket. Can we say decaff. Wow, she has some energy. It was funny cause she was trying to run and take pics at the same time. We then saw a Marine running with his pack on with an American flag and a marine flag on his back. Everyone was cheering him on and when we said great job he returned with a Hoo-ra!
We came upon mile #11 and the race was splitting off. Thank you Lord cause when we went around the corner, we found the water supply. They had water and Cytomax cups stacked 3 high on tables. For every 100 runners that went on the half course, there was only 1 runner who went on the full course.
As went along one of the highways, we made a turn and went down the off ramp and I looked up. I saw Karen and Holly running together. It was cool to see more of our Galloway peeps that I have been running with through our training. A little further down the course as we ran past the marsh area, we passed Diane and Debbie who were also Macon Gallowayers.
For the next 8 miles, I was telling Brad that he was going to have to pump me up cause I don't like 15-20 mile markers. We made it through while talking about how tired we were getting. Small little cramps were starting to set in every now and then. But then as we were making our way up the hills to mile marker #22, we looked up to one of the many medical tents and there were 3 ambulances sitting there with their lights on. Then one of them left with the lights and sirens screaming down the road. I thought to myself and restated my pre race prayer that I hope everyone was o.k.
But, then as we ran past the medical tent, my heart fell down to my feet. I stopped and got very emotional. I knew it was bad. I looked on the ground and showed Brad the little yellow plastic circles and and empty box of Epi. That was the scene of the paramedics working a cardiac arrest. I could not get this off my mind. Just before the race, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. On the back of the running bibs, the race directors always ask us to fill out the emergency information just in cause this happens. I read it and said that this would never happen to me. Well for now on, I will fill them out just in case.
Well now we are on top on the last hill at mile #24 and it is now down hill. I was feeling good trying to keep pumping up Brad on his accomplishment of becoming a marathoner.
Now we were coming into the last 1/2 mile and Brad looked at me and said go ahead. As we made our way around the last turn with a large crowd of supports and cheerleaders, we were running down the corral shute. I was about 1/8 mile from the finish and a woman was running beside me and we kept looking at each other. Oh it was on now. She had that SUCKER look on her face. Then we started to sprint to the finish and both of my legs cramped up after about 6 steps. I told her to go ahead and I finished respectively with a smile on my face. I crossed the finish line, turned off my Garmin, and congratulated Brad on becoming a Marathoner! We walked down the chute, drinking water, Cytomax, eating containers of fruit and saying this is delicious, having our metal placed around our neck and then getting a mylar blanket. Brad looked at me and I said "GET IT". I told him about body heat and it was still windy and cold.
We celebrated with hugs and pictures from our wives. This is why I run. The smile on Brad's face was amazing. It was great to be able to see that.
Don was at the finish line to cheer me in. We then went to the beer tent to have our victory beer. Oh it was so good and cold. We were about 1 mile from our motel and started to walk back when Mandie told me about these guys on bicycles with carriages that would transport people around Savannah. So I flagged one down and off we went. I was so nice to be driven back to the motel and get some history lessons along the way. Savannah is so pretty and its even better from the back of a bike.
After I showered and changed, we met Don and Kristie at Chrystals Beer Parlor for a great lunch. Cold beer and hot seafood. We talked about the race. Don finished at 4:05 and Kristie at 3:40, I think. she missed her Boston qualifier by just a couple of minutes. I told her I know how she feels cause I missed mine by just a couple of hours. It had a lot to due with the wind and the number of runners.
I know that this was probably long but I missed alot of things along the way. Congrats to Teri, Brad and Holly for finishing their first marathon. Have a great weekend and I will see yall on the road again.
Mandie and I arrived in Savannah trying to find our way to the expo. We knew that we had to go over a large bridge but we were met with a large, long delay of runners trying to go the same way. I don't think the organizers of the race thought about a possible traffic problem. I heard of some runners having to wait over an hour to get across the bridge only to find themselves still waiting in line to find a parking place near the convention center. Luckily Mandie told me to jump in the left hand lane and go around everyone. I did and we went over the bridge passing about 100 cars and luckily a GSP officer let us go the front door and drop Mandie off. Then I had to drive about a 1/4 mile in an open field. I met Don Fitzgerald and we walked to the expo. OMG it was so windy. the winds were about 15mph the entire time.
We got inside to find a great, organized pickup line for our packets. We then made our way to the shopping portion where I got me some last minute gels, gloves and one awesome looking jacket. I love it. Mandie picked up a couple of goodies and then we found the MGD64 booth. Don and I got our wristbands so that we would not have to wait in line after the race to get our free beer.
It was now getting around around 6 so we decided to meet at Outback which was right down the road from our motel. I glad cause we could walk and not worry about trying to find a parking space. Kriste Pool met us there for dinner. Everyone else was doing their own thing. We were going to have our pre race dinner. It was nice to have a great dinner with friends and discuss some last minute notes about the race.
We made it into our room and I got all my stuff together. I had taken some Benadryl to help me sleep and also to try and help out with my head cold that I had gotten the night before. I was sleeping good until about 2 a.m. until WTH, FIREWORKS!!!! Yes they were shooting off fireworks off over the river. I could not believe it. Then I was waking up every hour until I decided to get up around 4:30 and get ready.
I met up with Angela Lewis and Teri Parker down in the lobby and we sat on the floor and talked about how everyone was feeling. Teri was just bubbly. It was her 1st marathon. We all took turns going back and forth going to our rooms to use the bathrooms. The butterflies were killing me. I was trying to eat a granola bar and all I could think about was it would be nice to just puke. Well its time to go and get in the corral.
Freakin A its cold. The wind was cutting like a knife. The flags were flying to their full expansion. As we walked down to corral #17, Teri and Angela left me to go find a tree to take care of business again. So while I was standing there, I saw Brad Walton. We then all got into the corral and the start was on. As they released a corral, it took 90 seconds for the release of the next corral. Well we finally made it to the start and it only took about 20 minutes.
The race was officially on. We were running the Inaugural Savannah Marathon. Mandie was on the sideline snapping photos. I will post some pics later. The first 3 miles were slow due to the congestion. I knew it would be bad but wow. When we got to mile #3, the official clock said it was 1:03:57. I told Brad that was the slowest 5K I had ever run. Then I told him that we started way behind when the clock started. After the 4th mile the times started to get better. But when we got to mile 5, THEY WERE OUT OF WATER!!! Yes, they were out. I was furious. Don had put the mojo on me. He said he thought it would happen. The race was combined with the half and the full until mile 11. When we got to mile 5, again no water. Luckily we had our fuel belts with our own water. I thought this is going to suck if it was all gone.
When we got mile 8, we ran into Mandie taking pics and all I heard was "T-I-M". I knew I recognized the voice but I could not see her at first. The amount of crowd support was amazing. People were everywhere along with bands and cheerleaders about every 1-2 miles. I finally saw Mandie hiding behind her camera with her hoodie pulled up over her head. Brad then said he was glad he was running with me cause if he could not find his wife, he knew he would get at least one picture from Mandie. When we went by, it sounded like a machine gun in her camera. But that's why I love her. It was C-O-L-D and windy but she was out there to get some pics of me. We then ran into Brad's wife at mile 8.5 and he gave her his jacket. Can we say decaff. Wow, she has some energy. It was funny cause she was trying to run and take pics at the same time. We then saw a Marine running with his pack on with an American flag and a marine flag on his back. Everyone was cheering him on and when we said great job he returned with a Hoo-ra!
We came upon mile #11 and the race was splitting off. Thank you Lord cause when we went around the corner, we found the water supply. They had water and Cytomax cups stacked 3 high on tables. For every 100 runners that went on the half course, there was only 1 runner who went on the full course.
As went along one of the highways, we made a turn and went down the off ramp and I looked up. I saw Karen and Holly running together. It was cool to see more of our Galloway peeps that I have been running with through our training. A little further down the course as we ran past the marsh area, we passed Diane and Debbie who were also Macon Gallowayers.
For the next 8 miles, I was telling Brad that he was going to have to pump me up cause I don't like 15-20 mile markers. We made it through while talking about how tired we were getting. Small little cramps were starting to set in every now and then. But then as we were making our way up the hills to mile marker #22, we looked up to one of the many medical tents and there were 3 ambulances sitting there with their lights on. Then one of them left with the lights and sirens screaming down the road. I thought to myself and restated my pre race prayer that I hope everyone was o.k.
But, then as we ran past the medical tent, my heart fell down to my feet. I stopped and got very emotional. I knew it was bad. I looked on the ground and showed Brad the little yellow plastic circles and and empty box of Epi. That was the scene of the paramedics working a cardiac arrest. I could not get this off my mind. Just before the race, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. On the back of the running bibs, the race directors always ask us to fill out the emergency information just in cause this happens. I read it and said that this would never happen to me. Well for now on, I will fill them out just in case.
Well now we are on top on the last hill at mile #24 and it is now down hill. I was feeling good trying to keep pumping up Brad on his accomplishment of becoming a marathoner.
Now we were coming into the last 1/2 mile and Brad looked at me and said go ahead. As we made our way around the last turn with a large crowd of supports and cheerleaders, we were running down the corral shute. I was about 1/8 mile from the finish and a woman was running beside me and we kept looking at each other. Oh it was on now. She had that SUCKER look on her face. Then we started to sprint to the finish and both of my legs cramped up after about 6 steps. I told her to go ahead and I finished respectively with a smile on my face. I crossed the finish line, turned off my Garmin, and congratulated Brad on becoming a Marathoner! We walked down the chute, drinking water, Cytomax, eating containers of fruit and saying this is delicious, having our metal placed around our neck and then getting a mylar blanket. Brad looked at me and I said "GET IT". I told him about body heat and it was still windy and cold.
We celebrated with hugs and pictures from our wives. This is why I run. The smile on Brad's face was amazing. It was great to be able to see that.
Don was at the finish line to cheer me in. We then went to the beer tent to have our victory beer. Oh it was so good and cold. We were about 1 mile from our motel and started to walk back when Mandie told me about these guys on bicycles with carriages that would transport people around Savannah. So I flagged one down and off we went. I was so nice to be driven back to the motel and get some history lessons along the way. Savannah is so pretty and its even better from the back of a bike.
After I showered and changed, we met Don and Kristie at Chrystals Beer Parlor for a great lunch. Cold beer and hot seafood. We talked about the race. Don finished at 4:05 and Kristie at 3:40, I think. she missed her Boston qualifier by just a couple of minutes. I told her I know how she feels cause I missed mine by just a couple of hours. It had a lot to due with the wind and the number of runners.
I know that this was probably long but I missed alot of things along the way. Congrats to Teri, Brad and Holly for finishing their first marathon. Have a great weekend and I will see yall on the road again.
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