ING Georgia Half Marathon

A Lesson in Being Humble

What a great weekend. Little sis called Thursday night to try and hook up for dinner, but daddy duty required me to be at home, taking care of my boyz and cooking them dinner and stuff like that. Friday Kelly came out to Jimmy's soccer game. She met me and Dee Dee there, and my mom and step-father arrived from out of town just before the end of the game. The happy family was all together. We decided to spend the evening at Dave and Busters. Just in case you don't know what that is, it's an adult playground of pool tables, video games, a restaurant. It's just a cool place. While shooting some baskets on one of the games, I developed a cramp in my right quad and spent the rest of the weekend worrying about it.

Saturday we made it down to the expo when it opened around 11 a.m. I had a great time there. Dee Dee and I picked up some running gear and some nutrition stuff for the race. I got a long sleeve technical shirt and a new pair of shorts, and Dee Dee picked up a sleeveless technical shirt and a new pair of shorts too. I was wise enough to leave everything else I wanted at the expo and just take home those two commemorative items.

After leaving the expo it was off to Jimmy's soccer game in Dekalb County. After the game, which he won, I raced home to cook pasta dinner for the entire family. I made this recipe. It is excellent, by the way. I also made a meat based ragu for the kids, and Dee Dee made here vegetarian (semi this time) spicy tomato sauce. Dinner was excellent. Everyone left in a hurry because it was getting late, and that left Dee Dee and I time to prepare everything for the race and lay it out on the table before heading off to bed.

The alarm went off at 4 AM, and I got out of bed almost immediately this time. I wanted to eat and have a couple of cups of coffee before I left for the race. I also wanted to visit the local port-a-pot and not use the ones at the races. We managed to get ready early and left the house before 5 AM, getting to the Lindbergh MARTA station 15 minutes before 6 AM. The train came right away, and we hopped aboard and headed downtown. After arriving at Five Points train station, Dee Dee decided it was time for her to use the restroom. Women!! LOL. Fortunately the lines inside the MARTA station weren't that bad. We met up with Mom, Kelly, my step-father Bud and Kelly's business associate Isela, and headed for the bag drop off. I put my bag on the UPS truck and that's when Kelly and Isela decided to use the restroom too. Sheesh! They headed off for the race port-a-potties and waited in line. When I got there, there were 100+ port-a-potties and the lines was 25-35 deep for each one. They managed to finish up around twenty minutes before the race started. At that point, we decided to find our place at the start line.

The weather was beautiful for the start of the race. It was 65 degrees and crystal clear. We stood behind the 4:30 marathon pace group, close enough to see the actual starting line. For some reason, they asked me on my registration what I thought my finish time would be, but they declined to put us in corrals for the start. It was every man/woman for the themselves. After the horn went off, we all compressed forward, but we had no movement. It took about four minutes for me to cross the start time. My chip time listed my start as 7:08 AM.

Kelly and I took off at an even pace together and began to weave in and out of the other runners and walkers. There were far too many walkers up front, but they didn't bother me. We managed to weave enough to do a 9:30 first mile. At that point, while still crowded, the road opened up a bit, and we were able to pour on some speed. We turned in a 8:30 second mile, and then an 8 minute third mile. At that point, my interval tracking went all to hell, and I lost almost all of the rest of my splits.

The run down Edgewood Avenue was very nice. I had missed this section on my practice run. It was a mile to a mile and a half of the sweetest downhill. Kelly was really pushing us hard. I was trying to stay up with her, and I hadn't asked for a walk break. Around mile 4, I told Kelly it was about time for a walk break, and she told me to say when. I said, "Now!" Luckily we were right near a drink station and she needed to wet her lips, so it worked out well for both of us. As we made a left to start our run down Freedom Parkway, we met another nice down hill and really kicked it in a bit. Some of the other runners were saying they were concerned about coming back, but "Not to fear!", I said. We don't come back up this hill. We make a left at the V and take the semi-flat route out of here. Before the turn around at Freedom Parkway, we got to yell at Isela who was out in front of us by about a mile. At the V, we yelled an waved at Dee Dee who was making her way down the long hill as well.

After leaving Freedom Parkway, we began a small climb into the hills of Inman Park. This area was before Piedmont Park and had some really nice downhill runs and a few hills. It was about this time that I began to insist that I get a walk break every 10 minutes or so. We were pushing 8.5 to 9 minute miles, and I had never sustained that kind of pace this way. As we exited the park and began the long slow climb to fourteenth street and the hill from hell, I just felt plain exhausted. I looked at my watch and was suprised to see that I had averaged 9 minute miles for 10 miles. This was exactly what I needed to do to break 2 hours. I had given everything I had for those first ten miles, and with thirty minutes remaining, I could almost slow down a little and still break the big 2.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to happen. I didn't have it in me. Kelly had pushed me real hard, and I left almost everything I had strewn on the road for the last 10 miles. I slowly made my way up 14th street to the left turn on the way back to the finish. I was excited that the first turn on Peachtree was a nice down hill, but then there was two really big hills to climb before the finish. I ended up walking most of them. I wasn't at all upset that the 2 hour goal slipped away. I kept waving Kelly to go on and leave me, secretly hoping that she would so I could lay down in the street and die. She refused. She goaded me up that last hill and the finish line came into sight.

She yelled at me to wait for her as I took off in a sprint for the last quarter mile of the race. About half way I realized that this was going to give me a heart attack, and I slowed down, at which time Kelly caught back up to me. My left leg began to cramp, but fortunately my right one, the one I had worried about, held up fine. We finished strong and crossed the line together. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for making this first half marathon so special. The official time on the clock said 2:12 and some change. My Garmin said 2:08 and some change, which I am sure will be close to my net time, once the race results are in.

After getting my finisher's medal, some water, and something to eat, we headed back up the race course to find Mom and Bud and wait on Dee Dee. Dee Dee had issues with her knee in the seventh mile and ended up walking four miles. She finished in 3:19:00, and I ran the last quarter mile with her as she reached the finish line.

Why humble you ask? Because with all of these desires to run fast and be strong, I'm just wondering if I am in too much of a hurry to achieve. I'm going to ponder that a bit over the next couple of weeks as my triathlon training gets underway. Overall, I loved the race, the experience, the crowds. Little sister pushed me way harder than I would of pushed myself. I didn't really run "my race", but that's OK too. I will be back out there again, and next time, I will be better prepared.

And Kate, I hope you don't mind that I raised a salute to you with a glass of Guinness rather than gin! It was an Irish Pub after all.

Humbly yours,

Wes

ORN: 13.1 miles, 2:07:46, race pace, 9:45 miles, walk as needed