Marathoner or Bust

A Rocket City Marathon Race Report

What an absolutely amazing weekend! It was definitely one of those once in a life time events, made all the more special because two of my blogging friends, Darrell and Joe were there to share it all with me. Big shout out to you guys for a great weekend!!

Now that Jimmy is driving, I had been able to bank some time at work and get off at 12:30 PM on Friday. I stopped off at Wendy's on the way home to pick up Matthew some lunch. Poor guy had been sick and out of school all week. Unfortunately, I missed Dee Dee's call because I keep my cell phone on silent. After packing up, we got out of the house around 2:00 PM and stopped off at Wendy's again to get Dee Dee some lunch. This turned into a trial of patience as it took almost twenty minutes to get her food and get out on the road.

The ride over to Huntsville was very pleasant. We decided to take the direct route rather than go up the interstate to Chattanooga then back down. Coming out of the mountains and down to Lake Weiss/Tennessee River was just awesome. There must have been about 10 gazillion critters on the lake. I guess they all moved there from Georgia. About fifteen minutes out, Darrell called. Joe and Darrell had just gotten through with the tour run and were getting ready for the pre-race pasta dinner. I told him we were about thirty minutes away and would be there soon. We were a lot closer than I thought. By the time thirty minutes had passed, we had arrived, checked in, and got our race packets. We finally managed to hook up with the guys and it was truly just like meeting old friends. I'd heard about this phenom from other bloggers, and its true.

We headed down to the pasta dinner, and it was the usual affair. We had salad, a big ole plate of spaghetti, unsweet tea, and afterwards, some cake. After eating, we hung around to listen to the guest speaker who was none other than Jeff Galloway. He gave a great speech about the run/walk method. I plugged my ears when he talked about "The Wall" and "Being against Death". I just didn't want to hear it :-) But it was a good speech, and reinforced a lot of the practices I have been following for the past year.

After the speech, the four of us, Dee Dee, Joe, Darrel, and I retired to the atrium for some chit chat. We had a nice hour or so talk. It was great spending some time with everybody. It didn't take long for us all to realize we had had a long day and head off to our respective rooms. I laid out all my stuff for the race in the morning and then hit the sheets. Dee Dee stayed up a little while watching television. I had a rather fitful sleep until 1 or 2 AM in the morning. That was when the drunks came in and beat on our door. I just ignored them and went back to sleep. I slept soundly until the alarm went off at 5:30 AM local time, 6:30 AM Atlanta time.

Dee Dee and I got dressed and went downstairs to breakfast. I had a pretty hearty breakfast. I'm kind of used to running with food on the stomach, but I knew eggs and grits wouldn't slow me down too much. After breakfast, we went back to the hotel room to pick up the fuel belt, Garmin, and race belt, then we headed down to the starting line. I took a slow jog around the lake about twenty minutes before the start. I realized I had to go to the bathroom one more time before the race. I grabbed the room key and headed back to the hotel one more time. Having a hotel room right by the race start and finish is just wonderful. After returning to the race start, I found my place in the 4:15-4:30 group and met up with Darrell and Joe. The gang was all here. It was time to become a marathoner.


Here we are at the start of the race. 33 seconds to the big boom. Can you see me? LOL! Don't look too hard!! With a boom the cannon went off and the small crowd of runners began moving forward. This was a small race. It didn't take long for me to cross the starting line, about 45 seconds. As I crossed the starting line, I hit the Garmin, and we were off.

The temperature at the start of the race was around 50 degrees. The humidty, however, was very high. Dee Dee and I had checked the weather channel before leaving, and there was two lonely rain clouds making a bee line for Huntsville. As we headed out on the loop around the hotel area, We all settled into an easy 9:00 - 9:30 pace.

Here comes Darrell showing us all how marathoners get it done :-) Joe and I were tagging along close behind.

Joe and I were sticking to the plan of running 9 minutes then walking one minute. That pretty much meant we were walking one minute every mile. I found the going very easy at the first part of the race. I had to remind myself, and Joe, several times that our pace was too fast. We needed to keep ourselves under control. Still, we managed some 9:30 miles by taking advantage of some of the gentle downhills at the start of the course.

Around mile 4, Joe decided that he needed to use the restroom. When he stopped, I continued on without him. About this time, I began to realize that doing the run 9/walk 1 was probably not a good idea for me. I did a couple of more intervals that way, then I switched to a run 3/walk 1. This was the prescribed pace for 10 minute miles per Galloway. Around mile 8, Joe passed me. He was looking strong and in the zone.

At some point, around mile 7, we ran through a school parking lot where the local tri club had an aid station. After taking some Gatorade, we ran through a tunnel under the street. There was a beautiful lady serenading all the runners in the tunnel with an accordion. That was pretty awesome. I can't tell you how awesome this course was, especially the first part. The route was mostly flat, and the hills were so gentle, you hardly even noticed it.

After running the first part of the race through residential areas, we made a right turn onto a four lane highway. This was going to be the longest single stretch of the race. In several places along this route, there were crowds/teams of citizens trying to win the spirit award. I would run down the line high fiving all the great spectators. It was also along this route that I got to see Accordion Girl one more time. She was roller blading down the side walk, serenading the runners.

When I started the run 3/walk 1 pace, I had watched my per minute mile rate slip to 10:30. Between miles 10 and 13, I felt that uncomfortable feeling in the pad of my left foot for the first time. I silently prayed that it would slow me down. As it turned out, those were the least of my worries. Despite my slower time, I crossed the half marathon timing mat on pace at 2:12:?? and some change.

At mile 14, I felt the familiar twinge on the inside of my left calf and I cursed. I knew that if I got a cramp, I would be severely strained to finish the race. I trudged along down the long highway. I remember seeing a huge hill up ahead and groaning. Lucky for me, and everybody else, the route took a sharp right turn at the bottom of the hill, back into the residential part of town.


I was excited to see Dee Dee at mile 16. I was slowing down considerably here, trying not to let the cramps take over my race. By mile 19, I was toast.

Death Warmed Over

I told Dee Dee that I was cramping, and I wanted to off load some of my stuff, but I forgot. Between miles 19 and 20, my race came to a screeching halt. The pain was so bad that I entertained the idea of DNFing. Once I was able to walk again, I pushed all thoughts of DNFing out of my mind. I didn't come this far to quit. I vowed to finish this race even if I had to walk/crawl the entire remaining distance.

As the cramps eased, I tried to start a run one minute walk one minute pace. It kind of worked, but unfortunately, the cramps weren't on a run one minute walk one minute schedule. More often than not, I had to either walk or stop entirely. What was really sad was when I tried to stretch my calf, my outside thigh muscle would cramp. I was basically damned if you do, damned if you don't. The way I saw it, if I ran and cramped and had to stop, it was slower than just walking. Eventually, I strung together some one minute runs and managed to keep my pace below 14 minute miles. I was NOT excited about being out on the course for another hour and a half.

Eventually, the course merged back onto the same route we took on the way. Back under the tunnel and into the school parking lot. The tri club had put up a cute series of posters. It said:

What? You can't be tired! You skipped the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike!

I personally thought it was pretty cute. I don't think many of the other marathoners were amused at this point. As I passed through a church parking lot and by another school, I saw Dee Dee waiting for me at mile 23.


This is Joe crossing the street in front of the school. I later found out that he had cramping problems as well, and he was 10-15 minutes in front of me.

Dee Dee took this picture of me crossing in front of the school. I tried to tip my hat and/or wave to all the people in the cars waiting for me to cross the street. While there wasn't a lot of spectators, community support for this event was just awesome. She actually caught me during one of my run one minute attempts. Usually, I felt good enough to run, but by the end of one minute, my legs were numb and tingling.

All that was left now was the final 5K of the race. My cramps had, by now, settled into a persistent state of tightness. I was able to string together a number of successful run 1 walk 1 cycles to mile 25, keeping my pace below 14 minute miles. As I hit mile 25, I began to "bank" some of my strength for that final push to the finish line. When I hit mile 26, I made a left hand turn, and there was the finish line two tenths of a mile away. I broke into a slow jog then a trot, and then I managed a run. I was cruising along, just praying that my legs would hold off long enough for me to make it to the finish line in style. Oh, no you don't!! Just as I entered the finisher's chute, a cramp brought me up stone cold.

Dee Dee captured the moment

At this point, I just wanted to cry, but I didn't. I was forced to stand there for several minutes, finish line within sight, rubbing my left calf to work out the pain. I started walking, then jogging. I heard the announcer say my name. Up ahead, I saw Darrell sitting on the curb, waiting for me to finish, and right behind him was Dee Dee with the camera. Darrell yelled at me, congratulating me on my finish, but by now, I was NOT in a good mood. I told him, "It is what it is!", and later I joked with him about trying to be all positive with me at the end of my agony! LOL...

Before the start of the race, Dee Dee had given me a bracelet with the words, Be Strong written on them. As I crossed the finish line, I put my wrist over my heart and raised my arm in the air, finishing in 05:13:54 clock time.


Dee Dee was a saint after the race. She helped me get water and Gatoraide. She took me to the banquet room and helped me find a place to sit down. She went back and and forth several times to get me more delicious vegetable soup. Darrell had gone up to check on Joe. After resting for a bit, I went back to the hotel room to take a shower and pack up. I musta spent twenty minutes in the shower. We took our stuff down to the car, then called Darrell and Joe to see what their plans were. They wanted to sit through the awards ceremony. Dee Dee and I joined them for a bit, then we all met up in the hotel lobby and went to have an early dinner together.

The star of our show!

We found a nice quiet little pub about a mile or two from the hotel. We got there kind of early. There was no waiting. We had a great post race dinner together, and I got a head start on re-hydrating myself with beer.


What a fitting ending to a fabulous weekend. I hated to say good bye, but Dee Dee and I had to get home to our sons, and I'm sure Darrell and Joe wanted to go back to the hotel for some much needed rest. I managed to stay awake most of the way home as Dee Dee drove, finally passing out within twenty miles of the house.

What else can I tell you about this race? On a personal level, it was not the race that I wanted. I didn't want to see a five in the hour slot of my time. I fully realize that the humidity and race conditions were beyond my control. Surely some of the blame for the results lie with me. There seemed to be a lot of people that were having cramping issues. Now, let the micro analysis of the race begin.

Over all, it was an absolutely fabulous first marathon experience. I wouldn't have it any other way. I got to spend the weekend with Dee Dee, and two really great runners that I am honored to call friends. I am now a marathoner!! I have a lot to look forward to as well. Like I told Darrell before dinner. I'm not going to let this race experience beat me. I will keep working hard to make it better. On to Disney! and after that, I think I've figured out a plan to become a Marathon Maniac! Ahhhh... The cycle continues...

I'm outta here...

First Half: 13.1 miles, 02:12:30, race pace, R9/W1 5 miles, R3/W1, 10:06 mmp
Second Half: 13.1 miles, 03:01:24, cramp pace, R3/W1 andR1/W?, 13:48 mmp
ORN: 26.2 miles, 05:13, 11:57 mmp