A Marathon Experience

Many of you know, some do not, that I ran the Austin Marathon this past Sunday morning, February 19th. What follows is my account of the journey. Enjoy!!

Race Day 2:00 AM – I have been asleep 3 hours and am awakened by college students (the bane of my existence except for our adopted Aggie) returning from Austin’s 6th street after an evening of beer and revelry. J-Strick, who is normally a mild mannered gentleman, reacts with such ferocity that I can only trail behind him for back up in case things get ugly. I will not sleep again tonight.

4:30 AM – All in my room are awake as I have risen to eat and mentally/physically prepare to run a long way. The weather man is reporting ice on the overpasses and many overnight fender benders, urging everyone to stay home if they do not have to get out. Hilarious!! The temperature is 28° F.

5:40 AM – We called the valet 15 minutes ago and still our car has not arrived. With a small amount of irritation, I rebuke the valet and promptly our car shows up. I’m off!!

6:50 AM, Mile Negative 1.5 – It’s a parking lot, 1 ½ miles from the start line. There is no way I’ll make the 7:00 AM start time sitting in this traffic. My marathon begins now. Impulsively, I bail out of the car, bidding my lovely bride who is near tears farewell, and run 1 ½ miles to the start line, arriving at 7:00 AM. The start has been moved back to 7:30 AM. I’m standing patriotically, listening to the national anthem played, teeth chattering, trying to sing along, catching my breath. A guy in a pink cowboy hat, pink wife-beater t-shirt, and pink skirt is jumping around, yelling. Not sure what to make of him but this is Austin, after all. No shortage of strange people dwells here. It’s 29° F.

7:30 AM – The gun sounds! My first marathon…the culmination of a 4 ½ month journey. The course is narrow and I can’t get around people who seem to be walking if they are moving at all. At this rate, I’ll finish sometime tomorrow morning. To my left, 20 deer are running around in violent circles…they are trapped in the landscaped yard of the Freescale Plant where they were feeding and cannot get to the woods because of all the runners. I find out later one of them made a break for it, hit a runner, and careened to its untimely death over the edge of a steep embankment.

Mile 1 to 5 – I’m feeling excellent. I should finish this thing easily. My pace has been pretty slow as I can’t get around the slow goers. I have resigned myself to falling short of my 4 hour goal. I’m just running to finish now. All around me, runners are pulling off into people’s yards to relieve themselves. I’m stunned…note to self, next home purchase, check on local marathon routes. I don’t want that much water on my flowers. All along the course, every mile or two there is some kind of live music playing. Those guys have to be freezing. I’m impressed with their dedication.

Mile 5 to 10 – I’m really feeling good now. I’ve picked up my pace a little, the course has widened out, and so far, it’s been mostly down hill. My wife and my posse have met me at the 5 and 10 mile mark with GU (energy supplement). I’ve choked that down and kept on cruising. I’ve even pulled into a yard to use the restroom, making me a real marathoner. Pink skirt guy just passed me. I’m embarrassed to let him go by but I’ve got to run my race. It’s a marathon, after all, not a sprint, as they say. I never see pink skirt guy again.

Mile 10 to 15 – I’m passed the halfway point now. All the half marathoners have taken a different route and now the course is really wide open. I should be able to make up some time. I put the hammer down. My wife and posse meet me again and they have made paper plates with motivational signs on them. I feel a boost of energy, not just from the GU. All along the course, people are cheering for me by name…I’m famous!! Wait, my first name is on my number bib…oh, well I feel important anyway. I pass two Scottish gents playing the bag pipes, wearing kilts. I resist the urge to stop and ask if they are regimental (not wearing underwear). If they are regimental, I’m glad they are not running in front of me. Pink skirt guy is still giving me nightmares.

Mile 15 to 20 – Now I’ve hit the section with hills. I’m not sure I’m going to finish. Who does this for fun anyway, and pays $100 to do it? In Roman times, it served the purpose of relaying information. Now, it’s just pain…from the waist down I can’t feel much except burning. I pass my wife and posse at mile 20 and the looks on their faces tell me I must look dead to them. I get my last GU pack. It’s all mental now. Some lady stops in front of me to hug her kids and her husband. Is that because she’s never going to see them again? Is the finish that grueling? I’ve got to press on.

Mile 20 to 23 – My mind is a hundred different places now. I’m not sure I’ll ever run again. This is anything but fun. We arrive at the state capitol and the route takes us through the capitol grounds. I see no fewer than 30 highway patrol officers about. My mind wanders to the huge security risk this poses, having 5000 people run through the capitol grounds. I make it through with no security incidents. I have to use the bathroom, but figure its best not to do it on government property as my race would likely end immediately.

Mile 23 to 24 – The end is in sight. All of the sudden, I’m feeling better. The four hour and fifteen minute pace group blazes past me. I can’t have that…I determine to run them down before the end.

Mile 25 – I run this mile in 8:20. I can see the finish across the river. I fly right past the four hour fifteen minute pace group…eat my dust!! I find a guy in a yellow shirt in the distance…I’m going to run him down before the finish line.

Mile 26 – I cross the river bridge and am coming down the finishing street. Crowds are lined up, cheering wildly. I blow past the guy in the yellow shirt. I feel like I’m flying…I run the last mile in 8:00 flat…I see my wife and posse, looking relieved and excited. Someone hands me a tin-foil blanket…I’ve always wanted one of those. They work pretty well. It’s 38° F but I feel warm. I get my finisher’s medal, my finisher’s t-shirt and it’s off to lunch and celebration. My official time is 4:15:06. I have run 27.7 miles today, 1.5 extra than most people ran. I ran on 3 hours of sleep. All in all, I’m satisfied and pumped. There definitely is a thrill factor here…can’t wait to run again.

Thanks to all who supported, prayed, encouraged and were along for the ride. Your support means a lot to me and I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to my lovely bride for her encouragement these last 4 months. This was our joint effort. Thanks to my wife, my family and my posse for standing out in the freezing temperatures to cheer me on. Thanks to my grandmother who sponsored me. Her support was felt and greatly appreciated. Look forward to having you all along at the next one. Happy trails!!

The Grass Is Always Greener...

I have been duly chastised for writing musings of literary genius that are too lengthy. Last weekend, a house guest, himself a frequent reader of my work, spent most of his stay disparaging the length of my periodic musings. He also is a contributor to his own site, but he contributes more often than I do and, as such, has shorter contributions. I prefer to savor mine until I truly have something of significance to share. Additionally, Longfellow, Eliot, and other great literary figures of the past were never asked to shorten their literary masterpieces. However, brevity will be attempted at this time.

I enjoy the game of golf. It is a sport relying only one one’s self, one’s ability, and one’s state of mind. The problem is this: the small time golfer in today’s economic state of affairs has been priced out of the game. Green fees are astronomical, most courses force you to ride a cart in order to keep up the pace, and the price of equipment is prohibitive unless you are fortunate enough to have a sponsor. It’s disheartening.

This fact was brought home to me recently in a discussion regarding my home course, the Texas A&M University (TAMU) campus course. When I started school in 1993, it cost a student $6 to play a around of golf; a guest $12. Today, I have no idea what students pay and a guest pays nearly $30. Of course, the increase in price is due to great course improvements, right? Wrong, the course hasn’t changed one iota. Oh, they’ve tinkered with the lay out here and there, but it’s still like playing in a pasture. The grass is largely dead year round (except for the three foot diameter around the irrigation heads) and the greens have a myriad of spots where grass doesn’t grow.

I mused the following: TAMU has one of the finest turf grass management programs in the nation. Can’t their golf course grass at least be alive? Couldn’t they make it a case study for turf grass classes? That’s not the only offensive grass. The grounds around the Memorial Student’s Center on campus are never trodden upon out of respect for veterans the facility honors, yet the grass around that facility remains some of the ugliest grass on campus. Half of it doesn’t grow and the other half is perpetually yellow.

Meanwhile, I’m forced to pay $30 to play in a pasture sans cattle feces if I want to enjoy the game I love. I guess it’s all about economics…if you can charge it and people will pay it, then it’s the right price. I’ll just start teeing up on my street at home…playing the TAMU course is fairly close to playing on asphalt anyway. “Now on the driveway tee, the Moffitt twosome from College Station.” Hope I calculated my fade correctly.