The morning after

I’m a little creaky.

I actually feel better today than I did after the 30k.

I’m trying to remember what the lowest points were yesterday, but I’m not remembering any of them.  I saw family/friends at mile 8, then right around 9, then right past the Westpark hump.  After that was mile 15, 16, and 18, so there wasn’t really a chance to get down.  Once we made the turn onto Woodway I was officially into uncharted territory as I had never run that distance before and I was going plenty strong.  That was also a boost.

Woodway and Memorial were well populated with well wishers and supporters, plus it was familiar territory so that was a good stretch, too.  I even saw Keith walking up the path (see link at the left).

Once the route made it to Allen Parkway—also familiar territory—there was a realization that it was in the bag.  I had an hour to run 3 miles and barring any horrible complication or malfunction there was nothing stopping me.  It didn’t hurt that the skyline was looming in the distance and the finish line—or at least the finish line’s neighborhood—was clearly in sight.

Issues with cramping had begun just a little bit before then.  There were the quads right above the knees on both legs, then the right hamstring, then the left calf.  I had a nice, long discussion with the offending body parts and told them that cramping or not, they were crossing the finish line.  They could either make it easy or hard.  They complied.  Luckily my lovely wife and a friend were right along the route with bananas, oranges, and advil.  I think the last place I saw them was the last dip in AP where I needed the sustenance the most.

Then came Sarah and Jess cheering somewhere close to mile 24 and Jon picked me up right past there.  By then I was running in about 2 minute bursts, but Jon got me to mile 25 on a solid pace.

From that point it was 1.2 miles to glory.

I can’t really think of a particularly bad mile or stretch of miles.  The part that should have been the worst of it all—the last 5—was actually the best because I KNEW I was finishing.  Unlike last year there was no “I can’t”.  There was no “I can’t go on”, “I can’t ignore the pain”, nothing like that.  There was a plan.  It’s all about the training.  It’s all about the support.  I knew my pace.  I knew my thresholds.  I executed the plan.