First Light Marathon (Alabama)

I didn't sign up for the First Light Marathon until 31 Dec and the only reason I signed up for it was I needed to use a NWA coupon and it gave me a chance to check out my condo in Tallahassee.

I'll spare everyone the boring details and skip right to the starting gun. At 7:30 the starting gun went off followed by the PA system spitting out one of the classic hip-hop songs of all time: 69 Boyz - Tootsee Roll.

My goal for this race as with most races is 3:15 but I had a more realistic goal of less than 3:30 but closer to 3:20. I hit the 11 mile mark at 1:17 and change. Why is mile 11 significant? I ran 11 miles last week in 1:18 and change and that training run gave me a little hope that I could get a PR in this race.

At the half way point I was 1:33 and change. For some reason I thought this race was flat but from mile 10 through mile 22 it was (up) hill after (up) hill.

I crossed mile 17 at exactly 2 hours. If you are doing the pace math in your head I'm starting to slow down a bit but the hills were starting to take a toll on my pace.

At mile 21, I can begin to feel my legs turning into lead pipes. The next four miles would be all about gutting it out. As I approached mile 24 I noticed someone in front of me that I would not expect to see on the course at this point - normally I'd see him chilling at the finish line - Chuck Engle. Chuck was walking off some cramps or so it looked like cramps.

I was starting to do some math in my head and I figured I would finish in 3:11 to 3:13. Well at mile 25 the thought of even running a 3:15 was in jeopardy as my left hamstring knotted into a ball. I tried to keep running but at a much slower pace but eventually I came to a stop. I must have stopped for close to a minute but then I decided you can either stand here and let 25 miles go down the drain or you can suck it up and start running again.

That last 1.2 miles seemed like 3 miles. It wasn't until I saw the finish line clock (3:13:02, 3:13:03, 04, 05) that I was able to relax knowing that I was gonna break my marathon PR and was heading back to Boston*.

3:13:21 (unofficial), 15th overall, and 3rd in my age group.

Previous PR 3:15:02

* - I doubt I will run Boston again but just qualifying again and this time w/in my age bracket was a huge accomplishment.

B&A Marathon (Maryland)

Given what happened this week at work and what I put in my body since Wednesday (10 pints of beer, 2 glasses of wine, Long John Silvers, Taco Bell, Red, Hot & Blue, and Nachos) I was not prepared mentally and to a lesser degree physically for this marathon.

Last time I was not mentally prepared for a race was after my Grandmother's death back in Aug and I had my worst performance in a marathon.

It was a cold (upper 20s/low 30s) but sunny morning with temps expected to climb into the low 50 so I decided to run in shorts (which is very unusual for me because I like to be warm when I run).

I'll skip to mile 13.1 - 1:36:16 - three minutes off my First Light Marathon pace. At mile 17 I was 7 minutes off the previous pace - I lost a few minutes getting a rock out of my shoe and fighting the Clif Shot (couldn't get it open and had to stop and take off my gloves - but it was the first time that I didn't get my face covered in chocolate Clif Shot).

At mile 19 I was done. I just couldn't continue running so in essence I quit - that was the first time that has happened in a race. My legs felt fine - everything felt fine but my mind was so overwhelmed I think it just shut everything else down.

For the next 7 miles I did a combination of walk and painfully slow jogging. I'd say it was 70% shuffle, 30% walk. I was somewhere around 20th place when I "quit" and after that I lost count of the number of people who passed.

At mile 25.2 (approx) I said to myself lets try and run the last mile w/o stopping. I did and in the end I crossed the line (chip time) in less than 3:37. It is frustrating to know that 2nd place in my age was 3:17 and 3rd was 3:25. If I could have held on past 19 - I might have had another age award but today was just not my day.

Next few races: Cherry Blossom, Boston Marathon followed by Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon six days later.

Boston Marathon (2008)

It has been a while since I have posted a blog - so it is about time I recap Boston, OKC Memorial City, and Sunburst Marathons.

For this blog, it will focus on the title: Boston Marathon. 21 Apr 08

For the second consecutive year, I got to run Boston. I thought after getting a 3:15:02 when I was 34 y/o (2006) and "cheating" to get into Boston I would never qualify again. Well, miracles do happen and after getting a BQ (3:13) in Jan 08 at 36 y/o, I just had to run Boston again.

This year Katharine joined me and that was a nice bonus to the weekend. Too bad, we didn't get a chance to meet up with everyone I thought we would meet up with but oh well.

Onto the race, after the rain and wind of last year's race, this year's weather was nearly perfect. So perfect that I overdressed (I knew the clouds were gonna break and it was gonna warm up but sometimes I don't listen to the weather weenie inside of me) and didn't take in enough fluids.

Through mile 22/23 or so I was on a pace for 3:08 which would have been a PR. But since I didn't take in enough fluids, I cramped and cramped bad finishing in a very disappointing 3:25.

Since I can run again next year, I'm determined to break either 3:15:59 or 3:13:25 next year. I just didn't run a smart race wrt to fluid intake.

OKC Memorial Marathon (Oklahoma)

I ran this marathon one week after Boston - 6 days to be exact. I had never run a marathon on back to back weekends. I was sore all week from Boston (soreness from cramping) and could barely walk on Wednesday (hadn't felt like this after a marathon since I can't remember). Thursday is hockey night and Sat was traveling day. So I didn't have much time to get ready for the race.

My goal was just to finish and take it easy.

As part of my 50 state goal is to run marathons with special theme/meaning. This race matches that - it is a sad/somber theme but also a race for hope and moving on.

I had never been to OKC before so that meant I had never visited the Murrah Federal Building/Memorial. I arrived into OKC Sat morning, checked in to the hotel, stopped by the expo and then made my way to the memorial. It is a touching memorial. It was there that I was reading the mementos family members left on the fence that I saw a poster/poem for Julie Welch. I didn't know nor do I have a connection to her but what got me was our birthdays were four days apart. I read the poem for her, found her chair and then decided to run the race for her. There was a table at the expo that one could go through the list of people who perished during the blast and run in the race in their honor. So after visiting the museum (that was tough/emotional at times viewing some of the personal effects) I made my way back to the expo and got a name tag for Julie Welch.

Race day came around and I awoke to temps in the low 50 with rain. I knew it was gonna rain so it came as no surprise.
The organization at the start was abysmal. There were family members in the corral holding umbrellas to keep (family member) runners dry and the only way into the corrals were from the back of the pack so when the gun went off people pushed the fences out of the way and entered from the sides.

Off we went on a rainy (decreasing) and windy (picking up) day. At about the 3/4 mile point, this older gentleman (Jay) asks me what pace I'm gonna run and I say 3:30 to 3:45. So to make a long story short, I run the next 22.25 miles with Jay. Jay started to feel the effects of the pace we were on and I lost him at mile 23 (but meet up with at the finish line party).

Good thing I ran with Jay because after I lost him, I got this crazy notion to run fast the last 3.1 miles and I was doing fine with that pace until 25.8 when I could feel my legs begin to cramp so I pulled it back (which is hard to do) and finished in 3:41. Not a bad time considering that walking was literally a pain 72 hours earlier.

Off to South Bend but this time, I'm giving myself a month to rest up.

Sunburst Marathon (Indiana)

Once again, a themed type race. This one is all about college football and Notre Dame. I'm not a ND fan but I love college football so it balances out. The selling point of this race is that you get to run through the tunnel at ND Stadium and onto the field where you finish at the 50 yard line.

I arrived into South Bend at 11:30pm - race start is 6am. I'm gonna be working on 9 hours of sleep over the last two days (late hockey game on Thursday). Good thing the hotel was 50 yards from the packet pickup and 75 yards from the start line. So I get up at 5, shower, get my packet at the College Football Hall of Fame, go back to the room to drop off the t-shirt, etc and then get to the start line at 5:40. I guess I could have slept in for a few extra minutes.

5:55am roles around and the race director decides to become a weather man and tell us that the temperate is 70F! 70F with humidity that is probably over 90% (it is usually more humid in the morning before the sun rises). Great and the forecast calls for warming conditions until the cold air moves in behind the front. But at least we have overcast conditions through most of the race (the sun finally comes out about mile 19/20).

So off we go, at mile 3 this woman (forget her name - she called me Mark later in the race so I guess that make us even) asks me how my Garmin is doing - apparently she has the new one and wanted to see if it was on with the old one. Since we were on about the same pace we started to run together until mile 15 were she went for a bathroom break. After she dropped off and since we were already past mile 13 I made my move (the point in the race were I see how many people I can pass). By mile 19 I had passed 12 people and I was feeling good and was hoping to finish in about 3:23-3:25 but then by mile 20 I was zapped of energy.

At mile 20 I was up to 17 passed with only 5 repassers. After about a 1-minute walk break I got back to running. Around mile 22, there was a procession of geese with their goslings crossing the street/course in front of me. (most of the course was run along the St Joesph River). As I approach this procession, I'm thinking this is gonna be fun. After a little hissing and neck bobbing they clear the road and I pass them by.

By mile 24, I'm up to 21 people passed with still only 5 repassers. Not bad - I stopped counting because at mile 24 the 1/2 marathoners merged with us and I couldn't keep track of who was who but I know I wasn't passed.

At mile 25 we enter ND campus and there is the golden dome in front of us and the stadium to the right. I don't see Touchdown Jesus. We make the turn into the stadium and then into the tunnel (with the ND fight song playing) and exit the tunnel back into the sunlight and onto the field where you have probably about a thousand spectators (other runners (1/2 and 5K) and family members) cheering everyone on.

As I approach the finish line, I start doing the FSU tomahawk chop and the announcer notices and asks if that was a tomahawk chop over the PA system and then he sees my shirt (FSU) and says yes it was Michael Mills from Arlington, VA with a 3:27.

Hatfield McCoy Marathon (Weat Virginia)

On Friday, 13 Jun, Katharine and I got in the car and made our way to Williamson, WV, a short 8-9 hour drive from the DC metro area. Along the way, we stopped at what appeared to be the only normal restaurant in Covington, VA, Cucci's. After a "delicious" meal and some more driving; we arrived at our B&B shortly after midnight. After a short nap, I was up at 5:45 and out the door at 6:15 to catch the shuttle van over to the starting area. I can say that I've never started a race in the parking lot of a grocery store but this is a small race in a small town and you have to use what places are available to you. I got to the race start and was all decked out and ready to go by 6:44. I also talked with Chuck Engle for a few seconds before the race and he gave me a few "pointers" about the course and the hill around mile 8 and then how it was all pretty good from there on out.

At 6:52, I felt a huge rumbling in my gut and I looked at the port-a-potty and thought there is no way I can get in there and make the start of the race so I darted into Food City and made my way to the bathroom where there was no waiting/no line. That rock in my gut turned out to be an explosive BM. Now, I don't normally write about such events but mentally I was not feeling too well about what just happened and thinking it might happen again at some point over the next 26.2 miles. (I could only have imagined what would have happened if I would have had the "Sloppy Cucci" the night before.) After I cleaned up I got back to the start at 6:58 and at 7am we were off.

The course was rolling hills through neighborhoods with lots of scenery but not your typical southern front yard with cars up on concrete blocks. Somewhere around mile 2/3 I started running with Lisa who was from the northern VA area. She was running her 37ish marathon and just had a child 9 months earlier. We ran together through mile 17 when she slowed down a bit to work out a cramp.

So anyway, I hit the hill at mile 8 which in reality started at mile 2. By the time I got to the top of the hill, I was running a 10:30 pace. After cresting the hill it was down hill and the few folks that I had gained on during the hill took off and before you knew it we were alone on the course.

By Mile 13 (about a 1:44 split), we passed one runner in front of us and then caught up to Lisa's friend around Mile 14 and then we got passed by a runner who ran by us like we were standing still around 14.5. About this same time, it started to rain which was a nice bonus since I like running in the rain. By mile 17, Lisa dropped back and then we hit the part of the course where the road turns to gravel. After walking a short distance because I didn't really want to fight small rocks and slippery conditions going up a short hill I crested the hill and was off to running a again. Around mile 18, I was looking around not paying attention to the sides of the road when I hear a commotion to my right. I look over a see something big in the woods and then I realized after a few seconds this large animal (I thought it was an animal - what else could be that big making that much noise in the woods be?) was a guy just finishing a BM and was wiping himself. He yells out in his Scottish accent, "I'm not a bear."

Shortly thereafter, he catches up to me just as we go over the swinging bridge. What an experience that was running across the bridge with someone else (bouncing and swaying) but he put a little distance between us and soon the bouncing motion of the bridges settled down and it is a nice smooth run over the remainder of the bridge. At mile 19, I grab a gel from the aid station and I'm off again. By this time, I have passed three runners (since 13) and I see a few others in front of me to include the guy who blew by me around 14.5. So I set off to catch them and by mile 22/23, I catch the guy (the guy who blew by me) just as we encounter a pretty step hill at mile 23. I know I'm stronger on the uphills and I would put some distance between us on the hill and sure enough I put a huge amount of time between us.

Around mile 25, the course begins to flatten out and I spot another guy in front of me but this time, he is "wounded" in the sense that he is stopping to take short walk breaks (about 5-7 seconds) and I realize I'm gonna catch him too. He is wearing headphones and has no idea I'm gaining on him until he turns around during one of his walk breaks and sees me 30 feet back and decides to start to running again only to have me pass/blow by him with ease. And to make it worse for him, I pick up my pace just a tad to make it appear I'm running just that much faster than he is. He tried to stay with me as I went by but his burst of speed didn't quite last too long and he fell back.

Just after 25.5 I made the turn onto Hwy 119 and the final stretch. I did a quick peak behind me and I saw nothing but cars and fast food restaurants behind me. I make the turn off of Hwy 119, cross the bridge and see Katharine waiting for me at the end of the street. She finally sees me and I then I see her struggling to get the camera out all the while, while holding a phone to her ear. She manages to get a few pictures off as I run by and wave. No time for kisses in this race.

I continue towards the finish line, give the Hatfield and McCoy re-enactors a high five and cross the finish line in 3:27:55. The volunteers clip off my chip, give me a wet towel and then another volunteer asks me how old I am and I almost said 37 but then realized I have a few more months to go before 37 and finally spit out 36. She then hands me a 1st place trophy for my age group! It was a total surprise considering how slow I ran (wasn't going out to run fast - just take it easy) and how I stopped at four historical markers to read about the Hatfield & McCoy feud. I finished 10th overall and 1st in my age. Not a bad day's run considering the warm, semi humid and rainy conditions.

Little Grand Canyon

Finding marathons to run in the fall months are very difficult because of college football. I managed to find a marathon on a weekend where FSU was playing a weaker team thus freeing me up to run versus taking a trip to TLH to see the game (but seeing it on TV is always nice). The marathon -- The Little Grand Canyon Marathon located near Huntington, UT.

Where is Huntington, UT you may ask? Kinda in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes getting to the middle of nowhere can be a problem. I was "lucky" enough to use miles to get out SLC for only $10 but I had to put up with an arrival into SLC at 11:30pm and red-eye return to DC at 9am the day after the race. Now getting in at 11:30pm is normally not too bad even with a 6:30am start but having to drive 2.5 hours to get "near" the race start is another story. Even from my hotel in Price, UT, I still had another 20 minute ride to the bib-pick-up area.

So if one can't do the math, I'll do it for you. I arrived at 11:20pm, got my rental car, departed the airport around 11:45pm and headed towards Price, UT. Thank goodness, SLC has some good radio stations. I arrive at my luxurious hotel – the Super 8 – at 1:45am where I'm greeted with a sign "No Vacancy unless you have a reservation." I go to the counter, ring the bell, once, twice, three, four, five times, finally the guys comes out and gives me my key. He is not looking happy. So when I ask to check out at 12:30 he says "No, 11:30!" I get kinda pissed and say I'm not paying you $60 for 2.5 hours. He responded that he needs time to clean the room for future guests. I tell him the only reason your hotel is full is because of the marathon. So off I go, pissed that I need to take my stuff with me when I leave for the race in the morning.

4:45am comes pretty early for me and once again I'm greeted with darkness, I'm beginning to wonder if the sun shines in Utah since I haven't seen it since I arrived. By 5:15am I'm off to the bib-pick-up area and I arrive a little after 5:30am (I sped the whole way).

I get my bib and go back to my rental to stay warm (its cold in the high desert). As 6am approaches, I go to the bathroom, and while waiting in line, this woman would not shutup on how long it is taking people to use the facilities. "When I take a poop, I'm done in two minutes!", "What are these people doing in there?" Blah, blah, cackle, cackle, for what seemed like 10 minutes. It was probably closer to 5 minutes but still…

The buses that were to take us to the start were supposed to depart at 6am but didn't arrive until 6:15am. It was the first running of this race so it is understandable. The first bus pulls up and not everyone can get on. At this point I'm about 5 people from the front of the line when the second bus pulls right in behind the first bus. I made a comment to this woman in front of me, "I bet everyone behind us (end of the line) gets on the bus first." Well, I should probably look at changing careers. The second bus doesn't fill-up by the time I get on.

After a short bus ride, we are dropped off this time in the middle of nowhere.

View Course Map

After using the toilet on the bus (against the wishes of the bus driver), I go outside to look for Dane. I don't see Dane right away but instead I'm standing next to the race director from the E.T. Full Moon Midnight Marathon. I exchanged a few words with her about the race and then I spot Dane. We exchanged greetings and was introduced to a few of his friends. At this point, I see this woman milling around near us and I say to myself "she looks familiar" but then again I do that with a lot of people. Finally I go up to her and it was Miriam from the Sunburst Marathon (we ran Sunburst together for about 15 miles). She would go onto to win the woman's marathon later that day.

After a few words from the race director, he points out that they do things a little different with the mile makers. While most marathons start out with mile 1, this particular race started out at mile 26.2 and counted down. The first mile marker we come across is "26 more miles to go", meaning we got the .2 miles out of the way first. I think for some people these mile markers are hard to get over. I kinda liked that since I do a countdown at mile 17 of every marathon. That is the first point in the race that there are single digit miles left in the marathon (unless for those of you technicality people who think that once you cross mile 16 then it is single digits).

So finally, on a crystal clear morning with calm winds, temperature of 55F (the low that morning was 48F), and a rising sun in our faces, the marathon gets underway. I run the first .2 miles in 1:17. Not a bad pace but something tells me to slow down a little and I eventually do, running at the same pace of one of the guys that I was introduced to at the starting line – Bryan. I ran with Bryan for the next 13 miles, swapping the occasional marathon story. Come to find out, we both ran the First Light Marathon, both PRed but I outdueled him by 20 seconds. The problem is Bryan is 13 years older than I am. J However, for this race we both agree a time of under 3:30 is just fine. For me, I had not run anything over 10 miles since the last marathon in June, was working on 2.5 hours of sleep and I had my camera with me to take pictures.

At about "20 miles to go" we are passed by 4 runners and Bryan and I ask each other are we slowing down? The answer was no, these guys were obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. As we approached mile 13, I told Bryan about my "pass but don't be passed rule" and that I would press it up a bit once we got to 13. I hit the halfway point at 1:43:51 and after a pit-stop, I was off to catch the pack in front of me.

I started using fixtures on the side of the road to time how far I was back. The first time hack had me back 1:50. That is a long time in running but with 13 miles to go that is manageable. By "11 miles to go" I had caught two of the four people I could see and I had my sites set on the third runner. At "10 miles to go", I caught the third runner. As I caught up next to him, he asks "How old are you?", I reply I'll be 37 on Tuesday. His reply, I'm 52 and that guy up there is 57. My reply, "Well then you are in perfect place because you have a guy who is 50 right on your tail."

Also, at "10 miles to go" we entered the area around the "Little Grand Canyon" and the camera came out. I must be somewhat demoralizing when someone passes you and that person has a camera out taking pictures every few seconds/minutes.

While this is not the Grand Canyon, it was still impressive.

So impressive that I would put it right up there next to Antarctica and Egypt as far as scenery goes in a marathon. I think looking around took my attention away from running because the mile markers just seemed to fly by. I did manage to close within 20 seconds of the fourth guy but then we rounded a bend and there just 30 feet off the course were the BuckHorn Wash Panel Pictographs. The main pictograph panel was painted over 2,000 years ago by the Barrier Canyon culture (Fremont Indians).

Can you spot the runner? Kinda grainy but look for a blue speck on the road

I must have stayed at this spot for almost a minute taking pictures, it is not every day that you get to see something like this. After being a tourist, it was time to become a runner again. The guy in front of me who I'd been chasing was no where to been seen. I had "3 miles to go" to catch him. When I finally spotted him again, I was about 1:50 behind him again. At this point of the course, while still overall downhill as it had been since "20 miles to go", there were a few more dips which meant there were a few areas where we had to run "uphill" a bit.

With about 1 mile to go, I passed the last aide station and asked for a beer and the college freshmen volunteers looked stunned but then I hear from the side of the road about 100 feet away, "We have beer over here!" It was some campers who obviously heard me but they were a little too far away from the course to go over and have a cool refreshing beverage. I still had a runner catch. With about .5 mile to go I pass some half-marathoners or 10Kers who mentioned that the runner in front of me appeared to be slowing down. In deed he was or I was speeding up. I was closing but I think I realized that this point with less than .5 mile to go I would not catch him.

As I approached the finish line, I could feel my foot begin to cramp which is usually a warning sign that a leg cramp is about to happen (70% of the time this happens). Well after tip-toeing across the last cattle crossing (which didn't have a plank to run across), my left hamstring/calf cramped up on me. With about 75 yards to go the cramp was manageable and I came across the line in 3:24:41. Good enough for 3^rd in my age and 9^th overall but 20 seconds behind the guy I had been chasing for 13 miles.

Looking pretty bloated for some reason

Overall, a great race. 2^nd fastest marathon of the year (out of 8 marathons). My median time for marathons this year is down by almost 10 minutes/ average time is down by 14 minutes from 2007. It was more of a return to running long distances. I think it gives me a bit of confidence heading into the later fall races. First race that I have ever run that was primarily downhill. I'm one who prefers hilly races and have excelled on hilly courses. Some of my flat course times have been slower or the same as some of the hilly courses that I have run (i.e. Sunburst vs. Hatfield McCoy vs Flying Monkey) Even my PR came on a somewhat hilly First Light course. So eventually I'll need to turn it up a notch on flat/down hill courses in the future (and if a boring course, leave the camera at home).

Up next Crazy Horse/Mount Rushmore.

PS, the hotel, I went back there and because I bitched at him, he didn't bother the room – I left my room after taking a shower at 12:30pm.

Crazyhorse Marathon (South Daokta)

3:32:59, 13^th place overall and 5^th place age (30-39), normally stats most runners would love to have. However, those are stats I'd rather not have especially when one has just run a 1:33 first half. For this marathon there were no odd travel requirements -- fly into Rapid City, get a car and drive 45 minutes to the hotel and get to sleep at a decent hour. 4:45am rolled around and after a quick shower and a bite to eat I was on the 5:20am shuttle bus to the start. We were dropped off at the Crazy Horse Monument Visitor Center to hang out and wait until the start. After about an hour of waiting around, I hopped the shuttle bus to the start – 1/2 mile away – just too lazy to walk or run there. Once I got to the start I got my bib and chip and was all set to go with about 15 minutes till race start. After a few races instructions about the course changes from 2006 and nothing about how to run with cows and bulls we were off.

The first few miles were basically around the Crazyhorse Monument and consisted of rolling hills (elevation approx 6,000 feet). As we ran past the visitor center down the hill towards the monument/turn around point, from the left I see this huge cow with calf in tow. And then from the right two deer come darting out of the woods. As we got closer to the point where the cattle were crossing the road/route, I see two more cattle appear on the left and then to the right in the woods just off the route are about 30 head of cattle all running in the same direction as the herd of runners. Looking back to the left some more I see another 30 head of cattle heading at us. What I start to see is a convergence of the cattle trail and the marathon route. I've never run with cows before and I wasn't too sure what to do when I finally got to the converged trails. Just as I got to the converged trail the cows to the left stopped and watched us run by. With that cattle episode over, we made our way to the turn away point in the shadow of the Crazyhorse Monument (not really in the shadow since the sun was rising to the right of our route but you get the gist – we were pretty close).

After retracing our route, we climbed the hill towards the exit of the monument and got onto the Mickelson Trail for 10 miles of slightly downhill running. Mickelson Trail is a rails to trails path with soft packed gravel which made for ideal running conditions. I ran with Lisa (first place female) for a few miles before I picked up the pace around mile 7. The remaining six miles were pretty uneventful as I finally entered Hill City at 1:33. I knew there were some hills coming up and my pace would slow down but I was not prepared for the hill that started at 13.2 miles. I'm one who prefers up-hills but these hills from 13.2 miles to 19 and then again at mile 20 were pretty intense. Either that or it was the altitude kicking my ass (down to about 5100ft now).

Mile 15-17 were rolling hills with pretty step inclines then we went from road to trail. Shortly before we went off road, I looked to my left and I could see some more cows but this time the cows had horns. Something went off in my head – these were bulls. Now I've seen people on TV running with the bulls in Pamplona and rodeo clowns running from bulls but I was in marathon. I didn't pay too much attention to the bulls (with cows and calves in tow) until I realized they were to my left and to my right. I started thinking back to the starting announcement where I didn't hear anything about running next to free range cattle/bulls. This time I was a little worried because of the bulls. I had no knowledge on how to keep a bull from charging (don't look at it in the eyes?) or if one does charge how to get away (maybe run and hide behind a tree?). Well, I just kept running with my head hung low not looking at any of the bulls. Within a few hundred feet, I had cleared the cattle trail and continued up the washed out fire road to the "top" at mile 19. I started to really tire about this time and decided to start walking the steepest parts of the hills. My pace had slowed considerably over the last few miles but I knew once I crested the hill it was all down hill again. I got to the aide station at Mile 19, took a GU and some water and with the comment "It's all down here from here", I took off running. I was back on pace – 7:05 for the next three-quarters of a mile and I felt great. Then all of sudden the course went up hill. During this uphill section, I was able to pass a runner but then I started to walk again has my breathing became labored. I managed to suck it up and crest this last hill before another aide station at Mile 20. As I approached Mile 20, I heard it again "Its all down here from here," and I replied, "Yeah, I've heard that before about one mile back," and did get a chuckle out of the person who said it was all down hill. And in fact that person was right – it was all down hill from there.

My legs were tired but still capable of pounding out the last six miles at what I hoped would be around a 7:05 – 7:30 min/mile pace. Mile 21 came and went and I was running about a 7:48/pace – not even close. The legs were alright but I was out of breath and felt light headed at times. So I started to walk/jog. I was immediately passed by Lisa (actually it was like she sprinted past me). Then I started to do the wounded runner routine – look behind you to see who is coming up. Big mistake, when I see that in a race I know I'm gonna pick that person off and it gives me great satisfaction and here I was – that person looking behind me. I was passed by four more people over the next four miles to include the guy I passed at mile 19.75.

I'm not sure if I hit the wall or not but all I know is that I was out of breathe. I even had my hands over my head trying to get some deeper breaths but to no avail. This was something I've never experienced in a marathon before. I don't want to attribute it to altitude sickness because it was kinda lower elevation at that point and I've been in races and places at much higher elevations w/o problems. But all I know it I had one more mile to go and I was not gonna be passed so I jogged the last 1.2 miles and pulled myself across the line in 3:32:59, 13^th place, 5^th age. It took me nearly two hours to run the last 13 miles. (Lisa who sprinted by me finished in 3:22 and I was two+ minutes ahead of her around Mile 15 so needless to say I lost a lot of time). After getting some pretzels and sun dried bagels (that was all the post race food they had unless you wanted to pay $2.50 for some chili)) and a few words with the race director (t-shirt and packet pick-up – another story), I started to feel sick to my stomach and pretty weak. So I sought out the shuttle bus and made my way back to the hotel where I promptly took a post-marathon nap for the first time ever. I felt as if I was gonna throw up and even after a 45 minute nap, I still felt that way. I had no appetite, was drinking water but still felt like crap.

But no matter how I felt, I came here to see Mt Rushmore, so I hopped in the shower, got dressed and off I went to Mt Rushmore.

Up next: Siouxland Lewis and Clark Marathon (2^nd of three Lewis and Clark Marathons planned (Bozeman, MT (Sep 07) and St. Charles, MO (Sep 09) being the other two).

Siouxland Lewis & Clark Marathon (Iowa)

Within the goal of running a marathon in every state; I have little themes. One of those themes is running all three Lewis & Clark Marathons. The Lewis & Clark Marathons are run in Bozeman, MT, Sioux City, IA and St Charles, MO. I ran Bozeman, MT last year and the ironic thing is that Lewis and Clark Marathon was a redemption run from the previous marathon I had run north of Vegas a month earlier. Turns out the second Lewis and Clark Marathon would also be a redemption run after the horrible showing at Crazyhorse two weeks earlier. So....

On a cold (37F) foggy morning with a southeast wind at 6mph we were off. The first 5 miles were actually on the Nebraska side of the river and wound through corn fields, neighborhoods and parks before we crossed the bridge into Iowa. From there we followed the Big Sioux River where we could peek into South Dakota. As we headed north we made a turn into Stone State Park which contained a few miles of uphills. Up until this point (mile 16) I had been pretty consistent with 7:10/miles except for the four potty breaks I had up until mile 13.

At the half I had a 1:35. Not a bad time but I've been there before (i.e. two weeks ago). I hit the hills and the pace slowed to 8+ min/mile. As we approached a steep point on the "last" hill, I decided to walk it and I was passed by two runners. I'm thinking oh no, here we go ahead and then to cap it off, I hear, "couple hundred yards and it is downhill". After several minutes and another uphill, we finally hit a downhill. Now I don't know what is wrong with people thinking if a course gains elevation why on earth they would say it is going downhill. Maybe it is the cold winters or something in the water?

Anyway, I come out of the last uphill, go into a slight downhill before it evens out again. By mile 18, I'm back to 7:10/miles. My legs are feeling good, I passed one of the runners who passed me on the hill and I was gaining on two others. I felt really good at this point. I had only lost a minute or two and was estimating somewhere around a 3:12-3:14. My GPS was off from the mile markers and I don't do math very well when running even though I got a minor in math in college but bottom line I knew I had a sub 3:15 lined up. I passed another runner at mile 21 (he had passed me at mile 3 potty break) and with each person I passed and every comment from the fans I knew I had this race.

Around mile 22, we started running along this little creek/river on the local bike path (which was actually closed to bike traffic that day - kudos to race director). The bike path had a short out and back before we actually got onto the path. It was at this point that I caught back up (or was pretty close to) the last guy who passed me in the hills (he was a good 40+ seconds in front of me). It was also at this point that my left foot started to cramp a little and that usually signals a leg cramp is not far off. I kept estimating my time and I was still 3:13 to 3:14. So I decided to lay off a bit and averaged 7:20-7:25/miles. I didn't care about catching the guy in front of me at this point, I just wanted to get a BQ. The bike path was an up and down affair, not too bad, but probably enough to keep the legs from cramping.
Finally made it off the bike path and into the home stretch. The last 1.2 miles seemed more like three miles. Not sure why this was but it didn't matter. I hit mile 26 and knew I had a sub 3:15 locked up.
As I rounded the corner for the final .2 miles, it was such a relief to recover from the collpase from Crazyhorse. I rarely show emotion crossing a finish line but a fist/arm pump followed by some clapping and a smile was well worth it - a 3:14:37, 4th age, 11th overall, and second best marathon time.

City of Oaks Raleigh, NC (#21 State)

The City of Oaks Marathon was supposed to be the marathon that I actually "trained" for since my first marathon back in 2004. Well, the training consisted of increased track workouts over the summer but when I added the Siouxland Lewis and Clark Marathon to the calendar, the "training" went out the window. And in the end, the training was no different than the previous 28 marathons.

I had intended to "save" myself for the City of Oaks but at the Siouxland Marathon, I knocked out a 3:14 when I didn't have any intention of running that one for time. So a week removed from the 2.73 mile run at the FSU Parent's Weekend 5K, and 5 days removed from either food poisoning or a stomach virus I ran the City of Oaks Marathon. I'm not sure after Monday's conversation with Ralph on the big white phone; I was really up for running a marathon. I had felt sluggish all week and while I never really feel like running a marathon, this feeling was slightly different (tired, felt like I was getting a cold, etc) but that has never slowed me down before.

The City of Oaks Marathon was a rolling hill type course that runs through Raleigh and then a short loop through Umstead State Park before running through the NC State campus towards the finish. The race started under clear skies with a temperature of 39F. It did feel a bit warmer than 39F but by the time I hit mile 3, I was breaking a sweat and feeling pretty comfortable.

I hit the 10K mark at 45:23 (7:20/mile) and was feeling pretty good. My GPS was already off by .06 miles so I didn't have an exact measurement of what my pace really was. Around mile 8.5, I stopped and had a quick sip of beer from the local HHH. From mile 8.5 to mile 13 it was primarily downhill with 13 to 15 being uphill (1:35:50 – half). It was in this stretch that I got sucked into to talking with my fellow runners and probably slowed my pace a little bit but I was still feeling pretty well. At the mile 15 aid station, I stopped for a GU and when I was done I tossed it into a "trash can" but just as soon as I released it, I realized it was the water source for the aid station. They had filled large trash cans (lined with garbage bags) with water. The trash cans were right next to the table and not behind the table. I slowly watched the used GU packet flutter to the bottom of the trash can. J

Umstead Park was alright, it was canopy tree lined with a hard sand packed running surface. I took advantage of the downhills and made my move to pass five runners on the uphill around mile 17. Little did I know that we were about to enter a never ending hill that stretched from mile 18 to almost mile 21. I stopped for another GU around 18.5 (stomach was growling – thought that would be the only way to settle that down). As I took the GU, two runners sprinted past me and after throwing the GU into the right garbage can I was off again. I nearly caught one of the two but this hill was having its way with me and by the time I reached mile 21 I was starting to feel some twitches in my left hamstring. After mile 21, things started to even out and by the time mile 22 hit, it become a mostly downhill course.

I was still on a pace for a sub 3:16. Then disaster struck near the Bell Tower on the NC State campus (mile 24.5 – time 3:02). My left hamstring cramped up on me and any chance I had for a sub 3:16 went out the window. I walked it out a bit and then kept on running but my pace was closer to 9 minutes than it was 7 minutes. Then I heard the same line I had heard in the two previous marathons "…and then it is all downhill." I don't know what the hell is wrong with people when it comes to elevation gain. Where I grew up, if you gained anytype of elevation that was considered uphill. When you lost elevation that was considered downhill. What this guy could have said was, "…after this turn, you'll hit a short uphill and then its all downhill from there."

Either way it didn't change the fact that I was cramping and I still had to run that last section. I crossed the line on my 30th marathon (21st state) in a time of 3:19:39 (fifth fastest time); which was good enough for 57th overall, 9th in my age but more importantly 2nd in the active duty military division which resulted in me taking home a big fat check for $300.

After the race I eventually found Katharine at our rendezvous spot but by this time I was feeling extremely light headed coupled with a tingling sensation in both my arms. I kept walking around for several minutes and after about 30 minutes, I swallowed my pride and made my way to the first-aid tent. I got my blood pressure (108/67 – normally 110/70) and my pulse 104 (but the oxygen in my blood was 100% - which is good they said) checked and after a Gatorade and some water and an ice pack for leg cramps, I made my way back to Katharine. I joined her on the grass and then my legs cramped up even more. After finally standing up, the cramps subsided but I was still somewhat light headed. I've been light headed after a race before but only for a few minutes and nothing like this. I can only guess that I had not fully recovered from Monday's episode but if I can run a 3:19 I might follow this same routine.

Next up: Baton Rouge Beach Marathon (30st marathon, 22nd state).