Saturday, May 30, 2009
Good little day...
A real quick note: Can I just tell you about my perfect day? Tara and I went to bed early last night and so I was able to wake up early (6:15am). I took a shower, ate some Special K cereal and had two pieces of turkey bacon. I cleaned the kitchen, mowed, trimmed, & edged the lawn, I fixed some broken sprinklers with the neighbor, and then came in for another shower. I laid out in the back yard with Tara for an hour (Tara 2 1/2 hours... She is fried), then I did P90X, which lead to another shower. I really like it when we're productive and today we were. I went to the store and got stuff for taco's which we enjoyed while watching an eppisode of the office. I threw the ball to the dogs until they quit, tired little dudes. Now I'm typing on the computer and soon I will be sleeping... Good night.
Salt Lake City Marathon, April 2009
It's Tuesday, three days after I completed my first marathon and I'm a happy man. I'm hurting all over but it's a good hurt considering how excited I am to have completed that damn run. I do not suggest anyone run in a marathon if they're not prepared... I was not. I didn't miss any of my long runs during training but my efforts could have been much more. Nevertheless I finished! AND IT HURT! Carter Dunn gave me some good advice; make sure to get a good night sleep two nights before the race because no one sleeps the night before a big race. I took his advice and got a great night sleep last Thursday night. Good thing because my mind was going crazy Friday night as I laid there from 9:00pm until I finally fell asleep around 10:45pm. I woke up around 5:00 am and jumped in the shower to warm up my joints. I picked up Jarin’s brother, Brandon Adams, and we headed downtown to the Gateway mall. This was both mine and Brandon’s first Marathon and I was glad to run with him because we saw each other suffer in training together. I brought an old sweatshirt that I knew I wouldn't mind throwing onto the side of the road when I got too hot. I heard they go through after the race, gather up all of the clothing runners throw away, and take it to a charity.
There were hundreds of runners; actually it had to have been thousands because when we started the race there were runners filling the street as far as I could see. We rode the TRAX train up to the start which was just west of Ft. Douglas at some bridge at the University of Utah. As soon as we stepped off the train we heard a count down 10, 9, 8… And thought oh shit we’re late! Then GO! It must have been the wheelchair racers because none of the other runners looked concerned as they stretched, drank water, stood in line for the restroom, etc. Carter, Brandon, and I were running the full marathon and we stretched and talked with Shannon & Billy Rosser. By the time we made it through the crowd of people up to the starting area the gun went off and people starting trotting along. I didn’t feel like I got a good enough stretch in which made me nervous because prior to the race I had so many problems with my left Achilles. Little did I know that would be the least of my worries 2 ½ hours later.
It was a funny site to see the road swimming like the ocean with all the runners’ heads bouncing up and down. We kept a slow pace at first; the last thing we wanted to do was blow up and suffer the last half of the run more than we already had to. We ran down and around towards Sugar House Park which was about six miles. When we arrived there we received our first treat, a little pride booster. There were a bunch of volunteers and a sign with two big arrows on it; “half marathon runners to the left, full marathon runners to the right.” We kind of laughed when we saw how many half marathon runners there were. It seemed like 90% of the runners went to the left. We ran down to and through Sugar House Park and then up into the neighborhoods where people were out in their bath robes, drinking coffee, and cheering us on. It was really cool to hear all the people cheering us on. In fact, there were all kinds of fun things along the sides of the streets to keep us runners going. Music bands, barber shop quartets, solo guitarist, drum circles, marching band type groups, and the best thing ever… aid stations. Carter and I were running together past a group of trumpet players and Carter said “You know 76 trombones?” Without a word they busted right into it and we laughed as we ran by. We had made it about half way through the race at this point and I asked him “you ready to run another 13 miles?” He said “The next 13 are going to be more than twice as hard as the first 13.”
One of the best and worst parts of our run came after we reached 6400 south and started to head west. We worked our way down to a street named Van Winkle, which is usually a very busy street. We ran right down the middle of the street and commented that “when else would you get to run right down the middle of this road?” I felt great and I had plenty of energy but when I hit the bottom of Van Winkle I had a pain hit me like a Mac Truck. Oh my hell did my right knee hurt! I’m thinking it was my IT band. It came on very quickly and for a minute there I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the race. We had seven miles left and I couldn’t even put more than two or three steps on that knee without pulling up. OUCH! Carter told me to lie down on some grass and stretch my legs and rest for a second. I did that, drank some Gatorade, and drank some water before I tried to run again. To my surprise I was able to hobble into an 11 minute mile pace until I reached 4500 south, where my mom was waiting with her dog to cheer us on. We slowed to a walk, where my mom joined us for a few minutes. She was worried about my knee but I told her I didn’t just run 20 miles to stop now.
When we left my mom and started jogging again I knew I was in big trouble. I couldn’t go more than four steps without an amazing pain in my knee. I was so pissed! “This is not what I had in mind… This was not supposed to happen… My legs and lungs feel fine… COME ON KNEE!!!” I tried twenty or so times to run and it just was not happening. Each step hurt worse and worse and I knew this was going to take my goal time of under 4:30 hours to well over that. I f-ing had to walk for three and a half miles! I tried to run a few times after I sent Carter on up ahead without me but I could only hobble. A couple of times volunteers on bikes rode by and yelled out “good job, you’re doing great, keep it up!” I wanted to tell them to go to hell… Can’t you see I can’t even walk? When I reached mile 22 I realized I was in the back of the pack and embarrassment set in. I had the energy to surge and pass all those slow people I was running (hobbling) with but my knee just wouldn’t allow it.
I ran passed this house with about 30 people out on the front lawn with tables set up everywhere with alcohol everywhere. They were all drinking and it wasn’t even noon yet. They had a big sign up that said “Temptation Station.” As I ran past them a couple of people said “hey man, come have a beer… It will help you.” Hey you don’t want to finish this bull shit race, come drink with us.” I laughed despite my frustration and maybe the laughing helped me, or maybe a phone call I received from Tara helped me. I took only a few things with me when I started the race, a bib belt that had my asthma inhaler, five power gels, and my cell phone. Tara called right before I reached Liberty Park which was 5k from the finish line. I told her what happened with my knee and she offered to come pick me up. I said “don’t even ask me that again or give me one bit of discouragement because I am going to finish this even if I have to bleeping crawl.” She said “oh ok… Sorry.” I apologized for being short with her and she said that they would all be waiting for me at the finish line.
I don’t if was the 3 ½ mile walk that helped or if it was something else but when I got to Liberty Park I tried to run again and to my amazement I was able to without major pain in my knee. I was so excited I couldn’t believe it and I took off passing all those people I did not want to finish with. I went from a walk, hobbling 14 minute mile to a seven minute mile and besides my muscles being sore from 23 miles of hell I was cruising.
I received a phone call from Jarin, who asked where I was. I told him I had about 2 ½ miles left and he said well I’m on State Street and I’m going to meet you and finish the race with you. He met me on St. Street and ran, in blue jeans, trying to give me encouragement. He would ask me questions but I was not really playing along because I was suffering. I gave him quick grunt type answers and I was dying because for some reason they changed the end of the race and there was a big up-hill spot that was killing me. I heard tons of runners complaining (in a happy way) about the hill going up state street towards North Temple. I saw Dewayne parked in his truck on the side of the road; he was honking the horn, waving, and yelling “YEAH MICK! YOU CAN DO IT!” It gave me a boost and carried me until I headed west where I met up with Shannon and Billy. They ran with me until I reached the 26 mile marker and then I was on my own. I ran through the streets of the gateway mall and I was not enjoying like I thought I would… Yeah I did it; this is great, I’m so proud… No… I was thinking, oh my god would this race end… Where is the finish line, I’m dying. I finally saw my friends and family cheering me on to finish and Carters kids, Aimee, Conner, and Alex; all came out and ran across the finish line with me. Tara, her mom, my grandma, Terance with Sophia, and Jordan Meinzer were all there. I FINISHED! YEAH! I was so happy! I was mad because of my knee, I knew that I could have run it in a much faster time but at least I got that metal. We all took pictures and I grabbed an ice bag from an aid station to ice my knee. We walked around the mall for awhile and then headed to Iggy’s to eat. I ate my food and couldn’t even wait for Jarin and Tara to finish their food; I went to the car and fell asleep.
For the next week I struggled to walk, especially down stairs, but I knew that I would be running more of those races. I want to get as many metals as I possible! Carter say’s you can put them up on your “me wall.” HA.
There were hundreds of runners; actually it had to have been thousands because when we started the race there were runners filling the street as far as I could see. We rode the TRAX train up to the start which was just west of Ft. Douglas at some bridge at the University of Utah. As soon as we stepped off the train we heard a count down 10, 9, 8… And thought oh shit we’re late! Then GO! It must have been the wheelchair racers because none of the other runners looked concerned as they stretched, drank water, stood in line for the restroom, etc. Carter, Brandon, and I were running the full marathon and we stretched and talked with Shannon & Billy Rosser. By the time we made it through the crowd of people up to the starting area the gun went off and people starting trotting along. I didn’t feel like I got a good enough stretch in which made me nervous because prior to the race I had so many problems with my left Achilles. Little did I know that would be the least of my worries 2 ½ hours later.
It was a funny site to see the road swimming like the ocean with all the runners’ heads bouncing up and down. We kept a slow pace at first; the last thing we wanted to do was blow up and suffer the last half of the run more than we already had to. We ran down and around towards Sugar House Park which was about six miles. When we arrived there we received our first treat, a little pride booster. There were a bunch of volunteers and a sign with two big arrows on it; “half marathon runners to the left, full marathon runners to the right.” We kind of laughed when we saw how many half marathon runners there were. It seemed like 90% of the runners went to the left. We ran down to and through Sugar House Park and then up into the neighborhoods where people were out in their bath robes, drinking coffee, and cheering us on. It was really cool to hear all the people cheering us on. In fact, there were all kinds of fun things along the sides of the streets to keep us runners going. Music bands, barber shop quartets, solo guitarist, drum circles, marching band type groups, and the best thing ever… aid stations. Carter and I were running together past a group of trumpet players and Carter said “You know 76 trombones?” Without a word they busted right into it and we laughed as we ran by. We had made it about half way through the race at this point and I asked him “you ready to run another 13 miles?” He said “The next 13 are going to be more than twice as hard as the first 13.”
One of the best and worst parts of our run came after we reached 6400 south and started to head west. We worked our way down to a street named Van Winkle, which is usually a very busy street. We ran right down the middle of the street and commented that “when else would you get to run right down the middle of this road?” I felt great and I had plenty of energy but when I hit the bottom of Van Winkle I had a pain hit me like a Mac Truck. Oh my hell did my right knee hurt! I’m thinking it was my IT band. It came on very quickly and for a minute there I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the race. We had seven miles left and I couldn’t even put more than two or three steps on that knee without pulling up. OUCH! Carter told me to lie down on some grass and stretch my legs and rest for a second. I did that, drank some Gatorade, and drank some water before I tried to run again. To my surprise I was able to hobble into an 11 minute mile pace until I reached 4500 south, where my mom was waiting with her dog to cheer us on. We slowed to a walk, where my mom joined us for a few minutes. She was worried about my knee but I told her I didn’t just run 20 miles to stop now.
When we left my mom and started jogging again I knew I was in big trouble. I couldn’t go more than four steps without an amazing pain in my knee. I was so pissed! “This is not what I had in mind… This was not supposed to happen… My legs and lungs feel fine… COME ON KNEE!!!” I tried twenty or so times to run and it just was not happening. Each step hurt worse and worse and I knew this was going to take my goal time of under 4:30 hours to well over that. I f-ing had to walk for three and a half miles! I tried to run a few times after I sent Carter on up ahead without me but I could only hobble. A couple of times volunteers on bikes rode by and yelled out “good job, you’re doing great, keep it up!” I wanted to tell them to go to hell… Can’t you see I can’t even walk? When I reached mile 22 I realized I was in the back of the pack and embarrassment set in. I had the energy to surge and pass all those slow people I was running (hobbling) with but my knee just wouldn’t allow it.
I ran passed this house with about 30 people out on the front lawn with tables set up everywhere with alcohol everywhere. They were all drinking and it wasn’t even noon yet. They had a big sign up that said “Temptation Station.” As I ran past them a couple of people said “hey man, come have a beer… It will help you.” Hey you don’t want to finish this bull shit race, come drink with us.” I laughed despite my frustration and maybe the laughing helped me, or maybe a phone call I received from Tara helped me. I took only a few things with me when I started the race, a bib belt that had my asthma inhaler, five power gels, and my cell phone. Tara called right before I reached Liberty Park which was 5k from the finish line. I told her what happened with my knee and she offered to come pick me up. I said “don’t even ask me that again or give me one bit of discouragement because I am going to finish this even if I have to bleeping crawl.” She said “oh ok… Sorry.” I apologized for being short with her and she said that they would all be waiting for me at the finish line.
I don’t if was the 3 ½ mile walk that helped or if it was something else but when I got to Liberty Park I tried to run again and to my amazement I was able to without major pain in my knee. I was so excited I couldn’t believe it and I took off passing all those people I did not want to finish with. I went from a walk, hobbling 14 minute mile to a seven minute mile and besides my muscles being sore from 23 miles of hell I was cruising.
I received a phone call from Jarin, who asked where I was. I told him I had about 2 ½ miles left and he said well I’m on State Street and I’m going to meet you and finish the race with you. He met me on St. Street and ran, in blue jeans, trying to give me encouragement. He would ask me questions but I was not really playing along because I was suffering. I gave him quick grunt type answers and I was dying because for some reason they changed the end of the race and there was a big up-hill spot that was killing me. I heard tons of runners complaining (in a happy way) about the hill going up state street towards North Temple. I saw Dewayne parked in his truck on the side of the road; he was honking the horn, waving, and yelling “YEAH MICK! YOU CAN DO IT!” It gave me a boost and carried me until I headed west where I met up with Shannon and Billy. They ran with me until I reached the 26 mile marker and then I was on my own. I ran through the streets of the gateway mall and I was not enjoying like I thought I would… Yeah I did it; this is great, I’m so proud… No… I was thinking, oh my god would this race end… Where is the finish line, I’m dying. I finally saw my friends and family cheering me on to finish and Carters kids, Aimee, Conner, and Alex; all came out and ran across the finish line with me. Tara, her mom, my grandma, Terance with Sophia, and Jordan Meinzer were all there. I FINISHED! YEAH! I was so happy! I was mad because of my knee, I knew that I could have run it in a much faster time but at least I got that metal. We all took pictures and I grabbed an ice bag from an aid station to ice my knee. We walked around the mall for awhile and then headed to Iggy’s to eat. I ate my food and couldn’t even wait for Jarin and Tara to finish their food; I went to the car and fell asleep.
For the next week I struggled to walk, especially down stairs, but I knew that I would be running more of those races. I want to get as many metals as I possible! Carter say’s you can put them up on your “me wall.” HA.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
