Dash for the Stache

Last week I ran in my second half marathon - the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN. This one was a bit different from my first half marathon, as I was running:

a) by myself 

b) the course was very hilly

c) I was running for my friends mustache

In preparation for the Nashville race, I spent some of my time training on the treadmill at the gym to simulate some of those Nashville hills by putting it on an incline. Yes, for those of you who have not experienced New Orleans before, the only place to find hills is at the gym....on the treadmill. 

My training went very well and I remained cautiously optimistic that I might be able to run the race in the same time that I ran the ultra-flat NOLA race, which was 1 hour 49 minutes. If nothing else, I just wanted to finish before the 1:55 mark.

One week before the race, I was drinking coffee with a buddy of mine and I asked him if he cared to make a little wager. If I run the half in less than 1:40 then he shaves his mustache that he’s been sporting for the last 20 years. I’ve been trying to get this friend to lose the stache for years in a number of ways including countless poker hands together where I try to win it off of him, but he NEVER takes the bet. On this particular day, he did. The reason: he knew there was no way I’d be able to do it.

The week before the race, was my last 12 mile training run, which I ran it in 1:42. I immediately texted him letting him know that his stache was safe.

The morning of the race was incredibly exciting. I positioned myself in corral #2 at 6:55 a.m. and surveyed the landscape. Corral #2 was positioned on top of a hill so I could see down forever. As I stood in a sea of people, over 31,000 runners, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins and I had a crazy thought that I just might be able to run this race very well. 

As the gun was about to sound, I placed my earbuds in, took a couple of deep breaths and we were off. The first mile was downhill and my confidence was sky high. At mile marker #1 I felt great and knew this race was going to be a fun run. There were certain marks along the course that when I passed them, my friends would receive a text message letting them know what my times were. I was looking forward to these marks because it made me feel like my friends were actually a part of the race with me even though they weren’t doing anything (except enjoying coffee on their sofas). I actually felt great at each marker.

5K Marker: I hit it at under 24 minutes

10 Marker: I hit it at 47 minutes

10 Mile Marker: I hit it at 1 hour 16 minutes

I was moving right along, feeling great! I knew if I just kept my pace I would actually finish under 1:40 and that stache would be history.

And then the wheels fell off....kind of.

At mile marker 11 I began to realize that the hills were taking their toll on my body. My calves were aching. My butt was sore. My quads were burning. I finally determined in my mind that these weren’t actually hills but they were mountains....and I was starting to hate them.

The end was so near, though. So, I pushed. I knew I’d be just fine if the course didn’t throw any more of these ridiculous mountains my way. So many people were counting on me. I had to win the stache.

And then I saw it. Mile marker 12. I could see it from a distance and I realized that my shot at beating 1:40 was within reach, but it would take everything I had. I hit the marker at 1 hour 33 minutes. This was it! I had to run the final 1.1 miles in less than 7 minutes and knowing that I am capable of that (on a good day) I said, “Legs! Let’s go!” To which my legs replied, “Hell, no! We’re staying right here.” 

It was at this moment that I realized that mile 13 was upmountain. And I don’t mean just the first part of mile 13. I’m talking about the whole mile. If you have ever wondered what your natural vocabulary really is, I would suggest either: 

a) accidentally miss the nail and hit your thumb with a hammer when no else is around

b) run a half marathon only to realize that mile 13 is upmountain

When I finally finished dialoguing with my legs, we decided to compromise - I would not make them go faster if they promised not to actually walk.

All this to say, that I ran that 13th mile in a little over 8 minutes and finished the race with a personal best of 1:41:47. Crossing that finish line was absolutely exhilarating and made all the better when I saw my bride and my 4 boys standing at the finish line with hugs and kisses. Honestly, I was upset that I missed my goal by 1 minute 47 seconds, but the truth is, I never thought I’d even get close to finishing under 1 hour 50 minutes. 

Later that day, my buddy text messaged me and informed me that in celebration, of my new personal record he was going to shave off the stache even though he won the bet. The ‘Dash for the Stache’ was a great experience and was made all the more fun because of the great community of friends that participated in it with me in heart and mind. You guys know who you are and you were awesome. Thanks.

*Special Note: Someone asked me if this is a good time. For me, yes! But to put it in perspective, the guy who won the Boston Marathon (26.2 miles) this year, finished in 2 hours 3 minutes.

Rock n' Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon

The Rock n' Roll Mardi Gras half marathon would be the first official race of my adult life. Prior to our training, I had never run more than 2 miles at a time. When we started training, I simply wanted to finish the race. After a few more weeks of training, I changed my goal to finishing under two hours. Upon realizing that the friends I was training with had finished last year's half marathon in 1:57, we decided to train with our goal time being 1:55.

Our training went very well and by time race day got here, we felt prepared and ready.

I got up at 5:30 a.m. on race day. It was a cool February morning in Nola with the morning highs in the low 50's. As we arrived downtown around 6:30, the traffic was backed up, so my friend's wife dropped us off and we walked about 1/4 mile to the start line.

We got to our corral (#5) around 6:45 and had just 15 minutes until the gun would fire. The adrenaline rush was incredible and I could not wait for this thing to start. Our group was 5 strong. Heading towards the start line, my friend Ana and I felt like we could nail 1:55. Two of our other friends were using the race as a training run for an upcoming marathon, so they were planning on a slightly slower pace. Our 5th friend actually decided to register for the race the night before, so none of us (including him) had any idea what his pace would be like. Ana and I knew that if we were going to finish in 1:55, we would have to set our pace early and stay steady.

In order to keep us on track, I kept a piece of paper in my pocket with mile markers and times that we should hit each marker (aka splits). Our goal was to hit mile #1 at 8 minutes 42 seconds.

As we stood in our corral, they began playing 'Eye of the Tiger' over the PA system. It was finally time for the race to begin and then the gun sounded! As we approached the line, we started our watches and took off. Those first 500 yards were challenging, like a pack of greyhounds trying to jockey for position. After that first 1/2 mile, we were able to settle into a decent pace - me, Ana and Mike (buddy who signed up for the race the night before). Robb and Tommy (guys training for full marathon) were not far behind.

We made it to mile marker #1 in 8 minutes 40 seconds. We were ahead of schedule! The race became very comfortable after our first mile. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed great conversation as we worked our way through uptown neighborhoods and eventually through downtown. When we finally reached mile marker #12 we arrived there in 1 hour 41 minutes. At this point we were more than 4 minutes ahead of our target time. With just one mile left we were looking to destroy our intended time. We kept our same pace for that final mile until we hit mile 13. With just 1/10 of a mile left we finished our race with an all out sprint, weaving in and out of other racers to cross the finish line in 1:49:20.

It was so amazing, finishing the race almost 6 minutes faster than our target time. We ended up running 8:21 miles, which was 21 seconds faster per mile than we had trained for.

There are a couple of specific things I remember about the race:

1. Because this was a Rock n' Roll series race, the course was lined with over 1o bands that were playing live music as we ran through the streets. Most of the bands were great, but around mile 9 we passed a Scottish Bagpipe band. I remember thinking, "I love bagpipe music, but I feel like I'm at a Scottish funeral. How is this going to help us run faster?"

2. At mile #3, a woman on the side of the road was there cheering everyone on. She yelled out "3 miles down, only 23 more to go". The guy next to me says, "Easy for her to say, she's standing still."

3. Running with our friend Ana is motivation in and of itself. She is quite chipper and talkative and able to keep one's spirits high even when tired. Along the race, there were plenty of spectators there to cheer us on and any time Ana could, she would shout out a very chipper "Good Morning!" Most spectators were surprised by her exuberance. Around mile 10 we passed some spectators who told us hello. Ana did not respond. Mike and I recognized this and we knew it was time to get Ana another energy packet of Gu...quickly.

4. Running down streets like Magazine and Decatur was amazing.

5. At mile 12 (after the Gu had kicked in) we were back to carrying on conversation. Most people in the race were pretty tired by this point, but the adrenaline was still moving through our bodies. Spectators were there trying to cheer on the racers and I overheard one spectator say to another, 'wow, they're still talking!' That was kind of cool.

6. The last 1/10 of a mile was so cool. We could see the finish line and took off on a full sprint. It truly felt like we were flying and then we crossed the finish line 6 minutes ahead of our goal. That was an amazing moment. As soon as I crossed the line, I heard the voice of my wife coming from the crowd as she called my name. At that moment I had to intentionally hold back the tears. It was so wonderful having her there, along with a very good friend of mine, to watch us finish.

All in all, I would say that this was a great experience. So much so, that I am planning on running the Rock n' Roll Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN at the end of April.

So....the training continues!

Journey to 13.1

I really stumbled into the whole thing.

As part of our adoption process, both Kristy and I had to have full physical exams. At the time, I was not concerned about my health. I figured that the test results would say that I probably ate too many cheeseburgers and fried shrimp po-boys, but other than that I thought I'd be okay.

I went in for my physical exam in September of 2010. It turned out to be everything I thought. Other than my triglycerides being a point or two too high, the doctor said I was fine. He told me to exercise a little more and eat a little better. (Isn't this what doctors always say no matter what?)

So, that's how I began running.

I actually started off on the elliptical machine at the gym. I would work that machine for about 25 - 35 minutes to build up my endurance. I didn't mind this so much because at the gym all of the elipticals have TV's and since Kris and I don't have a TV at home, it was kind of cool to catch up on ESPN. After about 2 weeks on the ellipical, I started running 2 miles, 3 days a week. It took me about 20 minutes or so when I began. I quickly started building up my endurance until one day I invited myself on a four mile run with a friend of mine who is an avid runner. I didn't miss a beat and was able to keep up for the whole run.

That day, I decided to start training for the Rock n' Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon that was coming up in 5 months.

This turned out to be one of the most fun decisions I have ever made. It was an amazing experience. My training consisted of running 4 days a week. I would run short runs of 3 -4 miles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursday and then a long run, between 8 and 12 miles every Saturday.

As I started out I was averaging about 10 minute miles. As my training progressed I was able to consistently run at 8:50 miles.

My friends, who I was going to run the race with, had already run a half marathon and had finished in 1 hour and 57 minutes. We wanted to beat that time so we came up with a schedule to help us run the race in 1 hour and 55 minutes. Each Saturday for our long runs we were consistently aiming to run 8:42 miles. On the day of our 12 mile training run, we nailed it. It took exactly 1 hour and 44 minutes, which was right where we needed to be to finish our race on time. We were definitely feeling prepared.

The overall experience was fantastic. I hurt myself twice during my training which led to me missing about 3 training runs. I tweaked my back one day and landed in the chiropractors office within hours. He fixed me up good and had me back in my running shoes within about 3 days. The other injury was a mild foot injury, but I believe that was simply due to the increase in mileage that I was experiencing.

Throughout my 5 months of training, here are a couple of things that I learned:

1. I found that I run much better in cold weather than hot weather and I run very fast when temperatures are below freezing before the sun rises.

2. I run better to music than I do to podcast.

3. Whenever my run mix lands on tracks by Eminem or Rocky soundtrack tunes, my pace picks up considerably and I play the air drums.

4. Running on a treadmill is misery compared to running outdoors.

5. I actually love running and had no idea for a long time.

6. Above everything else, I learned that running with friends is much more fun than running by myself. This in turn has caused me to re-evaluate all things that I have always done by myself. There's something very beautiful about sharing life with others.

I'll post soon about race day and how we beat our desired time.