My Experience As I Ran The 2010 OKC Marathon

I am posting this experience from the OKC Marathon in an effort to get all my post in the same location...enjoy this one written right after the marathon in 2010.

OKLAHOMA CITY MEMORIAL MARATHON 25 April 2010

After months of training and anticipation it is the morning of the marathon. I woke at 4 am. Keeping with the normal routine I made coffee and had a bowl of GO LEAN Crunch!! Good stuff!

I then decided to get on Facebook and check for messages and to update my status before departing for downtown OKC. Oh I had to squeeze in a game of Mafia Wars. At this point, I am getting more and more excited. My mother and Frank came in for the race as well as Tiffany’ step brother Jimmy and a friend so I had to wake everyone up. We then made it out the door a few minutes early. After a quick stop to pick up a friend of mine (Matt was running the marathon as well), we made it to the marathon at 5:30 am. After parking and walking in 40 degree weather (Oh and it is windy of course…..we are in Oklahoma no surprise there) we made our way to the corral area for the race. They then made an announcement for 168 seconds of silence to honor the victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing. Everyone stopped talking except wouldn’t you know a security guard, he was yelling out orders. We all told him to STOP TALKING. After walking around a bit to find the location for the start of the race, I met up with another friend from my Life Group (from Lifechurch.tv) named Marty. He is amazing! Oh I need to mention here that Marty and I were running in Honor of Sgt Ben Davis, USMC who perished in the bombing.

The time has come….4….3…..2….1 and we were off. My friend Matt (who runs much faster than me) took right off and waved goodbye to Marty and I. Go figure that my Garmin couldn’t find satellites until a second after I started the race, but none-the-less it found the satellite and I was set.

Marty and I started off on a feverish pace; the first mile was clocked at 9:09. That was about 1 minute faster than both of us wanted to pace at, but we both felt really good so we continued. Mile 2, 3, 4 and 5 were just about the same as we clocked at 9:39, 9:18, 9:01 and 9:07 respectfully. To be honest we were both extremely happy with the pace and the time. I was thinking the whole time that I could not maintain this pace, but to my surprise it continued and after 7 miles we were still clocking a 9:01 pace. At this point it was time for Marty to split off to finish the half-marathon. I continued straight, giving Marty a High-5 and good luck. Let me mention here that the crowds were so supportive and the water and Gatorade stations rocked throughout the entire marathon!

At this point I had just lost my pace partner so I thought I would probably start to slow down. To my surprise the pace continued. Miles 8, 9, 10, 11 were all clocked at 8:59, 9:16, 8:58 and 9:09. I was feeling AWESOME!! Oh during this time I had to stop for a quick bath room break or should I say a short porta potty break. Miles 12-16 were still at this fast pace and at this point I was thinking that the Wall I normally hit at Mile 16 was not going to come. During this part of the race we ran by Lake Hefner and with the wind in our faces…well that was a real treat! But it sure did feel good when I turned around and the wind was at my back….gliding along was wonderful. Miles 17-19 went without the wall and my mind was thinking “You Da Man!” No wall today baby. Boy was that all about to change!

Hello body and legs, welcome to mile 20. Yes I hit the wall and hit it hard. It was like I looked over and saw the flag with 20 MILES on it and my legs said “Yep we are done”. I was like really, come on I have made it to 20 miles and now you want to hit the wall…come on legs get it together. After four miles of back and forth arguments with my legs, Miles 20-24 were timed at 9:45, 10:13, 12:03, 11:26, and 11:17. Finally they gave in and I finished the race strong.

After finishing, it was time to give myself a treat. I hit the cookie, banana, bagel and water stations hard. Then I quickly found everyone to celebrate together.

Virginia 24-Hour Ultra Marathon Run

(Me, Susan, Lloyd, Kim, Brian, Kelly)

WOW!!  That is a good way to explain this run in one word. A 24-hour marathon is one of those unique runs…there was no set miles; it was more of how many miles you want to run in the 24-hour period. My friend Brian Burk introduced this run to me earlier this year. At first I was unsure if I wanted to tackle something like this, but as the weeks and days leading up to the event got closer, I started to warm to the idea. It was for a great cause --the American Cancer Society. My wife had a wonderful idea of running it for the breast cancer survivors she has had the honor of helping through the years and I thought what a wonderful way for me to give back to the women who have gone through the pain and suffering it has caused. A big shout out to Joyce Chapman, Pam Kloiber, Melissa Horton, Amy Carlin, Beverly Pitts and Kimberly Clemmens, running for you was an HONOR! I want to thank Debbie Wingard for making the shirt that I wore the first 30 miles or so. I had plenty of people recognize the shirt and say thanks for running the event in their honor. AND Yes it was pink and Yes this MAN wore it. I even found out right before the race that one of the women I was running with was a breast cancer survivor. CONGRATS to Brian Burk (Our Leader) 75 miles, Susan 52.5 miles, Lloyd 52.5 miles, Kim 52.5 milesand Kelly 52.5 miles,. We battled through the miles and everyone did awesome. I couldn’t have reached my 63.75 miles without your help and encouragement. The photo above was right before the race…we all looked so happy.

So let me provide some play by play.

First 11 miles: Went really well, we were all on a good steady pace. One of the things I really liked about this race was after finishing a lap (3.75 miles) you were able to rest at your base camp (that is what we called it). I was able to hydrate, eat snacks or get on Facebook and update my friends.

Mile 15: Stopped for a tire change. My shoes were feeling like they were pressuring my big toe so I switched to my older pair and it made a huge difference.

Mile 22.5: I made it to this point in 4 ½ hours. Good pace and I felt like I wasn’t rushing the race (I had to remind myself of the “The Tortoise and The Hare” many times). I took a 1 hour break for fuel. I had a huge baked potato with chicken (compliments of Michele Burk). After digesting and resting it was time to get back on the course. One thing to note here…do not just lie around for an hour. You need to stretch, move your feet etc. I made the mistake of just resting and drinking. Once I started running again, it was a bit painful, but after about a mile I was fine again.

Mile 30: Nothing really changing at this point in the race. I was happy to be over 30 miles. I felt good and hydrated but it was starting to get a bit warm. The high was forecasted to be 82 degrees and it was feeling that way.During this time I was thinking…so this is what it feels like to run further than a marathon…hmmm not to bad. I was still on a good pace.

Mile 37.5: Time for maintenance. New socks and shirt...this was new to me. For a marathon I run it without changing. In an Ultra it is all about taking care of yourselfand remaining the “Tortoise”.  It made a huge difference to have fresh socks on my feet. By this point in the race it was the hottest part of the day and I was sweating pretty good. Having a new shirt was just as refreshing as the sock change out.

Mile 45: I hit the rest hour…it was time to fuel again. Again, Michele came to the rescue and brought us Chick Fil-La. I ate quickly and stretched etc. Brian made it to base camp about 15 mins ahead of me, so instead of taking the hour I left base camp with only 45 mins of rest.

Mile 56.25: Well the Iphone died so I was not able to post my status to everyone on Facebook. But, things were still going rather good. I was pushing out 45-50 minute laps, and the pattern of walking and running was going good. Thinking back through the evening, I could have hydrated a bit more. With the temperature going down and the sun disappearing from the afternoon sky, I was not drinking as much as I should/could have.

Mile 60: I finished strong here, but could tell the body was getting a bit tired, not from the running but from the number of hours I had been awakeetc. Susan, Lloyd, Kim and Kelly were at base camp and where preparing to go out for their final lap. I decided it would be cool to see them finish so I went out with them. We walked the entire lap.

Mile 63.75: The end of the road…as I made it back to base camp, I could really tell I was getting tired. I set down and Susan offered me a Gatorade. Right before this I had gone to my car to get my Oklahoma Sooner hoodie for the remaining 3 laps. It had started to rain on us during the last lap, so I wanted to keep warm. After drinking a little I stood up and it hit me…the world was spinning. It was at this point, Susan thankfully advised me to lay down.

Well there is my little snap shot of my first Ultra Marathon. Amazing experience and I felt protected by God throughout. Praise goes to him for my strength and determination!

Updated Running Goals for 2012

So I thought I would sit down and look over my running goals I set back in March 2012.

1. Run 6 marathons: Well I have run 2 so far (I considered the recent ultra as 1 marathon…debating counting it as 2). I ran the Cherry blossom 10 miler in between the two.

2. Run 100 miles a month:

March: 56 miles.

April so far: 73.75 miles.

I am under my goals per month…I am thinking of reassessing the miles to a bit lower. We will see what I decide…you never know I might just jump into another Ultra Marathon.

3. Decrease my finish time each marathon.

Well I did 4:06 at the Rock and Roll DC Style, so we will see what the USAF Marathon in Sept brings. The recent Ultra Marathon will not count…totally different animal.

I will keep updating my running goals as the year progresses, but thus far I am happy with how the year is going.

Piercing Eyes

You wake up one day (or so you think) in a white room with no windows seated at a white desk. A door suddenly opens and a man appears. As he approaches,he is calm, does not speak, and clothed in a white robe. Scared and disoriented you look and see the visible holes in both his hands, scars from flogging across his neck and sides of his face, his forehead depicts deeply pressed thorns that look extremely painful. You quickly realize you are in the room with Jesus. It is just YOU and HIM! He sits directly across from you, still not speaking he looks directly at you with those piercing eyes; it is if he is seeing right through you. You begin to shake, sweat, tremble and have a hard time looking directly at him. After what seems like an eternity, he finally speaks…hello my son/daughter, today is judgment day. A series of questions come directly at you, he NEVER stops staring directly into your eyes, and he doesn’t need a notepad to look down to reference. Did you seek ME for a relationship? Did you come to ME for advice? Did you read what I left for you? Did you leave a legacy that others will know ME? Were you a spiritual leader? As he finishes, he pauses and waits. It is your turn, he has all the time you need, it is YOU and HIM, no distractions, no iphone, no ipad, no ESPN, no hiding behind someone, no calling a friend. Do you look directly into his piercing eyes or are you struggling to keep eye contact? Do you find yourself looking away as you answer? Or do you simply not have an answer? In the meantime, you are thinking in your mind…I wasn’t ready for this!! Let me go back!! I can make this right!! I was going to start doing these things!! Oh NO here I am!!

What a meeting huh? The wonderful news is you can start right now making things right, so when this meeting happens you can set at the desk staring directly into his piercing eyes and answer all his questions calmly with a firm YES.

The choice is yours.

Cherry Blossom 2012

Another awesome running experience here in the Nation’s Capital, it is Cherry Blossom time here in DC…even though the full bloom happened a couple of weeks ago it was still a wonderful run. Unfortunately, I really don’t have any sights to report on. I always enjoy the costumes, funny clothes that people will wear for the different racing events I attend.

Now onto the race. I was up early; I had my normal oatmeal, coffee. I know this was not a marathon but I wanted to keep my routine the same. After breakfast I packed up my things and headed to the metro. I did add a marathon snickers bar (Left over from the Rock and Roll Marathon DC style)…that thing rocked! I padded my time just in case I encountered huge crowds at the Metro (I am in DC right!). I arrived early surprisingly. This gave me some extra time to stretch and just clear my mind. I then headed for the starting location. As with the Rock and Roll marathon they spaced our corrals out to start 90 secs apart. This really helps to get my rhythm going quickly. After several miles I was feeling really good. I was moving quickly and just felt strong. The 5 mile marker seemed to come quick and I realized I was already half-way home J. As I reached mile 7 the bathroom monster rose its ugly head, but I quickly put a squash to that and told myself I was going to finish before going to the bathroom…there was no time to waste. As I reached mile 9, I noticed that a man was being given medical assistance on the sidewalk. This was no ordinary medical treatment, he was being given chest compressions…you can’t imagine what goes through your mind when you see this in person. Yes, we hear it on the news or read it online, but seeing it right in front of you is to put it lightly SCARY. I am still not sure if the older gentleman survived, but it brought back memories of the Route 66 marathon a few years ago. I had reached mile 7 or 8 of that race and noticed again on the sidewalk a lifeless body. I would later learn the young man (23 yrs of age) died…massive heart attack. At mile 9 I was pushing hard. As I rounded the last turn for the finish, I was in a full sprint. What a finish!