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| VAPOR |
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| B-2 American Chopper |
USAF Marathon
experience #2!! The weather at the start was rainy but not freezing like last
year. The night before it had been raining or should I say down pouring. It was
a blessing to have it stop for the start of the race. No flyover this year at
the beginning...budget cuts. If you have read my other blogs on my marathon
experiences, I always include the funny costumes that people wear. Just like
last year I only saw a few, but one in particular was a guy dressed as
Godzilla. Believe or not he actually stayed up with me throughout the race. The
race was well organized and aid stations were awesome with plenty of water and
Gatorade.
This year was unique. First, my wife Tiffany had flown into Dayton on Wednesday to be with a good friend of ours (Check back, I will have a separate blog for this). Second, when we moved to Whiteman AFB this past May, I heard they had a running club and decided to join. Months before the race we ran together at different locations each weekend. The base has an official varsity team and we had 23 people representing! On Thursday we traveled from Whiteman AFB to Dayton Ohio via a 15 pax van and my car. We arrived later in the day and I was able to hook up with Tiffany and we all went to eat at Giovannas in Fairborn, Ohio for dinner. Great food! On Friday, it was expo time. But before we went we decided to visit to USAF Museum! Awesome!! I had seen it before when we were stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, but alot had changed in 13 years. The expo was excellent and it was great to see other AF members. After getting my BIB and some extras I decided to go see the B-2 motorcycle. It was specifically made into a B-2 by American Chopper. Really cool!! They also had a Dodge car that can go 160+ MPH called Vapor. After that it was time to head to the traditional night before the race pasta dinner. It was a all you can eat buffet of pasta, bread and salad. Oh and a bit of cheesecake was eaten...just sayin! Then it was back to the hotel room for final preparations and going to sleep early.
Now to the race, it started at 7:30 am. I was up at 5 am to eat as I always am. I had oatmeal, english muffin, coffee and bagel. A bit more than my normal routine, but a little extra would not hurt considering I was getting ready to burn it all off in the coming hours. I made sure I had my energy gels (Jello type), music and headphones before we departed. It took us about 20 mins to get to the base, once there though it was a bumper to bumper mess, reminded me of my morning commutes in DC. UGH!! We were worried we would not make it to Start line in time so our driver for the morning actually pulled an awesome audible and pocked his head out to the traffic cop and told him he was a shuttle and needed to get these people dropped off. Classic! The cop let us pass and we were parked in minutes! I am going to have to think of that each time I go to these big events. Once parked and a bit of a walk it was time for the pre-race ritual...yep the porta-john. I had timed it perfectly. Tiffany had rode with friends of ours and was lucky to get parked right by the Finish line. It was great to have her there and to see me after the finish. Hugging my best friend at the end is always refreshing!
Our Team had different
goals for finishing the race, so we all split up into our specific corral
locations. I started in the 3:45 group as did several of the other runners. The
horn sounded and off we went. I really like how the USAF splits up the full and
half-marathon runners. We started at 7:30 am and the half started at 8:30 am.
This made the start much smoother and less crowded. Normally I have to run
conservatively at the beginning with so many people around. This time I started
out on the right stride just like lastyear.
In the first 2 miles I encountered a 300ft hill incline. I knew it was coming early in the race, so my strategy was to go slow and save the energy for later in the race. With the 2 miles behind me, I quickly got on pace. The next 7 miles moved quickly and before I knew it I was at Mile 9. Mile 9-10 took us through downtown Fairborn. It was good to see the downtown area again and everyone cheering us on.
In the first 2 miles I encountered a 300ft hill incline. I knew it was coming early in the race, so my strategy was to go slow and save the energy for later in the race. With the 2 miles behind me, I quickly got on pace. The next 7 miles moved quickly and before I knew it I was at Mile 9. Mile 9-10 took us through downtown Fairborn. It was good to see the downtown area again and everyone cheering us on.
Soon enough we reached Mile 13...half-way home. I felt like I was on cruise-control and a bit ahead of the 3:45 pace group .I was also encountered by my teammates! I crossed the half-way marker in 1:51. Mile 13-20 went quickly, keeping pace. At Mile 20 I felt myself starting to slow down and I had to walk a bit but I kept going. Then, at Mile 21 the dreaded overpass had come. Last year, I reached the overpass and decided to walk for a little bit, which turned into a walk over the entire overpass. This year I was determined NOT to walk. I pushed through and continued running. At Mile 24 I still felt pretty strong, no walking just one foot in front of the other. I did feel my legs getting heavier but pushed. I was going to get under 4 hours!!
As I reached the last few legs of the race I was on pace for under 4 hours. The 3:55 pacer had just passed me so I knew that if I continued on pace I was going to break it. As I reached the Mile 26 marker, I told myself...SELF lets GO. To my surprise the body responded. I was in an all out sprint to the finish.
Two personal bests for me, Overall 3:55 and Half-Way point: 1:51.
Big shoutout to all my Whiteman Teammates! Without you I would have not reached this goal!
