Well… the big day finally arrived. 13.1 miles of fun/ridiculousness to accomplish the next Lou! Challenge. Here’s the “run-down”…

Pre-Race

Leading up to race day, I kept thinking that this couldn’t have been scheduled on a worse week. I had tickets for two concerts (Air, Spoon), it was St. Patty’s Day on Wednesday, it’s opening weekend for March Madness, my best friend is in town from NYC, the race starts promptly at 7:00 AM… and the weather forecast called for 38 degrees with a 90% chance of rain. Ugh. (It doesn’t matter – Lou! Challenges get DONE!) As a side note, UK helped me get some sleep the night before, because CBS cut their broadcast of UK/Wake with my Cats up by 30!

In any event, my plan all along was to take it easy during the week prior to the race. The thinking was that if I was fresh, I could run a better race with less excuses. Along the way, I fought some nagging injuries, had some terrible weather that didn’t allow me to train properly… and then my brother came down to visit one weekend. While I had a fantastic time with my brother, and don’t regret any of that weekend… it certainly didn’t help my training regimen. Excuses or no, my max run before the race was a paltry 7 mile jaunt 3 weeks prior to the race, and my aching back and sore groin meant that I did very little physical activity in the 2 weeks prior to race day. My goal of a 10-minute mile pace was starting to seem more like a best case scenario than an achievable target.

Race Breakdown

After taking MARTA over to Centennial Olympic Park, the first thing you notice is the sheer number of people in the crowd. It is one thing to see tens of thousands of people at a sporting event, but a different thing entirely to see them as a mob running on the streets of Atlanta. My race number was 14,444 of an estimated 16,500+. After getting around 6 hours of sleep, I’m still only barely conscious, but my U of Kentucky racing attire has welcomed 100′s of people to introduce themselves or cheer on the Cats. It’s a gloomy morning, but everyone is in high spirits… and for the first time all week, I stopped thinking that my nagging  injuries would slow me down.

The first two miles are difficult if only because you are weaving in and out of slower runners, and my first times were something like 14 minutes and 12 minutes due to the crowd being so big. Mile 3 was on North Avenue, which meant constant hill climbing for the next mile. It took everything I had, but I made it through to the Mile 4 marker before having to stop and walk for a bit. (little victories are great!) With things opening up a bit, my Miles 3 and 4 came in around 9 or 9 1/2 minutes each.

Around this time, I’m noticing that the weather has cooperated with us; it stayed above 50, and never really rained more than a drizzle. As it got later in the afternoon, more and more people came outside to cheer on the crowd. As we came to Little Five Points, I noticed that my last time was under 9 minutes, which was a great boost of encouragement. Maybe I got a little too excited, because I had to walk for a few minutes after getting some tightness in my chest/left shoulder… which is always a sign of concern! Fortunately, the sensation was short-lived, and I quickly got back into a good pace as we reached the Highlands.

I had done most of my training runs in the Virginia Highlands, so I felt right at home for this part of the race. The constant C-A-T-S cheers, flat course, and the oh-so-sexy girl running in front of me all helped tremendously during this part of the run, and I breezed through the next three miles in sub-8 minute times. (Woo hoo!) Meanwhile, the runners doing the full marathon split off from the rest of the group (the full and half marathoners share a start/finish, but the trails diverge during the race and meet up again at the end) , and things started to clear out a bit.

Up to this point, I had been focused on my music and my running posture/technique (ChiRunning), but I was quickly reaching uncharted territory. The longer I went, the harder it was to keep good form, and I found myself reverting back to poor form… which hurt more, and created a vicious cycle of hurting, then even worse technique. My longest run ever was only 7 miles, and I realize that I’ve just completed 9 with only 4 more to go. I feel pretty good, all things considered, and after I check my pace again, I realize I’m on track to post a sub-2 hour time if I keep it up! I remember thinking about how great I would feel if I posted sub 2-hours… then the hills come.

Strangely, it wasn’t my knees, my legs, or my lungs that hurt the most. My hips were positively screaming at me as the hills just kept coming at me. I stopped to walk one hill, then another… but I still kept hope that I could finish strong. After a poor Mile 10, I got in Mile 11 in around 10 minutes… but Mile 12 smacked me in the mouth. First, I took an awkward step and tweaked my left knee and ankle, and the hill was relentless. I’m sad to say that I probably walked the majority of Mile 12 when a shot for a sub-2 hour mile was in reach, but I’m not sure I could have given anything more at that point.

In stark contrast to the slower music I had been listening to for most of the race (The National, Feist, Band of Horses, Spoon), I set my iPhone to my ‘finishing track,’ List of Demands by Saul Williams as a hit the final mile. You might remember it from the Nike commercials with LaDanian Tomlinson last year.

As the terrain flattened a bit, I dug in for everything I had left in the tank, and busted out a 9 minute finishing mile (A pace I couldn’t do for one mile when I started training). I’ve got a quarter mile remaining, and I’m close to a near-sprint for me, and I notice a blur to my right. The winner of the full marathon has caught up to us, and if still busting out 5 minute Miles after 26 miles. In what has to be the worst feeling of the day, I got lapped by someone. I finish 15 or 20 seconds behind the marathon winner in a final time of 2:11:58, good enough for #5041 overall out of 10,476 finishers. I was withing one minute of my goal of  a 10-minute pace, but considering the issues I had training, I’m very pleased with the results.

Post Race

After a final mile where I gave everything, I felt dizzy and disoriented after the race. My hips definitely were the worst offenders, but as it got more cold and rainy, my knees, feet and Achilles got worse and worse. I clutched the railing going up and down stairs to MARTA, and cursed the fact that I still had to get home. But after a long soak in the tub, I’m pleased to report that I really don’t feel THAT bad. Sure I’m sore, and I’m icing my legs as I type this… but I can’t really complain with how it all turned out.

Next up

I’m glad to have this Lou ! Challenge behind me. It was torture giving up drinking for the past few weeks in preparation, and I’m sure my social calendar will fill up in response to my newfound tippling ways. Next up on the list is Music Month! Expect updates in the days to come.

Cheers!

-Lou