How Did I Get Here?

Quote of the Day: “Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time… The wait is simply too long.”

- Leonard Bernstein

Today, I finished:

- my 32nd race
- my 8th half-marathon
- my 2nd San Dieguito Half Marathon
- the 40th anniversary of this race

I beat last year’s run (1:50:32) with a 1:47:53 that puts this run in second place of all my half marathons. Somehow I scored a blazing 1:42:56 way back in 2004 which, after the way I felt immediately after today’s race, may never be challenged.

Today’s race was a much better time than last year for a few reasons. First, it was beautiful and sunny today as opposed to raining and cold last year.

Second, I had my wonderful wife with me and even Paola got into the spirit and joined in by signing up for the 5K. Last year, I was alone before, during, and after. That really bites, especially on a cold, rainy day.

Today we made it there in plenty of time, it was a beautiful, mild morning, and even though I visited the little boys’ room at Starbucks and then again at the park, I still found myself at the start having to piss.

After the Carlsbad a few weeks ago, I had high hopes for this race. I didn’t think I was ready for that race and ended up clocking an impressive (for me) 1:51:03 and I felt at least as good today. The strange thing was that last year, even though the course was wet, cold, and hilly, I did well so I figured this was a good course for me.

Before the race, the announcer stated that this was a sanctioned race and I knew what was coming next. They announced that iPods or any listening devices were prohibited and quickly followed it up with this in the formal “announcer” tone:

“If you wear your listening device, it is unlikely you will be disqualified from the race but you will definitely have authority issues to work out.”

I wore my iPod and I think it’s utterly ridiculous that they don’t officially allow it. About a third of the people I saw had them and as long as I’m not going for the Boston, I don’t think I have to worry about it. I mean, in 32 races I’ve done, I’ve only NEEDED an official finishing time for one and that was for the Bishop 50-mile race last year to qualify for the San Diego 100. And we all know how that turned out.

The hills still sucked bad but I only had to walk a couple of them and even then for only a short period of time each.

On the first water stop, I bypassed the first set of offerings and when I grabbed a cup, I noticed the brown froth just as it was hitting my lips.

It was beer.

Now I’m sure that they were yelling “BEER!!!” as I was grabbing it but with my illegal iPod blaring in my ears, the message didn’t get to Garcia.

I spit it out and spilled a little on my hand so now I was without much-needed hydration AND I smelled like the floor of a dive bar.

The psychological game with this race is that there IS a turn-around but it is not at the halfway point. It’s about at the 7 or 7.5 mile mark and the trip back branches off and then rejoins the out-route later in the race.

The net effect is that you see the 6 mile mark but then there is no indication when you hit the halfway point. Then it’s awhile before you see ANY marker and you start to wonder if your pace is totally sucking ass until you come up on the 8-mile marker and realize you are still maintaining an 8.5 minute-per-mile pace.

Here’s what happened at the end.

I was SURE that the last mile was uphill. I just had that in my head so I knew that I would have to put something in the bank to make up for that.

At about the 10.5 mile mark, here is how my logic went:

“Wow, it looks like I have a long downhill slope here but I know it will turn ugly at mile 12 so I had better get on my horse on this downhill.”

I was utterly falling down the hill, just barely keeping my legs under me. It was a little manic and not too pretty but I didn’t think it would last anyway.

At mile 11, I’m still cookin’ but I know I have only one mile at most left of this running feast before I hit the beast.

At mile 11.5 I feel grateful I am still going downhill but am getting a little apprehensive that I have a half of a mile left before the piper is going to want his due.

I get to mile 12, fully expecting the worse and ….

I am still going down hill.

12.25, still falling downhill.

I take full advantage of this and keep going until I see a tight left turn ahead and I remember, that is where the hill starts. Last year I rounded that corner and my heart cracked wide open. The uphill I saw looked like the back of a dragon all the way to the horizon.

The good thing was that it was at about 12.5 so what I thought was going to be a mile of pain was only going to be half that.

Furthermore, when I rounded the corner, I guess that knowing and expecting the worst kind of deadened the shock. I turned the corner and the hill was there but not nearly as nasty as I had made it out to be in my head.

By no means did I CHARGE up that hill but I kept a respectable pace and I did keep running. Looking at my watch and doing some quick calculating, I got it into my head that I could beat my time from last year and that gave me the motivation I needed to keep going at a decent pace.

When I got to the finish line, Carrie was waiting for me but I had depleted my oxygen stores to the point that I couldn’t even talk. I just bent at the waist, hands on knees, and sweat for a few moments.

I was happy that I had beat my time but I was more happy that Carrie was there to be with me and to get me some water, a banana, and some oranges. Sooooo much easier with emotional and logistical support.

We made our way up to the expo area (no small feat after running 13.1 miles because it was an uphill trail that took 15 minutes in my state) and I partook in a Monster, some chili, some stew, and a cup of Pale Ale.

Perfect post-race menu.

As we were walking back to the car, a man walked up to me and addressed me as Major Grose.

I had never seen this man before in my life (which ended up being true) and my face showed as much.

He has been a reader of this blog for many years and long ago served his years in the Marine Corps.

“How did you ever recognize me?”

He said there were plenty of pictures on my site and I look just the same. I didn’t know how to take that since I was a bit ragged and had a hat and sunglasses on.

He was there with his two grown sons and his wife. One of his sons ran the race and had read where I was going to be running it too so he kept a lookout for me.

This happens every once in awhile and it’s always a little strange when it does. To have strangers recognize you in person off of the blog or the webpage, I guess I just never expect it.

After we got home, I got cleaned up and my wife and daughter joined me at Denny’s for lunch. I know it sounds funny but Denny’s is one of our favorite places to eat because everyone can get what they want and a club sandwich from Denny’s is just this side of heaven, especially after a race.

We then made our way over to Roadrunner Sports where I found a pair of Asics for $25. They had been returned but looked brand new. At ¼ of the price of the shoe I normally get, I thought it was the right thing to do for a training shoe. It was a pair of the Cumulus, for those of you in the know.

Then it was over to REI where I cashed in the $25 gift certificate Paola gave me when I got promoted last year. We threw in 3 times as much and I walked out of there with some pretty nice hiking poles.

For some reason I found it hard to nap so I will call it an early night after a full day.

Tomorrow it’s back to work after a week away so things should be nice and frantic.

Free Advice for Today: “Call the Better Business Bureau if you’re not sure about a business’ reputation.”

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.