My first Half I usually do not do long writings, but I hope you will all humor me. If not, feel free to move on to the next post. I just have to express some thoughts that I have bouncing around in my head right now. August 23, 2014, my first race event attempt at a half marathon. For weeks I pondered strategies, followed forecast, and worked hard with my coach/wife Melissa Oltman to prepare my old body for this day. Forecasted for days was a chance of storms, with temps in the 90s, I built my mind around hydration and pacing strategies for my run. Well as you may guess, heavy rain and wind and no sun threw all those worries out the window. But of course ignited a whole new mind set for which I would have to adapt to on the run. Let us start from the beginning. Scared to death that I would disappoint my coach and biggest fan, I set my sights on giving 100% + 20% for good measure. Then came the severe thunderstorm. Rain, wind and lightning kept us sitting on the shuttle bus for an extra half hour. Then as we all stood at the start line in our garbage bag rain suits, the starter, from under his big umbrella, took a group photo and we were off. As we allowed the faster runners to get off first we began my first ever, when can I push the PANIC button, half marathon. And then the fun began. First 50 yards included heavy rain, street flooding, and oh yes, soaked feet from running through ankle deep water. Then we leave the city streets with the wind at our backs and begin the 7 mile run on a well groomed lime trail. Remember that wind at our backs, well as the last 2 runners behind us fly by, the rain gets heavier and the wind switches and is pounding us head on. Rain drops feel like ice pellets, my glasses turn my view into nothing less than looking through a dirty aquarium, and let us not forget my shoes still attempting to purge themselves of the earlier flood water. But my wife is at my side and life could not be better. 3 miles in and the only thing around ,behind, or in front of us is a shag wagon, and well the distance the main group has put on us is unknown because they are gone from view. But wait, I see that last couple who passed us about a ½ mile ahead, I think that’s what I see since the windshield wipers don’t work on my glasses. But I am doing good, slight fib there, I am surviving at best. Between the weather and my soaked feet, combined with the obvious fact that I will be holding back my wife the entire race, I began to doubt myself. But my partner in this disaster waiting to happen is unshaken. She is confident, and coaching me on step by step. Finally the rain lets up to a sprinkle. The wind calms and we make it to the blacktop road which will lead us around the lake and to victory. And as we turn on to the blacktop a staff member decides my name is Robert. Even after the wife verifies I am not Robert, he still calls me Robert. Finally I explain that my name is Terry as we continue to bring up the rear of the group. Well this brings on a whole new conversation of him being sorry. Now I am usually a sweet, calm peace loving man. But at this point I am scanning the country side for witnesses and a shovel. Just kidding, I think. LOL. Now we begin the pavement portion of our run, the rain has stopped and the sun is still hidden behind the clouds. I think to myself, I got this. My feet are moving in rhythm and my breathing is slow and steady. I decide at this moment that I am going to rock this simple little 13.1 mile run. Then we round a corner and there is a hill. My wife laughs and states that it is just like the hill we run in Grundy for our hills training. And again my wife is right, we got this. And we sail up the hill side by side and I think, we may just finish this thing. Then we round another corner and there in front of me is, well, either Pikes Peak or the north slope of Mt. Everest. Let’s go back to my comment of we are going to rock this and change that to, who am I kidding. Well, 10 paces behind her and my heart pumping like a steam engine we top the hill. Then I either began suffering from altitude sickness after that climb, or maybe realized that from our mountain top position, I notice that there is no one in view but that one lone couple. I am now having trouble maintaining the wife’s pace, and tell her to keep going and I will keep up. She makes some comment, in her snide, yet loving voice and I snap back that she should stop yelling at me. Well change my name to horse’s ass at that moment, and get me a ladder so I can climb back up to street level since I feel so little for yelling at her. Undaunted and determined to see me finish my first half. She blows off my attitude and we push on. Then along comes my old friend who thought I was Robert, and offers words of encouragement. OK he can live. Now back to the race. The end is near, the miles have flown by, and we are almost entering the park again. Fueled by my wife’s love and determination to see me shine in my moment, I get a new a burst of energy and confidence. And we enter the park closing the gap on that one lone couple. Now the wife said we could have caught them, but at this point I would feel bad passing them after the hard work they put into this half. And then the ground opened up and one final obstacle appears in our path. The trail from hell. Part lime, part grass, mostly mud and tree roots. Set on a 65 degree slope and slick as a skating rink we battle on. Then we see the finish line, and I watch as the lone couple celebrates their victory against the trail. And then we begin our final push. Last place, probably 1.5 hours behind the first group we make our final dash. Hand in hand, smiling like we just won a gold medal, we cross the finish line. My first race is in the bag. I have just lived a dream I thought I would never see. I ran a half marathon with my best friend. I won; I am feeling like a superstar. No fan fair, no pictures, and no gallery of spectators. Just my best friend, partner in crime, coach, and love of my life, Melissa Oltman. Today I learned several valuable lessons. I learned that if I put my mind to something, I can do it. But most important I learned that the only people, who matter when life’s important challenges are met, are your family and friends. During this race I began to think I should just run my half marathons privately on our local trail. I had my mind set on the fact that slowing my wife down and making her finish last was wrong. But her love and understanding of the importance of this, my first half, proves to me that I will get stronger and faster through our runs. And knowing that no matter where I finish in a race I am a winner to her, has renewed my drive to run. And run we will.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 04:24:33 +0000
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