Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon – Saturday
November 10, 2012 The days leading up to the race were done in taper format,
and not too mention a little cautious activity of biking and swimming. I had
injured my knee or at least the tendons surrounding the knee during my Augusta
70.3 Ironman race back on September 30, 2012. I also, had a deep tissue massage
three days before race date, and during the massage I could have jumped out of
my skin from the pain, but I just gritted my teeth, and told the masseuse to
continue what she was doing. What’s a little pain any way?
The night before the race I lay on the bed to get some rest
at around 10:00pm Friday night, and went to sleep around 11:00pm. On race
nights I usually don’t sleep much, but since this race didn’t involve swimming,
I slept like a baby for the whole four and a half hours. I woke up at 3:30am
Saturday morning, got dressed grabbed a protein shake, and a banana and hit the
road, it was a two and a half hour drive to the race.
I arrive at the race jump out and walk to the check-in tent
to get my race chip, gloves, and long-sleeve race shirt. The morning temps were
a chilly 37 degrees at 6:00am. After checking in I went back to the vehicle and
sat there for the next hour with it running in order to stay toasty warm. While
sitting in the vehicle I went through my pre-race check of sunglasses, sun tan
lotion, and switched shoes. The time hit 7:05am and the race started at 7:30am
so I hopped out of the vehicle, put on my running belt with 20oz of low carb
Gatorade, and packed my 5 Vanilla and Strawberry Stingers into the pocket of
the belt, and then headed back to the tent. It was warm under the tent with
everyone in such a close area and everyone’s body heat.
I had done an 8 mile bike ride the day before at an easy
pace, and the bike did not give me any issues with my knee, so I had positive
thoughts and two extra strength Tylenol pills in me, so I was ready to go. As
the sun came up just before the start of the race and the runners took to the
street to lineup, you could see the area and it was beautiful. The race was a
mass start no corrals. The announcer for the race warned us that we would be
hearing a loud boom to start the race which would be the result of a cannon
being fired. My plan for the race was to
go out slow, taken in a mixture of water from aide stations, and Gatorade that
I carried with me, and to eat a stinger waffle every 45 minutes.
The boom came, and the race began. I was in the middle of
the pack, and it took awhile for the masses to thin out enough to actually take
some running strides. We made a single loop around the starting area, and then
headed toward the battlefields which we would run through the majority of the
race, they were made up of dirt roads, a couple of dirt trails, and some
finished roads. I was feeling okay through the first two miles, but just a
little bit after the beginning of mile three the tendons around my knee started
tightening up again, however I had Tylenol in me an I was able to keep a good
pace. At mile marker 8 I took another does of Tylenol in preparation for the
first does to start wearing off. I was good through the first 10 miles, and
kept up about a 10:20 min per mile pace. Much faster then where I wanted to be,
but the pace was comfortable even through the tightness. During the first ten
miles, I kept telling myself though this pace is too fast, you need to slow
down fool, but when I looked down after completing mile 8 I saw that I had
dropped my pace down to almost a 10:00 min mile. If I were healthy or at least
not had a concern about my knee I would have been fine with the pace, but I did
have concerns. So at mile 11 I forced myself to drop my pace. As I was going
past the turns to either go straight for half marathon or take a left to go
marathon route, I have to admit with the tension and pain starting in the knee
I did give a brief thought to turning this into a 13,1 distance, but I had a
discussion with myself, and heart won over brain that day. The heart said, you
signed up for a marathon, you have done halves before, you can’t drown on the
course by slowing down/stopping so make the left and keep going and stop
whining. I did just that. Miles 11-18 were done exactly where I wanted them,
sitting at right around an 11:30 per mile pace. At mile 19 is where things
started to take a sour turn. I ran out of Tylenol both in my system and in my
pocket so my pain suppressant was gone. I knew at mile 19 that I was not going
to be able to hit my goal which was 4:45:00 for the race time given the pain,
so I allowed myself to slow down not to do any more damage then what has
already been done. The rest of the race was going to be run (I use the term run
in its loosest form) on determination, guts, and heart. My heart asked for it
and now it got what it wanted, and now it was time to prove itself.
At mile 19 I started to slow further, I was down to a 12:30
per mile pace average. I was running a 3-2 Galloway
method. Three minutes of running to two minutes of walking. This went on
through mile 24. Mile 25 brought the worst of the day, although miles 23 and 24
were no joke either. Mile 25 I actually thought that I might have to walk the
rest of the way into finish. I saw an older age grouper women in front of me
having difficulty, so I walked up to her and asked if she was okay, she said
yes. We walked together for a couple minutes, and I told her that she only had
1.2 miles to go, and the body can do anything for 1.2 miles. She smiled and
started a light jog. I jogged with her for a minute, making sure that she would
be okay, and then dug deeper for myself and listened to what I just had told
the women. So instead of taking any walk breaks for the last 1.2 miles, I just
kept a slow jog to the finish line. I crossed the line in an Official time of
5:11:06.
As I crossed the finish line I received my medal, and since
it was my first marathon, they had a special plaque with my race number framed,
and they took a picture. The day was complete. I had competed and completed in
my first marathon. I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza and water before
walking to the tent to watch the award ceremonies for those fine athletes that
did such an amazing job on that day. I walked to my car, called my wife to let
her know I made it, changed into some other clothes, and headed off to find
some lunch before making the two hour drive back home.
That evening I was sore over the entire lower portion of my
body. I walked like Frankenstein and had trouble negotiating steps. I put my
legs up for awhile, then went to dinner with my wife and son, and headed to bed
early. The next morning I was tight, but amazingly enough it didn’t feel as if
I had done any further damage to my knee. So, I went to the gym, and spent some
easy time on the elliptical, and then went to the whirlpool for some soothing
hot water jet massages.
Two years ago November 10 I weighed 333 pounds, and fell
asleep during conversations with people, and had to park next to any store I
went in so I would not have to walk an extra few feet. My life has changed, and
for that I am grateful and thankful for all those who support me in my
endeavors. I am already signed up for Goofy Challenge in January at Disney
World. For those of you who don’t know it is a half marathon on Saturday
followed by a full marathon on Sunday. The name fits the event. I am so
excited, and the next couple of months will be spent rehabbing my knee and
getting ready for the race. Bring It!!!
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