The End of the Line

Nike+: 26.54 @ 4:06:23 (9:17/mile)
Official Results: 26.2 @ 4:05:57 (9:23/mile)
Overall Place: 674/1807
Gender Place: 542/1179
Division Place: 101/193
Weather: about 60 degrees and rainy
Gear: black/gold shorts, white/black phoenix shirt, St. Louis 1/2 Marathon Hat, orange/red colorful sock, carried 4 gels but only ate 3 gels (5, 10 and 16 miles)

Well, it has been about a week since the Big Show. We worried about rain and it did indeed rain the entire race. However, there were no blisters and the temperature was nice. I was very comfortable in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt.

There are probably a lot of things I could write about the race, but I guess the biggest surprise to me was the fact that I never really hit a wall. I started out clocking about a 10-minute mile on the first mile and gradually increased to eventually clock in at 1:59 at the half-marathon mark. This meant that I was on a sub-4 hour finish pace. However, somewhere around mile 14 or 15, I began to slow down. This was after taking 3 Advil at mile 14 when I ran past my former apartment on Forsyth/Big Bend Boulevard. It's weird to think that I lived there from 2003-2004 while working at MICDS. Exactly five years ago, I attended the Mankind Project this same time in 2004 (to honor this experience, I smudged Posscoon and Dark Horse in St. Louis the evening before we ran). It's been a productive 5 years - in more ways than one. In 2004-2005, I directed a college counseling program, in 2005-2008, I earned a graduate degree in photojournalism and authored a book, and by 2008-2009 I had a full-time job taking pictures. In terms of physical fitness, I chalked up three 1/2 marathons and a couple of weightlifting medals at the Show-Me State games in 2007. But probably the most important thing to happen to me was marrying Mary. The beat of her yamato drum keeps me grooving to a positive rhythm. All of my other accomplishments are more or less bullshit.

In the 18 weeks of formal training for the marathon, I only missed one workout - way back in the beginning during the week of Christmas when I was in Omaha. To make up for the missed day, I made up the mileage the same week on other runs. I ended up completing about 70 training runs and about 440 miles before the Big Show. This routine motivated me to finish strong. Because Dark Horse, Posscoon and I completed so many challenging runs on hills throughout Columbia, the terrain in St. Louis proved very manageable. I think all 3 of us would agree that there really weren't any hills at the actual race. Easley Hill, High Point Lane, Woodie Proctor, Old Plank Road, Route N, Providence, Stadium and Rollins got me ready. Yes, my knees and thighs hurt before the race, but I was confident that if my knees didn't buckle and that if my muscles didn't freeze, I'd be alright. My #1 goal was a sub-4 hour race. My #2 goal was a 4:10 race. My #3 goal was a 4:22. My #4 goal was to finish. I missed the mark on #1, but was very pleased with a time of 4 hours and 6 minutes. As I was coming up on mile 22 or so, I saw Dark Horse ahead of me. I caught up with him and we smiled as we continued to run side-by-side. We started training together at the Rec Center with a 3 miler and we ended up finishing together. For the last 4 miles, our collective energy kept the wheels rolling and we finished strong. I can remember when Dark Horse told me on the way to work in my truck that he wanted to run a marathon before his 30th birthday. I told him I was going to take on St. Louis. He was thinking about the Chicago marathon in October, but decided on St. Louis instead. Posscoon was thinking about the New York Marathon. He, too, decided to give St. Louis a shot. Part of our success is attributable to a trio of dedication, commitment and group liability. We ran along the lonesome valley individually, but supported each other by beginning almost all of our long Saturday or Sunday runs together. When absent from each other, we kept the lines of communication open by calling and texting.

There aren't a lot of things that I'm terribly proud of in my life, but training for a marathon is up there at the top of the list. I don't really know how important the race was, but the training proved quite meaningful to me. All 3 of us took it seriously and didn't shy away from going out and challenging ourselves in some rough conditions. We ran when it was cold, when it was windy, when it was snowing, and when it was dark. Running proved to offer many life lessons for me. Perhaps the most important was: "keep moving." Ever forward, never backward. No matter what, get my ass off the couch and get out and do what I committed to do. It's a weird thing to go out and run for the sake of running. I honor Dark Horse and Posscoon for joining me on this journey. i will miss our time together. As I continue to run, you both will remain in my mind and heart (and hopefully in my legs).

Dark Horse provided discipline. Posscoon kept things simple. In the end, all three of us proved an unbreakable link in the chain of finishing what we started. Never again will we run our first marathon. It was a special season for the Running Deer. He avoided the hunters, the wolves and the woes of humanhood. He expects to run another day.

I'd also like to give a shout-out to Mary and my Mom, who both finished the 1/2 marathon. They beat their previous times from last year and finished much higher in their respective age groups than me. Mary finished in the top 10% of her division (she even slowed down a little and ran with me from about mile 9 to mile 10 when we overlapped on the course) and my Mom finished in the top 21% of age group. I didn't even finish in the top 50% of males, 35-39. But on the plus side, I can be proud that I beat the average overall (men and women) marathon time and the average overall male marathon time. As my friend Christian once said, "The ultimate race is with oneself." I don't have any regrets.

To my blog followers, thank you for joining me on this marathon. I appreciate your support and honestly believe that your supportive thoughts kept me going. If you ever need my mental energy to get you to the finish line, you've got it.

Ever forward, never backward.