The taste of victory is sweet! I've had an ear to ear grin ever since Sunday morning that just won't go away. 3:10.36 is the official time. With just 23 secs to spare, I'm headed to Boston!!
To start, I would say that the 3 days leading up to the race were executed flawlessly. Angie and I had an easy flight to Dallas. We decided to go to the race expo on Friday afternoon. I was glad we did, because we did a lot of walking. I was happy to be able to rest my legs on Saturday, minus the easy 2mile morning run I did to flush out the legs from the taper. My mom cooked an awesome dinner Saturday night, and I was packed to the gills with carbs.
I laid out my race uniform and fastened my bib# on Saturday night, making sure I had everything ready go. Angie and I woke up at 5am on race day. However, something unusual happened. As I stretched in bed a charlie horse swelled up in my right calve. I had to leap out of bed and apply pressure to kill the pain. I could feel the knot pulsing high in the center of my calve. Charlie horses are usually a sign of dehydration, but I had been drinking a ton of water that past few days, specifically to add extra hydration to my taper plan, so this was totally out of whack. I tried to massage the knot a little as I a prepared to get ready. I went through my regular race day rituals, this time incorporating some scrambled eggs and dry toast an hour before we left. Normally I don't eat before a half-marathon, but for the 'full' I've experimented and found that a light breakfast 2 hours before the race provides a lot of extra power.
Angie and I arrived at the American Airlines Center about 45min before race start. The temps were in the high 40's with low winds, but it was extremely foggy. You could only see half way up the skyscrapers. I waited until 15min before the start to take off my sweats and get ready. They finally called for everyone to take their spots. I handed my stuff to Angie and she wished me good luck. I made my way towards the start and found the 3:10 pace group. I quickly noticed they were positioned a good 30 yards from the actual start line. This made me a little uneasy. Even though I was placed in the 1st start wave, all the half-marathoners started at the same time, and I noticed a lot of 'slow movers' that would be right in our path. I decided to stick with the game plan, since I feared going out too fast anyway. As the gun went off it was just as I expected, a huge mass bottleneck. It actually took us 57 seconds to cross the line. We immediately had to start fighting the crowds and getting up to pace. I took a couple elbows to the ribs and few kicks to the legs fending off the sea of runners. The first mile was way too slow at just under 8min. I knew we were in trouble as the crowd was still very thick.
We continued to jockey for position through the first 4-5miles, dropping to sub7 pace to make up the delta from the first mile. The pace felt easy but I knew we would pay for this mistake in the final miles. As we crossed through the 10k, we were almost exactly on pace and the crowd was starting to thin out. The weather was ideal. I settled in comfortably to the rhythm of the group and tried to relax from the frantic start.
The first 10 miles to the lake felt effortless and I started to day dream of surging to the front and tearing down the road, imagining myself running a sub3 finish with ease, but quickly reminded myself to stick to the plan. However, reality set in around mile 13 (1hr:34min) as I was rudely awakened by Mr Charlie Horse. "Hey there" Charlie said. "Remember me from this morning. I'm still here, just buried in your calve, ready to tighten up and destroy your race". I tried to forget about Charlie and stay with the pack. However, in the back of my mind I feared at some point... 18, 20 or 23 miles the cramping and tightening would bring me to a full blown stop.
Around mile 16 our pack whittled down significantly to around 10 runners. It's at this point I noticed myself beginning to fade as well and I tried to relax and focus on my rhythm and breathing, "soft and easy, strong and confident". I gave myself affirmations. "Stay with the pack, the pain is only temporary." Miles 18-20 required a lot of effort to stay at pace and I let the pack gain several yards on me as I strung off the back with a few other runners. I did a time check at mile 20 and realized that we had gained exactly 1 minute of extra time from goal pace.
Miles 20-22 have a slight incline and a few short steep hills referred to as the 'The Dolly Parton's'. This is where the Hooters aid station was, which for all the pain I was starting feel, still gave me a little chuckle as girls attempted to hand out cups of beer. Time check, mile 21 was a 7:50 (the wall), way off pace and I knew I was in big trouble. Not only was I fading fast but there was still more incline. I spotted Middlekauff, Michelle and Doug. Ryan shouted "Run Bailey, Run" with a huge mega horn. It brought a smile to my face to see friends and family and definitely gave me a big boost.
Time check, mile 22 was 7:39, way too slow but at least faster. It's at this point I realized that I had completely eaten into the 1 minute buffer we had maintained and I might not make it. The 3:10 group was now a way in the distance. Extreme fatigue washed over me. Mr Charlie Horse was still there but had not gotten any worse. I grabbed for some banana from an aid station and slammed some Gatorade, took my last gel pack and decided it was now or never. Time check, mile 23 was 7:20. "I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to make it". I had done the math and it was not going to be possible. There was no way I could physically bring myself to run faster at this point. I thought of all the training, all the miles, all the work.
Here's where time stops, adrenaline takes over... there's nothing left, everything has been depleted... it's all heart, mind over matter. How bad do you want it? How far are you willing to push to get it? How much pain are you willing to endure for that moment of glory? It's right here, right now. What are you going to do? Focus..."you are fast"
Time check, mile 24 was a 6:15. Out of nowhere I had regained over a full minute in 1 mile. Now I was right back on track, I couldn't believe it. 2.2 miles to go, "just hang in there". I quickly did the math and realized there was no time to breath. Mile 25 was 6:42. I heard an announcement shortly after, "1 mile to go". I closed my eyes briefly and strained to push away the pain. We rounded the corner for the home straight, pounding the pavement towards the American Airlines Center. There was one more corner, and then the finish line suddenly appeared in the distance. I looked at my watch to see the seconds flip to 3hr:10min. I was about 200 meters away and I knew I had it.
I crossed the finish line and heard Angie screaming my name. She saw the clock had pasted 3:11 and didn't know that I had started 57 seconds after the gun time. I yelled to her "I did it, I did it", and she burst into tears. It was a pretty emotional finish, but it made it that much sweeter. I grabbed my finishers metal and headed off to meet Angie, Doug, Ryan and Michelle.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!
