My First Half Marathon: The Abebe Bikila International Peace Race Recap

I was expecting a road race, not a trail run... I was expecting to finish under 2 hours and 30 minutes, not over 3 hours.  And I was expecting to have a great first half marathon race performance, not a tough, grind it out, push through the pain first half marathon race performance.

Yep... This race was nothing like I expected it to be.  Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

I woke up, like I normally do on race day at 4:30 am.  The race was scheduled to start at 8:00 am.  This race was part of a celebration for my running partner's birthday.  He was running his first half marathon and I was too!!  We trained through the heat and humidity all summer long for this and we were going to have a great time.

I woke the family up and they got ready... Throughout my training, my wife, Kim, has been great support.  She regularly gets the kids ready, while I try to focus on getting myself together.  She's taken the kids to school on days she doesn't have to work, while I'm out getting my training runs in.  I'm very appreciative of her support because, there is no way that I could spend the amount of time I do, running, without her assistance.  Not to mention, she's been at every race I've done this year including this one.  Thank you dear!

So, I wanted to be at the start line by 7 am.  I always try to get to a race early because I want to settle down, experience the sights all around, enjoy the smells in the air and get focused.  I don't ever want to rush because I don't like running with a flustered mind.  Running is a sanctuary for me, so I want to be as zen-like as possible.

Anyway, we arrived at the race around 7:15 which wasn't bad.  My running partner, Mike and his wife, was already there and ready to go.  We felt really good about this race!!  We had come out here a couple of weeks before to run in the area and get a feel for how things would be on race day.  We attempted to run the course, but got lost.  A few days earlier, I downloaded the course map.  It was an out and back on the C&O Canal in Washington, DC near Georgetown.  Unfortunately, it didn't spell out whether it would be on pavement or on gravel and rocks.  We ran the pavement route and it took us into Georgetown on K Street, by the Washington Harbor.  I was guessing whether or not we were right about the direction of the course at this point...

We decided to forget about the course map and run our own route.  We just wanted to get some good mileage in.  We ran past the Kennedy Center, through Washington Harbor and crossed the Key Bridge into Crystal City, VA and took the path back to where we started.  Our route totaled 12.3 miles.

Suffice it to say, we felt pretty good about the race...

There was no chip timing for this race.  I asked and one of the volunteers said that our time would be tracked manually.  There was a strip at the bottom of our bib that would be torn off and collected when we finished.  There was one clock with the time on it and the director himself would input each runners finishing time into a database.  Let’s just say that I was happy to have my Garmin with me.

As we got to the starting line, we noticed that there were actually two different paths: one was gravel, dirt and rocks and the other paved.  The starting line was over the gravel path.  I chuckled to myself and said that they probably want us to run out on gravel and come back on the paved path.  Man, was I wrong!!

The national anthem was sung and not to be mean, but, you could tell that the singer didn't have hot tea or coffee before she sang.  The 'frog was still in her throat' and those higher notes of our wonderful American theme song were a little too high to reach.  She actually apologized after she missed the notes a couple of times.  I didn't laugh at the time, but after thinking about it I laugh now.  We pitifully began assisting in the singing to bring her on home.  And we all clapped at the end of the unfortunate but genuine performance.  I've had my embarrassing moments in front of people I didn't know, so I know what it feels like to bomb.  But, just like a runner would, she got through the finish and that's what it's all about.

Well, I made a bathroom stop and all the runners moved into the starting area and waited for the gun to go off.  We saw the pack slowly shuffle forward and off we went.  I started my Garmin and was ready to go!  This run already showed itself to be something that I was not accustomed to… Running on gravel, cobblestone and rocks is significantly different than running on pavement, asphalt and concrete.  The way my foot was landing provided a much different sensation.  My foot never landed evenly and this would be a problem as we got into higher mileage.

Miles 1-4 were pretty ok.  Mike and I ran and talked about everything from the new couch Kim and I purchased to running the Philly half marathon to going to Miami and running my first full marathon.  He might run it with me… We’ll see.

Anyway, the first aid station was around mile 3 or 3.5, they served water and lemon lime Gatorade.  I didn’t need anything at that point.  We were making good time.  Our strategy before the race began was to take it slow for the first half and then around mile 8, we’d pick it up a bit and finish strong.  The first half of the race went ok… I began feeling the effects of the terrain as we got closer to the 6.55 mile mark, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.  I just felt like I was working a little harder than I normally would on a long training run of about 10-12 miles on a smooth surface.

Now, for the two weeks leading up to this race, I was in a slight funk and I wrote about it in an earlier post.  I went to Winchester, VA to stay in a hotel with my family on Labor Day Weekend and I really feel like that was part of what took me out of my rhythm.  I was in a good training groove and I intended on running a long run while in Winchester, but it didn’t happen and ever since that week, I’ve been struggling mentally and my motivation has not been there.  I don’t know how and if Labor Day weekend had anything to do with it, but, I noticed a difference in my mentality.  As of today, September 22, 2013, I’m happy to say that I feel fine… I’m still working to get a good training week in of 25+ miles, but I feel like my drive to achieve is back.

I’m looking forward to a good week of running.

We were moving pretty steadily and around mile 5 we began to see the leaders coming back towards us.  That answered my question… We had to go out on the uneven trail and come back on the uneven trail.  I felt major punishment going and coming… There was no rest for the weary.  We were coming up on another aid station and I decided to take a Gatorade this time.  My knees were already bothering me and I assumed that this is what happens when you take 2 weeks off, in the name of tapering.  I was supposed to have gotten an 8 mile run in on the Sunday before the race… That didn’t happen.  I was supposed to have completed an easy run of 3.5 on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the race… That didn’t happen.  In my mind, I was resting my legs; but, the 12.3 mile training run that I ran with Mike, 2 weeks before the race was the last run I did of any notable distance.  Huge mistake…

The weekend before, I ran the NFL Back to Football 5k at FedEx Field and used that as speed work.  Frankly speaking, even that performance could’ve been better.  There’s one thing about my journey toward taking my health back that I’m noticing, I’m learning more and more about myself and the things I need to improve to be a better me.  This is a journey of self-discovery and I’m glad that you’ve decided to join me.

Well, we reached the half way mark…  I felt ok at that point.  I was happy to have reached 6.55 miles.  We were halfway there… We were halfway home!

We kept trucking and around mile 8.25, I began to feel a slight twinge in my left knee.  All throughout the first half, I could feel each rock and stone at various pressure points on my feet.  That sensation travelled up my legs in a way that I’ve never felt before.  I felt more pressure in my calves than I’d ever felt in any of my training runs.  I felt pain in feet and leg muscles that I’d never felt before in any of my training runs.  My ankles were on fire with soreness and we still had a little more than 4 miles to go!!  Not good.

We had already slowed to a pace that we’d never run before in training runs.  This uneven trail was wearing me out!!  I was drinking water more frequently now, not because it was hot… It wasn’t.  I was drinking more water, because I didn’t want to cramp up from dehydration.  I was working so hard.  Each time we came across an aid station, I took a Gatorade for the electrolytes.

It wasn’t working.  I was beginning to feel like if I dug deeper to try to move faster, my legs would seize up with cramps.  Too late… around mile 11, I started getting Charlie horses in the toes on my left foot.  Those Charlie horses turned into cramps in the top of my calves.  I then started to feel cramps in my hamstrings.  My ankles were already sore.  I had to walk.  This was pretty disappointing… I’ve never walked at any point in a long training run, but I didn’t have a choice here.

I realized that this is where the mental battle is fought.  When your body is being defiant and will not do what you want it to do, will you quit?  Thankfully, Mike was there.  After experiencing training runs of me pulling him through, this was his opportunity to return the favor and he did, like a champ!!  Knowing that I was in pain he tried running on the grass, which would’ve been softer. But, I couldn’t even bear that for too long.  I had to stop again and walk.

Mike was determined to finish and so was I.  That wasn’t even a question… The question in my mind, was how long it would take to get there.  I’m pretty sure that my pride was fueling the choice to run through the finish line.  I kept telling Mike that there was no way I was going to walk through it, with our wives and other family watching.  We were gonna run through the finish.  Around mile 12, my cousin, who ran the race with us, passed us.  We greeted each other, told him briefly what was going on and encouraged him to go ahead and not to wait for us, as he was running a very strong race.

We walked until we reached the 12.75 mark and got back to running.  At this point, for me, it was more like a shuffle.  As we got closer to the finish line, we could hear the spectators yelling and screaming in excitement.  This was a great feeling.  Seeing the finish line and all the people waiting there for us, took away the pain momentarily.

As we crossed the finish line, the person that gave us our finisher’s medals was none other than… my mother in law???  She came to watch us complete our first half marathon, but she had begun volunteering!! LOL… I got my finisher’s medal for my first half marathon from my mother in law.  I’m smiling and laughing in my head as I’m writing this.  I was happy to have finished my first half marathon and I don’t think anyone has ever had their mother in law give them their finisher’s medal.  This one is definitely for the books.

On the surface, this would speak to the lack of organization on the race director’s part.  But, looking past that, it enhances my personal experience in running this race.

As I sit here writing about the race and reminisce about all the events that happened, I would call this race a character building race.  This race showed me things that I may have already known, but also some things that I may not have known.  And the experience makes me better.

What did I learn from running my first half marathon?

I learned to finish something I started.  My life is full of things that I’ve started but haven’t finished… School, businesses, jobs, etc.  But, I was able to finish this.  I was able to finish my first half marathon.  It wasn’t pretty, but it was completed and that’s a huge step for me.  This will be a tool in improving myself into the person I envision being.

I learned that pain and discomfort will always be a part of the journey of doing something worthwhile.  Whether you’re running or working to achieve some other goal that you’ve set, there will be times when you will be tested mentally and physically.  What will you do?  How will you respond?  Are you determined to succeed?

I could definitely say a lot more about my first half marathon experience, but, I will more than likely draw from it as I grow in the future.

Overall, I’m happy with the outcome.  There’s nowhere to go, but up.  There’s nothing else to do but build and improve on this experience.  There’s no one to do it, but me.