Steve Blogs!: December 2012

It was a dark and stormy morning...well, not really - but it sure was cold.

Me and my running partner/best friend Zeus

Having started running in May of this year (2012), I was planning on working my way up at a moderate pace. I ran two 5K races this year, and had planned a third when a broken foot sidelined me at the beginning of November. I subsequently volunteered both days of the Williams Route 66 Marathon, and had such a blast working the Center of the Universe Detour during the full marathon that I decided, the next day, to sign up for the 2013 Williams Route 66 Half.

Then I got wind of a virtual half marathon that was being planned on Twitter by @marathongrl71, her sister Brenda in California, and @runnermommy2008. (If you're reading this and you're not following both of these awesome ladies, you should do so now - I've linked their profiles above. I'll wait...) Both Michelle's, along with sister Brenda, were encouraging everyone to run 13.1 miles on December 22 and then tweet their times along with the hashtag #virtualhalfmary.

And so I altered my training so that I would be able to run most, if not all, of the 13.1 that day. My original plan had me running six miles and walking three that morning, completing the rest of it that afternoon. My final (and only) long run of 9.5 miles was completed the weekend before, and I felt ready to run most (if not all) of it.

My phone beeped at 4am the morning of the 22nd, and I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs to down some coffee before saddling up my trusty running partner, Zeus, and heading out.

My planned route was to run the 1.5 miles to the LaFortune Running Trail, run two laps (each lap being 3.1-ish miles), walk a third, and then run as much of a fourth lap as I could manage, hitting 13.1 right at the end of that fourth lap.

We immediately headed out into the cold, cold morning, running west towards the park. However, less than a half mile into it, the idea of running laps left me cold (pun only partially intended), so when we got to Sheridan, we turned right and headed south towards 71st street. I was already frantically mapping a new route in my head - we'd run down 71st street to Riverside drive, then either proceed on to Turkey Mountain or follow the Riverside running trail down to 61st street.

I was amazed at how quiet the normally packed 71st street was at 5am, and quickly realized that, in my haste, I had neglected to think things through.

First, 71st street is hilly. Really hilly. As soon as I hit the Sheridan intersection and turned west again, it was a steady uphill jog to (and past Yale). Then, a little past Yale, it was a steady downhill incline to Harvard, at which point it was another long uphill then downhill slog to Lewis, before it leveled out.

Second, I had failed to anticipate how dark it would be along some stretches of 71st where there were no streetlights. I adjusted my trusty headlamp so that it was shining on the sidewalk directly in front of me, and pressed on through those areas.

We finally hit Riverside and turned north to follow the trail towards 61st street. Shortly after crossing 61st, we hit the 6.6 mile mark (unofficial halfway point!) and stopped for a breather and some quick pictures, which Zeus did NOT cooperate for and which didn't come out anyway. Then we turned around and ran back (at least most of the way), but on the opposite side of the street, which was slightly better lit.

It really didn't hit me what I was doing, and what I was about to accomplish, until we were on the final long downhill section towards the 71st Street/Sheridan Ave intersection. At that point, I had surpassed twelve miles, the furthest (and at just over two hours at that point, the longest) I'd ever run. More than that, though I was about to complete a goal I had envisioned for late 2013 - the successful completion of a half marathon.

Sure, it wasn't an "official" half marathon in the sense that it was a certified course with cheering crowds and race officials and bibs, but I was about to complete a 13.1 "race" (along with dozens of Twitter friends all over the world who had run or would be running the same "race" with me), and best of all, I'd soon be getting a medal in the mail, testifying to my accomplishment!

We got home, I stopped my GPS, let Zeus loose in the backyard and went it to the house - I'd been gone two-and-a-half hours, and EVERYONE WAS STILL ASLEEP! No one to tell about what I'd just done, but more importantly, no one to take a picture of us! So I got my tripod, attached my wife's camera to it, figured out how to set the timer, and snapped a couple of pics of us - one is at the top of this post, and here's the other:

Having just run 13.1, ready for a long winter's nap...

I set the timer, sat on the ground...and as this was the first time I'd been off my feet in almost three hours, I immediately collapsed, the camera catching the moment for all posterity. I don't know what had Zeus' attention - perhaps a stray cat or a bunny or something.

And so that's it - nearly a year earlier than I'd anticipated, I had my first half marathon in the bag. I'm expecting my medal in the mail any day, and I'll append a pic of that when it comes.

As for the rest of the day, it was business as usual - housework, Christmas shopping, time with the kids, and plenty of vitamin "I"...all the usual weekend stuff.

And Zeus did his usual weekend stuff as well: