Country Music Marathon

My third marathon took place in Nashville in April 2008. My aunt Sandy had been asking me for a while to run in the marathon in Nashville. They live in Franklin, so she said we could stay with them and she would pay for my race fee. I really prepared well for this one. It was a really organized marathon. I had no idea how big the race was going to be. They had over 20,000 runners. It was huge! Auburn and Melina did a mile run the night before the marathon. They did well and got a real medal for finishing the race. They had a lot of fun. They got to shake Jeff Fisher's (Tennessee Titans head football coach) hand as they crossed the finish line. They had no idea who he was. Daddy knew and thought it was cool. The course had more hills than I anticipated. I held up pretty well the first half of the marathon. I was determined to reach my goal of running under 4 hours. I stayed with one of the pace runners. They have runners that hold up a sign during the race for what time they will finish. I found the one with 4 hours and I was going to stay with him no matter what. We had about 30 people running in the group. Unfortunately, we only ended up with 3 of us at the end. You have so many emotions that go through your mind when you are running a marathon. You get angry, sad, happy, and there are usually some tears mixed in there. Towards the end of the marathon, I was starting to get mad at the pace runner. I couldn't figure out why he was running so fast the last couple of miles. I don't think he was running faster, I just think I was really tired toward the end of the race. I stayed with him. I had to hit it pretty hard the last couple of hundred yards to make sure I finished in time. My finish time was 3 hours 59 minutes and 17 seconds. I actually did it! I was so excited. My body sure paid the price. I didn't hit the wall during the race, but I felt like I ran into one after the race. When I stopped running at the finish line, I almost collapsed. I was hurting pretty bad for the next couple of days. The whole drive home from Nashville, I was thinking about which marathon I was going to run next. Marathons are addicting. I started out only wanting to run one and now I want to run as many as I can while I am physically able to do so. The Nashville Marathon was by far my best running experience. I look forward to the marathons in Miami and Tampa for 2009. Next up is the Boston mini-marathon October 25. My dad is going to run that one with me after having double knee replacement surgery a couple of years ago. He is excited and he will do great. I am there to run at his pace and cross the finish line with him. Hopefully his knees can hold up so he can run the marathon with me in Miami.

West Palm Beach Marathon

The second marathon I ran was in West Palm Beach in December of 2006. I was born in Palm Beach Gardens and my dad grew up in West Palm Beach. He ran long distance on the track team in high school and he did a lot of his running in his youth near where the marathon would take place. I gained my desire for long distance running from seeing my dad run growing up. We would enter 5k races and run them as a family. Since my dad was my insipiration for running, I decided that this would be a good marathon to run. I was going to dedicate the race to him and give him my medal. I didn't quite train for this marathon as well as I should have. I had some injuries in flag football that interupted my training schedule. I got a little confident since I had already completed one marathon. The heat really got to this race. It was 85 degrees an hour into the race and it beat me up. I had to walk quite a few times after mile 23. I would run for four minutes and walk for 30 seconds. I was so tired! Didn't hit the wall, but came real close. I finished the race in 4 hours 25 minutes. I was sorely disappointed with my results. I decided that I would not be this unprepared for the next marathon. The hard part about the race was that we passed the finish line twice before we actually finished the race. It was not fun passing the finish line at mile 20 with 6 miles to go. I made a shadow box for my dad with a poem in it dedicating the race to him. I gave it to him for Christmas. Auburn and Melina (my daughters) ran a short race the day before my race. They got a t-shirt and medal for their race. They had a really good time. I was really proud of them.

How my love for marathons began

It seems just like yesterday, actually 5 years ago, that I came up with the bright idea of running my first marathon. Little did I know the amount of preperation that would be involved in training for a marathon. I decided to run in the Jacksonville Bank Marathon in December 2003. I heard that marathons could be addicting, but I assured Lori (my wife) that this was a "one and done" race. I play in an adult flag football league each fall, which severly hampered my time dedicated to training. I incur quite a few injuries playing quarterback for our flag football team. I tend to rely more on my legs than my arm. I did not do as much research as I should have before I started training. I had no idea how important my diet and the amount of rest I got would be during training. I also did not buy a good pair of shoes that comformed to the my feet. I began to experience a tremendous amount of pain on the bottom of my feet during training runs. I had decided to run a half marathon in Boston Georgia on Halloween weekend to prepare for the actual marathon in December. After visiting the doctor, I was diagnosed with a case of plantar fasciatus. The pain got so intense, that I had to to make a decision to run the half marathon and rest til my foot was better or keep training for the marathon and my body break down before I actually got to the race. I decided to run the half marathon and had a great time. I wasn't sure if I would try again for a marathon, but I got the itch again in the spring. I decided to try again for the Jacksonville Marathon. This time I ate better, got more rest, and bought a good pair of shoes that were right for my type of feet. I put in the proper training and went in with the goal of finishing in 4 hours. I heard that 4 hours was a good time for running a marathon. I new I had to beat the time Oprah ran her marathon in. No way I was going to get beat by Oprah. Lori likes watching Oprah, so I heard all about the marathon she ran. The race went well in Jacksonville. I didn't stop at all during the race and finished in 4 hours and 16 minutes. I didn't meet my goal of 4 hours, but I did beat Oprah's time. I never did hit the wall during the race either. When I initially finished, I said I was never doing one of these again. After about a week, I felt really down. I wasn't training and I didn't have a schedule telling what I was supposed to run each day. I felt like I didn't have a purpose when it came to running. It was such a rush crossing the finish line that I wanted to experience that again and again. That is where the addiction was born. I am in such good shape when I am training and I feel so good. It really helps me clear my mind. I will give some more insight as to what I experience as I train and run the races.