The Marathon Mojo

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I have 2 days until my marathon, and I’m having a blast.  There is nothing like the anticipation of race day that gets me going.  It’s like Christmas wrapped in big bow of pain, sweat, cursing, and grit (And if you have kids, that is exactly what Christmas is).  That’s race mojo.  That mix of anticipation, nervousness, and elation all rolled into a goal time that looms over you like a giant tree waiting to fall.  Then there’s all the crazy things that you’ll put yourself through to eke out those extra seconds which could mean ultimate victory or agonizing defeat.  The amount of crazy you will subject yourself to is of course proportional to the length of the race.  For a 5k, some hard training will do, and maybe even with a weight vest.  With a 10k, weekly interval sessions and cross-training.  With a half, carbo-loading, numerous hill sessions, and careful diet management.  With a marathon, all of the above but at 30-50 miles per week.  Don’t let anyone tell you different.  All the training we subject ourselves to for our sport is clearly insane.  And then there’s the extra crazy, like the following:

I’ve got my Flash ring.  I got this little baby from Rick’s Comic City when I bought the first issue of the The Flash.  If this isn’t a sign I don’t know what is.  So I’ve worn it everywhere to tap into whatever speed power I can steal from it.  My friend TK saw it, and she demanded that I get her one for her (she’s running the half).  I told Rick that he should open a booth at the expo, because he would sell a million of them.

I’ve got my Marathon theme.  Theme, you ask?  Why yes…I do have a theme.  Originally, I was going to go with something fairly obvious in honor of the Country Music Marathon, like “Redneck Running,” but I have since changed my mind.  Instead, I’m going with “Run Like an Outlaw.”  I can’t take the credit for the idea, because I heard it in the song Wild, Wild West by Randy Houser.  I’m sure Psyche will try to take credit for my theme, but don’t listen to her.  I’ve even got my playlist loaded with every drinking, redneck, horse riding song that I could find.  Yeehaw!

See what I mean.  I’m generally otherwise rational person.  However when faced with a marathon, I will wear a plastic ring with lightening bolt and search every country song for the right tempo and attitude.  But hey, it’s fun too.  This could be my last marathon ever, so I figure, I may as well take it to Nth degree and enjoy the hell out of it.  This my friends is marathon mojo.

Tomorrow I’m spending most of the day at the expo.  Ryan Hall and Eddie George are supposed to be there, so I’m hoping to score a couple of autographs on top of my expo swag.  Like I said, I’m having a blast.  If you’re in town for the race, come by the expo, I’ll be the Filipino idiot singing country songs and stuffing gels into my mouth.  Awesome.  No hard numbers today.  It is taper week after all, but going into the race, I currently have 18 miles for the week.  I may try to grab a couple miles tomorrow, just to shake the nerves out, but we’ll see.

The Covenant Health Knoxville Expo Report

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  As I said in my previous post, I was in Knoxville for the Covenant Health Knoxville Half-Marathon.  I went up on Saturday to pick up my packet and spend the day at the expo checking out vendors and sponsors and schmoozing with the speakers as I was travelling by myself.Right off the bat, I have to say that I was really impressed with the number of vendors that showed up for what I consider a relatively “small” race (I don’t know…is 5500+ registered runners small?  It’s no Rock & Roll Marathon). 

One of the vendors, River Sports Outlets had your usual supply of running socks and apparel.  Their cool, signature product was the Vibram Five Fingers shoes.  They had several pair of various sizes for people to try.  So of course, I had to try one on.  Frankly, I was not impressed.  The shoe, for obvious reasons, has to be tight, but it just didn’t seem comfortable to me.  Also my toes are NOT that stubby.  They just like they are in those shoes.

The expo had several speakers, including Mark Remy and Anthony Famiglietti.  I had hoped to hear Mark Remy speak, but I didn’t leave Nashville early enough.  He was kind enough to autograph my copy of The Runner’s Rule Book and he even let me have my picture taken with him.  Unfortunately, a very kind gentleman was taking the picture with my phone and I gave him bad directions on how to use it, so the picture was less than stellar.  To save myself further embarrassment, I have opted not to post the picture here.  Sorry, but even I know better sometimes.

I did get to hear Anthony Famiglietti.  He talked about how races give runners a chance to lay it all on the line to go for your goal.  It was like he was talking to me.  I found myself nodding along with him as he talked about being part of a sporting community that supported each other in our goals to be better, stronger, faster.  That our community was stronger by the fact that we didn’t judge each other where we finished in a race but encouraged each other to race in the first place.

And I guess that’s when it hit me.  Sure I enjoyed buying stuff (like socks, shirts, shoes, bottles, etc.) and checking out new products, but the thing that I love about races and expos is that I get to spend some time with my people.  Whether they are slower or faster than me, we all share that desire to get up to the starting line and lay it all out to the finish.  I love the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V, and that’s why I love getting my friends to races with me.  So that at the finish line, whenever we finish, “we happy few, we band of brothers” will know that crossed that line together.  Later kids!

***Final Note:  Needless to say, none of what I have accomplished or learned about myself could have been possible without the love and support of my wife and family.  Whenever I faltered or questioned my resolve, they have been there to cheer me on and push me out the door to keep my feet on the ground and my chin in the air.  Thanks guys.***