The half marathon is over and I must say it was an expierience...After arriving in OKC, meeting up with Johnny and Lee and carb loading at the Cheesecake Factory, we made it to the hotel. The thought of going down to the lounge and hanging out for a while was good until we had to wake up at 430 in order to be at the race.
Walking outside Sunday morning was great. The temp was 56 degree and that was a blessing. The weather reports were saying cold and rain for Sunday so when we walked outside we were plesently surprised. As we got into the car we saw the first lighting bolt strike. When we got out of the car at the race, the temp had dropped 20 degrees and God opened the sky's with wonderful rain! I havent seen rain in months here in Lubbock so I was glad to see some.
The race was delayed 30 min due to lightning and we lined up at 630 in the corral with the other casual runners. We never could find Jay who was going to be our pace rabbit, so the 4 of us decided to stick together...Until johnny had to pee! The race starts and 3 of the 5 started running together. At mile 4, Lee feel back a little and Phillip and I took off. We were running strong on the cold wet course until mile 5 when we both had to stop at the porto potty! It took us close to 4 minutes to drain ourselves and I took off before phillip on my way to running a great time (for me). Phillip ended up catching me and passing me at mile 8 but I stayed within a few hundred yards of him and felt pretty strong up to Mile 11.
Mile 11 stunk! I started cramping so bad with every step. My first thought was to stretch it out and run faster. This was not a good idea. I had to stop on the side of the road and stretch my legs. After running about a 830 mile for 11 miles, it took me close to 19 minutes to get from mile 11 to mile 12. The last few miles were a blur as I tried not to cramp and strolled to the finish line.
As I crossed I see Phillip and Johnny wrapped in Solar blankets waiting on me. My first thought was Johnny didn't run. He had to have passed me and Phillip at some point and we never saw him. Must have been at the porto potty. Johnny amazed me. He said he was so concered about finding us that he just took off.....Ran fast all the way to the finish and beat both me and Phillip. About 20 min later, Lee crosses the finish line...This was awesome. If you dont know Lee he has a great story. He is a big guy but the size of his heart is bigger than anyone I have ever met.
After we found Lee and had been standing around the cold really got to us. It was FREEZING! We made the half a mile walk back to the car and headed to the hotel. Jay had passed us somewhere along the way and finished 5 minutes before Johnny and Phillip. It took me 2 hours and 10 min to finish. 10 min short of my goal, but you can't help cramps!
Learned....I will never be able to run with the best, but I am not going to quit. Running is an ultimate test of your mental capacity. Unlike the FFCC where you know you are done in 2 min, running 13 miles will have you question your mental strength from the start. Everyone is tired, everyone wants to stop and walk, everyone wants to quit and everyone is hurting...you just have to keep running. I need to apply what I learned running this race to my spiritual life and family life. When it gets tough just put your nose to the grindstone and RUN.
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