The day was a perfect day. The temperature started off in the 40's and was warming up into the mid 50's. Now, I was a bit concerned about my performance as I have been feeling a bit under the weather. I developed a head cold and have been trying to get over it. Nevertheless, it was race day and no time for excuses.
We get called to go out for the start of the race. We are running thru downtown Birmingham past one of the local colleges, several historical areas and quite a few parks. It was a very scenic route but it does need a little work. (Roads are in need of some re-surfacing.)
The gun sounds and we are on the way. Starting out with a slight jog. Nothing to fast or strenous just a nice jog. This was the point I realized that the day was going to be a long one. By the time I was just a couple of 100 yards away from the start line, I was out of breath. I couldn't breathe out of my nose for anything but I couldn't stop. I had to get passed that start line crowd before I went into my walk mode. I then got into a mode of walking so I could keep about 13-14 mpm pace. I wasn't trying to set any land speed records. I just wanted to beat my time at Disney. But by the time I got to mile 1, I was already cramping in my calves. I was not about to stop though. I know how my body is and it usually takes me about 4 miles to get all lubricated up (so to speak). Sure enough, I reach mile 4 and I am feeling pretty good. My first hour is done and I am 4.5 miles into the race. If I can keep this up, I will finish around 3:00 and shatter my time previous by 7 minutes. I feel good so I keep going.
Now, because of my cold, I am stopping every chance to get fluids. There was cookies, chocolate, bananas, oranges, tootsie rolls and at one of the last stops beer throughout the race. (I don't drink so I didn't partake.) I remembered one thing that is very important. It is very hard to eat and drink while running if you can't breathe.
The middle of the race was very good. There was a few hills that put me behind on my pace so when I got to a good flat spot, it was time to jog. I got to mile 10 in 2:07 and knew I had my record in sight. (My one goal was to break the 3 hour mark.) At this point, trouble set in.
It was toward the end of the race, that my legs started cramping again pretty intensily. Between miles 10 and 11, I stopped and was trying to stretch my legs so I can get another "kick or two" out of them before the ending. Actually had one of the deputies stop to ask if I was ok. I wasn't but I wasn't going to tell him that. I had to finish. This is my 4th race overall and I haven't quit yet.
So I finished stretching and start jogging again. I catch up to a friend that I was with and my legs start cramping a bit worse. By this time, I had also developed a bit of a blister on my right foot so I was starting to doubt my chances but I wasn't going to stop. Not on my own anyway. I keep going and see that magical sign. Mile 13. The end is near. I gather up what last bit of energy that I have and start jogging again. I take the last turn and see the finish line. About 200 yards before though, I go over one of the chip readers and I hear a lady over the loudspeaker say "Bryan Weldon from Chelsea, AL". That was it. I had no pain at that point. I boosted my speed just a bit and finished the race. The official chip time was 3:00:02. I missed my goal by 3 seconds. I did still beat my time at Disney by more than 7:30 so I am happy about that.
Things learned during the race:
Make sure to use the Body Glide on your feet everytime!!
Drink more water than usual if sick.
Don't run a race if sick.
Enjoy every race and don't worry about the time. Just get the "bling".
Overall, I had a great time and will do it again next year!!
Have a great night!!
Bryan