Miscellany

It's been a week after the marathon, and my body and my life have returned to some semblance of normalcy.

The only time when it was hard to move around or felt really stiff was right after the race, and in church Sunday evening. I slept in Monday, getting up around 8 a.m., and felt exponentially better, though still a little sore.

I spent some time talking about the race itself, so it's time to jot down a few details. I never trained while listening to music or podcasts, and I didn't run on race day either. I wanted to soak up the race day experience as much as possible. The down side to it all is that I look for something, anything to make the time go by. Usually, my Garmin takes care of a lot, providing numbers for my brain to play with. Obviously, there was a lot more going on.

I really enjoyed the entire race experience, even the soreness. As I mentioned earlier, I felt great for the first 15-16 miles or so. I'm a little bit of a talker, so I took time to banter with folks on the way. Asking drink stop-types if there was anything stronger; checking with warmly-dressed and blanketed spectators if they had any extra coffee; and thanking police officers whose only task was to stand there in the cold and direct traffic. It pleased me to hear many, many others thanking them as well.

One kid had a sign, maybe in the second or third mile or so that said,"touch sign for mojo" (or luck- don't remember). In retrospect, I wish I'd have touched it. This kind of support from spectators was very uplifting to me. It really meant a lot.

The course trotted us through the UAB campus and past Bartow Arena (where I've done some public address for women's sports), and also past St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, where our current priest worked previously. First time through, about 7:45, the famous red doors were closed and it seemed as though not a soul was there. Made me no difference. I crossed myself and prayed for a moment. The second time past, the red doors were open and welcoming. I didn't see anyone and I'm unfamiliar with their service times.

We passed through the Five Points district, and I recognized the Twenty-Six restaurant, where Ann and I ate lunch before a James Taylor concert. It's the place where I had some of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had. Anyhow, I'm only familiar with driving traffic in this area, and the direction from where we came was unfamiliar, so I followed the crowd and kept on.

What I also remember about this area was more spectators rooting us on. There was a group of church people, including the pastor, cheering us on in support. I usually tried to wave at these folks, or clap at them as a soccer player on the pitch does, because it really meant a lot.

I remember a couple of older guys just parked on a couple of folding lawn chairs in their front yard who had a sign that said,"keep your try on," and "nice ass" on the bottom of it. I'm pretty sure they were a couple of the types who had a little something extra in their morning orange juice. I yakked with them both times I ran by. I just can't say enough about how big it was for me to have people to be out on a 20-something degree morning to watch a group of crazy people run a marathon.

I also took a look at a lot of people's feet, seeing as how it's part of my job. I recognized most of the brands people wore-- some Brooks, some Asics, some Mizuno, and surprisingly, I saw many Wave Rider 14s (which were not very popular), and a lot of others. It's one thing to look at folks' shoes at the mall, it's something else when the crowd you're in is all wearing running shoes.

I also tried to unwrap some cellophane from pieces of candy, failing miserably. The candy (mile 16) was wrapped as secure as Fort Knox and it took several minutes to get the job done. I also munched on a peanut butter granola bar (mile 18), dismissing decorum along the way. I needed fuel and was starting to climb the hills, so eating, running and breathing at the same time would normally have made for quite a scene, but I had hit the wall by this point, so I paid no mind to my bad manners.

I also managed to pose for the crowd as I approached the finish-- a couple of Hulkamania poses. It's my hope that pictures exist, because these were the few moments that I had worked my ass off for. It was worth every mile.

I've tried to put this in some type of order, yet I know this is still pretty random. This was a special day for me and I want to remember as much as possible.

I've taken the entire week off, and am in the middle of the second, so as to give myself more of a mental break. There are no marathons in my future, but I'm still a member of The Athlete's Foot team and there are some race possibilities in the near future, so I need to keep my fitness level up.