Yes, it's a sport. Some people consider it punishment, or a way to get away from an enemy.
I consider running as that time that I don't have to return a text message, or read an e-mail. It's my time to just get deep inside my mind and think about those random thoughts that often result from a run. If you were to look at my college newspaper, the papers that were created after a good run were always better. Always. Running really does help your thought process.
The thing I love most about running is that you get to see things — well, you notice things that you don't often notice as you are driving in a car. I learned how to navigate my way around my College Town because I ran it all the time. And I have ran SO MANY country roads in my Home Town that it's not even funny.
And while running so many roads gets a little monotonous, it's very cool to be able to say, "Hey, I've ran this road," or "Hey, I've ran up this mountain." A lot of the streets in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock I have ran because of local 5Ks and the Little Rock Half Marathon. Did you know there's a hill up Capital Avenue? Yeah, it's a long, slow incline that really is a pain. But you can't notice that in your car... you have to run it.
But I'm not the only runner (a term I use loosely) in my family. My mom is a marathoner and my dad runs too. It was his idea that to celebrate his 60th birthday, the family would go to Louisville, Kentucky for the Kentucky Derby Marathon. He wanted to finish his first marathon on his 60th birthday. So that's what we did this past weekend — and it was a jolly good time.
We left around noon on Thursday, drove all day, and then the race was on Saturday. I was signed up for the half marathon, and my mom was going to run the full as well, but due to a recent fall off her bike, she opted for the half. We didn't run together. I don't run with anyone I know during races. I like to set out on the adventure on my own.
And ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly what it was. It was a 13.1 mile adventure that I survived (and I say survived because I didn't really train as well as I should, which is kind of my reputation.)
The race started at 7:30 a.m., and after a crappy night of sleep, my parents and I headed down to the start, which is where I remembered one of my favorite parts of running — the walk to the start. At every walk to the start, there's just this feeling of excitement/anxiety/fear/togetherness that we are all about to start on a trek — and only the strong will survive. Well, the strong out of 15,000 registered runners on Saturday. Here's where I was at the start...
So at 7:30 the gun went off... and I just stood there. I had my regular start song all ready to go on my iPod. About 15 minutes later, I crossed the start... and the adventure had begun.
As I said before, I wasn't all that trained to run 13 miles. I had been running, but I hadn't really built up my leg strength to keep running for 13 miles. I knew that with my hard headedness, I wouldn't stop and I would eventually cross the finish. To get there, I created a plan to run to every mile marker and then walk 2 minutes, and then keep running. This plan worked out quite well. It kept me motivated to not stop for anything pointless, and I kept a pretty good pace.
Then, some poor planning on the race directors part took off a lot of my time because there was a very big shortage of bathrooms. The Little Rock Half Marathon had spoiled me. I was used to a lot of bathrooms at every mile stop. Who would think otherwise?! Alas, I eventually made it back to my running plan and the run continued.
The race took us through some less scenic areas of Louisville, then we eventually were able to run through the main attraction of the city — Churchill Downs. I was more than excited because not very many people can say they have ran through Churchill Downs. Bragging rights are definitely some great motivation for running.
Once we made it through Churchill Downs, I was starting to realize that I was going to survive and I only had about 5 more miles to go until the finish.
All along the run, I could tell that I was starting to develop a blister on the inside of my right foot — my usual blister spot. Then, between mile 10 and 11, I felt a rather interesting feeling. At the place where I knew there was a blister, I suddenly felt some liquid disperse on my sock. That's right, my blister had popped while I was running. It was kind of a cool feeling.
I walked the rest of that mile so my foot could adapt to the open skin. I picked back up on my run as I suddenly came across this group of supporters in the middle of the street, holding beers. I grabbed one of their beers and just kept on going, eventually getting it out of his hand. I took a few swigs, felt a new burst of energy, and popped some hard candy — I was on my way to the finish.
As I was running with less than 2 miles to go, I came across some ladies that were also losing energy as the finish was getting closer. We decided to join up, and with their help, the three of us crossed the finish (though I'm fairly certain the finish line was moved, haha).
I didn't finish in a record time, but I finished. I know I can do better. And I plan to do better. The race revitalized my love of running, and actually made me look forward to running again. I don't know when I'll do a big race again in the next few months, but I do want to work on my 5K time, and my distance running. I also need to get back on my bike and into the pool. Since my education is wrapping up, and I no longer work for a daily paper, I need to try and make more time for the exercises I love. There will always be something going on my life, I realized this weekend. As the saying goes, "You make time for things you want to do." I want to run/bike/swim. Now I just need to make time for it. Looks like I'll be watching the sunrise.
P.S. We ate at two Food Network related restaurants. Since there weren't Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives locations, we ate at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and we ate at The Neely's Bar-B-Que in Memphis. They have their own Food Network show. Lynn's was fantastic! And The Neely's was good — who would have thought of BBQ Spaghetti?
P.S.S. My dad did finish his first marathon on his 60th birthday in 5 hours and 18 minutes. :)
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