Race Recap: 2011 Flying Pig Marathon

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Race day started way too early. In order to check out of our hotel, beat the traffic and meet up with our friends, Lisa and I had to wake up at at 4:00. While Lisa showered, I packed up what I could, put on my running gear, and watched the weather report. It was not looking like a good day for a race.

At this point there was nothing to do but dress for the rain, so that's what we did. Just before 5:00 we left our hotel and headed towards the girls.

Luckily we did not see any human waste in the parking garage. This seemed to be a good omen, since at the two points where we needed a hotel key for access, an actual hotel guest was there to help us out.

We got to the girls hotel room around 5:15, and I was a little shocked to see Sherry still sleeping. Any worries of her being late for the starting line were quickly squashed as she hopped out of bed, ate breakfast and got ready with a machine like efficiency. Before long we were in the hotel lobby ready to head to the race.

The rain had not yet started but the forecast said it would hit us right around the start of the race so Sherry made sure she was prepared. She had to shed this "human sized condom" mid-race however because she to to hot. She was MacGyver enough, however, to save a piece to keep her IPod protected.

It was a good thing she did, for as promised, the rain hit us just as the race began.

Sherry was doing the half marathon so she split off from Julie and me as we passed her corral. I don't know that much about her race experience. If you're interested you'll have to ask her yourself (DrSherryPagoto) Julie and I continued walking what seemed another half mile before we found our corral in the far back of the crowd. We were so far from the starting line that we didn't hear the cannon go off signaling the start. When the wave of people in front of us began moving we just followed along.

Unfortunately, the long wait at the start, and the waiting in the rain, created a urge in me to pee. Luckily I saw a small group of potties slightly off the race course that weren't being used. As Julie fought with her music player, I took care of business.

The beginning of the race was quite wet but still pretty neat as we ran across the river to Kentucky and eventually made our way back.

Julie and I adopted a Jeff Galloway Run, Walk, Run method for our marathon training, that Julie had tweaked to suit her personality. Since we were doing the walking thing, we had to stay to the right of the crowd which meant dodging other walkers. This dashing back and forth seemed to be inefficient but we had no choice until the crowd thinned out.

Settling into our groove the miles started to pass, mile one... mile two... mile three. At the tail end of mile three, Julie had begun to feel the call of nature. Knowing that we had a severe hill ahead of us she was concerned about running it with a full bladder. When I asked her if she wanted to stop at a potty she responded with "There is no way I'm wasting 10 minutes in line. I may need those 10 minutes at the end." At the base of the hill, however, she spotted a solution to her problem. If you want to know what the solution was, you'll have to ask her (PTrunningmomof4).

I'm not going to candy coat it, the three mile climb that followed was a BITCH that had several people reduced to a walk. Julie and I walked portions of it ourselves. At around mile 20 I discovered that I should have walked more.

At the top of the climb was a spectacular view of Cincinnati that ALMOST made the climb worth it. I'm sorry that these pictures don't do it justice.

Expecting the course to level out after this hill, we soon discovered, was a pipe dream. The next several miles where filled with dozens of hills. I don't think we had a single level mile until mile 22. The continual hills were beginning to tax my hip flexiors. Each hill we climbed caused me more and more pain. On one of the larger hills, Julie suggested I go up the hill backwards to give my hips a break. It sounded like a good idea to me so I followed her lead and walked up the hill backwards. It was too long before a couple more people joined us. Have you ever seen anyone running a marathon backwards? I never had until I ran one with Julie.

The hills and the pain continued as the miles ticked by, mile 12..eat a gel...mile 13..quick potty sotp..mile 14..mile 15..OMG the man who gave me orange slices is a personal hero..mile 16..is that Elvis

mile 17...mile 18..another gel..mile 19..

At this point I realized my hip flexiors were completely shot. There was no way I could run up another hill. Julie was doing great however. Her attitude was amazing as she kept her spirits high. Personally i think she was high from the gel shots. Sugar has the same effect on Julie that Jack Daniels has on me. She had become a half marathon runner, half cheerleader, half yogi at this point. I knew that I was slowing her down.

"I'm breaking up with you at mile 20" I told her. Being the great friend she is, she resisted, but I told her that she had no choice.

"You are finishing this thing, god damn it!" she said, quoting a mother's speech we heard around mile 14.

"Of course I'm going to finish it." I responded. "I'm just going to finish it after you do." Happy with this statement, she flashed me a smile and slowly disappeared into the crowd of runners in front of me. She would eventually cross the finish line in 5:09, setting a PR.

At this point my pace began to drop considerably. I felt no wall, in fact I had lots of energy and spirit. There was no doubt in my mind that I would cross the finish line but it was going to be awhile still. There were six miles ahead of me and the pain in my hip flexiors forced me to walk up every hill that I came to. Luckily there were sights to distract me from my pain.

At around mile 23, I had assumed Julie has crossed the finish line so I called my wife to let her know that although I'm hurting, I would be there eventually and not to worry.

Around mile 24 it started to become painful to walk as well. An ultra-running adage came to mind at this time. "If it hurts to run and it hurts to walk, you might as well run." So I did. Sure it was a pace that my three year old could have kept up with but I did run it in and like I promised, Julie, Lisa, and myself, I crossed the finish line.

After which I went through the food line grabbing two of everything I could find. I wanted to kiss the guy with the donuts.

Lucky my wife, Lisa was there to guide be back to the hotel, because even though I knew the way I couldn't remember it. My mind had stopped functioning properly. Those of you that have run long distance know what I mean.

Julie and Sherry were already at the hotel showered and stretching when we got there. After an awesome shower we put on our medal and took our "after" pictures. Sherry didn't have a medal. She does so many races she doesn't know what to do with the medals she already has at home.

Although I wanted desperately to lay down on the bed and take a nap, there was no time. The girls had to check out of the hotel. We then drove Sherry to the airport where she spent the next several hours waiting in airports. She did not walk through her front door until after 1am.

Lisa, Julie, and I settled in for the LONG ride home.

I am lucky to have close friends that share my insane love of running who will travel to new cities to run crazy races. Thank you Julie and Sherry.

And I am extremely lucky to have a wife who will travel with me to these races, stand in the rain to cheer me on, be my brain after the race, and drive my tired body home.