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January
30, 2005
One down - six to go!
 January
30, 2005
One down - six to go!
Linda and I arrived in Miami yesterday afternoon and went directly to
the hotel to get my number and registration packet. It was great that
the hotel was connected to the Fitness Expo. Since it was an hour before
closing, I breezed through the registration, got my number, computer chip
for my shoe (runners attach the computer chip to our shoelace and this
registers the time we cross the start, midway, and finish line - prevents
another Rosie Ruiz from happening!) and T-shirt, and began searching for
someplace for dinner. Since I was in Miami with its huge Cuban-American
population, I asked at the hotel for a great Cuban restaurant. We found
one....and ordered everything that sounded delicious but was terrible
for a pre-race dinner - olives with garlic, spiced almonds, chicken and
shrimp with garlic and lemon, spicy crusted tuna, black beans and rice,
and flan for dessert, washing it all down with a glass of sangria and
a cup of cafe con leche. Not exactly the meal of champions before a race.
So of course I started worrying about running on a upset stomach, with
no one to blame but myself. I've always been an advocate for living life
to the fullest....
I went back to the room and fell asleep around 9:30pm, only to awaken
at 3:30AM with that runner's nightmare of missing my wakeup call and missing
the start of the race. I tossed and turned for another hour before finally
getting up to get dressed. I had a cup of coffee, half a bagel, a sip
of juice and a banana - a slightly more appropriate meal for a runner!
I went down to the lobby to find some runners who knew how to get to the
start, since I didn't have a clue where it was. I arrived at the start
with five minutes to spare, heard the national anthem, saw the wheelchairs
racers depart, and then heard the gun for the rest of the field to start.
Music, fireworks, and cheering crowds sent us out of downtown Miami toward
South Beach promptly at 6AM. It was dark, cool, and perfect for running.
Along the route there were bands playing Latin music - some were on pontoon
boats along the bridges as we headed out past the docked ocean liners
toward South Beach. Running along Ocean Avenue, there were more than a
few folks who were just returning from a night of partying as we started
our day - we got some unusual cheers.... The 13.1 miles halfway mark took
us back downtown, where the half marathon runners peeled off to complete
their run, leaving the 3,500 of us running the full marathon to continue
our race. This is usually where it starts to get pretty quiet in a marathon
- where the sounds consists of footfalls and breathing, energy saved for
what's ahead. This part of the route took us to the Coconut Grove area
of Miami, a little more residential. The sun was up by now and it was
hot - really hot. Everybody took advantage of each water station - I alternated
water with Gatorade. At mile 16 I became aware of my knobby knees and
tried to run on them as gingerly as possible. The crowds had thinned by
now, and I've found the competition at this point in a marathon is between
your mind and the race - your mind starts to make all sorts of excuses
about stopping for just a minute, taking a little break - but you can't
give yourself over to that.
By mile 20 I tried to run in the shade whenever possible. While I tried
to deflect my mind from the task at hand by thinking about other things,
those thoughts can't be maintained because they're constantly overtaken
by how painful the running experience is at that point. The exuberant
architecture of Miami was somewhat distracting, but the muscles in my
shoulders had tightened up and I focused on trying to relax my neck and
shoulders. Just when I thought I was absolutely NUTS for doing this, the
24 mile marker appears - and I know that I can surely gut out two more
miles. I started to think about the two hundred plus individuals and companies
that have pledged money to the March of Dimes for me to complete this
project, and a sense of responsibility and gratitude overwhelmed me. I
actually speeded up! And before I knew it, there was the 26 mile mark,
which means there were just 385 yards to go. Heading into the finish stretch,
I looked everywhere for Linda, and then heard "Hey! Joe Hale! Over
here!". And there was Linda, AND my son Grant and his girlfriend
Amy. They'd rented a car and driven over from the west coast of Florida
that morning to surprise me at the finish.
I've found that at the end of a marathon, not only are you physically
exhausted, but you're emotionally drained as well. Your emotions seem
to bubble up to the surface in a fragile way. As I crossed the finish
line, I thought about the people who have made pledges and told me their
wonderful stories about how the March of Dimes has touched their lives,
or why they're pledging money for this project, and seeing Linda, Grant,
and Amy at the finish - well, I think there were some "girly man"
tears being wiped away.
Thanks to everyone for their support. Next report will be at the end of
February from Antarctica - now the work begins!
Joe
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