Happy New Year!

Wow, what a weekend! Where to begin? With the crazy ride back to Indianapolis (home)? With all the runners I met from all over? With the two very different races? I'll just jump in and go.

So I get an email some time in December about a pair of races on the same weekend, one in Mississippi and one in Alabama. They’re being promoted as a two-fer: two races, two states, two days. The 50 States Marathon and 50 States Half Marathon clubs love these things. The organizers are offering 20% off registration to those who do both, and a special plaque or something in addition to the medals all finishers receive. Hmmm, sounds intriguing. I’ve done many races a week apart, but have never done back-to-back races of these distances in the same weekend. Wonder how I’d hold up?

I signed up for the Mississippi Blues Marathon on Saturday, in Jackson MS, and the First Light Half Marathon on Sunday, in Mobile AL. I think this was 3 weeks before race weekend, some time after Thanksgiving. I’m well into my holiday binging, and only running maybe 3-4 miles at a time a few times a week. Oh well. I’ll wing it. We'll see what this experiment yields.

The Races

I don’t really do any reconnoitering on either course, beyond finding lodging and procuring the last semi-affordable rental car left in Mississippi. The Jackson race sold out at around 2500 people, with 750 or so doing the full and the rest doing the half. I lucked out and got a room within walking distance of the start/finish line, and had fun chatting with other runners from all over the country, many of whom are also doing the back-to-back. We laugh at our craziness (or stupidity, or whatever it is), and look forward to the weekend.

This race benefits aging blues musicians, who never really made any money at their trade and are now struggling in old age. It also was a wonderful tribute to the area known as the birthplace of the blues, even including a harmonica (a real one, not some cheap piece of garbage) and a CD of blues in our swag bag. Definitely the coolest swag I’ve ever gotten!

The marathon course turned out to be extremely hilly, on par with the Seattle marathon. Oboy. However, the weather is glorious, starting at a very humid 54 and warming/drying to the high 60’s. Hotter than many of us are used to in January, but very survivable and not really an issue. I wasn’t sure what kind of time I would do, since I was concerned about not blowing up my legs before doing the half on Sunday, so I just went with what I felt. There were no clocks on the course, and I (in typical fashion) walked out and left my Garmin in the room. That worked out fine, as it forced me to go with my gut and not try to adhere to any subconscious desires to go at any particular pace.

The marathon was difficult, but it didn’t suck, at least not enough to wonder why I was doing this to myself. Water stops were every 1.5 miles, and no matter how hard it felt at times, I was still surprised at every stop. Had I really gone another mile and a half? There were timing mats every 5 miles (but of course no clocks), so each timing mat was a major accomplishment. The hills were unrelenting, and my strategy was to walk up and jog down. After about mile 20 I had to look around and chuckle, because I’m sure we all looked like the Bataan death march to the volunteers. Lots and lots of walking. It was actually kind of nice to be in a race where no one really cared about lofty time goals; we were more focused on enjoying the experience.

I trudged up the last hill to a respectable finish of 5:13. I typically do a marathon around 5 hours, so was pleased to be that close to my norm, especially given the hills. A wonderful volunteer handed me an enormous and truly awesome medal, I listened to a few minutes of some good blues, and back I trudged to the hotel for a shower and food.

On the way to the hotel, I met a nice couple from NY who were flying back home that afternoon, and they told me about a runner they met who was looking for a ride to Mobile. He had found one, but that person had to work and couldn’t leave until very late at night. They wouldn’t arrive in Mobile until some gawdawful time like 3am or so. Unacceptable. We exchanged phone numbers and invites to check in when in each other’s city, and he contacted the hitchhiking runner. Turned out the guy had found a better ride, so I didn’t have a traveling companion. But it was good to meet Keith and Andrea, and I’m sure we’ll be staying in touch.

Showered and packed, on the way to Mobile, and I 'm ready to gnaw my arm off when I finally see a Sonic (there weren't many quick eating options). Those burgers are a little bit of heaven after a marathon. Not quite a Whataburger with jalapenos, but they do in a pinch.

Got to Mobile, found the packet pickup, ate my free spaghetti dinner, then was ready to find my hotel . Turned out there was some college bowl game that weekend in Mobile, with a Mardi Gras-type parade just as I was trying to leave packet pickup. I was far too tired to stay and watch, and was trapped. I got a very nice police officer’s attention by driving the wrong way down the only clear street, and he led me out of the mess. Turned out he was working the race Sunday, so he understood why I was so desperate to get out of there and get to bed.

Sunday morning comes, and I have no idea if I will even be able to run; feet were still a little tender and would have been happier propped up on an ottoman, and my quads were definitely feeling the marathon from Saturday. Overall, however, I felt quite good and ready to go. Figured I'd just do what I could do, as this entire weekend was one big experiment anyway.

Saturday's race was to benefit aging blues musicians; this one benefited a local facility for special needs adults, L'Arche Mobile. The medals were each handmade by the residents, so each one was special. Those of us that did the back-to-back also got a handmade "plaque" with a bio of the person who made it on the back. This was a very nice touch and I think everyone appreciated it.

The race was blessedly flat. It was the first no-chip half marathon I’ve ever done – they noted times at the finish and tore the strip off the bottom of our bibs and strung them in order, to piece together later. No clocks on this course either, but this time I remembered the Garmin. I had to laugh when I got there about 45 minutes before the start and they were just taping the street to mark the start line. The obligatory Southern Belles were there in full drag, keeping things in perspective. The gear check was somebody's SUV. Considerably more relaxed than the norm!

As it happened, I was able to manage a respectable trudge with occasional walk breaks. Like the marathon, water stops were about 1.5 miles apart, and I was able to trudge most of the way between them, until the last three miles. At that point I had to take more walking breaks, simply because the legs were tired. It hurt as much to walk as to jog, so I tried to jog as much as I could. Of course, when I say "hurt", I'm not talking about agonizing pain or anything; the quads wanted a break and I had a few hot spots on my feet, but nothing severe. However, I was extremely grateful to only be doing a half instead of another full. I am nowhere near ready to attempt two marathons in a weekend. I bow down to all the folks that are.

Finished in a satisfactory 2:28:something, only about 10-15 minutes off my typical half-marathon pace – not bad for the first attempt. Received my medal from one of the residents of L'Arche Mobile and considered the day a success. It doesn't get any more special than that! (No, that's not me in the photo.)

The People

Never met so many 50-staters (and Marathon Maniacs) in my life. These are people who do a marathon in every state, some of them multiple times. There's also the Half-Fanatics (like me) who want to do at least a half in every state. These people have scoped out all the opportunities to knock out at least two states in a weekend, and it's fascinating to listen to them talk. When I got to the packet pickup in Mobile Saturday afternoon, those of us doing the back-to-back were either wearing the very cool tech shirt from the Mississippi race, or wearing the medal, so we were easy to spot. I shared a table at the complementary pasta dinner with a couple of guys who had raced that morning, and one of them was also from Indiana, about 45 minutes south of Indianapolis. He knew of two other people who were there from Carmel. Unbeknownst to me, he pointed me out to one of the other Carmel residents, but I had left before she came to sit down. Sunday morning she found me at the race start and introduced herself. It turned out that she lives very close to me, and her son is a pilot with Republic, and we were both flying standby on family passes. Small world!

There are not a lot of flights out of Mobile, so many of us had time to kill at the airport Sunday. The race was originally scheduled to begin at 7am, which would have allowed many of us to get to the airport just barely in time for the morning flight out. Unfortunately the start time was moved back to 7:30, and that 30 minutes was just enough to cause many of us to miss that morning flight. The next flights weren't until 5, 6, and 7pm, so the airport quickly filled with runners. I think we all actually had a wonderful time meeting each other, comparing experiences, and finding out who was certifiable (the people who did a double, like me) and who still had their wits about them. I met a law-student with a full-time job from Columbus, OH, a very fun woman from CA who wants to do the Mississippi race again (we exchanged info), an older gentleman from Syracuse, NY who was a master at finding back-to-back races, and a cancer survivor from south Texas who was running just to say "eff you" to her cancer. The hours passed quickly, and finally it was time to leave. Elaine (my new friend from Carmel) and I easily got seats out of Mobile.

Got to Charlotte, and of course our connection was at the farthest point possible from our gate. We hoofed it over there, and it was...oversold. Nice. And there was no hope of getting on the first flight out the next day either, or several others for that matter. Great.

Ok, what about Cincinnati? There's a flight leaving in 20 minutes. Nope, it's full too.

Hmmmm, Louisville? Any seats on Louisville? Yes, there is! But of course, the gate is back where we started from, and it's leaving in 15 minutes or less. Yikes. We both run the entire way back, and find the gate agent literally seconds from closing the door. Between gasps for air, we explain the situation. Well, there's one seat in coach and one seat in first class. Score! The wonderful ticket agent back in Mobile had given me a first class upgrade just 'cuz. We're on! (Oh, and that run to the gate? Damned near killed me and my aching feet.) Elaine's son thankfully wasn't flying Monday, so he very kindly drove down to get us. Since we both live in the same area, she gave me a ride home. At last I was standing outside my apartment door at 3am, very happy to be there.

Summary

Both races were very enjoyable, and I would do both of them again. I'd like to do the Blues half, and this time stick around for the Blues Crawl Saturday night. It went to several different venues to hear good local artists, and I was sorry to have to miss it.

The entire weekend had a very relaxed feel, as the vast majority of people were simply there to have a good time. The 50-States people are not hot for fast times; they're enjoying seeing a new place, meeting new people, catching up with other 50-Staters, and experiencing the locale. I saw quite a few runners pull off to take pictures now and then, and no one was stressing about PRs or other esoteric goals. The main goal seemed to be to have a good time and leave it at that. It was a very refreshing and rejuvenating atmosphere. I highly recommend it!