The Marathon Man Comeback

I had run my first marathon right after I turned 50 in 2011 (has that already been four years ago?) and had planned to run another. With the problems with my aging parents, I had to skip 2012. Jonathan and I planned to run the St Judes again in 2013. However, a freak ice/snowstorm blanketed the south and forced it to be cancelled. So, we decided to line up one for 2014 a little earlier in the year. We settled on one in Southern Illinois at the end of October. I didn’t blog about that one because it was an epic fail for me. The course was really hilly, I went out way too fast (especially given the hills) and I ended up cramping up severely with a couple of miles ago. I limped my way to the finish with a much worse time than my first. Josh did complete his first marathon with Jonathan and I so that made it a good day.

I went searching for a marathon to run in 2015 that was a bit less hilly and within driving distance. I found the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November that proclaimed itself as “flat and fast”. That sounded good to us, so we signed up despite our bad memories of the city from April. I got us hotel rooms within a couple of blocks from the start and then settled in to start my training. My big changes in my training were I started six months in advance and I did more 20 mile runs than last time (five instead of two). I also increased my other weekly run distances (hills and regular runs) from week to week hoping to build my stamina. The training went really well except for one run in the middle of summer. I started out on a long run on a particularly humid Saturday morning. About 13 miles in, I completely ragged out. I had to lie down and rest and walk the last few miles back. Fortunately, a beautiful angel (my lovely wife) came walking up with a bottle of water. She knew I was late getting back and came looking for me. I managed to do one of my 20 miles runs while visiting Josh in Verona. The cooler and less humid weather there made that much easier. I also slowly acclimated to the humidity plus got a better read on how to hydrate. I started my taper with three weeks to go before the marathon. I ended up with my usual hypochondriac feelings the week before the race thinking every day I was taking ill, but I did not.

We headed out for the race on Friday. We stopped at our usual eating place in Effingham Illinois (Culvers). As we ate, Donna spotted my good friend Chuck Walter with his wife Tonya and son Ben. We laughed about the strangeness of meeting up in Effingham. Chuck was wrestling with a GPS he had purchased which default language was Greek. I tried to help but to no avail. They were heading for Wisconsin to attend a wedding. We finished lunch (and ice cream) and headed out for the remainder of the trip. We had no trouble finding the hotel (Hampton Inn Downtown Indianapolis). We checked in and I headed for the Expo Center to pick up Jonathan and my race packets (he wouldn’t be able to get there til later). Donna and I walked to the downtown mall and got dinner at Chick-Fil-A. Jonathan and Cheyenne arrived about 9:30 and I saw him before I went to bed.

I got up and felt OK except for a little soreness in my right hip which of course threw me into a panic. I had some Tylenol which seemed to help. I ate breakfast (toast, banana and yogurt) and Jonathan and Cheyenne met us and we headed for the starting line. The weather was overcast with temperatures in the low 40s with just a bit of wind. Those were perfect running conditions for me. Jonathan and wished each other luck and I kissed Donna and told her I’d see her at the finish line. I went to the bathroom one last time. I lined up with the five hour pace group. My goal time was 5:15 but I figured I’d stay with the five hour group for at least half the race then drop back to the 5:15 group if need be. The time for the race started and we headed off!

Things were packed at the start. The always present issue of walkers lining up in corrals they have no business in (corrals for runners) forced our group to have to wave in and out around them. Our pacer actually set a pace a bit faster than five hours but I held up fine. The guy doing the pacing was excellent. This was his 48th marathon. He told us he still got jitters before every race. The race broke off at about the seven mile marker with the half marathoners heading back with the rest of us going on out. True to their promises, the course was pretty flat. We kept our slightly faster than five hour pace up. We were able to even walk through the water stations and up the one real hill (at mile 16). We lost a few people from our group on the way but there were about four of us left when we reached the 18.6 mile mark. We were still three minutes ahead of the five hour pace. Our pacer cramped up at about the 22 mile mark and the couple of us that were left went on. I was still able to hold the pace I needed to finish in under five hours. He finally caught up to me at mile 24 and said he was ok. He told me he needed to finish right at five hours but that I should keep pushing to beat that pace. It was an amazing feeling to be able to keep running the last couple of miles and pass quite a few people. As I headed into the final stretch, I heard Donna’s voice call out and I saw her and that encouraged me for the last little bit. I was able to keep up the pace and I made it to the finish with a time of 4:56:47. That shattered my previous best by 35 minutes. I heard Jonathan’s voice calling to me. He’d finished in 3:13 which was easily a personal best for him as well.

I was able to grab some Gatorade and water and I sat down and rested for a few minutes and we headed back to our hotel. As I was getting ready to cross the street, I felt someone touch my arm. I looked and it was our pacer. I told him I had PRed and I thanked him profusely for his help in my getting that. He was genuinely happy for me. I rested at the hotel for a bit and kept up with Kentucky getting beat by Georgia (via my phone). Donna and I went out later to the mall and I got a pretzel and some chocolate chip cookies. Jonathan and I watched college football and then went to Jimmy Johns (for Donna and I) and Buffalo Wild Wings (for him) for food later that night. I went to bed still feeling great from my accomplishment. We had breakfast the next morning and checked out. We went to church at Stop 11 Road church of Christ (where my friend Charles Blair preaches). We then headed for home with Donna and stopping at a Culvers in Indianapolis for lunch and then the Culvers in Effingham for a snack. We made it back to Paducah in plenty of time for evening worship services at our home congregation (Central church of Christ).

The whole experience was excellent. We are planning to run this one again next year. My next planned race though will be the 2016 Iron Mom half marathon in May here in Paducah. Several of my cousins and my sister Melissa are planning on running it so we’ll have a mini family reunion that weekend. I have already made a note to sign up for the Indianapolis Marathon on January 1st though. It'll be tough for us to do better than this year, but that'll be our goal.

Uber

One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is Clark Howard. He discusses a wide variety of items concerning personal finance and spending money. Something I've heard him extol is the the ride sharing service called Uber. The idea behind Uber is the ability to quickly call up a ride (similar to a taxi). There is an app on your phone that used the GPS in your smartphone to allow a driver to come right to your location and pick you up. The cars are driven by people who simply sign up as a driver usually to make a little spare money in their spare time. The drivers are given background checks. No money changes hands, the app charges your debit/credit card once the ride ends. I've also read about a similar program called Lyft. You can get a fare estimate online to see about what your ride will cost.

I was in Indianapolis last week to see Kentucky play in the Champions Classic. I was about a mile away from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The wind chill was 4 degrees, so I decided I'd give these ride sharing services a try. I tried Lyft first. I was disappointed to immediately see that a "Prime Time" banner appeared that would add 25% to my regular far.e. So, I tried Uber instead. I pulled up the app on my phone and selected my location. You then select the type of vehicle you want. You can go with UberX which is the cheapest standard type of car up to UberBlack which is their luxury mode. I chose UberX and then tapped "Request a Driver". I got a message saying a driver would be there in less than five minutes. I then input my destination. I was able to wait in the hotel lobby until I got a message from Uber saying my driver was arriving - along with a photo of my driver and the make and model of his car. I then saw him pull up and headed out.

He opened the door to his car and said "Stuart?". I could see he matched the picture I was given plus the car was the correct one. I hopped in the front seat and we took off. We chatted about the upcoming game and I found out he was originally from Wisconsin so we immediately began discussing an obvious topic. My driver effectively weaved in and out of traffic and within a few minutes we were in front of Bankers Life Fieldhouse. My driver told me to have a good time and I got out. By the time I was inside, I received a notification in Uber to rate my drivers (I gave him five stars). I also got an email receipt detailing the path my driver took, the time it took and the cost (a reasonable 5.25).

Would I use it again? Absolutely I would. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's much easier than summoning a taxi (Taxi companies don't like Uber as you might guess). There is an issue with airports (airports want Uber drivers to buck up for permits) so you need to be sure Uber can give rides to any airport you want to use. It's only in bigger cities (you can get a list on their web site). If you are ever in one the cities they serve and you want a ride, I'd say give them a try.

Champions Classic

I had realized earlier this year that Kentucky would be playing in Indianapolis this fall in the Champions Classic. This is a yearly series comprised of Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State and Duke where the teams rotate playing each other and at different sites. This is as close as they've been so I decided I'd go. They'd be playing Kansas and Duke would play Michigan State. I tried to buy a ticket when they went on sale but all the good seats were taken somehow. I ended up buying a club seat on StubHub so I was good to go. I got a hotel that was reasonably priced (Fairfield Inn and Suites) about a mile from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The game was not at Lucas Oil field where we'd seen the NCAA Regional last year but at the arena where the Indiana Pacers play.

The day of the game came and I headed out. When we went to Indianapolis earlier this year, we went through Indiana. This year, every mapping program I tried sent me through Illinois. I am not entirely sure what changed there, but I ended up liking that route better. I stopped in Effingham at a place called Niemerg’s Steak House. Surprisingly enough though, I got a fried chicken dinner (it was highly recommended). It was excellent. They had a bunch of kinds of pie, but I was really full so I passed. The trip was uneventful and I got to the hotel OK. I checked in and rested a bit. There was a TGIF attached to the hotel, so I grabbed some food from there and ate in my room.

It was time to leave. The wind chill was 4 degrees, so I decided to try one of the new ridesharing services (I'll blog on that separately). I got to the game no problem. While I was line, two ladies from Duke starting talking to me and of course they brought up Christian Laettner. I told him I would never get over that and told them about the upcoming (no joke) 30 for 30 series called "I Hate Christian Laettner". My seat turned out to be excellent. Being in the club section was nice. The first game got ready to start. When Duke came out, they were lustily booed (wonder why? ha). The game was close for the first half but Duke pulled away to win in the second half. The Duke freshmen (Jahlik Okafor, Tyus Jones, and Justise Winston) looked really good (I have to grudgingly admit). Although, Michigan State's defense was to play straight man to man on Okafor which seemed a bit odd.

The Kentucky Kansas game started and the atmosphere totally changed. It felt like a NCAA tourney game. There were quite a few Kansas fans but still more from UK. A few minutes into the game, a man behind me complained to an usher about a bunch of guys using very audible foul language. The game was close at the first as the teams looked tight. Kentucky started to pull away. It seemed like every time Kansas drove to the basket, Kentucky blocked their shot. Kentucky was up 17 near the end of the first half, but Kansas nailed two threes and a basket to a single free throw for UK and it was a ten point game at half (38-28). Kentucky's 2nd platoon would be starting the second half and I was a bit nervous. I had no need to worry. They shut down Kansas completely. In fact, UK shut down Kansas completely in the 2nd half. They scored a grand total of 12 points and only 3 baskets. The UK crowd kept getting louder and louder. Kansas fans began leaving. By the time the game was over, Kentucky had won 72-40 over the 5th ranked team in the country! It was a great game for UK. I was so happy I even bought a Champions Classic shirt on the way out. I was so pumped and warm, I just walked back to the hotel. There were enough fans on the street so it was safe. I didn't get back til almost midnight. I got up the next morning and drove back without incident.

If UK can play like that, they will be tough for anyone to beat. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The game is in Chicago next year and Kentucky plays Duke so I plan on going again.