It's good to be back in Ashland after a week in “the land of a million dreams” (if my math is correct, that's about a half a dream per person that was at Disney ;>). I've done several marathons, but Disney was more exhausting than any of them. But the smiles on my kids' faces made it all worthwhile. I have to say, Disney was one of the most friendly and cleanest places I've ever visited. Just about every park worker had a “trash-picker-upper-thing”. I thought it would be nice to have those for Dave's Pick-up 150 project.

I did manage to get in a few runs during my time in Florida. The first few days, we stayed near my sister on Bradenton Beach. It was cold (50's and 60's) and windy most of the time we were there, not great beach weather. I did a 4 miler on Saturday on a really nice bike path they had on the Island. On my way back with the wind at my back, I was feeling pretty good, & was keeping up with an old couple riding their bikes. The lady looked over at me after a few hundred yards and said “nice running”.

On Monday, I started out for another run, thinking I might go 5 miles. The wind was really strong & coming from the North, so I headed up the beach into the wind. There were a lot of people out for such a cold & windy morning (not like my beach in NC which I'm sure would have been almost deserted on such a day). I noticed a few runners were out. As I got a couple of miles into the run and I could see the point where the Gulf of Mexico met Tampa Bay. Something told me I should keep running to the point, which looked like it was a couple more miles. As I made it to the point, fighting the wind gusts and blowing sand, looking out at the Gulf I noticed the waves breaking in two directions, against the shore and against the bay, it was kinda neat to see. Just before I made the turn-around to head back, I noticed a runner headed the other way. He looked to be going about the same pace, so after I made the turn, I decided to pick-up the pace a little to try to catch up with him. As I pulled up beside him, I said “a lot easier running this direction”. As we ran, we talked a little. I found out Steve was from Green Bay, and was down on vacation with friends. He was training for Grandma's Marathon, and had run about 15 previous marathons. He was an avid racquetball player, and we talked about the risk of injury when doing other sports while training for a marathon. We talked about our running groups at home, and what a great group of people they are. I learned like me, he had two daughters but both of his were grown, with his youngest in college.

We were having such a good conversation, Steve asked if it would be okay to keep running with me past where he was staying on the beach (he thought he might be slowing me down), I said that would be great. Then Steve told me that last year, he had surgery to remove a kidney that was cancerous. My dad had that same surgery about 15 years ago, and I remember how much we worried about him. Here was a guy that had the big “C” less than a year ago, and was now training for a marathon, and he wasn't just jogging. We were running along a pretty good pace. After running together for about 3 miles, Steve said he was turning back, as he had friends waiting on him. He asked if I would be running on the beach anymore that week, but I told him, we were headed to Disney the next morning. We shook hands (while still running) and he turned back up the beach.

For the next mile I thought about Steve. About how frightened he and his family must have been when they found out he had cancer. About what a tremendous recovery he had made. Sometimes I think, God must look out for runners. He must figure, we put ourselves through so much voluntarily, He'll give us a break from time to time.

Anyway, I was glad I met Steve. I had been bumming about having such lousy weather in Florida, and he completely changed my attitude. I was happy to be running. I was happy to be on vacation with my family. I was happy to see my sister, Sherry and her husband Ray, their daughter Jennifer and her two kids, CJ and Tori. I was happy that I got to spend some quality time with my parents, who rode with us on our 14 hour drive down (& the 14 hour drive back). I was even happy to go to “the land of a million plus people”. I probably wouldn't recognize Steve again if I saw him, but I will always remember running with him.

See ya on the streets,
Tom

The weather couldn't have more perfect Saturday morning for the 30th Ashland Railroad Run. We were all watching the weather forecast the week leading up to the race, and the threat of rain had us all worried. Our prayers were answered though, as we woke-up to a beautiful morning. I think all the races (kids' one mile, 5K, & 10K) had about double the number of participants from last year. A big congratulations goes out to Jo Ann Hunter and all the volunteers for a very successful and well run event.

I had the pleasure of running with both my daughters. Claire ran the Kids' 1 mile race, and didn't complain half as much as she did last year. She broke 10 minutes and remembered to put her hands up as she broke the tape at the finish. Mattie and a few of her friends ran the 5K, I ran behind them & tried to get them to agree on when to run & when to take walk breaks. I think they had a good time, cheering on 10K runners as they passed and trying to catch the Proffitt boys, who kept a close eye on them, and would sprint ahead every time the girls got close. I hope the girls will enjoy running as they get older, but right now I think I enjoy watching them run more. I was proud of both of them.

The whole town of Ashland should be proud of the level of support, participation, and cooperation shown with putting on this event. I think Ashland Dave's video on his blog really captures the small town spirit of the event.

The weather was not so good for the Sunday option of Ashland Railroad Run 10K. Cold and rainy for the 7:15 start, the crowds and number of participants were definitely effected by the weather. I had a chance to interview the eventual winner of the Sunday option of the Ashland RRR 10K, and here is his story.

“Well, first of all things got screwed-up with a friend of mine, who was suppose to run the race with me, but a miscommunication issue caused him not to show. I don't mind the cold and rain unless it's pouring like it was this morning at 6:00 a.m. I almost decided to bail too, but I started the race with steady pace, not too hard, but I quickly noticed I was in the lead. About a half mile into the race, I got a pain in my left hip. I actually had to stop for a second to stretch it out. The pain quickly went away, as fast as it came, and I was still in the lead.

The next couple of miles were relaxed, I didn't look back to see how close the other runners were behind me, but I knew they must be right off my shoulder, waiting for me to slow, so they could blow past me. As we ran past my church, St. Ann's, I decided to pick it up a little to put some pressure on. I felt good as I rounded the corner by Henry Clay Elementary, and the wind seemed to pushing me as I headed up Center Street out towards Gwaltney Church. I used to run this stretch of road a lot when I trained, but I forgot how peaceful it could be early in morning. I still felt good as I approached “Mount Ashland”, the only real hill on the course. I pushed up the hill to the turn-around. The wind that was a friend a minute ago, now was the enemy. I put my head down, determined not to let the wind slow down too much. The rain had pretty much stopped, and I was actually getting a little warm. I knew I only had about mile to go, so I decided to just try to keep the pace up & not look back to see how close my nearest competitor was. As I crossed Ashcake, I noticed my legs were starting to burn from the lactic acid that was building up. Running down the center of Center Street, my shoes made little squeaky sounds on the wet pavement. I concentrated on the sounds, and tried to ignore the pain in my legs. I saw the finish. I looked back, and I could not see the next runner. I knew I would win easily, and slowed a bit and smiled as I crossed the finish line. This was my first win since middle school track, and I was happy I decided to run today.”

Sometimes, you have to use your imagination to motivate you to get out there and run. I did come in first (and last) on the First Annual Sunday Option of the Ashland Railroad Run 10K ;>).

See ya on the streets,
Tom

It's over. The marathon that has occupied my mind & much of my “free” time for the last 18 weeks has come and gone. So how did it go, you ask? The best way I know to describe it is, “Perfect”. I can only remember a few other “perfect” days in my life, my wedding day, the birth of my two girls. Sunday March 2, 2008 ranks right behind those. I did qualify for the 2009 Boston Marathon, but if that's all there was to it, I don't think it would be such special event in my life. No, what made it “Perfect” was that my family was there to support and cheer me on. Dave, Dennis, and Alan were there to share in the “Marathon Experience”. Our support team (our families) met us at least four times on the course to cheer for us & make sure we had everything we needed. Bryan drove all the way up Sunday morning to run in with all of us. I knew many of the Ashland Track Club members were pulling for me, as well as the Grub Kitty runners. Maybe it was a “runner's high” but at some point late in the race, I could actually “feel” the prayers that were prayed for me. I feel truly blessed to have such a great family and friends. That's what made this day so special for me.

Some race details:
On the drive up Saturday, the wind was gusting at over 20 mph. The Rappahannock River literally had ocean size waves as we crossed it. I thought to myself, a injured hamstring, something like the flu, and now gale force winds, what else could go wrong. I had been able to convince myself that the hamstring injury & the flu-like illness had been blessings in disguise, forcing me to take it easy, but the wind had me rattled. I remember the wind at Shamrock last year & it was brutal for about 10 miles. Luckily, I checked the weather forecast that had originally called for the same windy conditions on Sunday, but it now said light winds. What a relief! I actually slept for a solid 5 hours that night.

Race morning went off without a problem. I got up early and ate a bigger breakfast than normal. I was determined not to run out of fuel. Dave & I picked up Alan, and made our way to the start at Severna Park High School. Dave gave us a good course report on the way. He had scoped it out a little on Saturday.

After some confusion on which direction we were to start out running, we were off. I estimated there was about 30 seconds difference between the clock starting & me crossing the start line. Just in case my timing chip didn't work, I wanted to make sure I knew how much of a time difference there was between my watch & the official clock. This happened to Dave at Shamrock, so he had to take the clock time instead of his chip time.

The early miles were a lot of fun. I ran with Dennis and talked with a bunch of local runners. One guy said he ran the route so much, he knew ever inch of it. He was only running the half, but gave me a detailed report of the second half of the course. He also let me tuck in behind him anytime the wind kicked-up & would look back to make sure he wasn't running too fast.

I've never really met a rude runner. That was until I cut over to say “hey” to Dave & Alan after the 7 mile turn-around, and accidentally, very slightly, touched the heal of an older woman. She yelled at me, “Hey, watch it”. I apologized to her twice, but got no response. I noticed she was wearing a Boston jacket & Boston shirt. The fact that she would not accept my apology was really bothering me, and putting a damper on a great day. I decide to slow a bit and try to talk with her. I apologized again, and asked if she was going to Boston this year. She said “Yes, that's why I responded like that”. I smiled. I talked to her some more and explained I was trying to qualify. I think she finally forgave me, but I never saw her again. I guess she was just doing the half.

I ate every time I saw food. Jill gave me a power bar, cut up into small pieces, at the half-way point. The miles were clicking by. I was hitting my splits within 30 seconds to minute under my goal pace. I had hooked up with a couple of local runners that were running the same pace. There was a younger guy and an older guy named Tom that everyone seemed to know. The younger guy kept saying “all we had to do is keep up with Pops”. I think I ran the from about mile 13.5 to mile 23 with these guys somewhere around me. At mile 22, the support team was there to give me my last bottle of poweraide.

It was about mile 22.5, I started thinking “this is where the wheels came off at Shamrock”. I prayed “God, please don't let me feel like that again”. Then I saw Bryan waiting for me beside the path. My spirits were lifted. We actually picked up the pace and left Tom & the younger guy. Bryan kept my mind off any negative thoughts I might have had, and the last two miles clicked by just as the first 24 had.

Something about that last right turn hit me. Maybe it was the wind, the slight up-hill, or maybe I just ran out of gas. I only had .2 miles to go, but bad thoughts started rushing in. I couldn't calculate the time I had left. I told Bryan just to run ahead of me, which he did. I focused on keeping up with him. For some reason, I thought we had to run around the track when we got back to the high school, but was very happy to see we just had to run half the way down the bus loop.

I could hear Jill yelling “You did it, you did it”. The announcer called out my name, “Tom Grant from Ashland VA”. The clock read 3:28:54. WE did it.

Dave was trying to break 4:30:00 and I was very happy to see him coming in well under that, with his famous “Baltimore Kick” that I can't keep up with. Dennis also had a PR. Alan completed his first marathon. It was great day.

If you haven't read Dave's Blog and seen the video, go do it at: http://www.townhound.com/blog/dave.php

You have to click on the word “Video” in the first sentence to get the video to load. It's great.

Well that's it. What's next? I was thinking of touring those restaurants that challenge you to eat something (like a two pound hamburger) & if you do, they give you a hat or something. That sounds like an easier sport.

See ya on the streets,
Tom