Ocean Drive
Marathon, Cape May, New Jersey. March 30, 2014. This marathon was a true
testament to a winter that wouldn’t relent. It was first predicted to hover
around 52 degrees, a pleasant spring day. But the impending storm was slower
moving than originally anticipated, and the forecast now called for rain on
Sunday. Designated as a scenic, point-to-point course, it was all in one
direction, so therefore entirely dependent on which way the wind was blowing.
The morning of
the race was fairly ideal. The race began at 9:00 am, and our hotel was less
than a mile from the starting line. It was nice not to have to wake up
extremely early or have to rush- we had time for a leisurely breakfast with
other runners. Walking down Ocean Drive, it looked like both the rain and wind
were holding off. There was a slight mist, and a heavy dense fog, but still
fairly good for running. I started off quickly, around 8:30 minute per mile. I
was worried about maintaining that speed over the entire marathon, but I
continued to feel comfortable at that pace, and I knew my winter training was
paying off.
Around mile 4,
I passed by Tara, and she told me my Mom said hi. At the hotel bar the evening
before she heard a song that reminded her of her father- and I told her how the
song ‘Crazy’ by Gnarles Barkley always made me think of my mother. I would think
back to the days when she used to call me all the time, several times a day,
sometimes for no reason at all, and eventually I set my phone’s ringtone to
that song. When she told me she heard the song on her iPod, my eyes welled up
with tears.
Around miles 14-15 I was still feeling good and pretty confident that I would be able to break 3:50, maybe even better depending how well I could hold up. And suddenly everything changed. Just after mile 16, the wind picked up, and we were running directly into it: a strong, heavy, unrelenting wind. It was like we were running through an enormous wind tunnel- no matter how hard I pushed it seemed like I wasn’t going anywhere. I kept looking at my Garmin, seeing my mile times increase. 9:15, 9:30, 9:48… So I stopped worrying about the time, and just tucked my head down and pushed on. I didn’t think, I just ran- I knew I could be running faster, but I was conscious of the wind holding me back. I took each mile one at a time, hoping for some relief, but it never came. In the very last mile, the skies opened up. As I ran along the boardwalk, I could see the finish line in the distance through the rain, and I gave it whatever I had left. And somehow, it was enough to PR. 3:55:29. Despite whatever was thrown at me- I managed to pull through. This marathon was, in every way, a perfect depiction of the winter of 2014.
 |
| Tara and I think alike |
 |
| I did it! |
