Race Day Part 2 HOF to ND Race

On race morning I woke up at 4:30 AM and started the morning listening to Christian music and spent time reading the Bible and praying. I prayed that God would be seen through me. Why, you might ask? Because God made me and gave me the ability, strength, and heart to accomplish this goal, so I think it is only appropriate to give Him the praise He deserves. Picture this when an MVP is given the honor - he typically gives the credit to his teammates as they were a big part of the award. Well, the same is true here - God played the biggest role in giving me the ability to finish this event, therefore, I believe He deserves the glory (Not me)!

I took a shower, ate, and began to take my stuff down to the car. During most of my runs a song runs through my head but during this race it was different. The scripture I was studying that morning was Ephesians 3:20-21 and John 15. The Ephesians verse I detailed in one of my last blog posts and John 15 is when Jesus tells the parable of the vines and branches. The key here is that if we remain in Him, He will remain in us! I was learning that God is working within me and all I have to do in order to get His power is remain in His Word, Prayer, and Worship.

As I arrived at the starting line I was fairly focused on just running free and running with no worries, including the thoughts about fear of failure or pain. As I lined up I was at peace. Just a few months before the race I had a shirt made up with the Ephesians verse on it to wear in this event, and as I was standing there with my shirt on another runner tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I love your shirt." I said thanks and turned back around. A moment later I looked back behind me and this same guy was on his knees in prayer! Pretty Cool! The National Anthem was played by a Trumpet player from the area and then the gun sounded.

The first mile was extremely easy and went down Michigan Street and over to Lafayette Street, heading North toward the Saint Joseph River. I looked at my watch about a 1/2 mile into my run and noticed I was going at 7:40 pace. This really seemed easy as my adrenaline was flowing. I thought to myself, I need to slow down, but as the first part of the course was downhill and I was constantly being passed, I thought I would be just fine.

I continued at this pace and then headed west on to Riverside Drive. This street takes you right next to the Saint Joseph River and is a beautiful area. Across the river you can see the campuses of Saint Mary's College and Holy Cross College. The River also hosts the famous East boat race. As I was running west up the river, as this is an out and back course ,about mile 5 I could see the leaders passing me heading down the trail right next to the river.

This was really encouraging as I was only about 2 miles off the leaders and this told me I was in the front of the pack. My pace remained at about 7:40 and I continued to feel really good. As I went through the water stops I got water, took a drink and poured the rest of it on my head and down my back. At race time the temperature was 70 degrees with 90% humidity. By mile 5 or 6 it was even hotter. This strategy would come back and bite me in the end!

As you come up on mile 6.25 you hit the turnaround and start down the trail toward the University of Notre Dame. At this point I was on a trail that was right next to the Saint Joseph River. It was at this point I started to spend plenty of time running by myself. This is the point where my scripture reading from the morning came into the picture. I was still averaging 7:40/mile pace and felt good, but I feared the pain that was going to hit me in the final few miles. I would constantly recite in my head the Ephesians verses and tell myself He is at work within me.

Around mile 7 I came up to a gentleman that was a little bit older than me and had a brief conversation. He mentioned that he was 45 and that he began running about ten years ago as a way to stay in shape. I told him I was 38 and that I began my journey in December of 2008 at 311 pounds. He told me he had a nephew that was overweight and he has tried to encourage him. I gave him this blog site and offered to help if I ever could and carried on my way to mile 8.

I was still running strong through mile 8 and 9, and then came mile 10. Somewhere in my thoughts I got mixed up and thought mile 9 was mile 10 and mentally I thought to myself, I have an easy 5K left to run. Imagine my anguish and surprise when I figured out I had a 5K plus 1 mile left. However, I continued on pace through mile 10, continuing to take water at the stops and pouring on my head.

As mile 11 started we departed from the Saint Joseph River and headed north to Notre Dame. This section of the course began with a hill that seemed to go for ¼ mile straight uphill. It was probably only 1/8th of a mile, but after 11 miles everything seems like Mount Everest! I started at this point to lose pace and I went to a 8:15/mile pace

As that mile continued I found myself feeling more and more fatigued. I thought, here we go, this must be the end of my endurance. Until this point I was on pace to run the race in 1 hour and 40 minutes, so to lose pace did not surprise me but it seemed like it happened quickly. I came up to mile 12 and just before it was a water stop. In my head I thought, I will walk through this water stop and get a good drink and continue on. My body at this point was starting to cramp as my calves were contracting like a grape when it is being turned into a raisin, so I did walk through the water stop and continued to walk for about 1/10th of a mile.

At that point I picked back up and started running again. Soon my running turned into a slow shuffle using only my heels as the push off point of my foot so as to keep my calves from cramping. I turned left onto Eddy and started directly north toward the stadium. At this point I could see the stadium in the distance, which energized me.

As you run down Eddy you run past some shops and then they had 3 bag pipe players entertaining the runners. What would a good Irish Marathon be without bag pipers? Soon on my right I was running up on the Legends of Notre Dame Restaurant which is in the parking lot of the stadium and I could clearly see my destination.

As I ran up Eddy and crossed on to Moose Krause Circle, I remembered my run the night before. I had already run this section and knew exactly what to expect. An overwhelming feeling came upon me and I forgot the pain that was in my legs. I started to look around and enjoy the run once again and I anticipated the moment that would be directly ahead of me, the moment I would look to the north and see Touchdown Jesus! As is tradition for me when running a race I looked to the sky, raised my hands, and told the Lord, "Thank you for this day and for your presence."

I turned right and headed to the tunnel of the stadium; I could hear the sound of the crowd. It was not the marathon crowd but the organizers had the sound of the crowd playing through the tunnel as you entered the field, and soon after that they had the Notre Dame Fight song playing. As I went through the tunnel this experience went through my head like highlights you see at the end of a show when the person puts all the parts of the puzzle together. I realized at that point that my prayer for the morning was answered! He was with me and stayed with me through the whole race!