Kiawah Island Marathon

       I consider the Kiawah Marathon my nemesis race. It was my first full marathon and I did achieve the goal that day (14 years ago) to finish, but since then in three subsequent attempts I have fallen short of my time goal. And it always has finished at 70+ degrees Fahrenheit (annoyingly hot for running fast). Today is the same, except that it will also start warm at nearly 60F and 92% humidity. I am purposely not drinking the typical cup of coffee before the marathon start to avoid going out to fast. As with OBX, the goal is to run four miles at a time allowing for water stops and walking a little bit. Even though my left calf has been frustratingly bothersome in the first four miles it is not as limiting as Toronto so I kept moving forward thinking “I can run through this pain.” Sure enough (finally), after walking through a water station at mile four it eased up. I carried and consumed just one gel (at mile 12), a caffeinated Maple Bacon Gu. Since I was only going to have just one gel I wanted something uniquely tasty; bacon and syrup minus the saturated fat and high sugar content sounded ideal to the senses. And it did not disappoint. During the race, I pushed into random kicks whenever the mind and/or body said “Go!” Basically, I ran without the fear of reaching 26.2 but with a conviction that said, “I am definitely going to finish this race, so just run fast whenever you feel like it.” Surprisingly, I discovered a mental toughness pushing a physical potential I didn’t know was there. The legs stayed strong for the duration, through the mile 12-13 drought experienced at OBX, through the mile 18 breakdown at Toronto and then even pushed nonstop from mile 20 to the end. Following a runner wearing a jersey with this quote in the latter miles was very motivating, “One day I won't be able to do this, today is not that day.” The results were bittersweet, once again defining Kiawah as my nemesis; the final chip time was 4:00:37, 37 seconds short of my goal (four hours). However, I did run a 13:03 negative split (front half 2:06:50, back half 1:53:47). But mixed in with all of these developments, looking back, the best part remembered will no doubt be holding hands with Jane while walking to the start.