In case you were wondering….I’m alive!
Where to begin???
How about right from the beginning.
I woke up around
4:00 am Saturday morning and my family dropped me off at SFO where I met up with the team at
5:00 am.
My sis and parents then head back to the
East Bay because they were flying to
Phoenix out of
Oakland Airport at the same time.
We arrived at Phoenix, checked right into the Hyatt and proceeded to the Expo to pick our bib numbers and check-in bags. Let’s just say spending time in the Expo can suck the life out of you. It was very crowded and in turn made it very exhausting. The rest of Saturday was just resting the feet and chilling in the hotel until the Pasta Party. I can’t even tell you how dry Phoenix is. I drank more fluid than expected. At the pasta party we loaded up on pasta and chicken and were reminded of why we were in Phoenix… to work in finding a cure for Leukemia and other blood related cancers. It was nice because it put things back into perspective again.
Before we went to sleep Coach Al gave us one more motivational speech and echoed that “Health is our Wealth”. Although we would give everything in the race, we must remember that “if it’s not your day, it’s not your day and never let ego over rule good judgment”. Before we parted to our rooms, we chanted, “Go Team, East Bay Rocks, No Wimps!, Team Excellent!” and i’m positive all 22 floors of the Hyatt heard the East Bay representing.
East Bay Rocks!
Sunday morning, my roommate Andrew (who also will be a mentor in the Spring) and I woke up at 4:45 am, got prepared to meet the rest of the team at 6:00 am, do a final moment of silence for our honorees and got ready to “do the damn thing”. I had woke up and felt so dry. My urine came out dark brown and I freaked out. It seems like all the hydrating I did on Saturday went to waste. I quickly downed a couple more bottles before the race. When we opened the door, we found this waiting at our door.
It was cute and clever. Crossing the training finish line to our marathon!
We shuttled over to the start area and did a final port-a-pottie stop, checked in our bags and proceeded into our corrals. They would lock us in as if we were cows or something. I hung with Melissa and Tabitha when the race started. Quickly, Melissa fell back because she was nursing her bad hip. I hung with Tabitha for 2 miles until I realized I was doing under 12 minutes which meant I would likely burn out very quickly. My pace is 12:30 mile and I knew that if I went any faster than that for a long period time, I would be doomed.
I quickly let Tabitha do her thing. Meanwhile I wanted to go to a port-a-pottie so bad. Unfortunately the lines were too long and I decided to wait. I eventually held it for a good 5 miles before I found lineless potties. I was extremely thankful that it did not rain marathon day. Leading up to the race, the weather forecast predicted showers during 7 am – 3 pm on Sunday morning. Yup, right smack during the race. It ended up being a really nice day with no rain. The only weather issue was us racing right towards the sun. The wind was nice and kept us cool but it also caused sand to blow right in my face.
The first 13 miles was a blur. All I remember was looking at my watch and was a little behind of my Nike Half Marathon finishing time. I figure it was due to the heat and the hard surface on the road. Before I separated from Tabitha, she noticed I was pounding really hard on the ground. I realized I was moving to quickly at her pace and my foot was already tired, which was why I did not continue to follow. I now remember talking with Mama Lisa at around mile 5 or 6 and she agreed the surface may be hard and suggested I run on the sidewalk. I did that for awhile and I somehow lost her. The marathon course had some nasty water. They were using H20 from the fire hydrant. I didn’t want to drink it, but I had no choice. Also the Powerade was terrible, but at the end I had no other option.
My sis and parents made it out to mile 9 and I gave them all a big hug as I continued my journey. It was so nice to see them and I was actually getting a little emontional after I passed them by.
me at mile 9
Anyways…back to mile 13. I was off my half-marathon PR (personal record), but that was fine. If I could keep up at this pace for another 13 miles, I’d be satisfied. At mile 13, I saw my family again and I took a spray of Kool-n-Fit as a precautionary measure of some anticipated burning.
me at mile 13
Somewhere between mile 13 and mile 14, I began to experience side cramps and had to slow it down. I tried to control my breathing to get rid of it and it went away by mile 15. Unfortunately mile 15 was where my right calf locked up. I would run, but it would yank me back. I was already under pace and was a little frustrated. My goal of finishing around 5:30-5:45 hrs was over. I began walking and was basically freaking out. I was mentally at a crossroads. I thought to myself, “there’s no way I could walk 11 miles, that would take freaking forever!” I tried stretching out my calf. I wanted to try running with a bad calf, but I knew if I tried to run on it with it locking up, I would be done with the race. There was no way I would even be able to walk the rest of the 11 miles with an extremely tight calf.
I stopped and stretched my calf and my toes. I bent over touching my knees and many concerned runners were asking me if I was okay because they thought I was going to pass out or throw up. Our honoree Brenda, who spent 3 months in the hospital battling acute myeloid leukemia, and her cousin stopped by to see how I was. Brenda then showed me the picture of herself in the hospital of what she had gone through to get back. At that point on, I said to myself that I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and just do the damn thing! I was gonna finish the damn marathon even if I had to crawl. Walking 11 miles was a demanding task, but that’s what I needed to do. I would try to run whenever I could and when my calf tightened, I would stop and walk. I did that through mile 19 and by then my calf was not having it. I tried to take salt as recommended by the first aid staff, but that didn’t seem to work. By mile 19, I was fed up with progress and just decided to power walk the rest of the marathon. I saw my parents at mile 20 and I knew they knew I was not keeping up with my pace. They saw me walking towards them, but they still encouraged me to finish and all I could remember was them saying how proud they were of me.
my mom trying to get me through mile 20
I felt like I had disappointed everyone and for them to say they were proud made me more determined to power walk. If I was gonna power walk, I was gonna be the best power walker out there! I told them I was gonna finish this thing and they said they would see me at the finish line.
Surprisingly, I was power walking faster than the remaining marathoners who were still trying to jog the rest of the way. I kept with the power walking until mile 24 where I tried to do the run/walk method, but again my calf was not having any of that. As I got closer to the finish line at the ASU stadium, I began to pick up the pace and sprinted from the final turn on where I saw mentor Jennifer frantically waving her arms and shouting my name, I then saw/heard Janice screaming, “There’s Phil!” and heard Richard say “Go Phil!” and finally I heard my mom yelling for me as I blew past whoever was in my way to the finish line. So yes I did finish. I did the damn thing! I set a personal record. Not what I had hoped, but I finished. I’m a marathoner. My official time is 6:25:22.
That had to be one of the most difficult mental challenges of my life. When I was faced with the task of walking the rest of the race, I didn’t think I was gonna be able to do it. Walking felt impossible because I hadn't trained to do that. I know it sounds stupid, but at that moment I felt I only knew how to run and walking seemed so foreign. The thought of not finishing had come across my mind. I felt I was gonna let down everybody who supported/sponsored me and my honorees. Fortunately I bumped into Brenda and she put things back into perspective. What I was doing was not chemo, so I knew I could finish.
And the rest of the team knew that as well because from our East Bay team, nobody quit! Everyone crossed the finish line.
Here are some race stats:
Marathon Statistics
- Registered - 10,400
- Finishers - 8,031
- Male Finishers - 4,176
- Female Finishers - 3,855
1/2 Marathon Statistics
- Registered - 21,500
- Finishers - 18,536
- Male Finishers - 6,858
- Female Finishers - 11,678
I crossed the finish line, they foil wrapped me, gave me my medal, clipped off my chip, and directed towards water, oranges, bananas, bagels and my comfy Spenco slippers. I hugged my parents and sister and all I could hear was how proud they were of me completing 26.2 miles. I told them of my disappointment, but they were having none of that. I accomplished something that they said was so difficult and were so proud. Man, i’m getting a little teary-eyed just typing this.
my parents and I
my sis and I
I checked in at the TNT tent, got my 26.2 mile pin and got a big hug from Bryan, Janice and Richard. Julie, Sarah, and Ken also congratulated. Let's just say congratulations were going all around. Soon after, Melissa, Brenda, Kristie and Jennifer S. finished.
Besides the obvious first-timers PR-ing, not too many people from our team PR’ed. It was unexplainable. The weather may have been a factor because it was so dry and hot.
After the race we shuttled back and my legs felt fine throughout the night. I got a couple minor blisters, but everything is functioning okay. This morning, my legs were on fire—figuratively of course, but I was walking fine. They are a little sore tonight and I’m anticipating, it will likely intensify Tuesday.
I'm determined to come back in the Spring and break this PR in San Diego.
I know the medals we received are awesome and all, but I think Andrew would say he got an even better medal. As I was walking out of the SFO luggage terminal, Andrew was sharing a joyous reunion with his wife and two little sons. He then showed me two medals his sons made out of construction paper for him. Does life get any better than that? = )
When I signed up to do the marathon, my focus was on January 15, 2006. Now that it's over, I realize it's not about a date, it's about the journey that got me here. All the training, all the great people i've met throughout the way, all the awesome people who sponsored me for this great cause,...everything all rolled up, embraced together. That's what it's all about. And for me, there is no better medal than that!
Thank you so much!
