Hey, I Actually Finished the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon!

The day came, the day to run the inaugural Tuscaloosa Half Marathon! This was by far my longest race, ever, my whole life. Yah, the 13.1 mile course had me a bit freaked out once I publicly committed to running it.

To think, it wasn't even a year ago that I began to consistently run and entered my first competitive race since I was in high school. The DCH Sports Medicine Fund Run was a 5k or 3.1 miles. That was a big deal then. But, that is nothing in comparison to 13.1 miles.

This race really interested me in so many ways. It was the first time the city of Tuscaloosa would host a half marathon and would be raising money for tornado recovery programs for libraries and parks. Plus, the outright raise the bar challenge to run it.

So, I trained, but not as much as I would like. This left me nervous as the race day approached. Also, I was aching and hurting after long training runs, which grew fears of something happening during the race. My knees really ached during and after my last long training run.

The night before the race had me nervously walking around Academy Sports. I was concerned about the cold forecast and how I may need to find something that would work better to keep me warm without slowing me down. Then, the fear of having sore knees had me looking at knee braces and buying a pair. Just to make sure that it would not be an issue. I saw others buying gloves. I didn't like them as there was limited grip for holding the old iPhone I use for running music. Instead, my rubber grip gardening gloves became my choice!

Hours before the race, after trying out the knee brace in warm ups, my gut said it would be a bad idea to have that kind of constraint for 13.1 miles of running. All the cold fears, I still wore shorts, again to limit and kind of confinement.

It's now less than 30 minutes away from the race starting, still nervous. The scene was electric! Loud music playing, runners bouncing around. I go to the porta john. Tick, tick, tick. Drinking water now with a great fear of not being hydrated. Only minutes away from starting. Now, I feel another urge to use the porta john. But, we are literally only a couple of minutes away from starting. I go ahead and dash off to use the restroom. I get in, close the door, and I hear the race start. NO! I run out towards the start line and all I see are people cleaning the street and a TV reporter packing away a camera. NO! It was like a nightmare, but this was for real. I start running down University Boulevard and turn the corner on to Greensboro and whew, I caught up with the runners.

The first handful of miles, no issues, all going well. After Greensboro Ave., a left on to 15th Street. Right on 10th Ave. and the 2nd mile mark. Left on to 27th Street for the 3rd mile mark and a very clever sign for the Mayor's Cup 5K, saying you'd be done if it was that race. Through Forest Lake for mile 4. All good for me as I soak in this area's tornado recovery and the many still empty lots and the lack of trees. As we head up to McFarland Boulevard and run behind Krispy Kreme, I have a flashback of that race where we had to run 2 miles and stuff 12 doughnuts in our face. My stomach was so mad at me all the rest of that day! Hey, it's mile 5. Uh oh, look at this hill now going up to DCH, followed by a right on University Blvd. into the Alberta area. There is some recovery in this area, but it is limited. To me, it's such a flashback to April 27th to see the few ripped up trees that are somewhat standing at an angle and open lots all over the place. After going down University, we turn around and come back. Miles markers 6, 7 and 8 come on this leg of the race. A right on to Helen Keller Blvd. and I see a few co-workers at the water station. I go to toast water cups with one and it splashes water on him. Sorry. Mile marker 9. Turn on to Jack Warner Parkway and mile 10. This was the beginning of lots of pain problems, but not that bad when it came to the knees. Next, mile 11, more pain. We get to the Tuscaloosa River Walk. I couldn't take it as I walk for a little bit. This stretch of the course is very scenic with the wooded trail along the Black Warrior River. A peaceful stretch. Mile 12. I've got to pick the legs up, only one mile to go! I can see the downtown bridge ahead. I keep thinking, that is it, just make it to the bridge as the amphitheater is right there. I get to the bridge in pain, pushing, beyond ready for the finish line now. Where is it??? We go behind the amphitheater. C'mon. Up around the amp and turn another corner to go in and... YES!!! The finish line!!!

I grabbed a drink and granola bar and sat down. Right then it hit me, I actually finished! I ran a half marathon and I am sitting down and it feels fantastic! It took me 2 and half hours to complete.

I loved the challenge and know I can do it better next time with more training. Yah, I would most definitely would do another half marathon! This first one was such a treat being that it was here running the streets of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Despite the cold weather, organizers pulled off an excellent event and should be proud of their many months of hard work preparing for this day.