So I Ran a Marathon

A MARATHON.  That happened exactly 3 weeks ago.  I'm pretty impressed with myself since exactly one year ago at the date of the marathon I was decidedly NOT a runner.

My first ever marathon was the Rock N Roll in Savannah, GA.  Savannah is one of my favorite towns in the country and it was great to see it in a different way.  It was a nice weekend.

I started the morning at 4am eastern time. I’m on central back home, so other than being the butt crack of dawn, I didn’t have any daylight savings issues. I ate a cliff bar for breakfast and downed a bottle of water before leaving my hotel room. I parked at the convention center at 5:30 and decided to use the portapotty before crossing the river. The ferry line ended up 1000 people longer during that time! I saw a gorgeous sunrise while waiting for the ferry though. 

 

Good thing I used the toilet when I did. This is only one of several lines of toilets. I saw one guy pooping in the corner of a building, which, UGH!

 The slowpokes get put in the back of the line. I couldn’t even see the start from where I was.

This is a "Welcome Runners" sign.  

There is a man wearing orange cheering all the runners on from the hotel balcony.  :)

 Getting closer!

Obligatory marathon selfie.  Green bibs means 1/2 marathon. 

 

 1 corral left! Should have kept my sunglasses on. :)

 

 And we're off!

I ran a fairly strong first 5 miles. I loved seeing all the people cheering us on from their houses at 8am. Their coffee smelled so good! I felt like I took off too fast. Looking at my 5k time, it only seemed like I was going too fast; there were far too many people so close together to really take off. (36:41 5k)

 

I tried to cheer on all the other marathoners along the way. It seemed like there were 100 half marathoners for every marathoner on the course. Us long-distance crazies needed to stick together! One lady was supposed to run the full, but she wasn’t comfortable with it after not being able to stick with her training schedule. She was running the half with her friend instead. She told me I was killing it at the 10k mark and wished me well. (1:15:16 10k) I liked sexy
saxguitar man around mile 8. He was a hit with the runners as you can see from my photo.

 

The local daisy girl scout troupe put together the most adorable paper plate daisies for one neighborhood at miles 10-11. That was a gorgeous neighborhood. We’d never have anything like that where I live. (2:03:31 10 miles) I was prepared to make the marathon split at mile 11 and I started FREAKING OUT when it didn’t happen. The split was closer to mile 12. I thought I might have followed the crowd and not made the turn when I needed to. It got so lonely after the split. Marathoners to the left.

 

I hit the halfway point at 2:41:45. Every mile after this one was totally uncharted territory. I don’t recommend training for a fall marathon if you live in Florida. It was stupid-hot out and miserable to run in, so I mostly didn’t. I’d run 11 half marathons to this point, including a pseudo-marathon experience (in my opinion) of a 10k, 5k, half marathon weekend. I felt so ready for the marathon after that last half. I ran my second-fastest half marathon time and I was on tired legs when I started out.

We ran through Savannah State University for about 3 miles, including a lap around the track. There were some guys stretching before doing their own runs at the school and I yelled out to them “we are just warming up the track for you!” They laughed. One of the band singers (I think at miles 14.25 and 17.5) yelled out at us that he would be running his marathon after we finished up. I told him I’d be waiting for him at the finished line. I was in really good spirits the entire run, though I definitely slowed down quite a bit after the half. I think it was mostly because I felt like I was by myself out there and we were running along the highway for a ways. My 20 mile time was 4:16:01.

A Blue Angels plane was on the SSU campus and I had to read the placard to find out why. I live near Blue Angels HQ. This plane was on campus in recognition of the first black man to fly for the Blue Angels. He was an SSU graduate.

I didn’t particularly like running past the soccer field miles 19-22. It felt like the organizers were trying to find places to have us run to make those miles. We were running the wrong way down streets and turning around and going in the other direction. Miles 23 & 24 were back on the highway. The finish line came quickly after getting back into downtown, though the finish line was confusing! There were so many cable ramps and scaffolds that I couldn’t quite see the finish line. I sprinted to the “finish” too soon and had to walk to catch my breath before sprinting to the actual finish. D’oh! And yes I did have that much gas left at the end. I finished in 5:44:43. I put 5:45 as my prediction, so go me!

I never felt “the wall” people warned me about. I noticed pains I hadn’t felt before at points. My butt got tight for a couple minutes, so I awkwardly walked it out while doing a nice meat mallet pounding. My tailbone started hurting. That was weird. My ankles were fine. My calves were really okay. I even made my “A goal” of walking back to the ferry from the finish line. As far as the goodies go, some of the things were packed up already. There were boxes and boxes of pretzels, but no volunteers handing them out. I wanted one of those solar blankets because I was COLD, but again, no volunteers handing them out. I could see the solar blankets on the pallets! The secure zone should be fully manned until the very last runner comes through. There was still over an hour before the course closed. I find this unacceptable, especially considering these people went 26 miles.

Here I am with my medal. I finished.

THE END.

Actually, not the end.  Getting to this point was not easy. In the weeks leading up to marathon day, it was something I had doubts I could complete.  I kept reminding myself that I was stronger than I thought I was.  There would be days I thought I couldn't run a marathon, but a lifetime ahead of me knowing that I did.  Now I feel...

It's the BEST feeling.

Houston Museum District

I'll start this post by showing a few more photos of the water wall, which isn't in the museum district at all.  It is how I started my Sunday last week though.

 

At one point, there was a different "scene" in each of the three arches.  The right is a dance troupe and the center is an engagement photo shoot.  I should have walked over a bit more to get a centered photo.  Sorry, not sorry.

 

 Incredible cascading water.

 

This is the Matisse back series.  

 

I think back 3 and back 4 are really interesting.  This is back 3--it is very Picasso-esque.

 

This is back 4.  You can see that Matise "devolved" into more geometric African carving style sculptures.  I took art humanities in college, but I can't think up these technical terms to save my life at the moment.

 

Even Matisse's signature changed over time.  This is the 9th of 10 for back 2.  (Matisse liked to do the same thing over and over, so you will often find 8-10 iterations of the same thing.)  I would date this bronze in the mid-late 20s.

 

This was the signature on back 1.  I can't tell what number it is, but I think the plaque said 1908-1909.

 

This is the Houston Triptych.  Yes, I'm missing the sphere on the other side.  Couldn't quite get the range to take a wider photo.

 

Decanter by Frank Stella  It looks like pasta to me.  Or maybe I'm hungry.

 

I was quite taken by this one.  It's not just art.  

 

It's a triangle with mirrors set inside.

 

I have no words to describe how I feel about this piece.  It's incredible.

 

Dewitt Godfrey, Untitled.  This is a rebar mushroom.  Pretty cool, huh?  

 

Aristide Maillol, Flora, Nude.

 

This looks like beehives on an old lamp post to me.  It's called Exhaling Pearls.

 

I love this one.  This is Adam by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle.  The facepalm expression is like, "Eve, why did you eat the forbidden fruit?"

Not a detail is missing.

 

Auguste Rodin, The Walking Man I doubt this one is the original.  Rodin encouraged reproductions of his works.  Consider The Thinker.  There are a few dozen copies of that one all over the world.

After I walked through the sculpture garden, I drove a few blocks over to the Houston Holocaust Museum.  This museum used to be free, but now it charges $12 a person.  I'm sure locals are not thrilled with having to pay, but I think it helps the mission and that's a win.  I got to the museum at 1pm.  A guided tour was just underway.  It was led by a Holocaust survivor--Dr.  Anna Steinberg.  From what I gathered from her talk, she and her family fled to Russia from Poland.  She was in a Russian labor camp, where she met her husband.  Her parents were sent to a different camp in Poland (I believe) closer towards the liberation.  Anna said that her parents were stuck in the camp for about 3 years after the liberation (remember that scene in Band of Brothers where they wanted to free everyone in the camps but were told they had to lock everyone back up for safety--that resettlement period.)  Anna and her boyfriend (turned husband) went to Frankfurt to study medicine while her parents were hanging out in the camp.  Anna was just as lighthearted about this time as I'm being now, just so you know. 

 

This represents the family names of people lost in the Holocaust.  Perhaps a brother or parent of someone who emigrated to Texas before the (a proper word escapes me--the Holocaust didn't happen in a day and I don't know how to call it) incident?  Tragedy? Massive loss of nearly an entire population was known to the public at large?

 

Though there is anguish

deep in my soul

What if I must search for you forever?

I must not lose faith.

I must not lose hope.

 

"I was lucky because I jumped into a snow bank."

 

An example of one such German railcar.

 

This is a Danish fishing boat.  Because of the Danish king's quick thinking, about 99% of the Danish Jews were saved by being sailed from Denmark to Sweden in fishing boats just like this one.  Anna said that when the Danish Jews came home, they came home to houses BETTER than when they left.  Their houses were freshly painted.  The community planted flowers and a vegetable garden for them.  In contrast, when the Jews from everywhere else came home, the people said, "Oh.  We thought you were dead.  We thought you weren't coming home.  We have been profiting off your inventory and your business.  We've been living in your house.  You want us to leave now?  This is our home now.  You need to go somewhere else."

 

In the center is a camp uniform.  The man who wore this was a political prisoner.  He was someone who was trying to protect the Jews or was otherwise dissenting against the government.  I can tell this because of the red tab.  Jews wore purple tabs with a yellow Star of David.  Jehovah's Witnesses wore only purple.  Hitler didn't like them either.

 

This is a preconstruction map of the Dachau camp.  That's all I'm going to say about that.

 

I'm glad you can't see much detail in these old pictures.  One of the "pastimes" of the SS Army was to kick the laborers back down into the quarry.  This photo in the right corner shows a victim of that assault.  He was made to carry heavy stones from the quarry to the top and was kicked down and killed when he reached the top.  Like Anna said during the tour, more people were killed by bullets during this time we now call the Halocaust than were killed in the concentration camps.  Bullets were becoming too slow and they left too much evidence behind.  They came up with the Zyclon B/Crematory combo as the fast answer to the "final solution."

 

I absolutely adore this sculpture.

I was talking to one of my friends (who happens to be Jewish) about how captivated I was with this museum and the 3 hours I spent there.  Knowing that she had family affected, she said she just couldn't.  Couldn't go there. Couldn't see that stuff.  Couldn't hear about it.  The biggest lesson for me is that humans are terrible students.  We don't learn.  Since the Holocaust, there has been attempted genocide in former Yugoslavia (1991-1995), Rowanda (1994), Darfur (2004), Cambodia (~1975-1978), and now we have this nonsense going on in Syria.  Why do some people have to think they are better than others?  Why can't we all just get along?

So as to not end on a somber tone, have some photos of my food!

 

This is The American taco from Torchy's Tacos in Houston.  It's fried chicken, pineapple cole slaw, cilantro, and bacon!  It was delicious.

 

I actually liked this taco better.  This is The Democrat:  barbacoa, queso, cilantro, onions, and a slice of avocado.

 

The moon had a really cool orange glow on my way home and it had a cloud cover like Saturn's rings!

Houston was really really great.  I'm happy with how I spent my time and I only wish I had a few more days to venture out a bit further.

Houston Happenings

As I mentioned last week, I popped over to Texas for the weekend.  I was mostly there for a half marathon, but I did quite a bit more than that.

 

This guy was crossing the road at the campground. 

 

I had a pretty good location to set up camp.  It overlooked most of the park.  It was a pain to get to it and I thought the campground staff was rude.

 

A flock of ducks hanging out by the fountain pond.

 

The BBQ area was right next to my tent.  When I got back from the half marathon, these people had taken over.  It was about time for me to eat anyway--slight change of plans in that I would eat somewhere instead of getting an order to go and eat at the picnic table here.

This was delicious.  I wanted pulled chicken, but the place was sold out.  I ended up getting pulled pork and green beans.  The green beans were the MOST DELICIOUS vegetable I have ever encountered.  Unicorn tears, fairy farts, glitter, and bacon.  That's what makes these things good.  The sandwich was bigger than my hand!  Kickin Ash BBQ in Montgomery, TX A++ would eat again.

 

"On February 21, 1911 (that's my birthday!) around 1:30 in the morning, a fire broke out in the Capitol Drug store on Chambers (today North Main) Street.  The blaze was well underway before it was discovered and Northerly winds began sweeping the flames southeastward toward the railraod tracks.  The volunteer fire department had only one hose cart which was pulled by hand to fight the inferno and the lack of water pressure led to the fight being called off.  The post office, meat market, saloon, grocery store, and masonic lodge were among the businesses caught in the path of the fire as well as the homes of their owners who lived above their stores.  Sixty-five buildings, store inventories, and personal belongings were lost that early February morning, costing and estimate total of $150,000, Over 3.5 million dollars in today's money.  The following business day, the city council created an ordinance requiring buildings to have "fire proof materials the wooden structures.  A year later, the city council voted to amend the ordinance to require buildings to be constructed out of brick and stone.  The 1911 fire in downtown Conroe and the prompt response to its destruction by Conroe residents reflected the resilience of Texans as they settled, struggled, and prospered in Southeast Texas.  Despite the tragedy caused by the fire, the resurrection of stately brick business buildings provides current city visitores with a picture of a bygone era with buildings over a century in age.  It further echoes the town's nickname, "the town that faith built!"

 

These are a couple of those buildings that rebuilt the town after the fire.

 

I thought it was really cool downtown had these artsy benches.  Most were painted, but one was bronzed and another was glass-etched.  This one above depicts a bit of Texas history.  Beginning with ranching, adding ease of moving agriculture with the Houston and Great Northern railroad, and finally into oil production.

 

I think this one is WWI related.  I'm not really sure and I don't know enough about Texas' part in training and such to speak about it.

 

I was in Conroe to see Hairspray at the local theatre.  The Crighton Theatre has really fabulous architecture and is filled with beautiful antique furniture.  The show was amazing too.  I was wildly impressed with the local talent and the support the community showed the theatre by coming out.  Going to the theatre was a great (and relatively inexpensive) way to spend my Saturday night.  If you live near Conroe, I highly recommend checking this place out.

I went a little crazy with the photo collage thing today.  I took so many photos!  Most of these pictures were from Saturday.  I never even mentioned the half marathon.  Not much to say really.  It was miserable.  I was miserable.  I couldn't stay hydrated during the run.  The worst part?  At the end of my miserable run, I crossed the finish line.  There were no high-fives.  No cheers.  No finisher's medal.  No Gatorade.  Very little food (there were a few small slivers of watermelon left and some bagel quarters).  I was not pleased.  They did email me this, so wooooo.

I still have a whole other day to talk about.  Soon!