There is no education like adversity. It makes you strong. Your most challenging times in life.. those moments you overcame the most adversity.. are your greatest opportunities to learn and grow as a person.
Either you’re committed to getting it done.. or you won’t. Either you openly tell yourself, that you’re willing to go through anything “Hell or high water” to get that race finished.. or you won’t. Just as you need to practice the running, and practice the power hiking, to be a real rounded Ultra Runner… you also need to practice the adversity. Face It. Embrace It. Make it your slave… What you learn won’t just benefit you as an ultra runner, it will benefit you as a human being. There are many parallels between the lessons learned in this sport, and life.
#Adversity See you out there, Sherpa John
Let’s just say…there’s no easy way to Lafayette, Louisiana. LOL>
First flight cancelled. Independently managed Plan B details (American refunded the $75 change fee next day, many thanks). Saturday BBQ breakfast in Dallas, 5 hours later…small prop plane to Bajou country. 70’s & sunshine in Acadiana. You’d never know USA’s East Coast was being pounded by another multi-foot snow storm.
Arriving mid-afternoon, not enough time to check out Evangeline’s gravesite in St Martinville LA. After starting the story last summer in Nova Scotia, wanted to see how the saga ended – or at least understand what happened to everyone’s accents during the French migration from Canada. HA! What a crazy dialect, Cajun French!
Bib pickup at Blackham Coliseum (Louisiana-Lafayette U’s Ragin’ Cajuns), then local eats at the Pot & Paddle. Carb-loaded on TWO entrees: jambalaya AND red beans & rice. Who could decide? Marathoning tomorrow, really any excuse will do 🙂 #food addict
Chain hotel, nothing special – 10 minute drive to Sunday’s Start downtown. Running Acadiana’s Zydeco Marathon, named for the region’s unique ‘zydeco’ music. Jazzy flavor, always with an accordion (YouTube sample provided below).
Small field of marathoners, race same weekend as Roll n Roll-New Orleans two hours east. National anthem, self-policed wave start (every 2 minutes). Comfortable, cool, felt good, started strong. Temps wouldn’t heat up ‘til 2nd Half. Hung with the 4-hour pack for 10 miles. Quiet Sunday morning, start of Spring in French Louisiana.
first Half, just over 2 hours. Training starting to pay off. Not pushing, running easy.
Snap, just like that. It’s how we deal with unexpected events that test character. Half-mile into the 2nd half: mind wandered, clipped a pothole. Tripped, went down hard. Didn’t even try to catch myself, happened super fast. Ankle, knee, left arm.
Arm bled the worse, hurt the least. Picked myself up, walked to the corner, knee hurt/throbbed. Rocked mentally. Sat down, talked with a police officer manning the intersection. 14 miles in, 12 to go. Not possible. DNF. Asked for the SAG wagon, needed a ride back. Not my day.
20 minutes. Officer radioed again. Van caught in traffic, majority of the Half field now finishing.
Stood. Arm stung, knee throbbed but mentally, event was over/panic passed.
Waved to the officer. I’m going on, radio the van please. Walked. Jogged ‘til knee pain went from throbbing to shooting, then walked again. Still planned on quitting, just hadn’t decided when.
Mile 17. I’ll quit at the next aid station.
Ahead of me recognized Steve Boone [founder, 50 State Marathon Club]. Stroke of luck. Walked & talked thru mile 19. No one flies to rural Louisiana, runs 19 miles & quits. I can do this.
Puking started at 21. It is what it is.
Walked mile 23, much of the next mile too. Teared up at 25, chest-pumped motivation – who quits with one mile to go? Stopped twice. Started twice. FINISHED.
K R Haga, Congratulations on Finishing the 2018 Lafayette General Zydeco Marathon & 1/2!
Time: 5:39:31.9
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- nothing direct to Lafayette
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- Ragin’ Cajuns
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- Creole cookin’
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- marathon Start in Acadiana
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- Blood on the Bayou
“Johnny Ma Cabrille” in Louisiana Cajun/French Creole
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVAgkX4g8TU
After some crazy cold temps at home, more than one reason this runner was looking forward to Phoenix. Reunited with Sis! On a medical conference in nearby Scottsdale, got an invite last month to join her – marathoning, of course 🙂
Direct flight from Denver, landed mid-afternoon. Struggled thru traffic to bib pickup in Mesa (whole lotta people in Arizona), then hotel check-in & early dinner with Sis. Nice digs – FREE too – Sis’ husband, a VP-Architect with this chain.
Early Saturday race start, 3:15-4:30am bus times. Cut the difference & boarded at 4 (same time zone, wake-up as a weekday run/no biggie). Downside? Sis running the Half – different Start, different bus. (She’d finish, then attend her conference. Yikes! Shower & afternoon nap, my plan.)
Cold Arizona start. Runners gathered ‘round campfires. Me? Not a hot weather runner – thinkin’ whew, dodged a bullet. Double-layered & shorts. Ready, ready to run.
Desert dark on Usery Mountain, dark enough for head lamps. Started just below the ‘Phoenix’ sign (visible by plane as you’re approaching Sky Harbor). Downhill grade for miles then highway flat. Fully trained or not…no excuse not to break 5 hours. Crowded with the 4:45 pace group. Fell back fast, stopped & soaked in the dessert. Giant cacti littered the landscape. WOW!
Cool morning temp, felt GREAT, might as well run. 5:30 pace group, 5:15, 5 hour trekkers. Miles 4-6: met & passed two more pace groups. Hung with the 4:15 bunch thru mile 10. Lost ‘em at the porta-potty. Stopped again at the Half – photo opportunity, time to shed layers. SUN high now.
First race where the Marathon course FAR surpassed [beauty of] the Half. Designed on purpose me thinks. Second 13.1 miles (the Half course) highway flat – literally flat, running on the side of a highway. Not the most scenic run, reminiscent of December’s race in Buckeye. Several US Olympians in today’s Half field. GREAT half-marathon times can qualify runners for the Olympic Trials FULL. Doesn’t seem fair to those that kick a course 26.2 miles with hills. Wonder how many folks qualify with Half times then later fade in Trials. Let it go – will NEVER be my problem. LOL>
Not a great 2nd Half runner, never have been. Dropped pace, mind wandered, [flat] nothing to engage the legs. Temps warmed up but all-in-all, mighty lucky with the weather. Ran aside the 4:30 pace group. Puked at mile marker 22 – would be GREAT to finish a race without puking. ARGH. It’s never a lot, but shakes me mentally. Texted Sis at mile 25 questioning the meaning of life. Sometimes I get the ‘suck it up’ speech, this time she texted ‘bout post-race food. Super motivating – I’m an eater ❤
Coasted jog-pace under the FINISH banner. Eyes skirted around: WARM French toast, cooked on-site by a local bread company.
Shower, nap. Dinner & a show with Sis in downtown Phoenix. Tickets to LIBERAL political commentator Bill Maher. Let’s just say, he’s not a FAN of our current President. Wore my best Colorado plaid. LOL> Interesting though, makes ya think.
LOVE LOVED seeing Sis again, getting spoiled. We need to plan another BIG vacation. Tag.
2018 SPROUTS MESA-PHX MARATHON
9045 K R Haga Louisville, CO 4:41:34
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- weekend break from Winter ❄️
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- Welcome to the Desert Southwest!
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- pre-race campfire
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- headlamp Start on Usery Mountain
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- marathon HALF
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- FIFTH marathon with Sis (Indy, StL, Dublin, Hawaii, Phoenix)
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- Talking Stick Arena, downtown home of NBA’s Phoenix Suns
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- Bill Maher tickets
Saturday a.m. flight to Baltimore, tomorrow’s marathon a half-hour outside our Nation’s Capitol. Celebrating George W’s birthday – not that George W [Bush 43], but the original George…George Washington, USA’s first President.
BWI touchdown. Rental car pick-up. Skies grey, hour ‘til the clouds rain SNOW. After two weekends of high humidity & rain, welcoming cooler temps & powder. Winter marathoning, never know what to expect so you pack for everything.
Marriott check-in just as the snow blew in. King bed, cable TV, hotel heat cranked to 74° – Olympics on TV, I’m going nowhere. Women’s Team biathlon, Mixed Doubles curling, Snowboarding & Ice Skating. My Saturday night dance card completely FULL ⛄ 🏂
Late race start Sunday – 10am, with same day bib pickup. Weird time to schedule a marathon. Do I eat? Do I wait? Gonna be out there mid-afternoon. Do I pack a lite lunch & try to eat during the race? Positives? Plenty of sleep. Post-race shower available at the Community Center. Return flight doesn’t leave Baltimore ‘til 9pm. Kinda got all day 🙂
Marathon #109, Maryland x2
10’til 10: everyone left the Community Center, pilgrimmed to the Start. Layered up, no snow on the roads but plenty on the surrounding landscape. Probably ‘bout a hundred running, small race organized by the DC Road Runners Club. Marathon & relay, no Half. No air horn/last-minute announcements. Just followed the herd, we were running. Past two marathons have been double-loop courses – not a fan of loop repeats. TODAY: turn that attitude around, we’re doing THREE treks down the same path. LOL>
First 2 miles UP. Multiple switchbacks thru suburban neighborhoods, one constant: UP – followed by a series of rolling hills. Winded, stopped at mile marker 4. Lost the layers, dropped my gloves, striped down to short-sleeves. Hill repeats have a way of warming the internal clock. Sluggish, quads tight, warm – & barely begun my journey. NEW PLAN. Found my iPhone, turned on some tunes. Not a day for internal reflections or runner podcasts. Shuffled what was in my library, settled in & enjoyed the ride.
Hills – mostly rolling, one long grinder UP. Been spoiled with flat trail or treadmill miles past 5 weeks, outta practice. Muscle memory, I’ve got this. Settle into the music, attack the top of each hill, don’t overthink/panic. One moment at a time.
2:20 first Half. Considering I stopped at mile 4 & changed clothes, not bad. Looped past the Dept of Agriculture (all fenced off), again past the gun range (bit discerning to hear bullets each lap), then stopped/refueled…end of my second lap.
Miles 17 thru 20, dropped pace. Lactic buildup, too many hill repeats…but on track to break 5 hours (haven’t broke 5 hours this year). Walked half of mile 21, did the same at 23. Lumbered DOWN, legs like lead – rolling horse farms of Maryland beat me up this day.
Mile 24.5/biggest HILL of the day. Reminiscent of Morgantown 2015 (West Virginia). Pushed hard the last .2 (two-tenths mile). Flat FINISH on a bike path surrounded by wintering deciduous trees. Cut 8 minutes off last week’s time on a hilly course but…those are just excuses. Missed 5 hours again, 13 seconds off. Better luck next week (Saturday in Phoenix with Sis ).
Congratulated 4 runners I’d jockeyed back-n-forth the past lap. No food, no post-race picture, no FREE massage. Those perks ended 30 minutes ago – life of a 5 hour marathoner. Overall: small race, good weather, GREAT volunteers.
Marathon in the Land of Mary, I give you a B-. Be kind & remember the folks out there 5 & 6 hours (course cut-off time).
2018 George Washington Birthday Marathon
Greenbelt, MD Feb 18, 2018 10:00AM
Results
Bib 164 K HAGA
Marathon, Solo » Louisville, CO
Finished 05:00:13
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- BWI touchdown, state #25
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- Welcome to Maryland
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- pre-race SNOW ❄️
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- the original George W
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- Marathon #109, Maryland x2
