Oklahoma | Wait, I thought OK was flat?
After wrapping up
with Kansas, we were back in the car heading south down I-35 towards Oklahoma
City for the second leg of this crazy weekend. When planning for this back to
back I just used the 50 states gadget on runningintheusa.com to look up races
that were near each other on weekends I had available. I talked a little bit in
last post about the crazy time with the Kansas race (thanks again Wicked
Marathon) but Oklahoma was much easier as there was only the one race to choose
from that weekend. It was a small town race with less than 100 marathon
finishers the last few years so I decided to keep the small race vibe going and
head down to Ardmore, Oklahoma
Location: Ardmore,
OK
Date: March 25, 2018
Finishing Time:
5:09:57
The drive from
Ottawa to Ardmore was a straight shot down I-35 through OKC and still further
south for a little over an hour. We were back to 75 mph speed limits with
nothing but prairies on both sides of the road. Exits were few and far between
and it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. There was a point on
the highway that had a scenic lookout point on the prairies and it seemed like
a good spot to stretch my legs a little bit. I knew that the 5.5 hour drive
between races was going to be tough on my body so we tried to make a few stops
along the way to keep the blood flowing in my legs. I also wore running tights
as compression which provided me with lots of strange looks from locals when I
got out of the car. The scenic lookout was really cool for as far as you could
see there was just flat land. A few hills out in the distance but nothing
substantial. There were also a crazy amount of cattle just roaming the land.
Really felt like little house on the prairie type stuff. Ok back to the drive!
While in the car, I
tried to get down carbs in preparation for tomorrow's race but my stomach
wanted nothing to do with it. Bella and I would share some Cheerios and I would
take a bite or two of a bagel before just feeling disgusted with myself. I
would try getting some sleep but trying to get comfortable in the car with sore
legs (and body) just wasn't working. Instead Kaela and I just recapped Kansas
and then started prepping the plan for Sunday.
A little over
halfway in the trip, we started looking for dinner options. Kaela never ended
up having lunch while she ran around taking pictures of me so at this point she
was a little "hangry". I wanted to get lots of carbs in a single meal
since my gradual approach wasn't working, so I looked up pizza places in the
area. I started to see a familiar name throughout the area, Simple Simon's
Pizza, and assumed it was a local pizza chain and that we should give it a try.
On their menu read "The Home of the Original Calzone" so we of course
had to try it. I gave the location a call and was speaking with some teenage
girl, that didn't seem to be the brightest, and I had asked her how big the
calzone's were because their menu only had sizes personal and regular with no
additional description. She asked how hungry I was and that made me think that
maybe the personal was not going to be big enough, so we ended up ordering two
regular calzones.
What a surprise we
were in for when we picked up the food. The regular calzone, come to find out,
is a large pizza just folded over. Needless to say it was way more food than we
wanted and Kaela ended up only splitting one of them while sitting in the parking
lot and not even touching the second. Back on the road we finished the final
piece of the drive. Once we started to get back into civilization the speed
limit dropped back to 70 (not to Kaela's liking) but we powered through to
Ardmore.
As we got closer to
Ardmore, I started to notice the hills on each side of the road. I was under
the impression that Oklahoma was just as flat as Kansas, but I started to
realize I was mistaken. Just a few exits from our hotel, there was another
scenic overlook that gave a beautiful view of the last few moments before the
sun set. We talked to a couple about the area and they said that the Arbuckle
Mountains (what we were on) were the oldest known in the US and bring people
from all over the world to study the lime stone and other rocks.
Great, now I am
going to run on a prehistoric mountain range!
Arriving at our
hotel around 10pm, we checked in and I spent a little time getting my clothes
and gear organized for the morning. The room was a larger suite so it gave me a
little more space to do it all. I laid out my clothes for the race on a table
and couch. The race morning was going to be a little chilly, so I made sure I
had a throwaway shirt that would keep me warm in the early hours. Time just
seemed to be moving by so fast because before I had realized it was already
almost midnight. Usually I am nervous the night before a race but in this case
I was so exhausted from the run that morning and the travel that I passed out
hard.
But the sleep was
short lived, with my alarm going off at 4am, I was back at it. I grabbed my
bagels and headed down to the lobby to use their toaster (two nights in a row
with no microwaved bagels is a win) before heading back to room to eat. The
weren't going down all that great, but I knew that I needed to get in the food
to ensure got through the race. I spent quite a bit of time just staring down
at my plate just rethinking over and over again this whole back to back race
idea. I had to get myself out of the negative thoughts to keep my head up and
focused.
I went through the
typical eat, pack, dress routine before Kaela drove me to Noble Stadium where
the race would finish but more importantly where I would catch a bus to the
start. The race was a point to point race that did not allow runners to drive
or be dropped off at the start. So Kaela had to get me to the buses before the
final one left at 6:30am with a race start of 7:30am. I was dragging a little
bit out the hotel door and we arrived to the stadium as volunteers were saying
5 minutes until buses leave. At this point I still had not picked up my packet,
so I gave Kaela a kiss and rushed to grab my bib and event t-shirt.
CRAP!
I hadn't even
thought about once I got my gear where I would end up placing it as Kaela was
just heading back to the hotel and then heading on the course to see me around
mile 7. I guessed I would have to just carry my race shirt for first 7 miles
and then hand off the Kaela. I placed my bib on my belt and walked over to the
buses as final boarding calls were being made. Grabbed a seat on a tight school
bus, put my head on the seat in front of me and tried to be as comfortable as
possible. It wasn't a long ride to the start which was great compared to the
crammed hour ride to Big Sur, which was my last experience in a school bus.
When we arrived at
the start, they had said that the bus would stay parked with the heat on for a
little bit for those that wanted to stay on. The morning temperatures were in
the low to mid 50's which was a little chilly with the sun not yet up, but in this
part of the country, I am surprised I didn't seem some Uggs and fur coats out
on the course. I decided to keep my legs comfortable and hop off the bus and
just find a seat. The start of the race was at Turner Falls and I don't know
why I didn't put it together prior to but it was actually a water fall. It was
pretty cool sight when I walked around the corner to grab a seat away from the
crowds and stumbled upon the falls. I did not have my phone with me but it made
it that much better that I just enjoyed the view and didn't worry about getting
the right shot and using the right hashtag to post to social media.
I met a few friendly
people while waiting at the start. One in particular was Emily. She was newer
to running marathons and was working on running across the country as well but
mostly half marathons. We chatted a little bit about races in this part of the
country to give me some ideas of possibilities for the future. Soon after it
was time for the national anthem. I don't know why, but hearing this before
races gives me the feels every time! I think it goes back to little league
baseball and the feeling of excitement, nervousness, joy and so many other
emotions happening all at the same time.
So I said earlier
that I didn't even think about dropping off my bag back with Kaela but luckily
they had a bag check that was taking place at the starting line. It was the
most low key bag check ever, with runners being provided a trash bag and a
permanent marker to write bib number on it. I followed those instructions, hit
up the porta-pottys one more time and made my way to the start just up the
road.
The race started
with the marathon and 21 milers at the same point. Between the two races it was
a light crowd which made the start really easy to get lined up. I knew in
previous years there were only about 100 marathon finishers so I just hung out
towards the back of the pack so I could run my own race.
GO!!!
Just like that we
were off. We started on the top of the hill near the falls and had a short
climb followed by a longer descent heading back down towards the highway. Not
to long after starting, my body started to get warm so I ditched my flannel on
the side of the road. My legs felt really great right at the start, would not
have thought I ran the 50k the day before. I knew that it was a long race
though, so I tried to keep my legs in check. Gravity was taking over a little
bit and rather than beating up my legs by putting on the brakes I opened up my
stride a little bit and glided a bit. I started to go by quite a few groups of
people on the long decent. In one group in particular a lady said as I passed
"you are going to be my pacer". I laughed it off and said that she
would be passing me here in a few miles.
After passing a few
more groups the pack really thinned out and I caught up to a single guy named
Tom. He seemed to be going a comfortable pace for me and he was wearing a 50
states completed shirt, so I thought he would make for good company to pass the
time. While talking to him I found out he has run over 400 marathons and said
he was running sub 4 hour's for most of the first 300. That was until he had to
have open heart surgery and that slowed him down a bit. Mile after mile he told
me stories of races all over the country and things he had learned along the
way.
We hit some rolling
hills until about mile 5 when we had a steep descent. At this point Tom and I
were talking with some other guys and Tom got into one of his stories and we
ended up flying down this hill. They were moving at a pace that was much faster
than I wanted, even in with the slope, so I backed off a little bit and let
them get ahead. Once we hit a flat portion, I used that separation to take in a
gel and just catch my breath. I felt strong so far and knew that I had to keep
my focus in order to keep it up.
Tom had started
taking walk breaks and I ended up catching back up to him. Now I think that
quick mile down hill shook him up a bit because we would run for a little and
then try to slow down to fast walk when trying to tell more stories. I kept him
going but I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it up. Soon after I realized that
we were coming up to the turn that would bring us into the horse ranch but more
importantly my first opportunity to see Kaela around mile 7. As always she was
posted on the side, Bella in tow, taking pictures. Knowing that I may be a
little worn out, she was carrying all sorts of extra nutrition should I need
it. At this point I didn't need anything but told her that on the way back out
I probably would.
We took a left to
head towards the horse ranch. It was an out and back 5k full of rolling hills
that brought us down to a walk a few times, again mostly because of Tom's story
telling. The horse ranch was really cool just seeing the acres and acres of land,
but due to the weather there weren't many horses out and about. Oh did I forget
to talk about the weather? In this
section we started to get some light showers that felt nice to cool us off but
so light that it just was an annoyance.
We were making progress in his section but it seemed with every story
more and more people were passing us by. The lady that said I was going to be
her pacer had caught back up to us and passed us like we were standing still. I
didn't want to be rude and just take off, but I knew something had to give.
After hitting an aid
station around mile 10, Tom said that he needed to back off a moment which was
my opportunity to try and create some separation. I pushed ahead catching back
up to the "pacing lady" and formally introduced myself to Chasidy. We
exchanged some simple introduction "how do you do's" before almost
simultaneously noticing to massive climb we had on our left. Making our way to
the split at mile 11, I got to see Kaela again. I grabbed some salt tabs from
Kaela, a sponge from the aid station and I was back on the road. This is where the race really started as the
long rolling hills were the only scenery for the rest of the race. I noticed
that Chasidy had gained some ground on me but I was determined to use her as a
goal to keep pushing me forward.
Due to my short stop
at the aid station, Tom had also caught back up to me but with my motivation of
pushing through to catch Chasidy I didn't slow down while chatting with him. I
pushed the pace and he would back off and then catch up doing what seemed to be
almost fartlek type intervals. So not only was this part of the course quite
hilly, the wind decided to blow a completely different direction from day prior
and was directly in our faces. I kept my eyes to the horizon and pushed through
my stride with each step. The course was very easy to see as it was straight
down the same road that just rolled all the way into Ardmore. Because of this
rolling nature you could see the next two aid stations down the road which were
a least a mile a part from each other. This played some games mentally feeling
so close to an aid station and it never seemed to get closer with each step.
Around mile 14 I noticed I was pulling a little closer to Chasidy but she was
not slowing down at all. I started to think I wouldn't be able to catch her and
then snuck into a porta-potty. "This is my chance" I thought (not in
a creepy way at all).
With her stop I was
able to catch up to her at the next aid station and picked up our conversation
that we had started before. She had told me she came into this marathon quite
undertrained after being beat up from the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth (which
she convinced me to do in 2019). She said that at this point in the race her
goal was to just finish around 5:30 and I told her that she will be keeping
with me and we would be breaking 5 hours.
We talked about
running, family and bunch of other random stuff to help pass the time. Every so
often Kaela would be on the side of the road taking pictures offering up some
delicious snacks. At one point I had a few pieces of the extra calzone that we
had from the ride down south. Mile by mile just clicked off and with each aid
station we hit marked another mini goal completed. The aid station volunteers
were also pretty top notched. Each aid station seemed to be run by another
group/organization so they all had their own little bit of flair. One aid
station had a pickle juice shot station set up and even had some cups with lids
for those wanting to take some juice to-go! At another aid station I noticed a
box of donuts that were clearly for the volunteers, but it didn't hurt to at
least ask if I could have one. They were even nice enough to rip off a little
part of one for me for the road.
Like I said, we used
the aid stations as mini goals because were both started to feel the fatigue
start to creep in. Between the hills, the wind and the fact I was already on
tired legs, at mile 18 I was feeling it. Shortly after mile 18, Kaela saw us and
asked me what time we were looking at finishing. Realistically 5 hours was out
of the question, so I let her know that 5:10 was the new goal. Chasidy seemed
to laugh it off thinking that we were going much slower than that. We kept with
our mini goals, running every downhill and powering through climbs until making
it to the split at mile 20. At this point the 21 milers took a left turn
heading to the stadium to finish, while the rest of us went out for an out and
back 10k. Doing the number one no-no of running, doing math, I knew it was
going to be close for that 5:10 and we really need to be focused.
So remember how I
thought Oklahoma was flat? Well the rolling hills from 11 to 20 let me know I
was mistaken, but then this out and back through a park made me a flat out
liar. This park was nothing but up's and down's the entire way. With every turn
in the road, I kept looking for a turn around that didn't seem to present
itself. In this stretch I got to a point where I couldn't take in any more gels
and it took all I had to get down the gatorade at the aid stations. We kept
pushing forward running more than we walked but we were smoked. There were a
few spots where Chasidy didn't want to walk to she pushed us a little further.
I would say we will stop at a certain light pole and she would call out one
just a little further away just to keep us moving. She definitely had the push
and determination to get us off the course.
We eventually made
it out of the park (dragging and whining) and crossed the street that was the
split to head towards the stadium. Chasidy was spent but I knew she had more in
her, so I told her from one street corner that we would not stop until the finish.
With just a few turns left she said she needed to walk for a moment. I told her
that we were very close to the 5:10 but needed to keep moving. She told me to
go after it and even though I didn't want to leave her, I took off instantly. I
turned a corner in the parking and put it into another gear, running through
the parking lot approaching the entrance to stadium. Kaela was on the side
taking pictures and told me to make sure I gave her time to get inside for
finishers photo, like I was going at blazing mach 1 speeds haha.
Entering the
stadium, I glanced down at my watch and realized that it was going to be close.
I pushed with everything I had left, lengthening my stride and pushing the
pace. I felt like I could have beat Usain Bolt in that moment which later I
would find out from Kaela I was running fast but not near as fast as the pain
on my face would suggest. With every few steps I would take a look down at my
watch just counting the seconds that have gone by. In the final turn gave
everything in the final push to get to the finish.
5:09:57
I mean, just under
the goal! Completely spent with a few tears in my eyes, Kaela joined me to
congratulated me on not only a strong finish but an amazing two days of races.
That is when it sank in of what I had actually done this weekend and it put a
huge smile on my face. I received my medal and got my obligatory finishers
photo on the track. I hung out by the finish line waiting for Chasidy to hit
the track. Once she made it on Kaela and I cheered her the entire 400m around
the track until she finished. I formally introduced her to Kaela and we talked
a little about how we both pushed each other to get us to this point. We
exchanged some information and said we would keep in touch. It's crazy how
running can spark some new relationships.
We made our way to
the finishers area to pick up some McDonalds sausage biscuits and I sat on the
curb slamming down all the food I could fit in my face. I hobbled my way to the
restroom to change clothes before heading out. We spent the rest of the day visiting
breweries in OKC enjoy some delicious beer (our favorite being Stonecloud
Brewing), before crashing at yet another hotel.
Overall what a great
experience I had at this race. It was very small field but the volunteers and
workers were top notch in their support. The course was surprisingly
challenging mostly because I was not aware of the amount of hills in the area.
Unfortunately, 2019 is going to be the last year they are hosting the race so
if you have the opportunity to run it I would! It was great making some new
running friends and like I said Chasidy invited me out to her neck of the woods
and recommended some races in Texas and Louisiana that are highly probable for
2019.
Up next, Kaela and I
head out to eastern Iowa, which once again to my surprise is not flat.
Sometimes I think maybe I should pay a little more attention to elevation
charts!