Edward Abbey
Today was a day I awed over the undertaking that a single man was accomplishing. Today, I witnessed the triumph of a single man’s quest to take his body further than he has every taken it before. Today, I saw a giant…
My day started as the alarm buzzed at 3:30AM. The sound that emanates from the black box at that time of the morning is piercing to the drums.
My first thought as I sluggishly removed my body from the warmth and comfort of my bed was that Brian, has been trekking it all around Alpharetta for 2 ½ hours on his quest of 40 miles.
The thought of what this man was accomplishing this day is phenomenal and for me to even think that a mere 18 miles stacked up against his 40 miles in 6 hours could even compare is incomprehensible.
Arriving at the sparse lot at LTF I ran into Hokan in the lobby. Hokan had stated to me that he had never been up so early in his life. Hokan was departing with Brian on one of his stops to the gym to refuel and was running the last 18 miles. As we walked through the sober halls of LTF, we laughed at ourselves for the crazy antics that we do to balance our lives on a daily basis.
Like Hokan, I had an agenda for the early rise and departure on this Friday morning. My goal for the day was to meet up with the Wonder Twins at 5:15AM and run their long run of 10 miles at a 7:33 pace. The first order for me was to knock out 8 miles. Calculating the pace required to meet them at the quarter after the hour time, I had to run 8:02’s.
The 8-mile course was plotted last night. Out to Webb Bridge Park (loop twice) and head back. The mileage is actually 8.2, but what are a few tenth’s?
I headed down my path today thinking that Brian would be rounding the corner into the parking lot in a few minutes to pick up his posse’ of runners for the last 18 miles of his journey as I embarked on my mere 18 this morning.
The air was crisp and a bit chilly this morning. The was no wind, which was a nice change for once, but the low lying areas along the route nestled the cold air which made its way the layers of clothing to my core.
I rounded the park twice and headed back to meet the Twins. Running at this time of the morning is surreal. No traffic, the darkest part of the day and the quietness of the suburbs allows you to focus on your breathing, foot cadence and stride from the sound of your feet hitting the asphalt.
Since the demise of my iPod I have been running solo with no music. At first, it was a challenge, but now I have been able to hone in on my breathing and my stride a lot more making me more efficient on the run.
As I ran down the center of the road on Webb Bridge a car slowed down, it was Jay. He was on his way to the gym and said he would see me in few minutes. He stated I looked strong, but in reality, it was a bit of a struggle for some reason. There was a brief moment when all I wanted to do was hop in the back seat and head back with him, but my stubbornness for accomplishing my task would not allow it.
Jay took off down the road once again leaving me to myself to finish the task at 4:51AM.
I hit the gym a few minutes early (too fast) after the 8 miles. I met the Wonder Twins in the lobby and they bundled up as we headed out the door.
Bob had plotted a 10-mile course through the rough parts of Alpharetta and back. We took off heading out to conquer our first hill on Westside Parkway heading to Windward. The hill is not steep, just long. The Twins kicked into overdrive floating up the hill effortlessly.
We veered left onto Cumming then right onto Henderson Parkway, more hills. The pace was a little fast at this point 7:28’s but I knew the Wonder Twins needed to settle in by knocking off a few fast miles.
At the peak of Henderson Pkwy, we hung a left onto Hwy 9 then right on Vaughn Drive to Hopewell Road. This is where the Twins settled in at about 7:30 to 7:31’s. I hung on Jay’s left shoulder to hold the pace with them for the next couple of miles.
At the next turn intersection, we turned left on Milton Ave where Bob (a good man) stashed 3 Gatorade bottles for us. We briefly stopped to pick them up but decided to forge ahead up Milton until we leveled out on Wills Road to crack open the much-needed drinks.
As we down the last of the Orange Gatorade, we picked the pace up almost instantly, to 7:30’s again making our way to Old Milton Pkwy. Turning left, we followed Old Milton to Haynes Bridge. Passing Bagel Boys was torture for us. The smells emanating from the shop of freshly baked bagels and coffee brewing was hypnotic. Stop, eat and warm up my body kept telling me, but as Jay snapped me into reality by stating, “3.7 miles to go”. I figured breakfast had to wait, dang.
Forging ahead, as the hypnotic smells dissipated, towards Mount Westside Pkwy I eased up a few clicks to take a gel and drink some fluid knowing that the mountain that lay ahead was going to be tough at about mile 16 for me.
As we rounded onto Mt. Westside, the Twins had a little after burner left in the jets and slowly progressed forwarded faster than I could hold. They pranced up the mountain effortlessly like two Kluane rams, while I trailed 15 meters behind trying to keep up.
Cresting the summit, we crossed Old Milton and headed down the closed section of Westside. I was able to make up some ground filing in behind Bob’s feet as we turned onto Academy heading back.
The Twins and I finished the run on the backside of Tradewinds behind LTF ending in the parking lot. I attempted to gain some ground on them heading up Tradewinds hill to finish side-by-side, but their strength had out matched me by a couple of steps.
I appreciated the challenge of hanging with these exceptional runners as we made our way indoors to warm up.
In the lobby, Brian’s next group of runners was congregating to run with him on his last 4 miles of his journey. Chris & Stacy were waiting as Susan, Ann Marie, Stacy H, Shane, Bob, Jay and I awaited Brian’s arrival.
We talked about our runs, the Chicago Marathon and took a few snap shots while the clock ticked by. About 20 minutes later, Brian’s scout, Jonathan came into the lobby signaling that Brian was about 2 minutes behind.
The group went out to give Brian a boost by cheering and clapping as he floated in looking unfazed from 36 miles and 5 ½ hours of constant perpetual motion.
As the group left following the leader, Brian, under a clap of hands and cheers, I was struck by the giant presence Brian had on this group of outstanding people and friends.
To be in his shadows of what he has accomplished on this day, February 19, 2010 is a special day for not only for me but also for all runners who know this giant of man among mere running mortals.
Always a good read, Corey; great post. Indeed, many Giants among us - I'm glad I know a few of them...you among them. Keep up the good stuff.
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