Wait, That Wasn't Supposed To Happen...AGAIN!

Someday, the running gods will not look down upon me with adoration and bestow bountiful race day wishes.

Saturday March 2nd in Tuscaloosa, AL was not that day. 

Three weeks ago, I ran the St Pete Half Marathon and PR'd by 4 minutes. I signed up 10 days in advance and hadn't really been training.

That PR wasn't supposed to happen.

Last weekend, I registered for the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon at the very last possible minute.

And PR'd by another 3 minutes off of that.

That REALLY wasn't supposed to happen.

I've never raced back to back, 3 out of 4 weekends, doing two half marathons and a 15K. Would my legs even be strong enough to handle such a ridiculous race schedule? 

There was only one way to find out.

I wasn't certain what to expect out of Tuscaloosa. I was coming to town to visit my friend Jackie and her new baby (who is stubborn and has not been born yet!), and this half marathon just so happened to be on that same weekend. I hadn't been in the city in almost 10 years so I didn't even really remember what it looked like, much less the terrain and elevation.
 All I knew was that it was supposed to be in the low 30's with snow flurries on race morning.

Cue high-anxiety-packing mode. I took 3 different outfits with me to Alabama. 

Florida people just don't know how to dress for sub-50 temps.  

 Rachel was running it too, and it was so nice to have a familiar face out there!

Here we are rocking out our throw-away jackets before the race started
(Photo stolen from Rachel)

The first part of the course was very emotional. I don't know what that Forest Lakes area looked like before the tornado swept through, but I do know what destruction looks like because of seeing the aftermath in my hometown of Cullman (which got hit by an F4 tornado that same day, April 27th 2011). The empty lots, the driveways that lead to nowhere, the mailboxes with no homes behind them, the trees that are stripped of branches but still standing tall like leafless twigs - I recognized it all and felt a huge wave of sorrow. I was running through hallowed ground, where people lost everything including their lives, and I almost flat out cried on the course.

Seeing the empty lots, next to new houses being built, next to houses that were spared, it struck a cord in my soul. 

Course map superimposed onto tornado damage path

The course may as well have been a mini version of San Francisco's elevation chart. 

Hills, hills, hills. Rolling ones. Up, down. Up, down. Just when you think you get some recovery...NOPE! There's another hill waiting for you.

By around the 7th mile I already felt out of steam. I struggled mentally more than I can remember struggling in any race ever, marathons included. I knew I went out fast, and wanted to keep it up, but could feel the fatigue coming over me like a heavy blanket.

I was also all by myself (cue sad music)--- since I've been running, I don't remember ever being alone during a race. There were no strangers to pace with, or draft, or focus on keeping up with to push me a little harder, so the drive to keep going completely fell on my own strength and focus. 

This is where my loner tendencies kinda came in handy, since I almost always run by myself during training. 
 

 These extremely photogenic race shots sum up my feelings of the final 6 miles as a whole.

I was overcome with joy to see that finish line. And even happier to see the time on my Garmin. 

Official Race Results: 

1:41:08 (PR)

7:43/mile

66th overall 

2nd in age group 

After all that struggle, I ended up with a 3 minute and 15 second PR.

I made my way to the finish area to try and catch Rachel as she crossed, and I almost missed her because she was so speedy and crushed her goal with a new 2:02 PR! 

Finish line photo op!

Although Jackie's baby was due THAT DAY, she still came out and supported me at the finish line.

 2nd in my age group meant I got an award.

Cash money! 
Thank you Delane for letting me steal your jacket when my lips turned blue 

So then I was doing some thinking.

The spread on a half marathon and full marathon pace is around 30-40 seconds-ish, right?
Let's theoretically say 30 for this particular demonstration.

If I add 30 seconds to my 7:43 half marathon pace, that is an 8:13 full marathon pace.

(Yay, I can do math.)

But.... 
Do y'all realize what an 8:12 marathon pace would get me? Just one second faster per mile than that?

 A BOSTON QUALIFYING TIME!!

That is, theoretically of course.

Forget the 3:40's, I'm going for a time in the 3:30's this year. You heard it here first, friends.

Now I just have to find a good course.....

Debby Downer

She just came out of nowhere.

When I left work on Friday, the word on the street was that it was supposed to rain all weekend. I don't think any notion of the word "tropical disturbance" was even mentioned.

I spent that rainy Saturday thrift shopping and going to the local tavern with friends to play board games and enjoy a refreshing summer ale.There had still been no conversation or regards to a named tropical system in the gulf, and no warning that it may or may not be wreaking havoc in our county within the next 24 hours.

It didn't stop raining all night.

I woke up Sunday morning to howling winds and sideways rain. I took a look outside and still didn't really think too much of it....in the Florida summers you get kind of used to crazy rain and wind. I did notice the tide was higher than usual and that a few waves were big enough to spray water over the seawall.

Prateek and I went downtown around noon to run a few errands and have some lunch.

After a while, I noticed the wind was a little out of control. . I checked my phone's weather app and there were 5 notifications - a tropical storm watch, a high wind advisory, a high surf advisory, a flash flood watch, and a tornado watch.

WTF?! 

Enter: Debby.

I consider Floridians some of the most prepared in the country when it comes to storms and hurricanes. We have our hurricane preparedness guides posted on our refrigerators. We have storm procedures at work in which everyone is educated on an annual basis. We have a special storm supply of water, food, batteries, and generators. We have hurricane shutters custom made for our windows so that they can be put up to protect our possessions. 

How did we not know about this?? 

My street hadn't flooded in 20 years, according to the neighbors, so I thought that we'd be fine.

Thank the baby Jesus we took Prateek's truck out that afternoon. In the two hours that we were gone, the streets leading up to our neighborhood had turned into rivers about a foot and a half deep..not something my little Civic could have handled without facing it's demise.

This is supposed to be a yard.

We barely got through the estuary that was now our street, and I had an apocalyptic pit in my stomach thinking about what I would face once we got to the house.

The waves were crashing relentlessly against the dock and the seawall at the house, with each crash sending water flying into the yard and rocking the entire dock back and forth.

And it was still two hours until high tide.

Our area is circled above. With the water being pushed into the Bay with no way for it to escape and the 12 inches of rain on top of that, it was no wonder we needed an Ark.

By the time high tide came rolling in, a pylon from the boat lift had broken off and we had lost a few planks. Sea grass was collecting on the seawall from the waves. And the floodwater on my street and the surrounding streets had risen at least another good foot.

Bye-Bye Seawall

What's a resident to do when they're stuck in their home?

Kayak down their street of course!

Making the best of a horrible situation, we set out to explore our now-underwater neighborhood on our kayaks (mine ironically being made by Hurricane.) We saw where water was entering a few houses and lost count on how many flooded-out vehicles there were.

After we got home, our cable and internet went out. We kept track of Debby, street closures, and other storm updates through Twitter (@TBOCom, @TB_Times, @StormTeam8WFLA) and Facebook (Bay News 9, ABC Action News).
I even got a few of my photos uploaded to the news website! I think I may have a future in the press. Call me, Bay News 9.

We got a bit of cabin fever after being stuck in the house for the next 24 hours due to flooding.

We took naps. We cleaned the house. We gave Jadoo a bath. We stared out into the choppy Bay, helplessly watching the waves crash 7-8 feet over the seawall and into our backyard. I taught Prateek how to use Instagram. I ate my feelings in the kitchen.

3 days after the rain had begun falling, the floodwaters finally receded and clean up began.

Besides the lost boat lift pylon, a handful of lost deck planks and beams, sea wall erosion, and certain death of an extensive chunk of the lawn from being saturated in seawater and sitting underneath hundreds of pounds of seagrass, we were fine. 

Silver lining? We had no water in the house, never lost power, and had no downed trees. That's a lot more than I can say for some of our neighbors and other residents of the Tampa Bay area. 

I'm fairly certain at this point with the tornado hitting my hometown and now with Debby, I've had my fair share of mother nature's wrath for a while. 

Thank you to everyone for your concern and phone calls!

Cleanup has begun, so if you're bored and want to come pick up some storm debris and smelly seagrass, head on over to Snell Isle/Shore Acres -- we'll put you to work!