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.....

I'll Never Forget

April 27th will never be "just another day" in the minds of Alabamians. It will forever be a feeling in the pit of our stomachs that emerges at the faintest threat of another tornado.

 -Kathleen Davis, weather.com

I'll never forget that Wednesday afternoon. 
Sitting around on my lunch break, checking twitter updates on my phone. 

I'll never forget seeing the tweet about a tornado heading for Cullman.

 I'll never forget being in my office, freaking out, watching James Spann's live report of the tornado ripping through the city.

I'll never forget the pit in my stomach that wouldn't go away. That feeling of hopelessness, sadness, and fear for my loved ones and friends.

I'll never forget calling  my best friend Jackie from Cullman to make sure her family was OK, even though she now lived in Tuscaloosa and was "safe".

I'll never forget  later that afternoon sending Jackie weather updates via text as she sat in a basement in Tuscaloosa, living out the nightmare-ish day first hand.

I'll never forget Prateek and I packing up his truck to take supplies to my ravaged hometown and driving the 11 hours overnight, pulling into Cullman at 6AM. 

I'll never forget seeing Jackie's house for the first time-- half blown down, but her and her family all standing there alive and well, picking up the pieces.

I'll never forget staring at the remnants of my church's Sanctuary. Or trying to remember what once stood on those empty city blocks.

You don't really understand how devastating it is until you're standing in the middle of the rubble.  And you don't really understand the sense of a community pulling together for a common good, until even after going through such tragedy, you can still feel the warmth of a neighbor's good heart.

 

May this day never be forgotten by our community, and may it always remind us how strong of a state we live in.

God Bless Alabama, my Heart of Dixie! 

 

A House Pulled Down is Half Rebuilt

Change is always difficult, whether it's anticipated or unexpected. It can be as small as a new paint color on the wall, or as big as bringing home a newborn baby. Change though, I've found, is all about how you handle it. If you find the good in change, you're much more likely to have a positive outlook on life in general in my experience.

Even when that change is devastating.

This Christmas, I went back to Cullman for the first time since the end of April, right after an F4 tornado swept away entire blocks of downtown (blog post on that here). Last time I was there, I was helping Jackie pick up the pieces of her childhood home. 

I hadn't gotten the opportunity to see the rebuilding process, and was anxious to check out how it was coming along and how everything had changed.

Some of the change was extremely difficult to handle. I used to drive out past the Cullman Times on 278 East towards her house, and the road was shaded with huge old trees. There were beautiful old homes lining the road and I remember ALWAYS missing her house because I could never see her driveway until I had already passed by.

The haunting part about going down that road now is that there are no trees and no beautiful old homes left.

There are small reminders that homes used to stand in these open fields, like a mailbox and driveway to nothing, and front steps up to a plot of land.

Some of the change was powerful. It's like cutting your finger, and then putting a band aid on and letting it heal. There are always scars, but that doesn't mean you don't persevere and continue on with life, no matter what curve balls are thrown your way.
It's uplifting to see how a small community can come together and support one another through such turmoil. Homes and empty city blocks can be rebuilt. Trees can be re-planted. Glass can be re-installed and murals can be repainted. It reminds you of what's really important in this world, and that when one door closes another door opens.

Check out this mural - Cullman in the 1880's. It was damaged in the tornado, but now bricks have been put back on and plans are in place to repaint the missing pieces. The five buildings depicted include the Kinney Horse and Mule Barn, Cullman's First Fire Station, Werdt's German Restaurant, Dinckelberg's Santa Claus Store and the First County Courthouse - none of which are still standing today to my knowledge. I don't know the history of what eventually happened to these buildings, whether they burned down or were torn down and rebuilt (for all I know a tornado could have wiped them out). After their demise however, the people in the city moved forward and created another courthouse and another fire station, and rebuilt more restaurants and storefronts that the next set of generations were able to enjoy. 

  

 I can't wait to see what this new chapter in Cullman's history will become - new business storefronts, new homes, new church Sanctuaries and stained glass windows. I already know it's going to be beautiful, and I can't wait to take my kids someday!

"My" Cullman, "My" State

 Growing up, I thought Cullman was super lame. Nothing to do, no shopping mall, no activities for kids my age – all we had was our 3-movie theater and a bowling alley. Some hung out at the old train depot, some in the high school parking lot, and some chose to “cruise” up and down US 31 on weekends. You would see at least 10 people you knew in the Dairy Queen after church on Sunday nights, or at Denny’s on a Friday after the football game. There wasn’t really anything open past 9:00 (until the Wal Mart super center was built at least). Even though we were bored, we lived in a town with no heavy crime and no heavy drugs or alcohol abuse. We could feel safe leaving our front doors unlocked, and having your kids ride up and down the street on their bikes to a neighbors house without fear of them getting kidnapped. It was a great place to raise a family, and I’m so glad looking back that it’s where my parents decided to raise the Malone brood.

Cullman, being the small town that it was, never got much attention, especially national attention. In the past few years, you may have noticed Cullman in the movie Bruno (where he goes “camping” with some good ole boys), or on youtube for a famous “commercial” spoof that has 2.5 million hits (watch it here, it’s actually pretty funny). It was never on CNN’s breaking news, never trending on Twitter, and videos of Cullman were never shown on news channels around the globe.

On April 27, 2011, that all changed.

Around 3pm, I logged on to twitter (you can follow my random boring tweets at @marymm if you so desire.) An old friend of mine tweeted “Tornado emergency for Cullman. Officially freaking out.” I logged onto James Spann’s TV station on Ustream and watched the Cullman skycam live, which showed a monster tornado ripping through downtown. I watched this thing literally destroy my city, sitting helplessly in my office chair 650 miles away.

*Side note*…. in the words of one of my best friends Kate: “James Spann, I miss you. Part of me is glad you haven't moved to a national outlet when you so obviously deserve it. But I am glad you are still in north Alabama. We love you.”   No truer words ever spoken my friend!

I took a video of my computer screen as it was happening...if you turn the volume way up, you can hear James Spann as he describes the tornado hitting the courthouse and First Baptist Church.

  

What is being reported as of late is 3 tornadoes tore through downtown Cullman. Literally from one end to the other.

 The Cullman regional hospital got hit. The Courthouse basement doors where people took shelter were split from the hinges as the roof was being torn off. The First Baptist Church’s steeple was pulled apart and the back of the building ripped open. My home church, First United Methodist, looks like a haunted house with the windows blown out and the roof gone. A popular local café, the Busy Bee, had its roof cave in, reportedly trapping people inside. Everything within blocks of these structures had all their windows blown out too, and some of the old, historic buildings downtown just crumbled to the ground like a pile of bricks. 

 Before you know it, CNN is reporting Cullman’s tornadic activity on their breaking news feed. Cullman was the 5^th highest trending topic on Twitter. As I watched the local Tampa Bay news last night, videos of MY hometown were being shown. Terrifying videos and photos start to surface on social media outlets of the monster tornado and all it’s damage.

Here is a video of the damage from a local news station:

Here's another video of Cullman destruction from James Spann:

http://wbma.videodownload.worldnow.com/WBMA_20110427201957070AC.mp4

Amazing aerial footage to put it in perspective:

http://youtu.be/hR83MBQNGqw

More aerial footage: 

http://bit.ly/cullmantornadoaerial 

Aerial Photo:

To give you another angle, here are some before/after pictures:

I am pretty sure this was Vincent's furniture...the entire brick top of the building is gone compared to the photo below.

Vincent's Furniture, before the Tornado

First United Methodist Church 

Church after Tornado - windows blown out, roof blown off

A closer view of the church

This store was called "Little Bit of Everthing" - AKA "Little Bit" store. It was in an old Ford Dealer building - they covered the Ford logos with bricks on the upper facade after he store opened.

Little Bit store now - all the bricks were knocked off the top, showing the old Ford signs

Little Bit store again, crumbled to the ground.

Many of my friends and acquaintances have been directly affected, and are stranded without power and gas, and some no longer have homes at all.

And this is only the beginning. A tornado just as big ripped through downtown Tuscaloosa a little over an hour after it hit Cullman, staying on the ground for over 100 miles all the way to metro Birmingham, where it grew to 1 ½ miles wide. It left a trail of destruction that could be compared to the Tokyo earthquake.

 Cullman is a very unique and special town to anyone that lives there or has ever lived there, and I believe that anyone from the area would call it “their” city, or “their” Cullman. These aren’t just buildings and structures to these folks – this is their history, their century-old family businesses, their way of life, their childhood, their homes, their everything. That is MY history and MY childhood, being shown on CNN in ruins. I’ve never felt so unnerved, helpless and just plain heartbroken.

Power and damaged transmission lines could take 7-9 days to repair and restore power to the city. Cell towers and radio towers have been destroyed. The president has called for a state of emergency, and federal help is on the way, however so much needs to be done locally. I’ve seen a few notes already about volunteers being called to help in the area, and seen pages on facebook for donations through Toomers for Tuscaloosa and also sites such as American Red Cross – click on the icon below for more info. 

Keep your eyes peeled as the days go on for updates and other ways to help and volunteer, but I’d be just fine with only a few prayers for my Cullman, and for my State. 

If you have any stories, updates on the city of Cullman or the state of Alabama, links to pictures, videos, or any updates on ways to volunteer, please comment below and share!!  

Here are a few other links I've found that have pictures of other very hard hit areas, including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381398/US-storms-Death-toll-leaps-85-Obama-declares-state-emergency.html

Here is a link showing a compiled list of videos for the Tuscaloosa tornado:

http://www.reelseo.com/tornado-outbreak-shows-speed-power-social-video/

Here's a link to photos from all the way down in Lake Martin, near Montgomery/Auburn : 

http://kennethboone.smugmug.com/News/Tornado-photos-by-Fred-Dobbs/16816576_rzftNC#1269061139_9BVVRmq

The Starting Line - On your mark, get set...

My first blog post ever! Wow, I never imagined I would succumb to the blogging world. But alas, here I am, in all my social networking glory.

Hey there - I'm Mary Margaret. People now mostly just call me Mary. I was raised in the small town of Cullman, AL and that's where I call home.....even though it's not so small anymore (They now have a big movie theater, and even a Chick Fil A and a TJ Maxx.)  The Cullman I know is a small tight-knit community, where people are born, raised, and come back to raise children of their own. Where stores don't open on Sunday until 1:00 so you can go to church, and where the nearest package store is 30 miles outside the city, as well as the nearest shopping mall being an hour away. Where the movie theater only holds 3 movies, none of which were ever anything good it seemed, and where the county fair gets it's own big parade up and down US 31. To me, that will always be home.

 I am the oldest of three - My mom still lives in Cullman, while my sister Rachel lives in Calgary with her husband, and my brother Dallas is in the US Air Force and stationed at Moody AFB. The good Lord took my dad in December of 2006, after a battle with liver cancer, but somehow it made our family even stronger.I'm sure I will dedicate a posting to my dad in the near future :)

My boyfriend, Prateek, is one smart cookie and helps run one of his family business facilities down here in Florida. He's 11 years my senior, which isn't really a big deal unless you think about the fact that he was graduating college with his Chemical Engineering degree when I was 11 years old and in the 5th grade learning long division and fractions.

For lack of better terminology, I am addicted to running. I started going to a 5K running club with some friends back in April last year, and had never ran more than a few miles consecutively. In June last year, I signed up for my first half marathon. Now, one year later, I've completed 3 half marathons, 3 10Ks, countless 5Ks and have my sights on the full 26.2 at some point within the next year. Running allows me to clear my mind, stay in shape, be happy - plus I can eat as much ice cream as I want and only feel slightly guilty about it! Running makes me feel alive, and there's no better feeling than how I feel after a long run. 

Unfortunately, running is also one of the most harsh sports for the joints - my left knee is currently angry at me for all this running I've done in the last year, so I haven't been able to lace up the Aasics for a solid month now....and I am about to go bat crazy! But more on that later.

I decided to name my blog after running, not only in the literal sense but because I am always hyper, going around doing something. I feel like I can never sit still -- if I had the choice of going on a vacation to a tropical island oasis to lay at the beach all day, or going on a cross country hike through a rainforest, I wouldn't think twice and start shopping for hiking boots. If I ever have a spare few minutes, I try to find something to do instead of just sitting down to relax - it's not on purpose, but I catch myself doing it all the time.  Who knows where the energy comes from, but as long as I have it I'm going to take advantage!

For the most part, I want to use this blog as a way to express myself, take a time out and reflect on what's happening. Sometimes I feel like my life just flies by, and I don't want to forget the little things.  I figure it's also a good way to let people in on what's going on with me - I've always loved writing, and sometimes there are dilemmas, questions, or experiences that I have that I'd love to get out in the open and maybe get some feedback on. Whether its a criticism, encouraging word, or just a comment to say how crazy or ridiculous (or awesome!) I am, I'd love to hear it!