Epic!  The word for the JFK 50 is EPIC!  It is hard to imagine actually completing something that absolutely scares the hell out of you.  The JFK 50 was that event.  If your dreams don’t scare you then they are not big enough….I think Attila said that. (well…maybe not)  That is a good enough reason to jump in.

I came up with the idea of registering for the race over lunch after a local 5K.  You have to admit…that is kinda funny.  While sitting at lunch one of the other runners stated that the JFK 50 was a huge Team RWB event the previous year and despite the mandatory qualifying times active duty military could just sign up.  Since I am not fast…in fact, I am pathetically slow (but I have a big heart and a hairy chest) I figured I would count this as my Boston Marathon.  It was a race that not everyone could get into, but I had a “in.”  Sing with me…I’m so fancy… uh oho oh….

With most crazy, epic, and utterly stupid ideas I knew that my best buddy Josh would jump right in.  He always hates me at some point, but in the end he puts a smile on and signs up.  We ended up with four of us signing up (1 had to cancel due to a military commitment).  Josh, Steve, and I were going to tackle this beast.   I have to throw it out there…there were lots of folks talking a good game but in the end only 3.5 of us put our money where our mouths were. (I will give Quentin an out because he had to work…plus he is training for Boston and can outrun all three of us lined up back to back).  I will also say there are a bunch of chickens out there.  I feel better now that I got that off my chest. 

About two months out I started to get heel pain immediately after running that continued to flare up during the day.  After much research I self diagnosed myself with plantar fasciitis.   I tried everything and couldn’t shake it.  After fighting the scourge of ancient civilizations and root cause of the ebola epidemic I decided that I couldn’t continue to train and basically dropped out of the race.  Josh and Steve were sticking with it and I turned to super Sherpa.  Added to the stress was the move from Dover, DE to Lusby, MD. 

Josh flew in on Thursday prior to the race and we went for a quick run.  My heel felt pretty good!  After not training for well over a month I felt okay.  I thought to myself, “self, maybe we can do this.”  Hmmmmmmmm  That got the brain working.  I asked  Quentin what he thought and he said, “what is the worse thing that can happen.”  Of course, Penny replied with “you can get a stress fracture.”  Yes, I guess that would be the worse thing that could happen.  I mulled it over for the rest of the day and decided to throw my name back into the mix.  That night I grabbed all my running gear and threw it into bags to sort out at the hotel.

From racing Ironman I have learned that you get into registration, get your stuff and get out.  The weird race vibes always make things odd.  After packet pick up we met up with Steve at Benny’s brewpub for beers and food (excellent on both).  Then came the task of figuring out what the heck to wear.  It was going to be a touch chilly but not too cold.  We knew that we needed every single minute we could find to stay ahead of the relentless cutoffs.  I settled with shorts, long sleeve under armor, merino wool top, and my Team RWB shirt.  I also decided to stick with the same pair of shoes to simplify the race by eliminating the drop bag.  Josh was a lifesaver and full of great information.  He studied the race and just about had everything figured out.

Race morning we were up early and ready to go.  Oatmeal with applesauce and coffee got things moving.  Woot woot!  No pooping on the trails.  We arrived at the start ahead of the massive wave and were able to pee twice (nervous pees).  At 0645 we made the walk to the start line and promptly at 0700 the cannon went off.  The start was straight uphill for 2.5 miles.  This is where a month of no training shows itself.  But…It was all good in the hood.  The race itself is broken up into three distinct sections: 1) 15.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail , 2) 26.7 miles on the C & O Canal, and 3) 8 miles of rolling hills.  I have to say…each section posed different challenges.  The key to the race is to solve problems and stay ahead of the cutoffs which run all the way until the finish.  The hard cutoff of 1600 at mile 38.3 was my internal go/no-go 

The start was enough to bring the reality of my lack of preparedness to the surface and the AT exposed everything I had.  Here I was running a beautiful trail on the and all I could think about was taking the next step.  Sightseeing was not an option.  The AT portion was extremely rocky and ended with 1,000 feet of extremely steep switchbacks.  When we got to the bottom Josh and I high fived because we were a solid 55 minutes ahead of the cutoff and feeling pretty good.  Our top priority was to pad the cutoff as much as possible because we knew we would need it for the back half of the race. 

The tow-path along the canal was beautiful and flat.  We quickly went through the aid stations to keep ahead of the clock.  I would fill my shirt up with food and eat while running.  I was given the advice to eat as much as possible to make sure you don’t bonk.  Well, I ate too much at the beginning and spent hours feeling sick and throwing up in my mouth (chunky).   At aid station 38.3 is the infamous red velvet cake…it was worth 38.3 miles.  Like I said earlier this was my internal go/no-go point.  I was going to take a hard look at how I felt and most importantly how I was affecting both Josh and Steve.  While inhaling the cake, with 2 waters and 1 coke I decided that I was okay and we were still about 40 minutes to go the good.  Time to press.

Coming off the tow-path I had this thought process that the race would mellow out and it would be a ton more maneagble.  Well…that was a lie.  The giant hill that met us at the transition point brought things back to reality.  This race was by no means over.  It came down to running light pole to light pole and doing a ton of math to make sure we were still okay.  15-minute miles became a tough goal and with each mile we slowly got closer and closer.  Josh pushed us along until the absolute end.  At 11:40:57 (6:40:57 PM) we crossed the finish line.  It is hard to explain what it feels like to accomplish something that seemed so insurmountable.  Best of all…I was able to experience it with two great guys.  Josh and Steve…you guys rock (like Van Halen)!!!!  Motto for the race...there is no quit in these bones.

Party on!