Long Beach Marathon 2008

We had a great dinner last night at a seafood restaurant. I had visited this restaurant the last time I was in Long Beach for the National Council on Problem Gambling’s Annual Conference. That night I went to dinner with about 20 people all from the conference and all of those people were associated with problem gambling as either a person recovering or a person helping people recover with their compulsive gambling addiction. Additionally most of these people fit in both categories which is what recovery is all about. Last night it wasn’t about recovery per se but without recovery last evening and all associated does not exist so life is indeed magnificent.

The food was very good and so was the company. We had a booth and I had both of our children on my side of the booth while my wife sat across the table from us. Both of my children wanted to watch the baseball game on the television and the only way to view this was from the side of the booth I was situated on. However; it was great having both of them near me during dinner. They usually do fight over who gets to sit next to “Daddy” and hopefully my wife is okay with this and I think she is.

It is amazing how much my children have taken to baseball and they watch the games very intently. This is wonderful and it is also wonderful that I am in recovery from my compulsive gambling addiction since there was a time where I would “fake” watching these games but would have a great deal of internal commotion going on. Thank God those days are gone and I can watch a baseball game with my children as an instructional video since they are so interested in playing the game. We did watch between bites and it was a wild game between the Devil Rays and the Red Sox with many home runs. All of this was secondary to the fact that we were all sitting together the evening before running a marathon.

Today would be my 7th marathon and three of those were prior to recovery so it is no surprise my personal best time came after entering recovery. I ran a marathon back in June while my family was still in New Jersey setting that personal best time but it just wasn’t the same not having my family with me so this weekend has been extra special.

As I mentioned earlier my dinner did not include a “carbo” loading because that came the night before. Last night was a very nice fish dinner with some very healthy vegetables and rice. The key for me is to eat lightly and have room for my fourth PowerBar of the day after dinner. I did have room and had the PowerBar prior to falling off to sleep. Sleep didn’t exactly come easy because I was thinking about the marathon and marveling at the fact that all four of us were together in the hotel room. I drifted off to sleep and woke up several times during the night. It was time for me to finally get up and go through my marathon day routine. I went through the routine and was able to kiss my family good-bye as I headed off to the start line.

The hotel we stayed at was very close to both the start and finish line which is why I chose the hotel. I have learned that it is better to be close to the start line because the last thing I want to encounter on marathon day is having a hassle getting to the start line. There weren’t any hassles this morning as I made my way the short distance to the start line. There were 18,000 participants most of which were in the half marathon. This was race had both the marathon and half marathon participants starting at the same time which caused the large crowd. The start is always awe inspiring seeing so many people smiling waiting to start the race. I was near the front of the pack and took a look behind me taking in every moment.

I took my deep breaths and was ready to go after the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner”. I was visualizing the run and thinking of my daughter on how she wants to go to Boston. I had a big smile on my face as the gun sounded and the mass of runners moved forward in unison. This being the seventh time I have embarked on the 26.2 mile journey I had a good idea as to what to expect and my expectations were met along the way. The course was beautiful running along the Pacific Ocean, Queen Mary, Carnival Cruise Ship, Lighthouse and other amazing points of interest on the way.

My pace goal was 7 minutes and 30 seconds per mile which would put under the 3 hour and 20 minute requirement needed to qualify for the Boston Marathon. At mile one I was exactly at 7 minutes and 30 seconds which caused me to smile knowing I was well on my way. I was a bit excited in the next few miles and started running a bit faster. I was hoping to hold on to this pace for as long as I could so I could “bank” the time toward the finish. In my most recent marathon I did fade in the last few miles so I had prepared for this to happen.

Yes, I faded and unfortunately I faded much too much in those ladder miles. I realized at mile 23 I didn’t have it in me to come under my time goal. I finished the race in 3 hours and 22 minutes missing the goal by two minutes. This may seem very close but in reality I gave it all I had and it was certainly my best. Today my best wasn’t just enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. This didn’t matter at all as I crossed the finish line and spotted my family standing nearby. I saw their smiling faces and all was well when my daughter said, “its okay Daddy we couldn’t go to Boston anyhow because we are having visitors during that time.” This was a wonderful greeting and yes, my life is indeed wonderful. I had a great race and I had a smile the entire time even as the miles added on knowing how everything continues to work out for the very best.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!