Picked Last In Gym - The Misadventures of Chuck: May 2019

It's been almost a month now and the Pittsburgh Marathon has come and gone. The lead up to the race for me is always exciting, but the further away from it I get, the sadder I become. I'm not sad in the sense that something is wrong or bothering me. I'm sad because the experience is so rewarding that when you finally cross that finish line, it's hard to believe it's over.

I'd be lying if I said this training cycle was easy. It wasn't. I had some rough days, and some rough weekends. I've been running so much the past few years that halfway through my training I felt like I was getting burned out. My legs were tired. My focus was becoming blurred. My goals were falling short. But even with all of that, it still didn't stop me from getting to where I needed to go. I took a day to think about why I still do this, and who I still do this for when I run. I always have 26 reasons and this year was not any different. But this year, the final two miles were two that I needed to finish more than any of the first 24. So, I focused on that. Soon after, I took a look at my training plan and adjusted it to the point where I could become more comfortable with what I wanted to do. Then...I did it.

This is how my girl preps for a race!

My Polish Princess down the stretch!

It's always hard to keep talking about training at times because you all already know what I do. I make sure to eat properly, get the rest I need, get up early, and pound the pavement. It's as simple as that. But come race day, the flood of emotions pours into my mind and half the time I don't know how to control them. I've gotten better at it, but I failed completely this year. I had trouble sleeping for the first time in a long time, and I have no idea how much sleep I actually got. All I remember is that it was 4am, and it was time to get ready to head to the city.

When Edyta and I got down town, we walked towards the Westin at the convention center. My poor fiance had to listen to me talk about a mile a minute. My nerves were a mess, and I was pretty much prancing around in a dress. This is no joke. When I get nervous, I tend to prattle on more than normal and make as many bad jokes as possible. Walking around in a dress just sorta added to the chaos. But, God bless her heart. She humored me and of course still wants to marry me, so I still got that going for me!

When I arrived, there were plenty of laughs and plenty of "I'm not even going to ask"(s) as I went to grab some breakfast. But, I am a man of my word, and there I was in dress and ready to run a marathon for the 5th time. An hour or so later, it was time to head to the starting line.

Edyta and I were able to meet up with our friends in order to say hello, give some well wishes and good lucks, take a few pictures, and then head to our corrals. With a quick peck on the lips, I was off to mine. What's weird is as many strange looks as I thought I would get for wearing a dress, I got none. Most folks maybe saw the dedications on my back, where as I'm sure others figured it was just a guy running in costume. I'm really not sure. All I really knew that it was raining. I was wearing a dress, and I had a job to do. It was go time.

The first hour or so was pretty rough because of the rain. When it stopped, it started to get a bit humid. Surprisingly, even in the stickiness of the air, the dress really did not factor into being a major deterrent from my ability to run. I was getting pretty warm, I was able to move pretty good, and I had no major issues. I thought to myself, "every time you hear 'hey what are you wearing under that dress?' I should have to take a drink." I never heard that once. Heck, I was actually a bit disappointed because there went every joke I thought I would get to use. Running 26 miles takes quite a bit of time, so how am I going to distract myself if I can't crack jokes? But, then again, that was not really a good idea anyway because 26 miles would probably quickly turn into 52. Dodged a bullet there!

After the first six to eight miles, I was feeling pretty good and strong. I wasn't really hot at all, and the dress was not really making things difficult for me at all. The material it was made out almost seemed like a dry wick type material, so I maybe had something working in my favor. But, as the rain would turn off an on, so would the humidity. But, that still didn't stop me or slow me down at all. I was fast approaching the Birmingham Bridge which is real close to the halfway point, and I was feeling pretty confident about pretty much everything. But then the dreaded Forbes Avenue lay in front of me. However, I took the same approach as I did last year, walking most of it to save energy, and I made it to the top. I made it to the top, and I was soon in Shadyside and near mile marker 15. It was right about there that I felt fatigue setting in.

It was too early in the race for me to think this way, but it was. Butt then I remembered something. I looked at my wrist to a gift our friend Amy had given each of us, and something we were not allowed to open until that morning. It was a little bracelet that said, "40 percent." There was a story behind it that she shared as well, but the moral was, "even when you think you have nothing left to give, and that you have already given 100 percent, you actually still have 40 percent left in the tank." (Or, something like that.) That was what I needed to remember, and that was my mantra for the rest of the race. Anytime I felt like I would falter I looked at my wrist and said 40 percent. When I thought of my friends and my dedications I said to myself 40 percent. It just made too much sense! So, I kept going.

I made it through miles 16 and 17, walking for a few clicks here and there, but I was soon approaching the dreaded wall. And, not only that, but it started to rain and rain hard. Maybe it was a wall of rain that I was truly hitting. I didn't really prepare for the rain, and I was struggling with being able to see through my glasses. In a matter of seconds I went from being OK with everything to just plain getting angry at everything. I kept "MFing" the rain and wiping my glasses off so that I could see, but none of that really worked. I even took them off like it would make things better, but I can't see anything without them and pretty much yelled at myself for it. "Really dude????" I was getting so irritated that I wanted to actually quit. I kept clenching my fists, mumbling under my breath, and even wore a scowl on my face. I didn't even care about my 40 percent. Stupid rain! But, I was now near mile 18 and I found my saving grace: the Steel City Greyhounds! In years past I always thought this was cool, but this year I told myself, "I'm running with one of those dogs." So, I did, and it was glorious! I just thought it was the coolest thing, and it was the perfect thing that I needed right at that moment. I can't remember the dog's name, but I couldn't thank the pooch enough for making me smile when I needed it the most.

After that it was more rain, but the remaining miles grew fewer and fewer. I took each mile with a simple approach. "OK, that was 21 and you just need to get to 22, After that only 3 more til you get to Phil's mile. After that, it's Bernie's mile." That seemed to do the trick because soon after every negative thought the had crossed my mind started to slowly leave and I soon found myself enjoying the rest of my run. I was getting closer to the finish and I really wanted to honor my friends. I began to smile again. I also began to get choked up. I then saw mile marker 24 and knew that this was it. This was the final stretch. "I just finished 24 miles of the marathon and it was time to run for both Phil and Bernie. There was shots waiting for us, so let's do this." One foot after the other and step by step I went. The closer I got, the more my mind was flooded with the memories of my friends. The more my memories flooded, the more I smiled. The more I smiled, the more I cried. It was a pretty good feeling.

When I approached mile marker 25, the Steel City Road Runners where there in full force cheering on all runners. They do a great job every year. I was able to loan them some of my music equipment, and the closer I got the louder the music got. At first I thought, "I hope they aren't blowing out my speaker! I just got that one!" And then I thought, "don't be a jerk Damn that sounds good!" As soon as everyone saw me there cheers were thunderous!

"Chuck what do you need?"

"I need a shot of Fireball!"

"Someone get this man some fireball!" My lord that was delicious! One down, one to go.

I came down the stretch and seeing the "Pit Crew" was a sight for sore eyes. They were yelling so loud that I could here them even about 8 blocks down the street. When I got there, Sara made sure there was plenty of Fireball to go around. Bryan had some American Honey ready to roll. I took one, and Bryan and I both did a toast to Bernie. "Oh god that was terrible!" Everyone got a good laugh and they all yelled at me to go finish. I promised Bernie when I got to the end and that I would give it all I got, and I did. I took off as fast as I could with what I had left, and that was enough. As I ran down the shoot with my beer raised in the air, the crowed was there in support. I heard a few friends yell at me as they saw me and it made me feel pretty good. I cracked open my beer and like last year went all Stone Cold Steve Austin with it. It sounded like the spectators got a big kick out of that, and if I didn't know any better, it sure sounded like it was Bernie yelling in my ear. And with that, I finished my fifth marathon.

A toast for our dear friend Bernie Augier
He is missed every day.

I've done this five times now, and each time the last 8 miles or so are always the hardest for me to finish. When you are tired and fatigued, your mind starts to make you think you can't do it, and you shouldn't be doing it. But, the simplest of things make you realize you can. This year, it was a retired greyhound. It was "40 percent." It was Phil. It was Bernie.

I'm always amazed at what the human body can do. However, I don't think it can do any of those things without a little help from the human spirit. From the cheers of the crowd to the hugs and high fives of your friends, there is nothing that you cannot do. Even if you think you can't, know that you truly can. All it takes is one simple thing: try. All you have to do is try. And even then, when you don't think you have it in you to keep going or to keep trying, remember you still have 40 percent.

Until next time Pittsburgh....keep on running.

Sinceriously Yours,

Chuck Hull
The Running Jedi

#26miles26dedications #runpgh #runningjedi #teamlemieux #hshive #runderfulruns