Life's a marathon, but thats just the beginning...

The analogy the life is not a sprint but a marathon couldn't have rang more true this weekend.

Saturday was the 11th running of the Akron Marathon, and would also be the first (and probably last) full marathon that I would run. It was the final step in what would be the hardest month and a half of training that I went through this summer. Starting with a half marathon in mid-August, to a 20 miler, then the Oly Tri and a single week "rest" before the day came.

I generally don't get nervous before a race, I generally feel that I am trained up for it and am pretty confident in my abilities. This was not the case for the 26.2 mile race ahead of me. I was as trained as I could be but also had a time goal in my mind of sub 4 hours. I really didn't think it was going to be possible. This was absolutely going to be the toughest single event I would have put myself through.

4:30 in the morning comes extremely fast when you toss and turn all night. Erin and I got to Akron about 5:30 and met the group that I was running the race with and tried our best to get each other psyched up and ready to run for at least the next 4 hours. Eventually the time came, the national anthem was sang, a bell rang and 3 minutes later I was crossing the start line. Off we went.

5:30 happy faces before the pain.

To hit my goal I had to stay at a 9:00/mile pace. My strategy was to settle in around 8:30-45/mile for the first 16ish miles so when the climb out of the valley kicked in and my legs fell off I'd have a bit of a cushion. I missed seeing Erin around mile 3 (probably because I was soo fast), but I did see her at mile 8 and it put a smile on my face and kept me chugging along. After the half marathoners split from the group at 11 it got far less crowded quickly. Coming down a hill and making the turn onto the tow path I glanced over and saw Erin running right next to me. She had ran from to catch us on the turn to see us one more time before we disappeared for the next 14ish miles. Seeing her smile and getting to tell her I loved her before I headed into the worst part of the race was huge for me.

Mile 12, still feeling strong.

I had read that marathoners hit the line around mile 20, its when the glycogen store in your muscles run out and you are straight up out of stored energy. At mile 18 I was thinking to myself, "this isn't actually too bad, I might be enjoying this... I could totally do this again.

Fast forward to mile 20.5ish... It was like a switch was flipped, suddenly everything started to hurt, every slight grade change felt like everest. That line had found me. The last 10k of a marathon are truly a mental battle almost as much as a physical one. My pace dropped a bit but I knew I was still on target, I had built a 15 minute cushion at that point. About every mile past 22 my right calf would completely lock up forcing me to stop a stretch it out for a couple seconds. I just kept telling myself that there were always going to be harder points in life and that if I could power through this I could make it though whatever life tossed at me. The last stretch down Main St. towards Canal Park was the hardest run I've ever had, another cramp stopped my briefly but I was going to make it. When I turned into the stadium through the outfield and saw the time I knew I could crawl to the line and still beat my goal.

I crossed at 3:53:00. 8 minutes faster that my goal. There at the line I was met by my friend and one of my inspirations in the running world Brian, who also happens to be the race director. I was dead, and he was pumped for me, it really meant a lot to me to hear his congratulations and the quick hug before I headed down the line to claim my medal.

The next 2 days hurt. A lot. In fact, right now I am dreading having to walk down the stairs to hang out on the couch and then maybe even more having to walk back up them to get to bed. I have come to the conclusion that my marathon dreams are now complete. I did it, I achieved me goal and I won't have to do it again.

But maybe even bigger than that achievement was that we received an email this afternoon from the director at our agency. We have been approved! We can start to apply and try and match to a birth mother to get our baby. Actually we already applied to a situation. We heard about it a couple weeks ago and we interested then, but we not finalized yet. Last week we got word that she was requesting more profiles to review, meaning she had yet to match. I emailed our director and said we were interested and should be final any day now. Today the email asked if we would like to apply.

Erin and I looked at each other and just thought, this is actually happening. After what felt like forever we were actually tossing our hat into the ring to see if someone would choose us to parent their child.

To say it was a little surreal and overwhelming would be inaccurate. It's probably the strangest and most exciting feeling we've ever felt. We have no idea when we'll find out if we've been chosen or not but either way, we can actually make out the finish line out there in the distance. There will be cramps that will put us on the side of the road before we cross the line, it will hurt, we will want to give up. But just like the post race pain, in time we will forget about that and just remember the glory at the end and that baby will be worth all that 10 fold.

We can see the line and we will finish but instead of a medal and mylar blanket, it will be our baby and the rest of our lives. Now to just keep one foot in front of the other and keep on pushing.

Love wins,
Erin & Adam

Race Weekend Recap

This post will be a bit different than the others, mainly because there are no real updates in the adoption process, but I did want to give everyone an update on how the race went this weekend.

The Oly Tri at Portage Lakes was Sunday morning, but as it happens my favorite local 5k race of the year (Smucker's Applebutter Run) happened to fall on the morning of the 14th. The day before my main race of the year. Now a little back story on why this race is awesome. Its the breakfast, a full and massive Smucker's sponsored breakfast feast, complete with as many Uncrustables as one can eat. Its breathtaking, but I digress.

I had chosen last minute to skip it due to some other people schedule conflicts, but I got a text from my brother saying he had already registered. I signed up the next day. Last year I was able to take 1st in my age group, so I went into this with a little bird telling me I needed to repeat my title. I HAD planned on an easy run, but as it were when everyone else started going I just couldn't hold it back. In the end I had hit my year goal of breaking a 21 minute 5k by 12 seconds and was able to take 1st in my group once again. An added bonus was beating Matt, however he also managed 3rd place in his slightly more competitive group. So it turned out to be a great day. I just hoped that didn't come back to bite me in the legs the next morning.

Buttacavoli: From the Italian, Destroyers of Running.

On to the Tri.

Portage Lakes Pre race

Pre Race:
The 5:30 am alarm came far to quickly. I gathered all my stuff, loaded the bike up, filled my bottles and made an english muffin for myself and was out the door a little after 6. I got to the park a bit before 6:30 and it was already starting to get pretty crowded. I got checked in and body marked, figured out where my partner in crime Bryce was and then got my transition all set up, squeezed into my wetsuit and headed down to the beach to await our wave start.

Thats me in the yellow cap and Lisa telling me how to not blow the race from the start.

The Swim:
There were two other races set to start before the Olympic races so we stood around the beach for about a half hour trying not to let our nerves get to us. Bryce and I had hopped in the water to get the dreaded "cold water seeping into the wetsuit" experience over with and then they finally got to our waves. We had thought we'd be in the same wave, but they announced the first wave would be male 20-29 and everyone registered as Elite. Great now I have to start with all the speed demons, this should be fun. Bryce would start in the next wave. My team mate and swimming partner Lisa was there to give me a quick pep talk before I got in the water. She simply said "Adam, do not go out too fast and do not race those people, just swim like its another Tuesday afternoon." It helped and that's just what I did. Ran into the water at 8:24 am, water was about 72 degrees and outside it was maybe close to 60. Made for a nice swim though, especially with the wetsuit. Heeding Lisa's coaching tips, I did not try and race those people and good thing, because before I knew it they were way out in front. I passed a couple people and was passed by way more. I could have helped my time a bit by doing a better job of sighting on the first loop and not drifting out of line a bit but all in all I was pretty much on the pace I anticipated. I was quite happy to see those yellow exit buoys on the second loop though. 1500m (.93mile) Swim Time: 34:14.

Hello land, I've missed you.

The Bike:
I felt good coming out of the water, unlike my first race of the year, when I felt like I was dying after just a 400m swim. This pleased me. My transition was a bit slower than I'd like, but peeling a wetsuit off is just not that quick of a task. 3 minutes later I was on the bike heading out of the park. I did see Bryce running down the aisle to his bike just as I was headed out, this turned into a theme for the remainder of the race.

Wetsuit off, helmet on, off I go.

Bryce and I had rode the course a couple of times, so I knew the pain that was ahead of me. This was almost nothing but hills, with at least 5 true grinding climbs, 4 of which we had to do twice due to the looped course. I made up some time and passed a number of people some in my race and some who were on the tail end of the Sprint race. I got passed up by a few faster riders from the later waves but I expected that. Possibly the best part of the ride was when I finally got to eat one of the Uncrustables I snagged from the previous day's event at the start of the second loop of the course. It was delicious. I gave one to Bryce too, but he ate it before the race even began, amateur. About 20ish miles in my lower back really started to tighten up, I tried to stretch it out a bit but didn't seem to help much. I was just thankful to be almost off the bike and that it didn't happen earlier.

Actually I lied earlier, the best part of the bike was when I was climbing the last hill I was talking to another racer about how much we were over these hills. I told him that I thought there was only one more after this one. I was wrong, and that was the last climb. From there it was a flat to downhill 2 miles back to the park and into transition, I was never happier to be wrong. And with that I was back into transition racking my bike and pulling on the trusty ol running shoes. 40k (25mile) Bike: 1:22:52.

I'm surprised the camera was even able to catch such a burst of lightning.

The Run:
I need to work on transitioning. I spend too much time, but I'll get there. 1:46 minutes after parking the bike I was out for the run, the last stage of the race. I knew it was a different course than previous years, but I really had no idea what to expect. Erin was waiting for me as I turned on to the run course. It was really great to see her there cheering me on. I had saw her briefly after coming out of the water and she was across the fence when I transitioned onto the bike, but this time it was just the little bit of extra motivation I needed before the final leg. Again I saw Bryce coming in as I was going out. Theme continues.

This is what happens when you've been racing for 2 hours and you see your smiling wife. Fabulousness.

My back was still pretty tight from the bike, again I tried to stretch it out but nothing really helped. It basically stayed that way the remainder of the race.

The run essentially started with a steady up hill for the first 1 1/4 miles or so, it was unpleasant. And It was a double loop course, so we would meet again. After that it jumped onto the trail, I wasn't really prepared for that, I'm definitely more of a road runner than a trail runner but it was a nice change, although you really had to pay attention so you didn't bite it on a large root. Or on one of the wood bridges I had to jump on and off of, or the little mud pool that you needed to leap over. All in all it was pretty fun. While making the loop back I saw Bryce on the other side and he yelled out at me "Hey, thanks for the warning on the trail running", I gave him a thumbs down and set off to finish the second loop.

While on the trails I spotted someone ahead of me. I always do that in races, they're my person to beat. I managed to catch up to him coming out of the trails and he appeared to be onto my strategy. I didn't think I'd get him but he ended up pulling up and having a bit of dry-heave setbacks just before the finish stretch. After he came up to me and said "I was trying to keep you behind me, but I just had nothing left", I asked if he was alright and we shook hands and congratulated each other on a great race. That's the best thing about this sport. 10k (6.2mile) Run: 55:12.

Bryce and I all finished up!

When I crossed the line and got my medal and water, Erin was waiting right next to the fence with the biggest smile on her face. I could tell she was proud and that made me forget all about the soreness starting to creep into my body. About 30 seconds later Bryce crossed the line too. We did it. The race was over and we we're pretty sure we both finished under our goal time of 3 hours. Bryce beat me by 20 seconds in the overall time, this is why I need faster transitions. Final race time 2:57:23.

Adam minus energy...

I'm so thankful for all the support from everyone through out the season. My teammates from Vertical Runner; specifically Lisa, John, Jim, Sarah, Chantell, Dave and Becky for the inspiration and drive to keep at it. The goal is to finish an Ironman 70.3 with some of these fine folks next year! Bryce, for being a great new friend this year and a pretty good training buddy, I may be a bit bitter since it's the first time I haven't beat him, lol. I hope we keep this train rolling and see what we'll conquer next.

But most importantly, my amazing wife for putting up with the hours upon hours of training I had to put in to do this. Never once did she complain and was always one of the most encouraging voices in my corner. I couldn't be more lucky to have her by my side. I can only imagine how blessed our kid will be to have a mom like her. There is nothing that they won't believe they can accomplish with Erin as their mom.

I guess thats it, a great end to the Tri season. Back at it next year. Thanks for taking time to read this novel everyone.

Oh ya, I have a marathon to run in less than two weeks... Yikes.

Love Wins,
Adam

A Calm before the Storm?

If the saying "there's always a calm before the storm" were to apply to our adoption plans then I guess that's maybe what you could call this week. However if this is the calm we are in for one crazy ride ahead.

Yesterday morning we had our final visit with our social worker to wrap up our home-study. We should receive the final copy of it by the end of the week. It seems kind of surreal that we're actually done with the administrative part, or at least for the most part, of the process and the next step is actually applying to birth-mothers to be matched and get our baby. We've been looking forward to this point for so long now it seems almost surreal that we're actually just about here. It's so exciting to know that finally these situations we get emailed about weekly we'll actually be able to apply for. Its also really weird to think that our child may very well already be growing as I sit here and type out this post. Surreal is really the only word that can be used to describe this process.

We still have a couple things left to do on our end before we can start the matching process. We have been a little slack on assembling our parent profile but we will crank that out this week too. And we still have to secure our loan for the remaining balance for the adoption, however we can't do that until we have a completed home-study. So that's another thing to figure out this week. Then there's just one other small thing this week, the triathlon. See what I mean about if this is the calm, I'm not sure if I want to see the storm?

I'm anticipating a good race, so far the weather looks pretty favorable and I'm as trained up as I can be so there's really nothing more that I can do on my part for the race. Frankly, I'm super happy to get a break on the Akron Marathon training and get in some good swim, bike, run time and not have to put in another 20 mile run, but that's a different story for another time.

The fundraising has been even better than we could have ever imagined. When we finally decided to actually put ourselves out there and ask for help we really didn't expect such generous donations. No amount is too small, we are just as thankful for the $5 ones as we are for larger gifts. It's all just helping us achieve our dream of having our own family. For that there is no thank you enough. So far we've received over $800! We are so thankful for every penny, it's more helpful than any of you could ever imagine.

I believe that's it for now. Thanks for all of your support thus far in our journey. We will probably need it more than ever in the next few weeks as we really crank into this thing. Anyone wanting to cheer me on in the Tri, or at the very least watch me suffer a bit, feel free to come out to the Portage Lakes State park off 93 sunday morning. I think the park road closes around 7 so get there by then to make sure you get a spot to watch! Erin will be there with a small wife contingent cheering us on, come keep her company!

Thanks again everyone!

Love wins,
Adam & Erin
www.youcaring.com/buttacavoli