B2B Saturday part 3

B2B Saturday, part 3 Running around the perimeter of the large hall of the center but on a padded path. Grabbed my T2 bag from a volunteer and ran to the mens tent. Off with the helmet and shoes but kept on the arm and leg warmers.  Put on a second thin pair of socks. Put on my race belt. Put on my shoes, grabbed my hat and gloves and ran into the bathroom. Scooped up some Vaseline to prevent chaffing. Went into a stall and did my business. Walked out towards the exit of the building and realized I should be running. Over the timing mat.  I was feeling good to be off the bike and taking it easy, but soon saw my heart rate was like 155 so I needed to maybe slow it down. I was running 8:30 to 9:00 pace so that was good. The crowd of spectators was cheering us on. Because our first names were on out bib number they even called out our name.  Thru the downtown and past the finish line. Along the river on the boardwalk. Across the river at the battleship park a reggae concert was going on. The music was awesome. You could "smell" the concert clear across the river.  Thru the cobbled streets and up the super steep hill onto Front street. Settled into a good pace. Around the lake we ran it seemed like forever. I was feeling good. Grabbed some pretzels at an aid station and some cola. I was craving the cola. One or two ounces in little paper cups.  I passed two ladies tied to each other as they ran. The one lady said to the other they were about to cross over railroad tracks. I tried to figure that out. The next day I would find out the one lady was blind! Turn around at about mile 7 and back toward downtown. I saw a plaque that explained not to feed the alligators. I looked out into the lake for them but didn't see any.  I started running with a guy that was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot. He had been to Afghanistan and Egypt recently but was now at Fort Rucker Alabama. We talked about that and racing and all kinds of things. We ran with each other for about a half hour or more til I dropped him around mile 12. Had been doing about a 9:00 pace.  I accidentally headed into the finishing chute and the announcer called my name. I froze and turned back to a small opening for where the full marathoners were supposed to go. The announcer had fun with that and I was a little embarrassed.  I kept eating and running. Mostly gels. But I wanted the Espresso flavor ones only.  The sun was getting low but it was still warm.  I had taken my gloves off at mile 2 or 3 and wondered if I should have left them.  Back around the lake. I headed into a porta-potty at about mile 18 for a few minutes and also an aid station. Started taking electrolye pills and water. Sometimes chicken broth or HEED. Lots more Coke or Pepsi.  Saw a guy with a top that had a CF logo or something on it. CF I thought had something to do with Cystic Fibrosis. Also the night before as I was laying in bed watching the late news there was a piece on B2B athlete that had severe CF and was doing the full race. As I came up on the guy I asked if he was on the news last night and so forth. Turns out he was the one! He is a medical student in Chapel Hill, NC (Duke probably). He was indeed struggling with the CF during the event. I told him I could kind of relate as I had moderate asthma and knew from attacks what it was like to struggle to breath. I wished him luck and passed by. I was getting slower. The two miles that included the bathroom took over 22 minutes. My legs were getting weak but I never stopped to walk. Hit the turn around point which was about 19 miles. It was getting dark and I took my sunglasses off.  The light plants were getting turned on and as I passed by them the fumes were sickening.  My pace was about 10:00 or 10:30. Cramps were starting to give hints so i had to be careful. Mile 24 to 25 took 11:24. The last 1.2 miles I was able to pick up some speed as I ran toward the crowd at the last 1/2 mile. I ran across the timing mat and finishing line at almost the same time as 2 years ago. I was surprised at that. My watch showed like 11:56 but the official clock showed 11:58. I thought it was wrong since I started my watch even before the swim start. But it was a mute point. I was done. I got my medal put around my neck, my timing chip taken off, and made to get some PJ bottoms. Then I walked slowly onward and a guy said "are you all right?". He sat me in a chair. I could not do on my own. Sat there a while then another guy came and they put a silver blanket around me helped me up and walk into the warming tent.  I sat in front of a hot blower for awhile and they kept asking how I was. My calves were tingling like when a limb falls asleep and then you wake it up. I got up and shuffled around in the tent and got some hot chicken broth. Later I went outside and got 2 pieces of pizza and came back in. Feeling better after maybe a half hour. Put my PJ bottoms on and tied my blanket on good and headed for the convention center. My truck key was in my saddle bag.  Got my key and headed to the truck many blocks away. Drove to the center and loaded up my bike, T1 and T2 bags. Off to the hotel I drove.