The Atlanta ING Half Marathon. A Hill-acious Good Time.

This is one EKG you'd like to see flatline.

Yesterday, I overcame serious stuff messing with my head. 

For the past two years, I signed up for the ING Half Marathon, drove into Atlanta the day before to pick up my race packet  ~ and slept in race morning. 

The weather the last two years had been horrible. Freezing rain with wind. 

Race morning I got up in plenty of time, pinned my race number on, left the house and realized…I completely underestimated the time needed for parking, Marta, porta potty, gear check-in and getting to the corral on time. 

Then driving over the train tracks on Hwy 278 out of town, I realized I didn’t have my race watch. 

Panic. 

It was so late, I decided to conquer this too. Left watch.

After sprinting to the start… 

I began running up hills. We ran up every hill in Atlanta. There never was a downside to these hills. 

Running  past the Martin Luther King Memorial, we turned a corner and met a huge hill. 

 Auburn Avenue = hill. Turning on to the Carter Center Parkway = long hill. Euclid heading into Five Points = long hill. 

My iPod saved me from total meltdown. No watch, no iPod and hills = headcase, did not finish. 

Irony of the race. At halfway point, “Halfway Gone” by Lifehouse came on iPod. Okay, it really started at the beginning of mile 6, but I played it twice. 

Next song was “More than a Feeling” as in Boston. At this point around mile 7, Half marathoners split from Fulls. Not “feeling it” today, thank God I turned left with the Halfs. 

But starting down Highland, the feeling became nostalgic. We entered an area that thankfully, looked so much the same. 

Manuel’s Tavern, still there. Thank God. 

Crossing Ponce, I held my breath and looked left. The Majestic, still there. Thank God. Johnny and I ended up there with friends at 2 a.m. the night we met. We sat on the same side of the booth. 

Atkins Park, still there. 

The American Roadhouse, still there. Many breakfasts. We ate there Monday, September 6, 1993. I told the waitress this time tomorrow I would be  holding my baby. She looked at me. The doctor was inducing labor the next morning — the day after Labor Day. 

Running past the Roadhouse, there was an overwhelming urge to pull the door open and smell those potatoes. 

Then we ran down to Piedmont Park… 

Up tons more hills. Turning on North we started through Georgia Tech running by the Lamda Chi house which I saluted as a former lil’ sis at SMU.  Running two sides of Bobby Dodd Stadium. North Avenue = hill. Turning onto Techwood = hill. A few more hills…

To the finish. 

I got my medal, got on the train and started the trek back to Madison. 

I conquered those hills yesterday. And I conquered the heck out of my head. Darn it.