When I met Altman, my world changed. I became a different person and from then on, life became about us and not me. My life became about him. We had a child and now, my life is about them.
Saturday was supposed to be awesome. Altman overcame injury this year to train for the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon. He won it last year. He wanted to head down and have a repeat win and hopefully a PR. This was meant to be his last marathon for awhile. We hope to have another Little Altman in the next year or so. He was going to win and we were going to celebrate and he would be able to say that he won the same race two years in a row.
We had a rough start to the weekend and things weren't really going our way. That was okay. We had some timing issues on Saturday morning and I sent him on to the race with our friend Jennifer. He had plenty of time to warm-up and get ready. The weather was perfect. A little cool for the start and no clouds in the sky.
Jason looked great before the race. As usual, I got emotional as they played the anthem and my stomach churned with excitement and nervousness. I wasn't running the race but had decided to still run down to mile 8 to try to see Altman and some of our other friends. He looked great. I ran back up to mile 14 and saw him again. He looked awesome. Relaxed (as relaxed as you can be running a 6 min mile) Pace was good. Posture was great. He had a pretty large lead and I thought, "hold on to it baby and you are gonna win this thing!"
My sister met me at the finish line with Jackson. We saw Jennifer finish and then I went on to change clothes and wait. We found the same spot from last year and settled in to wait for him. That would be good luck, right? At 2:33 on the clock, I started to really get excited and nervous. I could imagine Altman rounding that turn and coming into view. I would grab Jackson and we would wait for him. Then, there were the bikes. We were all pumped...until we realized that the shorts weren't compression shorts and that this dude wasn't wearing an RM singlet. Ouch. Total and utter deflation. My heart sank and I could only think about how he would be disappointed and mad about not winning and no PR. No celebration.
We reminded ourselves that everyone has a bad day now and then. We got excited again. Then we saw the singlet at the top of the hill. Immediately, we let out a collective gasp. Altman did not look good. He was hunched over and almost limping. As he continued toward the last turn, he looked worse and worse. About the time my sister said to go get him, he rounded the turn and it was like his knees were giving way. I thought he was going to collapse right there in front of us.
I took off in a dead sprint with Jennifer and my sister behind me. I got to him and he had no color and was hardly moving. The finish line was right there but it seemed so far away. I asked Brooke to take Jackson and get lost. Jennifer and I walked alongside him for several steps. He wasn't really making sense so I asked Jennifer to run ahead and get the medical folks ready. I stayed with him as he jogged to the finish line. He was 2nd overall and still had a time of 2:45:59. That really didn't matter to me. Who cared at that point.
We got him to the tent where the medical folks started pumping him full of water and Gatorade. Slowly, his color started to return. Friends came by to check on him and asked if they could help. We are so appreciative of the support we received from everyone. I knew he would be okay but that didn't stop me from getting emotional when he wasn't looking. It was so comforting to be able to cry on a few shoulders. I couldn't let him know that he had scared the life out of me. For a moment on Saturday, my world had stopped.
He is fine. He was dehydrated and deducted that although he had been taking water at the water stops, he hadn't had enough. The hamstring injury that had bothered him flared up and stopped him in his tracks. Literally. It was a bad day. A bad run. That is the curse of the marathon. Some days are great and fall into place like 2010 and some days just suck. Saturday was a day that sucked.
I am truly blessed. In 2002, I found my soul mate. I found the person that absolutely completes me. No doubt. Never any doubt actually. We have a beautiful child and hope to have more. I love him with everything that I have.
He knows my side of this story. We have talked about it a lot since yesterday. We laughed when he said that he was never running another marathon (yes, he said it while in the medical tent) and I told him he was lying. I did add that he wouldn't be running another one soon. I need time to recover from this one. I also added that from now on, when he runs a marathon, I am going to do it too. That way, he can be waiting for me at the finish line.
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