The ROAD TO 50 - 50 Marathons in 50 States at 50.
First, a little background on who I am. I am an average 50 year old from the small town of Alcoa. We are located just south of Knoxville close to the airport. I currently live in the sister city of Maryville but its ok. The rivalry between the two schools is about settled. Both have won the State Championship in Football so many times now it is just a given we have the best training coaches in the state. My family moved here in 1971 when I was only 4 years old. I was born in Savannah, Georgia as my mothers family were from that area. My dad was from Texas around the Fort Worth / Gatesville area. My oldest sister, Trena Vann was born in Texas while my parents lived there.
So how did my parents from two southern states so far apart end up in Tennessee. Well, It was a "God Thing". We don't always know what the future holds for us, but God does. My dad was in the Air Force and met my mom while stationed in Georgia. He was moving around a lot until he left active duty. When he got the "call to preach" he decided to move to Cleveland, TN to be close to "God"! You see, "God" is on the campus of the best Christian College in the country, Lee College. While studying to be a minister my dad joined the Air National Guard in Knoxville. It was just a weekend thing for awhile, but that changed. He was offered a full time job he felt the need to take. They moved here and within a few years had my baby sister, Bethany Smith.
After my parents died and left all 3 of us kids to depend on each other, we just stayed here. It was hard at first with all our relatives being so far away but we have made lots of good friends here. I very proud to live in Blount County and in all my travels around the states and other countries, I've never seen anywhere I would rather live. We have great schools, great community leaders, friendly neighbors and lots of places to exercise. Our greenway is 9 miles of beautiful, winding paths that follow Pistol Creek. There is plenty of shade and connecting paths that allow me to get in extra miles and hill work when needed. The trail is shared by bikes, joggers and the family out walking the dog. We have clean bathrooms and water stops that really help out during the endurance training.
As for swimming, we have many gyms available and 5 man made lakes to choose from for open water training
Knoxville is a sports friendly town as well. They have many 5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathons, Full Marathons and more. Several Triathlon events are held in the pools and lakes nearby offering me many chances to improve my skills this year. I'm looking forward to the Atomic Man triathlon, a goal I've thought about for many years, just never thought it was possible until now. I was what many would consider fit in my twenties and thirties. I served in the military for 26 years myself and exercised regularly for much of that time. Only in the last 10 years did I lose sight of the fitness and gained 100 pounds more than I should have. The weight slowed me down, and caused injuries, but never prevented me from running the marathons.
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First, a little background on who I am. I am an average 50 year old from the small town of Alcoa. We are located just south of Knoxville close to the airport. I currently live in the sister city of Maryville but its ok. The rivalry between the two schools is about settled. Both have won the State Championship in Football so many times now it is just a given we have the best training coaches in the state. My family moved here in 1971 when I was only 4 years old. I was born in Savannah, Georgia as my mothers family were from that area. My dad was from Texas around the Fort Worth / Gatesville area. My oldest sister, Trena Vann was born in Texas while my parents lived there.
So how did my parents from two southern states so far apart end up in Tennessee. Well, It was a "God Thing". We don't always know what the future holds for us, but God does. My dad was in the Air Force and met my mom while stationed in Georgia. He was moving around a lot until he left active duty. When he got the "call to preach" he decided to move to Cleveland, TN to be close to "God"! You see, "God" is on the campus of the best Christian College in the country, Lee College. While studying to be a minister my dad joined the Air National Guard in Knoxville. It was just a weekend thing for awhile, but that changed. He was offered a full time job he felt the need to take. They moved here and within a few years had my baby sister, Bethany Smith.
After my parents died and left all 3 of us kids to depend on each other, we just stayed here. It was hard at first with all our relatives being so far away but we have made lots of good friends here. I very proud to live in Blount County and in all my travels around the states and other countries, I've never seen anywhere I would rather live. We have great schools, great community leaders, friendly neighbors and lots of places to exercise. Our greenway is 9 miles of beautiful, winding paths that follow Pistol Creek. There is plenty of shade and connecting paths that allow me to get in extra miles and hill work when needed. The trail is shared by bikes, joggers and the family out walking the dog. We have clean bathrooms and water stops that really help out during the endurance training.
As for swimming, we have many gyms available and 5 man made lakes to choose from for open water training
Knoxville is a sports friendly town as well. They have many 5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathons, Full Marathons and more. Several Triathlon events are held in the pools and lakes nearby offering me many chances to improve my skills this year. I'm looking forward to the Atomic Man triathlon, a goal I've thought about for many years, just never thought it was possible until now. I was what many would consider fit in my twenties and thirties. I served in the military for 26 years myself and exercised regularly for much of that time. Only in the last 10 years did I lose sight of the fitness and gained 100 pounds more than I should have. The weight slowed me down, and caused injuries, but never prevented me from running the marathons.
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I started running marathons at age 35, partly because I was too slow to run the smaller races without embarrassing myself. I have been last to cross the finish line many times, in all distances up to and including the Full Marathon. I always finished! Blisters and cramps could never be enough to cause me to stop. I may have had to walk on the sides of my feet for a few miles, creating a new kind of pain, but creativity is important in ones growth, right. I also love to Hike and Ride my bike, but no matter how Active I was, the weight kept adding on. Finally, after about 20 marathons and seeing the scale top out near 300 pounds, I decided to make a change.
In January, 2017, I decided to give a "Vegan diet" another try. I had a couple of friends who were Vegan and I saw the movie "Forks over Knives". The movie was very shocking and I hope everyone in America has the chance to see it. It is currently FREE for Netflix viewers. The movie didn't help me to change immediately. In fact, my first attempt to go vegan lasted about 4 days last year. I just wasn't concerned enough to commit. I did get interested in learning more. I saw "Plant Pure Nation" another great educational video and many similar movies. I also went online and joined a website called "No Meat Athlete". Matt Frazier offers great tips to Athletes who are worried about giving up meat. Where is the "Protein" going to come from now? Funny, that is always the first question people ask me. I didn't know either until I studied it. We really don't need as much as the government wants you to believe. Plants offer exactly the nutrition needed to be healthy and even an Elite Triathlete.
Since slowly making the transition from "Fast Food" to a Vegan diet, to a "Plant Pure Lifestyle", I have not only lost 75 pounds, I feel great. My endurance and speed have been steadily increasing while my injuries are healing up. I recently re-learned how to run and now I'm even doing that better. With all the new enlightenment from many different sources I have discovered there is no limit to what I can achieve. I have set the goal to complete the 50 marathons in 50 states at age 50. My body is physically strong enough to handle the challenges and getting stronger every week. The financial burden and time restraints will prevent me from doing this in a single year. The goal remains the same and time is not a critical factor. It may take two or even three years to complete by doing 2 and 3 races per month. I have a good start with 9 states completed as of May 2017. I will be 50 on July 5th this year and have 2 more marathons scheduled in July. I have a bunch in September, and throughout the Fall and Winter. As long as my body and fund raising hold up, I will have at least 25 by the end of December. With half out of the way, I'm sure the goal will be easier to achieve.
Running as exercise is one of the least expensive sports of all the American sports. It really only requires a pair of shoes, a little clothing and open roads. Racing on the other hand is quite different. Although not required, compression shorts are upwards of $40 and $50 bucks. Better shoes, socks and compression shirts add to the cost. Don't forget about all the sports drinks and other fuel to get thru the long hours of endurance training. I never considered this as it is never talked about in the sports magazines or on TV. The Elite athletes all have sponsors, but the average couch potato who is getting started must do it alone. Luckily for me, I've built up quite a collection of running, biking and swimming equipment over the last 20 years. Many of my clothes have been in totes for the last 5 or more, because they didn't fit. I finally unpacked most of it and put the 3X clothes in bags to donate. No need to store them, because I never plan to be obese again. I really didn't know how unhealthy I was until I started feeling better.
I'm about ready to compete in my First Ironman 70.3. I'm no longer scared about swimming in the open water and I expect to do well with the bike. I haven't trained much on the swim or bike, because I've been too busy running marathons all over the country.
I do feel strong and confident, for better or worse, I will finish. The time is no longer important, as long as I make the cutoffs.
1 hour for the 1 mile swim, 4 hours on the 56 mile bike ride and 3 hours for the easy 13.1 mile run to the finish. With transition times and fuel breaks, I should easily be under the 9 hour time limit.
Mark Hudspeth
I do feel strong and confident, for better or worse, I will finish. The time is no longer important, as long as I make the cutoffs.
1 hour for the 1 mile swim, 4 hours on the 56 mile bike ride and 3 hours for the easy 13.1 mile run to the finish. With transition times and fuel breaks, I should easily be under the 9 hour time limit.
Mark Hudspeth