HARDEST THING....

Well I did it, not too gracefully, but I did it! 20 miles, 4 miles farther than I have ever run before. First things first... Thank you's:

Coaches Ken and Janet. You 2 must have logged about 30 miles! Your smiles and encouragement always seemed to come at just the right time. Especially Ken, letting me know that I wasn't halfway home yet!!!!

A special thank you needs to go to Jayne, my running partner for all 20. You helped me get through those last few miles more than you can know. All I can say is thanks and that just doesn't seem to be enough.

Then there's Tim, he only ran 10 miles, but he stayed until the end and he actually came out with us for the last 2. His energy and pep really, really keeps me going, however slowly!!!
Thanks Timmy!! I should say that he was going to run 16 on Sunday, which is why he only did 10 Saturday.

Now to the run itself;
It was a COLD morning, somewhere in the 40's. I met a small group of runners to car pool and we got there nice and early. Checked in and picked up my package for the Nike, which I continue to get grief about from my friends. What, you couldn't qualify for the Nike MEN'S Marathon?, yuk, yuk, yuk!!! Personally if I am going to run for 26 miles I want to do it with 10's of thousands of women, rather than men, but that's just me!
I digress, We had about 40 minutes to kill so I just milled about and talked trying to keep warm. I didn't exactly dress for the weather, note to self watch weather channel the night before. About 10 minutes before race time coach Ken came though with some gloves, man oh man what a life saver those were!!!

And we off, 11:41 first mile. It seemed to me that everyone knew we had a long way to go and nobody was in a hurry. The next few miles were rather uneventful, I just blathered on about my problems to Jayne and she just listened. Water and aide stations were posted every 2 miles and I took advantage of every one. Between miles 6 and 15 I found myself in that place where you could run forever. My feet didn't even feel as though they were hitting the ground. It was as if I was out for a nice walk in the woods, that is until between mile 16 and 17. Everything hit at once, my right instep started to scream, my left knee ached, my right hip had needles in it. All of a sudden I couldn't catch my breath or maintain a good rhythm. Then I did what I consider to be a mortal sin, I started to walk. For the rest of you runners out there you know that feeling. For those of you who don't run, let me just say that once you stop it is as close to impossible to start running again as anything you can imagine. Poor Jayne stuck with me and it didn't even hit me until just now how the walking must have effected her. So, for much of the last 2 miles I walked. I did manage to run it in for the last half mile and made it across the line in 3 hours 37 minutes and 55 seconds. About 8 minutes longer than I wanted, but considering the last 3 miles took us just over 40 minutes I am somewhat happy with that time.

All in all I really enjoyed the day. The weather ended up being perfect for running, not a cloud in the sky and the temps were in the low 60's. Everyone who came out from Team in Training to help cheer us on, thank you, from the bottom of my heart thank you!! For the people I mentioned above, I could never, I mean NEVER have made it without you. Thanks especially once again to Jayne!!!!! You stayed with me even at the end when I know you wanted to stop. I will remember that in two weeks when I need that little push to keep me going in San Fran!!! And I will be there in Detroit to help cheer you on and hopefully help you make to the finish a little bit easier.

13 days and counting!

R.P.D.

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon. Emil Zatopek