It's about time!

Okay - I am finally back. The last time I posted was the day before the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa. Well, that is over and many days have passed. I am coming back from that and am ready to move on.

I was VERY disappointed with myself in Tulsa. Let's just get it out of the way - my time was 6:10:29. Some tried to console me and say I shaved 3 minutes off of Chicago. But still, I was not happy. And again - it was my fault. I really wanted to run the entire marathon with Christine, but I only made it 13.1 miles with her. Seriously - we crossed the half way point, I tried to catch and return a phone call (from her husband!!), had a coughing fit and could never catch her. But then - she runs continuously, where as I usually do intervals. See - my fault.

Anyway - the night before the marathon we made our shirts and they turned out great!!


Getting close to the half way point

The morning of the marathon was terrific. A tad chilly, but once the running began everything was wonderful.

Prior to the race starting there was a fly over by some old time planes. That was pretty cool.

And then the gun went off - and we were out of there. The crowd thinned out quickly and miles started slipping by.

I can tell you one thing for sure about running in a relatively small event (around 2500 participants total) - no lines at the port-a-potties. Not at the start, not during and not after! LOVED that.

There wasn't as much entertainment as I anticipated and the "crowds" were pretty minimal, but the volunteers were great - very friendly and encouraging. And that matters - a lot!

I met several people on the course who were part of the 50 States Club. What a cool bunch of people. They were so friendly and encouraging. And they were recruiting, too!! Funny! And the amazing thing was - many of them had participated in the previous day's marathon - The Oklahoma Marathon. And I thought I was nuts!

We saw the parents (my mom, Chris's dad), Don and the kids a couple times along the course. That was very nice - even though my mom doesn't really know when to leave me alone when I am in the "Bite Me" zone!! Sorry, didn't mean to snap when you kept asking me if I needed anything!!

The course was mostly an out and back with a few diversions thrown in. The one major downfall was that we ran mainly on concrete. Chris could feel the difference, but I didn't really notice. But my right knee and left ankle did. My ankle started hurting and felt swollen. My knee had a pain in it that I had never felt before and a couple times I had to walk for an extended amount of time to let it "recover." The only thing I can attribute it to is the running surface.

The time kept ticking by but the miles were taking longer and longer to finish. And the demons made an appearance and didn't leave until several days later. The doubts in my ability, in myself in general, flooded my thoughts. And they nagged me. They ripped me a new one, sewed it back up and then tore out the stitches. I know - sounds gruesome and IT WAS!! I hated myself so much those last few miles.

But as you can see from my finisher picture - I hid if for the camera!!



Since then I have come to terms with my time. The demons are still there, but I have closed the door on them so they are not as loud as they were.

I have rested a lot since the marathon. Probably not the best thing, but I needed a break. Besides - I needed to let my knee fully recover (took a couple weeks before I didn't feel anything).

I completed 18.5 miles this weekend and felt good about it. I ran with a friend from miles 2 to 18.5 and we did 4/1's most of the way. Boy, could I tell the difference in doing what I am supposed to do. Makes me think I might be able to do Houston in under the 6 hour time limit. One more long run next weekend. That is when I will decide if I will do the full or the half.