A Marathon and A Half

Last Sunday, Bill ran his first marathon ever. He ran in the 33rd running of the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. He wasn't alone, either. There were over 30,000 runners in that race, and about 50 of them were from our running group here at home. Bill ran all through Georgetown, along the Potomac, around the Lincoln Memorial and the Mall, through Arlington, and finishing at the Arlington Cemetery. I could not be more proud of my husband. He has been training hard all year, and this race was the culmination of that work. The race was long and tough, but he did finish. We even had a great weekend in DC enjoying the huge race expo at the armory and visiting an amazing bar. We went to a place called The Brickskellar that has the most amazing selection of beer I have ever seen. They have over 1000 beers in bottles, and the food is good, too. Not a bad place to spend a Friday afternoon. Too bad it was a race weekend...

This morning, I competed in my second half marathon. I did the City of Oaks half marathon in Raleigh. Unlike my first race, this one was on a very hilly course. I started out fine with about 10 other member of my running group. I felt good and was keeping up the pace. It was great to be running with friends - we kept joking it was like a regular weekend run. Sadly, my stinking watch gave out at mile 5, and so did I. I started feeling more and more tired. I started falling back from my group. Luckily, I had our friend, Jon to cheer me on at various points along the route. Bill was working at a Galloway water stop right around mile 10. Seeing him and knowing he was proud of me really helped me to finish the race. I was shocked to see when I finished, I set a new PR. I actually knocked 8 minutes off my time from VA Beach. About 30 minutes after the race, I started to think about the next race. It seems that, like pain, you forget how much something hurt when it is over and all is well. Crazy! At least I know I will sleep well tonight.