A RUN TO REMEMBER

I did it!! I finished the half marathon on Sunday. It was a great race through Boston and Cambridge! It's called a "Run to a Remember", as it honors law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Well the for me it will always be a run I remember. It was really well organized and the people, all 7,000 of them were great to be around.

When the M.C. said "Let's get ready to rumble" before the race, the place exploded with noise and the gun went off. At this point I didn't know how it was going to go. I still wasn't breathing right and honestly thought I would only make it a couple of miles before quitting. The first mile was a blast, one big swarm of people it was hard to think about anything, I was just taking it all in. Around mile 2 I started getting really concerned about my breathing, I couldn't find a rhythm. At mile 4 my lungs seemed to open up and I felt much better. By mile 6 I wasn't thinking about my breathing at all. A weird thing happened between miles 8 and 9, I got an energy blast and really picked up my pace and starting passing the pack of people I had been running with for the last few miles. When I hit mile 10 I was elated, that was a career high for me and I felt so strong I knew I would finish. Honestly, the last three miles were a walk in the park. I sprinted the last 50 yards to the finish line with a ton of people cheering me on. It was incredible!! This race was definitely the best athletic experience of my life, my greatest athletic achievement!!

My brother, his wife and my sister all came out to see me at several points during the race. I can't explain how much that meant to me, and how good it was to see a familiar face as I ran along! Thank you guys a ton!!

I finished in 2:30:49, just as I predicted. I'm really pleased with that time. I drank way too much water before the race and had to pee three times during the race. This cost me about 12 minutes waiting at the portable bathrooms. Besides, I was in the ER 48 hours earlier, so time was never a concern of mine.

I felt great at the finish, legs were a little tight yesterday, but back to normal today. I'm completely hooked. I'm looking for another race to run soon. I cant wait to go at it again. I've got the runners bug...ross