Miles 6-13.1

Shortly after mile 8 all of the half marathoners peeled off and the field got very thin. AP and I said so long to our third running partner and we headed further south while he got to turn back north.

At mile nine, I was able to muster the first smile I had in a while. Carrie was on the side of the road holding Emily high on her shoulders. As I approached, Emily was wearing a shirt that said, "Run Daddy Run" - Love, Emily. (how great is my wife, I didn't know she had a sweatshirt made)

Carrie provided us with some Gatorade, jellybeans and some Gu (runners gel). What a welcome site. To be running next to a sweaty man, chasing mostly sweaty men and a few sweaty women, I got to see my wife and baby. That really provided us with a spark. Our pace has slowed at this point, but we are still moving at a decent pace. At 13.1 miles, our time was 2:25 (still on pace!)

Between mile 10-13 something happened. I didn't see him, but I'm pretty sure someone tackled me, and beat the heck out of me. I started getting sore, tired and sick. AP is a warrior and wanted to go, but I was melting down quickly. Without him, I really could have quit at the half way point, but he kept me going.

2nd half updates to come.

Marathon morning through mile 6

Saturday morning started early for me. I woke up around 5:00 because I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget anything, even though I set everything out the night before from socks to IPOD.

I met AP downtown and we got in line. There is an enormous amount of people in line for the start. They put everyone in corals, which means slow people in the back. We were in the back! After the national anthem, I could see that people were starting to go, but it would be 6-7 minutes before we crossed the start line.

Our plan was to average 11:00 minute miles and finish under 5 hours. The first 6 miles were easy. AP was like a robot. Right, left, repeat. He set the initial pace a steady 10:20/mile (oops). The weather was perfect, there was a slight breeze and plenty of sun. This first quarter of the race was generally shoulder to shoulder people. There was never a time when you couldn't reach out and touch 4-5 other runners.

By the time we reached the 6 mile mark, everything is going smooth, we are going to dominate this race and beat our goals! (miles 7-13 tomorrow).

The Day Before

Well, tomorrow is the 2010 Cowtown Marathon! People keep asking me, "are you ready?" I think I am. I went outside a minute ago because I left something in the truck and I wanted to just take off and run. I think it crawls in your head! I ran so much in training and the last week, I've done almost nothing in order to rest my legs. I'm ready!

This is why I have the best wife ever. I'm going to describe the night of our 3rd anniversary....About right now, my mom is deciding if she wants to read on! Carrie has been sick for a few days, not time to call the hospital sick, but congested, sneezing runny nose sick. This started Wednesday (our anniversary). We knew we weren't going to go out and stay out late for our anniversary because we got some time together last weekend. I knew I had the best wife ever, when she said, "I am going to sleep in the guest bedroom so I don't get you sick before your big run." How awesome is that? Or maybe she just wanted to get rid of me for a few nights?? I am going to believe that she did it "for" me, not "because" of me. The last thing I need before a big run is to get congested.

I will post how the run goes next week.

Feb. 24

Today is our 3rd anniversary. This year has given me a daughter, I still have a job, my family is a year older, but still in tact, and my wife is a year better. There is a lot to be thankful for. Three years is a relatively small percentage of my life (8%), but I can't really remember how I got along without Carrie, and now Emily. Below is what I wrote last year, I don't know if I can improve on these thoughts, so I decided to keep them here as an archive. Who knows maybe next year, I'll copy it again.

Today is our 2nd anniversary. Where does the time go? I can clearly remember my friends and family nagging me about, "When are you going to settle down?" This question haunts single people once the turn about 20 or so. I was single until I was 33 so I got to hear it over and over and over (repeat). The answer is simple...now. I was single for 33 years because I had not met Carrie! God allowed me to wait a while before we met, but it was the most worthwile wait of my life.

Yes, two years ago today, Carrie, a few friends and family and I were on the beach in South Padre Island, TX. It was a warm windy day and we got married on a grassy lawn overlooking the beach and the crashing waves....and the bulldozers. I really feel like a small ceremony with a few close friends is the way to go. I wouldn't change anything about that day, except, I would have loved to have had the opportunity to meet Carrie's dad and have him walk her down the isle, but Billy (Carrie's brother) filled in and everything was perfect.

Looking back, I know that I married the perfect girl, not perfect, but perfect for me. Nobody ever fully appreciates the things in their life until they are gone, so I hope I can stop and appreciate her today!

Stuff and Things

I thought I would scatter shoot a few things today:

1. We got 12 inches of snow last weekend! In my life, I've never seen so much snow, and it was the good stuff. Not too dry where it wouldn't stick together for a snowball or a snow man, but not too wet where you could do damage with the snowball. Right now there are people who are rolling their eyes (12 inches hmmph). I am amazed by these people. Ok, you get more snow, that doesn't diminish our fun in the snow. These are the same people that dismiss your broken finger by telling you that they broke their arm. You know, the one uppers! Screw you, I got 12 inches of snow, it was a lot, and I had fun in it. I don't care that you got 2 feet.

2. We lost power during the snow storm too. I feel like Carrie and I could have toughed it out with no heat, but we had a baby with us and we were willing to keep her in the cold. A good friend opened up his house to two adults, one baby and a dog. When you look back, that's a big favor to ask. Thanks K, you were a good friend!

3. Why do we still have Olympic events that rely on 100% judging. It seems that every Olympics there is a judge who gets paid off, or you have the Eastern Bloc voting, etc. I am calling for the immediate end to all events that rely 100% on some "expert" judging who gets the gold and who gets the silver. Before you go nuts and cry foul, we can figure it out. Skating will just have certain mandatory jumps or twists that have to be done in some sort of order and if so, they get the points, maybe we could set up a few hurdles out there and they would have to jump and spin over and around them. There is a way that we could do it. I just don't like that we rely on human integrity to judge. When you are based solely on the human interpretation, you are way to vulnerable to cheating and inconsistency, at least put some objective measures in. Sorry, synchronized swimming, you are out!

4. Finally, remember the Duke Lacrosse rape case a few years back. You see this poor young pretty black girl accusing these rich, privileged, white guys of rape. Come to find out that it never happened, only after "the public" ruined the reputation of a bunch of young men, coaches and the school. Well, I remember clearly Jesse Jackson and several other civil rights leaders grandstanding on her behalf. Well, she needs your help again now, Jesse. It seems that she threatened and tried to kill someone! She was charged with 1st degree attempted murder, Arson, Assault and battery and a couple more. My guess is that civil rights guys will stay away from this one. She served her purpose for them already!

Point Of No Return

As you may or may not know, I try to be careful with my money. I have a hard time commiting to anything that is expensive. It takes me months to purchase a vehicle or upgrade the house. I always think, "do I really need this now?" Two weeks ago, I went into Sheplers with the intentions of getting some new boots. I tried some on, walked around in them to see how they fit, then I looked at Carrie and said my old boots are good enough. Maybe I can make it through the spring with them.

All that said, I finally plunked down $100 to run the Ft. Worth Cowtown Marathon. That officially means that I am in. I've been verbally commited for a while, but I can always wiggle out of a verbal comitment (see White Rock Marathon).

I'll keep an update of progress. So far, my longest run ever, was Saturday at 17 miles 2/3 of a marathon.