I can now say I have finished a marathon. It was not easy, it was not pretty, and it was not fast, but it is finished. It was really a wonderful experience, not just because I have lost over 100 pounds in the last year and I finished the marathon at the same place I ran my first 5k, but because of the the overwhelming support from my friends and family. We went out to eat in Memphis Friday night with 22 people! My friends Greg and Carolyn, Chris and Polly, Damon and Stephanie, Russ and Jenny, Von and Melissa, and Kevin and Debbie, and those are just the ones that did the 5k or the half-marathon and then many stuck around just to watch me finish my race. Not to mention the great support from my cousin David via my blog and my parents for watching our kids for the weekend and all their support. It was just a weekend that helped me realize just how blessed with relationships we are. Thanks again.
Now for the Race Report: I had big hopes of 5 hours or less and was making great time with the 5 hour pace group through about 15 miles. I have never in my life, in 4 years of football and all the training for running and biking and swimming had a problem with a cramp. At mile 16 I started having a cramp in my right quad, when I stopped to try and stretch I got a horrible cramp in my left hamstring, then in my right hamstring. I was frozen unable to move, people were asking me if I needed assistance, I thought I was going to have to just stop and have someone come get me. But some really nice guy came up from behind me and had a plastic bag of crystals that he said was salt, it could have been crack for all I cared, I took some and he told me to keep walking and not let the cramps tighten up. I took his advice and walked and ran the last 10 miles to finish in 5 hours 37 minutes. I was a little disappointed in the finish time, but quickly got over it and am just happy to have finished. I will have another chance to better my time someday, maybe sooner than later.
For now I am going to work on losing some more weight and lifting weights and tyring to improve my swim and and keep a base or running that can finish a half-marathon pretty easily. I hope to run another half soon.
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2 comments:
Brad,
I looked your time up last night - WOW! AWESOME! It was a great weekend. Keep up the good work man!
Congratulations again. We need to do some searching and keep up to date on local 5k's, 10k's and halfs. Hopefully there'll be a few here in the winter months to keep us fit. This is too much fun to stop now. Holler if you want to do a Saturday run.
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