Running Log

Well, I did it!

I got a Boston qualifying time.

The weather was cold, wet and windy and unlike running through a big city like the Chicago Marathon, the course went through the University of Illinois college town and through a lot of winding residential areas. It was overall a quiet race and I felt really good for the majority of the time, keeping a pretty consistent pace.

With 2 miles to go, knowing the finish line was at the 50 yard line, and we were still meandering through a neighborhood with no stadium in sight, I thought if I still can't see the stadium and in general it's a ways to get into a stadium and onto a 50 yard line, it must be really, really, really far away.

I thought about walking, I thought about a bacon cheeseburger. And I thought about Boston...Why would I walk when I worked so hard for 24 miles?

Just keep running, just keep running...

And then with about a 1/2 mile to go, the ultimate surprise, my cousin Barb appeared next to me, running! In her pretty white, warm, puffy coat, her cute hair cut, holding a grande coffee...She ran me to the stadium! (Go, lady with the coffee!) Simply Awesome.

What an experience!
Next is rest.