My first Marathon.....June 3rd, 2006

The clan is sitting around the dinner table one cold January day laughing and talking when out of the blue, my sister Chelle pipes up and says "Hey, I am going to start training for the Salt Lake Marathon in June....who's with me". An odd silence filled the room as we all looked at her like she was a crazy woman. I must have some craziness in me too, since I raised my hand and said "I'm in". Mind you, I hadn't run more than a couple of miles on my longest runs and I used to buy running shoes because they looked "cool"....the thought of functionality and support in a shoe was a foreign concept to me. I think there have been a lot of choices in my life that have been on a whim, not really knowing what exactly I was getting myself into....and I have this unfortunate habit of not quitting something that I start (like the one year of high school football I got suckered into b/c my buddy Sid didn't want to join alone.....he quit once two-a-days started and left me hangin'.....but I wouldn't quit....I should have!! I think I played a total of 20 minutes in a real game!).

Anyway.....training started with our first run. We met bright and early and I was so enthusiastic. Remember, I had no idea what I was getting into!! So I strapped on my fashionable NB 797's that I bought purely for cool factor, and Chelle and I went out and ran....and I was devastated....pain, frustration and my new found hatred for my crappy NB shoes!! This is the point where my whimsical decision to run a marathon started to become an obsession. Long story short....I went and go the right shoes, the right gear and the right knowledge of how to traing for a marathon....and here is the result:

This is me running....right now in my head I am thinking to myself..."what the hell have I got myself into (when you are in pain and you have 12 miles to go, you swear, believe me...everybody does!!). At this point I am thinking to myself "I trained in the dead of the winter and I hate the cold (Chelle can attest to my many complaints about the freezing cold weather....I don't know why she doesn't run with me anymore!!) and these bafoons decided to put the marathon on the day that molten lava was coming out of the man-holes!!" It was hotter than all get out...but you just keep moving your legs (that are subsequently burning and melting into the ground). My goal was under 4 hours...that is all I cared about. When you set that type of goal, 3:59:59 is absolutely acceptable! There is a great sense of accomplishment when you hit your goal time, whatever it is. It could be 24 hours....it doesn't matter....that is the beauty of marathons...you run against yourself, your best time, your own goal....everybody else is just a spectator, even the other runners. I finished at 3:57:12.....an average pace of 9 minute miles. It was spectacular!!

Words can't express how you feel when you see the finish line and then cross it.....I think the first marathoners went 26 miles to start out, and then they thought to themselves "what could we do to really slam your hopes of finishing right at the end of the race.....ah, yes....let's add .2 miles!!" That last .2 miles is the most exhilerating, emotional and painful distance in the whole marathon, hence the dismantled facial expression!

I had this to look forward to throughout the race and especially at the end. There is something about seeing your kids, the expression of absolute joy and pride that they have on their faces as they cheer "GO DADDY". I wouldn't trade that for anything.

The whole clan at the end. The crowd, the unknown spectators that push you along and somehow, not knowing any of them for the most part, they buoy you up and give you that extra boost. Some of them know from experience, some can just imagine; they all just come out and cheer for strangers, people they don't know. It was one of the best experiences in my life. It has spawned a much greater passion for endurance sports that I am proud to be a part of.....