It’s been a while since my last post. As you read in Christine’s most recent posts, we did it! We set out to complete a half marathon; on January 17th 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona we accomplished our goal. What a way to start out the New Year.


I’d just like to take some time to recap the race to supplement Christine’s post. Like Christine said, the weather was perfect. The morning temperature was cool. It was apparent who the racers from out of state were, especially those of us from cooler climates. Christine and I were both clad in just shorts and tee shirts. Dressing only in what we planned to run in allowed us to avoid checking a gear bag at the starting line.

Shortly after arriving at the starting area, and waiting in line to use the portable restrooms, we made our way to our assigned corral. I could not believe the number of people, but the adrenaline was contagious. About 45 min. after the elites took off from the starting line; we made our way past Sen. John McCain.

The first three miles were a bit weird: how fast should we go? Should we pass the slower runners? AM I OUT OF MY F-ING MIND?

After settling into a nice rhythm, Christine and I were running side-by-side. I remember looking over at Christine and giving her the thumbs-up, an overwhelming feeling of pride rushes over me. That feeling mixed with the adrenaline almost brings me to tears; I cannot believe we are finally achieving our goal.

Things went well for the next 8 miles. At about mile 11, for me the fatigue really starts to set in, mentally and physically. All of the aches and pains are starting to bother me, from my hips, blisters on my feet, and the chafing under my right arm. I never thought I would be so happy to see a man standing on the side of the road with a glob of Vaseline on the end of the wooden stick. Truly a gift from God.

After the Vaseline, some water and gu, I’m feeling reenergized. For the majority of the race I knew that my right shoe was not tied tightly enough and finally I cannot take it anymore. For the first time in the entire race I have to signal to Christine that I need to stop and retie my shoe. I feel horrible because we are so close to the finish and I know that starting to run again after stopping to tie my shoe is going to be hard. Bending over to tie my shoe made me realize just how tight and sore my lower back was, and stopping for this short amount of time made my body scream, throb, and beg me to stop the torture. A few min. of walking loosen my back and I’m able to run again.

At this point we are less than a mile away from the finish. The cameras line the last mile of the race, to capture this moment. Christine and I put on a smile, and Christine even has the energy to wave. (BTW, our pictures turned out pretty well, considering what we just went through, Sleeping Giant on the other hand looks like he is about to meet his Maker in his pictures).

Finally, hand-in-hand we cross the finish line. We didn’t break any records with our time, but we accomplished what we set out to do, and we did it together. We came a long way, baby! We both manage to walk through the snack line and refuel before crashing in the parking lot, not even close to the family reunion center the race has set up to reunite racers and families.

The day after the race, sitting in the car for 8 hours on the way back to Colorado was not pleasant. Tuesday at work I was glad I had no clients because I was still walking like I had a dirty diaper. By Wednesday I was Googeling “intermediate half marathon training programs.” With one half under my belt I can say, ‘This ain’t my first rodeo’ as I line up on June 6th in San Diego for my second half.

Ten Things I learned from this:



1. Don’t let sleeping Giant touch your Ipod pre race. I ran without out my NikePlus because I was fearful of running out of battery, this let me at the mercy of the pace clocks on the side of the race route. Because of this, I think we ran a bit too conservatively during the first half of the race.

2. Arizona is the place to be (December – March).

3. When you think you cannot possibly take another step, put one foot in front of the other and just do it!

4. Make mini goals, this helped me so much. I would pick a land mark I could see, like a street corner or a stop light and tell myself to run to that point. When I made it to that point I would set another mini goal. This made the miles fly by.

5. Start in a higher race corral. There were a lot of people walking the half. We came across several large groups and it was hard to run around them, not to mention wasted much needed energy.

6. DON’T STOP RUNNING! Too hard to start again.

7. Run outside, I did way too much training on the much more forgiving treadmill and my joints were feeling every step pounding the pavement.

8. HAVE FUN! I’m not trying to set any world records, just personal records.

9. Do all the runs on the training plan, those missed miles will come back to haunt you.

10. I have the best most supportive friend in the entire world and there isn’t anyone else that motivates and challenges me to perform to the best of my abilities.



Christine, the pain is gone but the memories will last forever. Can’t wait to do it again in San Diego. Keep on running!