When I finished my first marathon, I could barely walk. People had to hold me up. I was cold and shaking and wanted to put long pants on but could not even do that without help. NEVER EVER AGAIN I thought. For about 10 hours. After a dinner at Olive Garden (I earned it darn it!), I went to bed. Woke up around 2 AM and started looking for my next marathon. It would be in the NCR Trail Marathon in Maryland – Sparks-Glencoe MD, on November 29.
I was barely a runner at this point, having only run for 6 months, and certainly not a runner on an unpaved trail, but it was a reasonably close race, a slightly warmer temperature, so we went at it. Allison, the kids and I drove to Maryland, stopping at a Cracker Barrel on the way down. We stayed at the hotel and the next morning went off to the race. Parking was a challenge but Allison and the kids saw me start; then it was basically down a hill, around the bend, and out 11 or 12 miles (and back those same 11 or 12 miles) up that hill I started out going down and across the finish line. 2 marathons in 2 months. Was a pattern developing?

