MARATHON 25!

I remember my 1st marathon 32 months ago saying “never again”.  So I still find it funny that I laced up my shoes to do marathon 25 this past weekend.

I was able to run with my wife’s and my college friend, Dr. Michele.  She is the complete opposite of her 6’3″ husband who won our shared age group last week at THE Classic 10k.  Dr. Michele is about 5’2″.  She took me though my first 20 mile run in October of 2014 and was at the start line with me at my first marathon, my 12th in 12 months, and two more – including my 25th.

She was my “security blanket” on my first one  (what’s better than running your first marathon with a real medical doctor by your side).   We stayed together for the first half of that before injury forced her to slow down.

Last year, I was able to coach her to her goal time for what was her fourth marathon.  This year we did her 5th (my 25th) together.  I was glad to be with her as temperatures stretched into the upper 80’s.  That meant I could check my pride and run an hour slower than my normal 4 hour to 415 time and just enjoy the day.

Marathon running has become a lot of fun for me.  When you are running for the pure joy though and don’t care about the time, it can sometimes be even nicer.