Saturday, June 12, 2010

26.2




Today is June 12, I've had this day circled on the calendar for 5 months. I've trained my everlovin ass off for today, and it was almost a disaster, almost.

My training was going well till I took that week and a half off for the Selway trip. I came home from that and ran my final 20 miler and completely messed up my Illiotibial band which runs from your hip to knee. I hurt it to the point I couldn't finish my other runs and actually walked home from a few runs almost in tears. I was completely unsure what today would bring and the prospects of even finishing were not good. Thanks to a some creative stretching and a varitable cornucopia of modern medicines I was able to pull it off. Not as fast as I had hoped but it was my first time and the hip and knee gave me a little trouble. I did sub-4 it though.


The Girl in the red is Jenny Davidson, This was all her fault.
I had spent about 2 years just happily running. Usually 5-10 miles and the occasional longer run. I was happy, I enjoyed running, then one fateful day Jenny called and queried me, "you ever gonna do anything with the running?" So here we are. I had just caught up to her badass self after 23 miles of trying.
I know some of you are gonna make some wise crack about me running shirtless. I'm ok with that. I may have been one of only 2 guys that were shirtless but I was NOT one of the 15-20 guys with bloody nipples bleeding all down their shirts. Put some ducktape on those puppies for hell's sake. I finally had to take my shirt off as it was soaked from the 2 hours of hard rain at the start and it was keeping me cold.

My sister-in -law Michelle made this and bought it to me.
Thanks Shell, you rock!

Chompin on a post-race Creamie while I waited for my Shirt. I guess most marathoners aren't 6'6". All things considered it went well, I enjoyed it and I'll likely do it again, but not tomorrow.
They say you can learn a lot about yourself in 26.2 miles.
What did I learn?
26.2 miles is a Hella long way to run.

13 comments:

tiffy girl said...

Way to go! I am so proud of you! It took a lot of dedication to run that far, and I'm not just talking about the race. Many hours of training went into this day. I love you my hot shirtless runner;)

me said...

I am just glad the ladies kept their wet shirts on and bloody nipples just make you stronger. You better let Jenny know that some old dude with a sweet headband was checking her out.

J. Melody said...

Congrats Paul. That's quite the feat! I forget you have your own blog and just read a bunch of your posts...you can chalk up being a good writer along with runner.

Shanshine said...

"Fat Newty Finishes the Race" That's what the headlines read here in Kernville, CA. It's the talk of the town. Congrats bro!! I'm so sorry to hear about the IT band, I didn't know you'd got injured. Way to KEEP ON KEEPIN ON! You rock!

Jenny said...

Great run Paul. It was great to see you for that short 1/2 mile during the race. I wish I could have hung for the rest. And as for the comment made by "me". I think those eyes were directed toward that pink skirt and wet white tank top next to me:).

wendybird said...

That's pretty impressive, running man.

Grandma Karen said...

Hey Pauly, way to go!! I can't even begin to comprehend what 26.2 miles feels like. If I had to run for my life, I would loose big time. Just the thought of runnng to the corner sends me to that bad place really fast!! So do your body a favor and just "chill" for a while. I hope those rudders didn't give you too much trouble.
Love ya Paul,

P.S. ok so I can say what I'm thinking because I am getting old and forgetful so that is my excuse, soooo why do your shorts look like they are going to fall off at any moment???

The Livingstones said...

AMEN. Been there with the IT band problems. It hurts. Glad you made it though. 26.2 miles is a long way to run....but doesn't it feel GREAT when you're done?

age said...

Very impressive! What marathon did you run?

michelle said...

That is a LONG way I just kept thinking of how long it is to drive that stretch let alone run the dang thing! And about the shirt your just using the "I don't want sponge bob bandaids on my nips" . so that you can show off your abs... GEEEZ! You don't compare to Jacob , but Ill give ya a 6! Were all proud of ya way to go!

michelle said...

And if your lost on the Jacob comment he is a warewolf not a vampire!

Mrs. Spencer said...

Way to go Paul....I'm a little behind in the blog world so I just saw that you ran the marathon! That's awesome :)

Megan said...

You did it. That's the best feeling in the world. Even better when there's a tough section of river behind you!