On June 20th, I participated in the Mayor’s Marathon. The morning started with my good friend dropping me off at the starting line. It was pretty early, she sure was a trooper ! It sure was an experience though, for the first half of the race I ran with the same blob of people. As the race progressed, I soon found myself running alone. Sure was interesting ;)

I was able to make excellent timing the first half of the race. I passed the half way mark in about two hours. Earlier in the run, around mile 9, I landed funny unfortunately. That took its toll on me at mile marker 18, when my foot was in pain. Pain shot up my leg with every step. Needless to say I did a bit of walking after that point ;)

It was great feeling crossing the finish line. Especially since I had to zig zag around the parking lot to achieve the final mile ;) It was worth it though, I had many good friends there cheering me on as I crossed. My goal was to finish in 6 hours, and I made that.

Thank you everyone who cheered me on. You are very much appreciated, and you know who you are !

There are two essential ingredients to a successful marathon. Good shoes and socks ? Nope, screw them. I ran 17 miles with an injured foot. I think that proves you can run in anything.

The essential ingredients to a successful marathon is Vaseline and Gu. Vaseline helps to keep your nipples happy, and each pack of Gu is 100 calories of pure sugar. You wouldn’t believe the energy you get with each pack ^_^

I feel I need to spread the word when I figure stuff out. It does no good if I keep it to myself. The lesson for this week is consuming dairy before a run is a big noes noes. I am not sure if it was the cinnamon sugar milk I had at dinner, or the chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, but two miles into my run, my stomach sure didn’t feel good. I think I made a milk shake in my tummy.

The only time I experienced something like this was consuming about six to seven bean burritos (the awesome ones that is like a crack wrap) before going skating with Larry. For those that don’t remember, it involved a tree at the school since I couldn’t make it home in time ;)

Yeah, I am pretty sure I would rather experience the burrito experience than the milkshake tummy ;)

Saw three more moosen on my run tonight. Felt better this night since the sun was actually out. I sure love sunset being 10:30 ^_^

Title says it all.

The day sure didn’t start off the way I first expected. Friday afternoon around noon, we had application problems. Dennis and I were working with everyone troubleshooting the system, as well as restoring corrupted files. I was finally sent home around 12:30 this morning. Sort of ruined my Friday plans, but that is life.

I signed up for the Heart Run the other day. Sort of last minute deal, I didn’t know it was going on until a friend at work suggested I give it a go. Figured since I am training, I might as well do something with other people ^_^

After I finally woke up and got down there, it occurred to me I didn’t know where the starting line was or where I could park. So I parked at worked and walked over to the school to find the Arts building, which was near the starting line. It didn’t occur to me that parking over a mile away won’t be too much fun after the run is over ;) I eventually found it, and proceeded to get my chest thing, and a cool shirt.

I found my friend, Nancy, before the race started. With all of those people I would have thought I would know more people. I was wrong. I did find a couple of peeps from work after crossing the finish line. Amazing who you would find at the water cooler.

The run began at 09:30, and it was pretty entertaining overall. For the first couple of miles, I couldn’t ditch this girl for the life of me. She was probably 10 at the very latest, and originally gave me a dirty look when I passed her. She then passed me, got about twenty feet ahead and began walking. I passed her, and the game would start again. On the downhill trek after passing APU, I ran harder and left her in the dust. My weekend is complete now that I beat a little girl in a race ^_^

They actually got the results up faster than I thought they would. I completed the run in 33:17.

Over all, I had a lot of fun today. I think the highlight of the day was the little conversation before the race, when I was picking up my stuff:

Check-in-Lady: May I have your last name please ?
Me: Sure, Steve.
Check-in-Lady: No. I need your last name.
Me: I know. It is listed under Steve.
*Looks at me with a puzzled face, and proceeds to check the roster*
Check-in-Lady: The Steve ?
Me: The one and only.
Check-in-Lady: Ok everyone, we have The Steve running with us today…

Ok. Now that the snow is pretty much melted, I decided it is time to get away from the treadmill and hit the street. I have come to realize that running outside is a little different than a treadmill. For one I have real entertainment, two it is harder ;) Since this is my first marathon, I decided to do something different to make it fun. I am going to run it barefoot. This brings me into another reason break-up is fun. Puddles. Not only do I enjoy driving through them, very fast of course, to make a big splash, but running through them is fun too. I feel like I am six years old ^_^

After work I drove to Wasilla to pick up these cool shoes (pics to follow). They are pretty cool. They are basically a foot glove. I got them to protect my feet from broken glass and sharp rocks , they don’t do much else besides look cool ! You heard it hear folks, I will be running this race with my stylish new foot-gloves. I am hardcore, and that is how I roll !

For those that are going to follow in my awesome footsteps, be sure to focus on calf raises because the calfs get worked a hell lot more than with shoes :-)

I was talking to Derek the other night, and it got me thinking. “I have never ran a marathon before, how hard can it possibly be.” I have decided on the Mayor’s Marathon that happens on June 20th.

The marathon start is 220 feet above sea level. The course climbs to 490 feet by mile 13 and then drops to 20 feet by mile 24. The finish is 100 feet above sea level. For more detailed information please take a look at the Course Elevation Profile.

Sure the first part will be difficult, but the last part is literally downhill. I will have gravity on my side ! :-)

To get ready, I have enlisted the help of one awesome friend. She is the best !