Finished my first full marathon, the Atlanta ING yesterday in 4:01. The day started waiting in port-a-john line as mother nature called at the start of the race, I started out in corral F but by the time I got back to the start I was in the back of the pack. I met Norm the head of the "Run for Wounded Soldiers" during mile 1 which was great. The race itself was going fantastic, my legs felt fresh, I was running at at 8:33 pace and I was well on my way to reaching my goal of 3:45. It was at this point that the hills began at mile 16.5. I was still doing well and holding my pace until mile 21.5 when my legs seized up. I was devastated to say the least, I walked more than I ran the rest of the way in. I am so happy to have finished but I left so much out there on the course. After finishing the race Luis and I went to the massage tent and waited in line for our massages. By the time they called my name I was shivering uncontrollably. During the massage they could not get me to stop shivering even after covering me with multiple blankets and having multiple people rubbing me down. The next thing I know they're taking me in a wheelchair to the medical tent. My body temperature had fallen to 96 and my blood sugar was low. What a great way to end the race. Thanks to Luis for hanging out with me in the medical tent and for driving me home. I drank and ate like a mad man during the race and my body still ran out of gas. Glad to have finished but I pray the next race I get the nutrition thing down. Thank you to my wonderful wife Heather and to Noah and Abby that had the house decorated to celebrate my accomplishment. Thank you to my sister Trisha for the edible fruit arrangement. Thank you to all the people that had prayed for me during my run. Thank you to all of the people that contributed to my fundraiser and to helping me raise $3017 for wounded soldiers. | 