Well, after getting off at 10:00pm last night I finally finished my 16 hour shift. Luckily, I am only 10 miles from the Olathe Marathon, so I got nearly 5 hours of sleep.

It was around 55 degrees at the start and in the 60's at the finish with a sunny day and 30 mph winds. My goal today is to break 4:45 and finish strong.

Much of the first 17 miles is against the wind, then the final 10k is against the wind about half the time.

At the start I feel okay and I start in the back, which is very unusual for me. I plan to run 10 miles and see what happens. I run with several people off and on the first half. My first mile was 9:58. I did not see another mile marker until mile 6 and I am at a 9:24 pace. At mile 8 I am at a 9:34 pace, so I have slowed down. Here I have to stop to adjust my chip. It is on an ankle band and the chip has gotten off my sock and is digging into my skin. It is bleeding, so I put on my other sock. I hope it stays this time.

At the half I am at 2:09:31, a 9:53 pace. I find a lot of runners want to ask me questions of all sorts during the first half. I do not mind. I am just trying to finish today, but I would like to break 4:45.

Now I am slowing down the wind is really bothering me and slowing down many other runners too. I am looking forward to mile 17 when we get out of the wind even if it is the toughest 3 miles of the course. I am running 11 minute miles now.

Finally, we are at mile 17 at 2:57. I am running pretty good with wind at my back even if it is hillier now. At mile 19 I need to slow down. I feel a blister delevoping on my right big toe. By the time I reach mile 20 and go back into the wind again I am able to get the pain out of my mind.

At mile 21 I start to feel pretty good. This is my favorite part of a marathon. My Time. I am going up a hill into the wind until mile 21.5, but then I start passing one runner after another. The hills in this area are not bad, but the wind is a real pain. I can see now that under 5 hours is going to happen and a sub 4:45 is a real possibility. I see a guy along the side of road with a Red Sox cap on and I say, "The Royals are going to beat the Red Sox on Monday." He said something, but I was long gone. I am really going now. After going around a small lake I am now in mile 25 and I am smiling and feeling great. With just under a mile to go I can see the finish line. I am now running all I am worth. The last quarter of a mile is up hill to the finish. I do not let this stop me. They annouce my name and the crowd is cheering for me. I feel like I am on cloud 9.

My finishing time is around 3:42:45 and 3:43:01 clock time. I see many friends at the finish. When I get home, the realization of pain hits me. I take off my shoes to see a blister on the end of my left big toe, a blister on the end of my right big toe with another one on the side of the right big toe. There is also a cut on top of the right big toe. I do not have much of any toe nails on my two big toes. They have been like that for 20+ years probably.

Next is Hogeye tomorrow morning. I will have to wear sandals and take it easy. I hope to break the 5:30 time limit. This is my 31st double and it may be the first time I do not break 5:00 on the second marathon. Right now I am in some pain, but I am very happy to be running again. Marathon running is my world.

A coworker asked me yesterday what was my favorite part of marathon running. He named off some examples, but none of them were correct. Running those last 5 miles is my favorite part with inspiring other runners close behind.

Well, I better pack up and get going.


TomD