Anybody run?

Been a while since I posted. Training was going really well into early Feb. I was finishing a 15 mile run on the 7th, when the phone rang.

It was Mom, and something was off. I was only a half mile from home when she called, so I hurried up home, and got to her house. Had to break down the back door to get in, and found Mom in her bedroom floor. She had had a stroke.

I was in the hospital with her for the next week, so no training there. She then went to rehab for 10 days closer to home, so I was able to get 10 more days of training in.

It's kind of been a roller coaster since. Home for a bit, back in the hospital, and now about to finish another rehab.

I got in 7 total miles in March, and that was in the last week. I had pretty well decided not to even try to run the marathon today, but I just hate being that guy that quits. I didn't want to have to call myself a *****, and even though my kids are grown, I still think they look up to how their parents react in hard times, and take something positive from that.

Honestly, it wasn't as hard as I expected. Pace was way slower than I would have preferred, and heart rate higher, especially later when the sun came out.

There was a challenge in the middle that you could choose to do or not. I went ahead and did it. It added a series of pretty steep hill climbs, and another mile.

I was feeling pretty good, but dry. I had run the entire race, never stopping. I crossed the 26mm sign, literally 2 tenths from the finish line, the small muscle above and to the inside of the the knee, cramped on both legs.

I had to stop running, walked it out about twenty seconds, and continued to the finish line.

My #'s aren't impressive by any means, but here they are.