The Best of Me.

Wow. I did it. I have gone farther than I've ever gone this morning and i can't begin to explain the joy and emotion i am feeling at this moment. 12 miles, no walk breaks. Even fueled on the run. Paced 10:28 a mile. Dead on to where i've been on past long runs. The gas tank was empty as i reached my goal. I even got congratulated by Lance for setting a new personal best (those with the Nike Plus will know what i mean!) The emotion didn't hit right away. I was too spent. After sucking down 40 ozs of water and a recovery drink, i put the top down and headed home. The Foo Fighter's "Best of you" comes on the radio and i get charged up. Fist pumping in the air (the others on the road must have thought i was a lunatic.) and then what i had just done hit me and i lost it. It was pure joy pouring out. I gave it my best today and i accomplished this goal. 2 hours, 5 minutes, 41 seconds and 2031 calories later, i did it....and i'm almost 1/2 way there. Next long run will put me past the 1/2 way point of the marathon. I can't wait until then! 76 miles so far this month. Will add another 18 next week. 28 for the week. Both personal bests. It's been a good week.

Thanks to Tree for letting me watch Prefontaine last night and helping me carb up. Hill for checking in to make sure i was ready. Hadley and Gina for the Power beans and Chocolate Gel. Liesl for lunch on Friday and Lorraine for being with me on today's run. Wouldn't have made it without you!

Off to Margaritaville to "carb up"....1 Bud Light at a time! Fins to the left!

4.5 today. Beautiful morning. Went North to one of my favorite "turnaround" points on the lakefront....the point by Castaways at North Ave beach. If you've never seen it, you have to make a point to go there. One of the best views of the city. Felt sluggish again, but improved pace over Monday run of same distance. Not as good as last week, but better. I'm not sure if legs are just tired or working on blog until 11:30 or so and sleeping only 5 hours impacted it...duh! (thanks for kicking me out of bed Tree!)
Gearing up for Saturday. Can't wait to set a new personal best distance. it's time.

Here we go...

As you can see, i started this blog well over a month ago (scroll down for original post). Part of me wanted to make it perfect before making it public and part of me didn't want to make it public because that would mean "no turning back"...well...he we go. No Turning Back now!

I've had a bad week. Made my miles so far, but they were hard. On Tuesday, i had that moment. Runners will know what I'm talking about...I was struggling though a 7 miler. The weather was perfect and i was on the Lakefront...perfect conditions, but my shirt was clinging and i felt every ounce of my fat old self punishing my feet and knees with every stride. I was busy beating myself up pretty bad asking "What are you doing? You're not a runner" for the first 3 miles. I went south and could only see the concrete path littered with goose poop and potholes in front of me. I went around the Shedd Aquarium and east along the lake to the Adler Planetarium. As I started to go around the Planetarium, I glanced back over my shoulder and holy crap Batman what a sight! The amazing Chicago Skyline, glimmering in the morning light blew my mind. In that moment, I knew exactly why I was there and that I was a runner. The rest of the run was not easy, but in that moment, i realized there was much more and as I took in the water in the lake dancing, the beautiful lakefront, the old man fishing, the beautiful museum campus grounds, the American Flag at the point whipping in the wind, the rows and rows of boats and all the rest of this mornings beauty, I knew that this dream of mine, this impossible goal..was possible and that on 10/12, I will be ready. It was a great moment and I can't wait until my next run.

I have a big week. Will set personal best for Longest run (12 miles on Sat), most miles in a Week and have already passed my most miles in a month. That's the easy stuff. Taking the step to make this public and share Lorraine's story with all of you makes it big week. Thank you in advance for all the support I will need in the weeks and months to come.

P

Here's a preview of what I have to look forward to...

Welcome!

Hello friends! Welcome to PDaddy's run for Lorraine. I'm new to this blogging thing, so have patience as I try to figure it out without showing my age...

On 10/12/08, I will be completing my first Marathon. At the ripe old age of 41, seems an odd thing to do... especially considering I've never been a runner. I didn't start running until I enrolled in a 10k training class at the Northwest Athletic Club....again, kind of a random thing, but when i got the postcard announcing the class, i was drawn to it. Thanks to Dave Wischmeyer (da coach) and Jon Aguilera (other slow guy in the class) I successfully completed 6.2 miles (10k) at the Rotary Run for Wellness in Clarendon Hills on 10/16/05. Only 10 weeks earlier, I couldn't run more than 3 minutes without having to walk for 2 to recover. And now, 3 short years later, almost to the date, I will have completed my first Marathon. Who wudda thunk?

So...you're probably wondering who Lorraine is, right? I promise that you will get to know her over the next few months and learn what an amazing woman she was. She was taken from us on 5/12 of this year after a hard battle with Lung Cancer. (coincidently, 5/12 was my first official day of training for the Marathon) Lorraine lead a healthy live and did not smoke. Kim, her husband, was the Best Man in my Wedding and a fellow student at Florida State. Liesl, their daughter and my God Daughter, is a beautiful and extremely (i mean extremely) smart student at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. Kieran, their son, is going into his senior year and is a amazing golfer and brilliant on the Trumpet, Piano and drums.

I have a lot to say about this wonderful family, a lot to say about the value of friendship and a whole lot to say about how it's too easy to let life get in the way, but that will come.

For now, I am going to shape up this blog thing and add my training calendar (so you can help keep me on track.) I will use the blog as my training log (any advise is welcome!) and vehicle to raise money in Lorraine's name for Lung Cancer research. More to follow.

5 mile run in the morning, so better sign off and get some much needed rest. Thanks for listening.