What I Learned From Walking 13.1 Miles

So, most of you know that I trained to walk in the Festival 500 Mini Marathon last weekend.  I finished!!! in just over 4 hours.  It was the most excruciating, amazing thing I have ever done.  I know that I would have been so much faster if I hadn't gotten sick in February and March, but I kept at it, and even though I never quite got back the speed I had built up in early February I never gave up.

I met a woman in the corral before the race and we walked the entire way together. Without her support and companionship I don't know that I would have been able to finish.  When I was out of steam she gave me what she had left, and I did the same for her. 

We had one bad patch, just after we entered the Speedway.  We made the mistake of stopping for a pit stop at what we thought was the designated place, and we waited for almost 15 minutes to use the "facilities".  It turned out that there were plenty of "potties" just past the bathrooms where we stopped.  What a waste of our time. 

Mrangelmeg ran the race and finished in an amazing time of 1:41.  I am so proud of him.  He is ready to start training for a marathon.  I will be right there to cheer him on if he does run in a marathon, but I think 13.1 is the longest distance I ever want to go.

I will admit that this was probably the best run event I have ever seen, and except for the very cold weather, was a lot of fun.  You should give it a try.

I also want to give a big shout out to all of my classmates from Terre Haute South Vigo High School class of '78  we might be 50, but we are fabulous, and still BRAVE!  Saturday proved that.

Pax