Marathon Man

Well, my first marathon is behind me.  It was extremely painful, humbling, and terrible.  But, it's kind of like what Michele described after childbirth.  I'm already forgetting the pain that I went through... except for the lingering foot blisters.  Not much to report, other than the fact that I finished in 4:40.  Most of the senior citizen runners were already at the buffet breakfast by the time I finished.  But I finished.  That was my main goal.  If there's a next time, I can only improve on my time.  Here are some of the gruesome details that won't make the prayer letters...

Here I am at mile 16, getting passed by a woman, and my feet are about to pop.  I've got a pretty good smile considering the pain I'm in.

When I crossed the finish line, I blew kisses to the crowd... 

 

It was only at the taking of this photo that Michele pointed out to me that my nipples were bleeding.  Embarrassing!  That only happens to amateurs!

And here they are again, incase you like seeing them...

This next photo requires parental guidance.  4 and a half hours in wet socks.  The skin on my feet shifted all over the place, and is still recovering.  Note the nasty blisters on the side of my heel, and under my little toe.  Hungry?

Finally, I hobbled back to our hotel room and did this for a while:  

It took two days and six washings to eliminate the odor from under my arms.  I'm a man's man - like Rock Hudson!  Thanks for all your support, and for praying me through  this ordeal.  Next year I'm going to run 3 miles and try to raise $10,000 per mile.