All Done!

Phew!

I'm happy to report that I finished the Green Bay marathon this Sunday with a personal best! My time was 4:10.09, which is my best marathon time by quite a bit. Besides battling with some very sore quads, I couldn't be happier about it. My fellow runners did amazing-- Gara got her personal best on the half as well, coming in at 2:07, and my bro-in-law Brandon finished the marathon in 3:55!

Here's a recap of race weekend.

Gara, Julie (our self-proclaimed professional spectator), and I headed up to Green Bay on Saturday afternoon, arriving just in time to grab our race packets and partake in the race's official spaghetti dinner. As I've mentioned, this was my first trip to Lambeau Field, so I forced Julie and Gara to walk around the stadium and take many pictures.






Then we settled into the huge spaghetti buffet. We hadn't anticipated that race preparation in Green Bay involved beer drinking, so we were thrown off when we each received multiple beverage tickets for the marathon-specific brew "26.2." Recognizing that Gara and I weren't able to appreciate the 26.2 that night, Julie stepped up to the plate.

After Julie finished all of our beers and Gara and I finished many pasta plates and cookies, we hit the hay early for our 5:45 wake-up on Sunday morning. Luckily our hotel was across the street from the starting line outside Lambeau Field, so we pretty much rolled out of bed, smiled for a picture, and were at the starting line.

We had a gorgeous sunny morning for the run! It was about 55 and cloudless when we started, so Gara and I started out the first 4 miles at a quick 9-minute pace. After mile 4, Gara and I parted ways, but not before she handed me some inspiration.

At about mile 1, Gara told me just how much easier running has become for her since she set her goal to run 1,000 miles for AHCF. That even though she might not feel like running 3 or 4 miles every day, what she feels like doing isn't relevant because it's not for her--it's for Del, her family, and everyone affected by AHC. And that after taking herself out of equation, all those little excuses to avoid running have simply gone away. She was so nonchalant describing the immense effort her goal requires that she'll probably be surprised that I was struck by her comment. It had never been clearer to me how deeply she cares about her family and this cause.

Invigorated by Gara, I did my best to keep up the pace, and it felt great! I'd been training at about a 9:30 to 9:45 pace, so I knew I might be pushing it, but I wanted to see what I could accomplish. I thought it would be a lonely 22 miles, but between Julie and Gara, my sister Lisa and her boyfriend Trey, and my sister Katie and her kids Olivia and Sammy, I always had someone pushing me along. And for those few lonely miles, I had the Proclaimers singing "500 miles" on repeat (a little shoutout for the HIMYM fans). Here are some pics of our fans. Thanks for the support guys!

Julie prepping for over 4 hours of serious spectating.





Lisa high-fiving me at mile 20.

Katie, Olivia, and Sammy cheering me on!

Admittedly, I hated everything in the world between miles 22 and 24, causing me to slow down. I decided at about mile 16 that I should be able to finish at around a 4:10, and at mile 24 I was getting very close to losing that time. Luckily, once Lambeau Field was in sight, I got a second wind (or third, or tenth, I'd lost count). The race ended by looping through the field and into the parking lot, where a huge tailgate was waiting, and the crowd pushed me to finish strong.

Thanks again to everyone who's donated, checked out Gara's blog, and took the time to learn about AHC.

A special thanks this week to:

Margo Bendewald (Uncle LEO!!)

Gara!

Jordan Ginsberg

Adam Herzog

Stephanie Koenig

In total, we've raised over $1,400 for AHC throughout my training! I might be done with the marathon, but AHC still needs attention. If you'd like to donate to this cause, check out Gara's website at http://www.runningfordel.com/, or the AHC website where you can donate online or through the mail. Gara will be continuing to update on her progress to 1,000 miles on her blog. So check her out!