26.2

This is Rob. I don't write very much on our blog, but I wanted to talk about my marathon that I ran! I kept running after the dog lake half marathon last November. I would have run my marathon much earlier, but I kept getting injured! It was very annoying. Here's a non-comprehensive list of the injuries and problems I've had in the last 11 months: 

• Iliotibial Band Syndrome
• Shin Splints
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Achilles Tendonopathy
• Other Musculoskeletal Issues (Sleepy Gluts, Chronically Hypertonic Gastrocsoleus, Costochondritis, Scapular Instability, blah, blah, blah...)
• I also became a Cluster Headache sufferer during this year!

Yes, woe is me. But, despite all my setbacks, I continued to train and finally decided to sign up for the Portland Marathon the last day registration was open. I was undecided because we weren't sure whether the twins would be here during that time or not. In the end, we concluded that it would be my last chance to run a marathon for a long time. So I did it!

 And now, here's a little description about the run:

So, to start out, there's so much to plan for when you're out there for several hours running, like making sure you Vaseline the inside of your thighs and taping your nipples. It sounds odd, but you wouldn't want to not do it. They actually had gigantic tubs of Vaseline at every aid station of the marathon. I brought with me my running belt, which makes me look like a huge dweeb, but its so useful that I don't care. My belt has two water bottles and a pouch, which I carried my phone in, in the case that Rachel went into labor while I was running (worst case scenario). I also brought an iPod with me, but ended up not really listening to anything, because there were so many marching bands, local rock bands, and other artists, that a great portion of the marathon had music. 

 I arrived in downtown Portland around 6 AM and the run began at 7. The run was very nice. The route went up and down the riverfront and then wound around the city, went north to the Saint Johns Bridge and then south along the east bank of the river, crossed and finished back downtown, 26.2 miles later. The river was very pretty and there were so many cool little shops downtown. On top of the Saint Johns Bridge it smelled like there was a sea breeze. It was really nice. The aid stations consisted of water, Ultima (a mineral replacement drink), gummy bears and pretzels. I ate a lot of gummy bears, because I can't stand pretzels. Why would they have pretzels? You'd think that the 15,000 people running would be able to produce enough money to pay for something vastly better than dry, nasty pretzels. The gummy bears were nice though.

The most terrible part of the run was the 2 mile climb up to the Saint Johns Bridge. Pretty much everyone started walking around that point. I won't lie, I was one of them. During training, I had run two 20 mile runs. At the 20 mile mark, every spectator was shouting, "Great job! Only 6.2 miles left!" As if 6.2 miles is a piece of cake. Well, normally it would be, but after running for 20 miles it seems really monumental. Nevertheless, I plodded along and was ecstatic to be finished. Crossing the finish line was great! They had a medal and a space blanket waiting for me. I got those things and then hobbled over to the food area, drank a pint of chocolate milk, ate a banana, 2 orange slices and some other stuff. They were also giving out liter cartons of coconut water, which in case anyone ever wonders what coconut water tastes like, it tastes like a really disgusting version of water. They gave me a finisher T-shirt, a pendant, a collectors coin and tried to offer me a seed for a tree. Then I posed for my photo and went and met Rachel, Collin, my Mom and Dad.

Extreme soreness. But, still totally worth it! I'm not saying that running a marathon is healthy for you, but I am so very grateful that I have a healthy body and that I could accomplish this great challenge! I feel so blessed to have a wife who was so patient with me as I went out on four hour runs on Saturdays and left her with Collin. I'm so grateful for Collin, who would be so happy to see me when I would get back and would sit on the floor with me and stretch. I have an awesome family, soon to be an even awesomer family!