Feb 14, The Marathon, Finish line
Susan’s Point of View
After I left Paul, my pace slowed and I felt more tired. I was just hanging on. I finished w a time of about 5 1/2 hours. Goal #1 was to finish at all so I reached that. It was so cute to see how excited Tripp was to see me at the end. They did not have the metallic space blankets that they usually have at races–they just handed out rain ponchos (weak) and of course, the medal. It is pretty sweet. We will scan it in for you and post it so you can see it.
Paul’s mom and I debated going back out to get Paul. I was not sure how he would take it. We decided to risk it. I ran back in w him the last 500 yards. I was very proud to see him ball up and finish running. It was pretty incredible to see. He is a TOUGH man!
Paul’s Point of View
I am not sure how I made it to the finish line but somehow I did and then went straight to the medical tent. I only had them look at the blisters on my feet and didn’t even worry about the chaffing on my leg. They had these special bandages for blisters and it took 4 of them to cover the blister on my right foot. Susan slower than her stretch goal time but still finished with a great time and I was proud of her. For me the finish had mixed emotions. I was glad that I was able to make it to the finish but mad that blisters and chaffing had made me lose a hour and a half from the pace I started at. If I would have lost the time because I was physically tired I wouldn’t have been happy but at least I would have known that more training would be the answer. In the end I decided to be happy knowing I could make it to the finish line in all that pain. After all I made it 20.2 miles with a serious blister on the bottom of my foot and horrible chaffing on my leg.
Susan, I Tripp is convinced you can ride a bike on water…he thinks you can do ANYTHING on a bike. He was very excited to see you come around the corner.
And Paul, Tripp thinks you can do anything with skis and boards (water or snow.) It’s very cute. Oh yeah and by the way, Tripp is fully expecting you to teach him how to snowboard next winter. He doesn’t want to learn to ski…just snowboard! You have fun with that. I’ll sit in the lobby by the fire.
That should be fun considering I have never been on a snowboard. Skiing I can help him with, snowboarding will be entertaining.
You finished!! This is a great accomplishment. It sucks that Paul had problems with blisters and chafing, that is the worst. At least you know you can make it 26.2 miles so when you get ready to do your ironman you will be all set.