As Jaime has alluded to, I owe two subjects to this blog, so here goes...First, the bad: I recieved a call on January 5th from my sister saying that my dad had a stroke, though it didn't seem too bad. He was talking and alert, and everything seemed to be not so bad. Later that night, my brother called me saying that things got worse, and so Jaime and I flew up to MN first thing in the morning. When we got there, my dad was no longer responsive, and all indications said his brain was gone, though he was still on life support. Fortunately for us, he had a living will specifying he did not want to be kept alive in this way, so we did not have to make any extremely difficult decisions. He now lies at the Camp Ripley military cemetary. And I'm getting too sad to write anymore about this...
So Jaime and I were up there for the week supporting and getting support from family and friends. Although the circumstances sucked, it was nice to reconnect with the family, both immediate and extended. So we ended up flying back on Friday, which was two days before the Houston Marathon, which I had decided to try for my first marathon. Because of the prior week's circumstances, I missed out on some of the training I should have been doing, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.
I was pretty impressed with myself for the first 10 miles or so, keeping pace to qualify for the Boston Marathon (which is 3 hours 10 minutes for my age, and is a great accomplishment in the running biz). But soon after that, at about mile 12, my legs started stiffening up. This has never happened to 
me before on my training runs, so I'm not sure if it was because I started out too fast or because I hadn't done anything physically active for the past week and a half. So anyway, by this time, I was really wishing that I'd signed up for the half marathon instead, but it was too late for that. I pressed through, stopping every mile or so to stretch my legs and walking through the water stations (which I should've probably done the whole race). Along the way, I was very moved by the amount of support people were willing to give complete strangers running the race (like me).
me before on my training runs, so I'm not sure if it was because I started out too fast or because I hadn't done anything physically active for the past week and a half. So anyway, by this time, I was really wishing that I'd signed up for the half marathon instead, but it was too late for that. I pressed through, stopping every mile or so to stretch my legs and walking through the water stations (which I should've probably done the whole race). Along the way, I was very moved by the amount of support people were willing to give complete strangers running the race (like me).Finally, at about 3 hours 47 minutes I finished. By this time, I was just extremely happy to be done, but I think my time was decent as well, so I'm very happy with it. The rest of the day and the next couple days were pretty painful in my leg muscles. A couple guys I know who also ran ended up taking the next Monday off of work, which I was seriously considering.
Here's a nifty little thing the race organizers set up regarding my individual performance:
http://www.runpix.info/hou08/42/finord.php?LastName=marshik&lan=&aset=1
1 comment:
We are deeply saddened by your loss, Charlie and Jaime. No doubt your Dad was an awesome person in your lives and the memories you've created will live on forever. We love you.
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