26.2

Yesterday Dr. Smiles and I ran/walked our first marathon. For those that don’t know, that’s a distance of 26.2 miles. We flew out to San Diego, California and participated in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. We finished the race around the 6 hours and 54 minutes mark. Overall, the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is great for beginners because the course is pretty flat, there are tons of encouraging spectators, the overall vibe is lighthearted, and there are bands at almost every mile marker, so you get to listen to plenty of tunes to keep you motivated.

Completing the marathon was a big accomplishment for us because we started training in January and battled through Wisconsin’s extremely cold weather to prepare for June 1, 2008. We changed our diet, we devoted a majority of our free time to consistently hit the pavement, so come race day, we would d be able to go the distance and finish 26.2 miles without being either hurt or died.

We also visited SoCal, Paulito Red, and their baby daughter LiLi while we were in San Diego. LiLi’s twenty months and she’s the cutest and smartest thing going. The five of us visited Sea World and saw the ageless wonder Shamu and the rest of sea animals. SoCal’s family (my family too, as we’re cousins) came down from central California to eat dinner with us and wish us well for race day. Overall, it was a great mini vacation.