I DID IT....PR BABY!

Wow,

What a GREAT run! I had such a GREAT run, I can not begin to tell you
how good it was. Let's just start by saying, I had a PR, personal record.
I finished in 3:37:59. In case you haven't noticed, that is what, 15 minutes
faster than what I ran at the Marine Corps Marathon in October, AWESOME!!

Of course, when you really think about it, my fastest marathon was 3:44. So,
I beat that by 6 minutes. The cool thing was that I started out with the 3:40 pace
group. I kept those guys in my sight the entire race and what a help it was to have
a pace group. I actually thought the pace group was going a little too fast, so I backed
off. To my surprise I caught up with them around the 17 or 18 mile mark and stayed
with them for awhile. After the 22 mile mark, I told the leader that I was feeling pretty
good and that I felt like I should take off. However, I chose not to do so and the leader
told me that he felt like I would finish around 3:38 and that we were ahead of the 3:40
mark. That made me feel really good, so I just stayed with the group. To my surprise,
at the 24 mile marker me and the pace group leader were the only two in our group left,
the other runners had fallen back. He actually told me to go ahead and that he would
see me at the finish line. So, guess what? I took off. Lo and behold, I was able
to sprint probably the last mile and to my surprise: 3:37:59!!

Also, I would like to note that I felt so good after the marathon that I considered going
for a run on Monday. I did not, but I could have.

I am so excited about my outcome that I would like to change my mind and run the
ING Georgia Marathon as opposed to the Half. Of course, I think I will keep it the way it
is and try to PR in the Half.

I would like to send out a CONGRATULATIONS to my buddy Eric who completed his
very first half-marathon. GREAT job Eric and thanks for a WONDERFUL weekend. I
look forward to you completing another half.

KEEP RUNNING!!!
LJ