Monday morning

Proverbs 24:17

Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice...

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so. Saturday was such a beautiful day and so was Friday afternoon. The highlight of my weekend was spending the day in Louisville. Several of my friends were running the marathon in Louisville and Michelle S. was running the half-marathon, her first.

I left home a little after 5.30 and made my way to race. I parked about a mile from the start/finish and ran to watch it. There were 15,000 runners, so I managed to not see a single one of my friends! After the start I ran straight out to the 6 mile mark, which was considerably less for me since they were wandering around downtown. I waited and watched for all my marathon friends. I ran a little while with each of them.

Then I ran up to the 7 or 8 mile mark to wait for Michelle. When she arrived I could tell she was having trouble. Her foot was going numb and getting very painful, all at the same time. She and her mother went around the track at Churchill Downs, and I, along with Jean S., waited for them to come back out.

We all four ran together for a while. Michelle was in a lot of pain, but she kept going. Jean and I ran with her down to about the 13 mile mark. About that point I thought she was going to pull one of my stunts and pass out. She got very wobbly. She was in a tremendous amount of pain, but demonstrated a great deal of perseverance and determination. Jean took her to the finish line, while I jumped out of the chute. Michelle was disappointed, which I understand, but to me and others it was quite an amazing performance. She'll bounce back and I predict she will do very well next race.

My marathon friends all had rough days also, with the exception of the always amazing Jimmy Sowders. He ran 3.18 on a warm day with not enough training miles! Everyone else could not reach their goals, not even close. It was not that warm, but it was too warm for great performances, plus there was a lot of humidity early on.

I ended up running 14+ miles on Saturday. I loved it! I got to see everyone and experience a lot of the course in different parts. Louisville is still poorly organized, compared to other races. They brought the marathoners back onto the mini course around mile 16, which meant the fast marathoners had to dodge the slow walkers who were trying to finish the mini. Unbelievable!

After a meal at Logan's with several of the runners, I made my way home in time for Prom pictures and all that. Rebecca looked beautiful of course. She went to the prom with several of her friends. They had a nice time.

Busy week ahead...