Weekend

I'm sitting in front of the fireplace watching the snow fall. I love it! I'm also thinking about the wonderful weekend that is winding down.

Lester and Maddie came down Thursday evening, and we left Friday morning for Huntsville. The trip down was uneventful and fun. It was good to spend time with L & M. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Cave City, KY before completing the trip to the Rocket City. We went straight to the race headquarters to pick up Lester's race packet. They had a nice little expo, and Lester snagged some really good deals on some technical shirts.

We made our way out to Kedra's parents for spaghetti, and then after supper we did a little shopping. Time for bed. I think everybody slept well. We got up, ate, and made our way down to the starting area. There we met Jon Sullivan, one of my running acquaintances from Bedford. Jon was wanting to run in the 3.45 range, and Lester was thinking the same.

The gun fired and the race started. Lester and Jon ended up running with the 3.40 pace team, which I felt was a really good move for Lester but might be a tad fast for Jon. They ran together through 15 miles. That's when I jumped in to run with them. It was soon after that Jon faded somewhat on a hill. Lester stayed steady.

The miles clipped by, and then we hit the hard part - the miles north of 20. Lester let out a few loud sighs of fatigue, which I know too well. It's tough territory! He's always been mentally tough, and he proved it again. He held a steady pace through the whole 26.2 miles, even the latter miles. This is very hard to do but he did it. I am very proud of him. He finished in 3.38 and change. His goal was simply to run one and finish, and now he will begin training to qualify for Boston. Since he is so young, he has to run a 3.10, which he is confident he can do. He is looking at a spring marathon in Toledo. I believe he will do it. If so, then we can run Boston 2012 together, which would be amazing!

Even though Jon faded, he still finished well in about 3.49. We enjoyed taking his wife, Renee, around with us to support Lester and Jon. I enjoyed running the last 11 miles with Lester. The 3.40 pace team was mostly young girls (insert jokes her). Why? Because that is the Boston qualifying time for younger women. I felt good because I feel I helped a couple of them qualify.

One was really fading, so I gave her a pep talk, water, and Gatorade. She responded well and qualified. The other one was walking when we came up to her. I said, "Come on!" She started running, so asked her if she was trying to qualify. She said, "Yes." We talked for the last 2.5 miles. She was in pretty bad shape, but she made it. I have received so much encouragement over the years from others, so it was nice to give back.

After the race, we cleaned up and ate at P.F. Changs with Kedra's parents - yum! Then we headed to Nashville to meet up with Luke and Caroline. It was raining hard! Kedra's car has some alignment trouble and it did not do well in the rain. I didn't know if we were going to make it home.

We had a nice visit with L & C at Cracker Barrel. They got there a little early and got a meal, and we joined them for dessert. It was a nice visit. Then we headed back out into the rain on I 65. We got home around 11, which is past my bedtime, but, hey, it was a good time.

I was pretty out of it at church this morning. I didn't sleep too well. Tonight in the night!