I finished the Long Beach Marathon yesterday! It was a long day, and my final time was quite a bit slower than I had project based on my long training runs (18, 20, and 22, etc) but the important thing is that I finished.

This marks the end of a long journey for me. Eight years ago I started training to run a marathon with my dad (many time finisher at Big Sur International) but I developed achilles tendinitis once I reached 13 mile training runs. The best way to heal AT is to rest, so I put those plans on hold to try again later. I'm not sure how many times I've started this process (probably 5 or 6), but I've had to put off my plans many times. Four years ago I completed the Long Beach HALF marathon but still wasn't able to progress beyond that distance.

This time I planned out a 6 month training program and was able to stick to it the whole way. After a number of "failures", I feel very blessed to have accomplished this goal. really good shoes helped.  Along the way I listened to countless hours of podcasts, sermons, speeches, and music on my iPod mini, and it helped to carry me through the race as well.

A few race memories: a half a Hooah bar at mile 10 tasted great and provided much-needed boost; a Team-in-Training coach named Jimmy who was very encouraging, even though I wasn't part of his program; a thunder and lightning storm that cleared in time for the race to start; and the best one - finishing the race with my parents and family cheering me on. And thanks to my sweet wife Nancy for supporting me along the way, and to all the volunteers who made the race possible!

Now I need a new goal...