So last night we finally had a Kumquats victory - WOOT!
We played a team called "Generation Gap" which was basically just like us but with Latinos and about seven Roys instead of just one (sidenote: Roy is a 40+ guy that plays on our team... which you would think would be a good deal older than the rest of us, but the truth is our team is basically an age rainbow right now - we have, and I'm estimating here; 18-19 year olds (Mallory, Amanda and Kimberly), 20-22 year olds (Crystal and Russ), 23-25 year olds (Ryan and Scott), 26-29 year olds (D and yours truly), 30-34 year olds (Matt, Joe, Tim and Nick), mid-30 year olds (Monica and Jenner) and 40+ (Roy) - see, we're all-inclusive - really the most inclusive of any team out there I'd say... we're also the most tolerant... and the most fun... and the loudest... and have the most pregnant spectators (not in number, but in volume of pregnancy)...
Anyway, we won 3-1, Scott scored a hat trick and I got scored on after Ryan tripped a dude with a clear path to the goal inside the box for a penalty kick - that made it 1-1 with about 15 minutes to go before Scott added his next two goals to bail his brother-in-law out (Scott is Ashley's twin brother... what? you have a twin??)
So we're back in the win column despite (or maybe because of...) Matt and Kell being in Utah for her Utah person's baby shower...
-------------------------------------------------------------
I just got the pics from my marathon two weeks ago and I'm posting a few here... luckily they didn't capture my moment of panic at about mile 22 when I had to stop, stretch and refuel before starting out again at a pretty slow pace...
I guess I really haven't described the marathon that much - to me, finishing a race is amazing - there's seriously no better feeling in the world, especially considering all the hard work you put into a daily routine, eating right, getting the right amount of rest, etc...
But the marathon is different. There's even more euphoria at the end... seriously, you've never been as happy as when you're finishing a marathon... but to me it's one of the most intrinsic, self-reflective, personal things I can do, which is why aside from talking about training runs, finishing and maybe a quick anecdote, you won't hear me talk much about the experience...
It may be selfish, but it's for me... not you...
No, this picture doesn't make running look like fun, and the truth is it's not, but finishing that race... that's where the fun comes from...
This is me at the finish - because there were so many people running the race (50,000+ in one of the biggest in the world), it took me a full seven minutes to get to the start line after the race started, thus the difference in the clock time and my finish time of 4:11.23...
My next marathon (remember, the goal is to run the top 10 marathons in the country, including Boston where you have to qualify with a 3:10.59 or better) is in January at the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando... I've signed up or a bunch of halves before that as tune-ups, and my goal for WDW is sub-4:00.00...
I'm sure I'll be writing about my training progression (I started a new program this past Monday that's supposed to make me faster...)
-------------------------------------------------------------
I guess I'll end with this note that's been hanging out in what I call the "Sock Drawer" which is basically where I keep all my ideas for random blog entries that really don't fit in a category:
It rained here a little bit a few weeks ago, and it was drizzling on the first leg of the marathon... which I didn't like... And people were trying to be optimistic about it... Kudos to them...
But the next time someone starts complaining about how windy it is, I'm just going to say, "Sure, but on the other hand, we could really use the air..." and see if it annoys them as much as it annoys me when people say the same about rain...
