Sunday Long Run and a BIG Thanks!

Today is one of those I CAN days!  To give you a little more history on myself, I did not start out as a runner, in fact I used to despise it until I figured out how to do it the right way. I do not have a "runner body", I am 5'11" 230# ( football or wrestler build).   Now, I really enjoy it, especially when running with groups.  There is so much good conversation and knowledge passed around. For the last month or so I have really started running with some great people.  Aaron Maurer kind of got this all started, so a big thanks to him,  Jane Wheeler, Katie Gaffney, John Byrne, and Rick Fountain are all people I have ran with over the last month or so.  Anyway, back to my history, 5k's used to be my big goals.  Now I have moved on and did a half marathon last May, The QC Distance Classic (Great race by the way). I had a pretty good race, 1:45.46 for and 8:04 pace.  After that race, I specifically said, why would anyone want to do another 13 miles?  Their CRAZY!  I did not think it would be possible for me to do another 13 miles.  Eight months later....

A couple of times now, I have ran on training runs with John Byrne and Rick Fountain.   These two men are amazing people and athletes.  They are currently training for the Leadville Ultra-marathon (The Toughest Race in the World), if you don't believe that, go check it out: http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/.  Last weekend I ran one two hour leg of their training session.  They ran three two hours sessions for a total of six hours of running and 33 miles.  During my session I ran 12.27 miles with them.  This milage is quite a distance to me.  Until today, I had not eclipsed the 13.1 mile mark EVER.  Today, as I set out, they were going to go for a three hour run session.  One and a half hours out and back, refuel, then set out for another hour and a half.  This would be a milestone for me, if I could make it.  During the first part of the run, we discussed this and John and Rick were awesome motivators the rest of the way. There were a couple of times, I began to doubt if I could do this, but today, I CAN say I ran 19.07 miles for the first time in my life.  Thank goodness for my partners, they really kept me going towards the later miles of the run. They pushed and were positive throughout the whole thing but the also made me believe in myself and that I COULD do this.  When it was all said and done, 19.07 miles in 2:55.56.   This is a huge milestone for me, now I believe I CAN run a marathon in the future.  A BIG Thanks to Rick and John for their support today, as they gave me encouragement to push on, even though this was their training day.  Support, I can't say enough about it, without it, I don't think I could have done it.  To all of you out their who say you CAN'T, gather some support, set some goals and make your "I CAN'T" excuses into "I CAN" statements!

On another note, a HUGE shout out to my workout partner, CoffeeChug; Mr. Aaron Maurer for bringing home the state championship for Lego Robotics to Bettendorf Middle School.  Lots of time and effort into this and it has paid off!  Nice work Aaron.

Till next time, what CAN you do to make life better?