so what you're saying is that now when you go from the car to the bar you don't
get winded anymore. Good advice for anyone.

DL
----- Original Message -----
From: Greg
To: southcoastroadrunners@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 9:19 AM
Subject: [South Coast Roadrunners] Boston Marathon update


One week week ago I found myself on a yellow school bus leaving
Boston heading for Hopkinton with Vince and my wife Colleen. While
I sat there on the bus I thought about how I hadn't run over 13
miles in a month and my longest run since the Disney marathon was 17
miles (about 7 weeks prior). I thought about the how much this was
going to hurt my legs, lungs, and the rest of the 5k season I have
been working on. Then as we neared the dropoff I realized that this
was much bigger than me, much more important than a fast 5k. More
than 18 weeks of Colleen's life was poured into this opportunity to
spend the next 3:37:13 shoulder to shoulder with me in the greatest
of all road races and suddenly I was very excited to spend this time
with this woman that makes me a better man.

See, as many of you may already know I wasn't always a runner. I
was a large guy and got winded walking from my car to the bar. One
day back in 2000 we decided to do something about it (my lack of
fitness, she was in good shape). My thoughts led to surgical
procedures while Colleen wanted to try something that made you
sweat. I won't bore you with all of the details, but now some 7
years later Colleen and I have a shared love of running and I have a
total wieght loss of about 65 pounds.

Those 7 years is what this write up is all about. The 3:37:13 that
Colleen and I ran together was the best running experience for me.
Through those 7 years Colleen gave me everything I needed to morph
myself from an avergae American to decent runner. It was my turn to
support her, to provide that constant positive energy that is
desperately needed from start to finish, especially at mile 22,
someone to do what she has done for so long - give.

Now, one week later my legs are still a little tired, but I haven't
felt this good and excited about running since before the Disney
marathon.

As for the race itself - you couldn't have asked for a better day
for running. The weather and crowds were nothing short of
spectacular and the city of Boston is always a great place to
visit.





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