5:44:40

Wish Me Luck!

Here we are up in Bar Harbor. Most of today was spent sight seeing, enjoying the splendid scenery and beautiful fall foliage. No Running. We also drove along the marathon route and I got that queasy feeling again. More than once I caught myself thinking, what was I thinking when I thought of this. but this is it, the big day is tomorrow. Wish me luck! A little prayer for me and for Joshua would be welcome as well. Thanks to all who have shown your support along the way and a special thanks to those of you who contributed to the March of Dimes in memory of Joshua. Check back to see how the Marathon turns out.

Tripping the Moonlight Fantastic!

Last night I set out to do a quick 3 mile run and had one of those perfect moments that you can’t quite explain or plan for. Hit with a woozy concoction of the cool night air, moonlight illuminating a silver path down familiar but not quite recognizable streets, the quiet hum and buzz of crickets and other creatures, I was awestruck by the beauty of it all. Mix in thoughts about my boys, my wife, all of my family and friends and these things converged to give me a quiet sense of well being with a great gratitude for all I have going for me. I am really very lucky. 3 miles turned into 6 and then 9 as I kept passing the house to do another loop. I might have kept going too, but it was getting quite late. Once back home, as she always does, Cari-anne asked how my run was. After one of these rare dreamy jogs my response is always “Fantastic!” to which she will respond with a quizzical Really? She’s admitted that she will never understand the word “Fantastic’ in relation to jogging and I have to admit that I wouldn’t usually throw them together either but I have come to recognize it has many rewards. I’ve run 500+ miles since starting this adventure in May and on this coming Sunday I will cover the 26.2 miles I set my sights on months ago.

Mile O0oh!

I can't believe that I hadn't made this connection before as each day I make my way to work leaving Pennsylvania, crossing over the Delaware River into New Jersey. Smack dab in the middle of the bridge there is a mile marker sign that says Mile 0. I'll proceed from there along the interstate until I reach mile 27 where I exit and drive the remaining distance to work. I don't know why today was any different but I suddenly recognized a similarity, at least in distance, between this stretch of road, that often seems endless in the car, and the upcoming run. I felt a little queasy. I prefer to think of the whole thing in smaller pieces. Much smaller! Then again it’s all about little steps and we all know how they add up. Anyway I don’t know where I'm going with this except to say that I’m getting just a little bit nervous and a bit excited that the big day is not to far off. Now with talk of mile posts I can't help throwing in a few pictures of my little guys Aidan and Ryan. And look! There are mile posts here too. Perhaps it’s a reflection of their dad’s youthful wanderlust or an eye to all of our future travels together, but Cari-anne and I started a tradition of photographing the boys for each year from birth to oh I guess about a 100 years from now, next to the mile post corresponding to their age. Scattered about are the first few installments.