Running Update #2

Dear Readers,

After a 40-day hiatus, I am back on my feet! My left knee went buggy on me (read: knife-stabbing pain) halfway through a long run on July 18th. I was really bummed about that, and I admit now that I let it get to me pretty bad. My confidence wavered a lot, and I was having some serious doubts about this whole marathon thing.

In the meantime, I had a lot going on. I spent most of the 4 weeks after my injury out of state, conducting my last 32 interviews in that span. I returned and had about 45 contact reports to complete in less than a week. In a stressful few days, I had to tie up all the loose ends of having a traveling job for 8 months (a LOT of work). The very next day, I started graduate school! Talk about switching gears!

Unfortunately, amidst all that running around, I was rarely actually running. Luckily, rest is almost never a bad thing when it comes to injuries, and now my knees are doing great. How do I know?

I completed a long run of 16 miles yesterday!

Huzzah! It took me 2:34'05''.36. My average mile came out to around 10 minutes. My previous long run was 8 miles. Let me tell you, I sure missed running. The thoughts and feelings that pass by while on a long run are incredible. It's a constant flip-flop between pain and pleasure, exhilaration and agony, confidence and self-doubt. Distance running is a sport for the patient, and I am far from patient.

Luckily, Kat was there with me. She rode her bike by my side for the entire time! She gave me food and water when I needed it and helped keep my mind focused and my emotions in check. She even dealt with the awful embarrassment when I got a little delirious and started moaning and yelling incoherently around the 15 mile marker: "ahhHHH Generalll...CUSTER!!" "BANANAS!! in pa-JAMASSS!" "MARMALADE!!!"

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me so far. Your donations and words of encouragement mean so much to me!

I promise you that I will provide regular updates during the final month of training!

Until next time,

Your Running Boy,

Kevin