Sunmart - Registration is confirmed

Robert Michaels - Thank you for registering for

the 2008 Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs 50K.

Your Registration is confirmed.

As if a marathon wasn't far enough I had to go and sign

up for the Sunmart 50k. I guess that makes me a certified

nut case now.

Does this mean I still have to do long training runs?

I renamed my blog to "I want to run an Ultra"?

Celebrity for a day

Well I did it. I completed my first marathon.
Not in a blazingly fast time. But finished none the less.
Clap for Bobby!

My goal was to finish with a 13:44 average pace per mile.
My finishing average pace was 13:54. Pretty good guess
for someone that has never done a marathon before.
The third place clydesdale in my weight class came in
at 5:56:54. I came in at 6:03:53. I was that close to an award.
The sad thing for me is that he was a walker that didn't pass me
until the way back from Jenks. Clap for Keith Landers for doing
so awesome! I have you in my target Keith for next time. You
inspired me to push a little harder next time (if there is a next time!).

Ken ran with me the entire distance carrying a sign saying
"CLAP FOR BOBBY" with an arrow pointing to me. I never heard so
many claps and yells of encouragement. I got cheered on by the
spectators, the aid station workers, the police, cheerleaders, runners
coming from the other direction, Candice, Joye, Christen, Ken's wife
Dana, Joe, some of the bands along the route and many more. At one
spot Ken started barking and even got a dog to cheer me on.
What an experience. I say "CLAP FOR KEN". Thanks Ken.

Special thanks to Ken's wife Dana the crew babe who met us at
several stops along the route to give us encouragement.
She brought us candy, potatoe soup, hot chocolate, chips, etc.
If anyone wants to hire the best crew babe I highly recommend her.

Most of the RunnersWorld group hung around long enough to see me
come in. They grouped together and ran me to the finish line with
encouragement over the last few steps.
Thanks to all of you. It felt great.

Wow I'm stiff. I didn't listen to Coach Kathy's advice. I should have
kept moving but the big, comfy chair was calling my name.

Oops!!! I forgot to slow down

Okay. Enough of the ugly girl. I had no takers.

So we are in our taper period preparing for our marathon

which is only three days away. Coach Kathy's orders: take

it easy and slow down and maybe even walk a bit.

Did I listen? Ask Susan. She told me she doesn't want to

hear me complaining. If I were in a 5k race tonight I

probably would have gotten a new pr.

Do I still want to run a marathun? You betcha. All this

training. I am now ready to put it to use. The weather

sounds like it is going to be ideal. I have avoided serious

injuries and am feeling relatively good. Hope I wake up

Sunday morning raring to go. Does anyone have a

bulldozer so we can go level out some of those hills?

Good luck to everyone.

I've been tagged by a Trail Zombie

Okay, I've been tagged by a Trail Zombie. I'll play along since

I have the best sense of humor on the planet. This is the sixth

picture from my sixth hot babe picture folder. I found this chick

on the Arkansas side of Tulsa. I thought I might introduce her to

one of my running buddies, Ed or Deon (which one of you guys

has the best dental plan?). Sorry Ken and Brian, you're both

already taken or I would have considered one of you.

See, I have a sense of humor. Here is my real photo.

This is my brother-in-law Russell and sister-in-law

Christin. Russell is Susan's brother in case you didn't

know. They have both joined in to this thing we call

running. They decided to give a little back to the

running community and volunteer at an aid station

at the Turkey and Taturs trail race this past September.

Susan and I had a good time manning this aid station with

them. If you have never gotten involved with the

volunteering side of running, I recommend it.

I tag Lisa. Now you have to post.

I also tag Sandra. Both from RunnersWorld.

What? Go Run 22 Miles?

What did you say Ken? I thought I heard you say lets go run 22 miles.

I did say that you lazy bum! Get out of bed and off the couch and give me 22 miles!

(I stole these photos from Ken).

We Did it. Ken got me through my first 22 miler ever. It sure helps to have someone there with you on those long runs. Thanks Ken. It must have been slow going for you.

In all seriousness, Ken was not a slave driver on our run. He was there to support me and walk when I needed. We did plenty of that. I think I learned a lot from this training run. I need to slow down and try to maintain a nice even pace. I need to eat better and probably get more sleep. The day before this long run was Halloween. At work we had all kinds of junk food that is runner unfriendly. I ate my fair share. I paid for it when I ran out of energy early in the miles.

I finished with a slower average pace than I had hoped for but we did stop several times along the way for extended amounts of time either walking, chatting with someone or eating and drinking the wonderful food and beverages we had along the way.

Can a fat boy finish a marathon. We are getting ready to find out in two weeks. Stick around for a full report.