The course was absolutly beautiful....running through the wine country. There were a lot of rolling hills which I didn't train much for because, well....not many hills in Texas (we call those overpasses).

I blew up at mile 18 and cramped so badly that I had to get stretched out by the medical staff at 18 and 22. I thought that my mind was going to go before my body but my mind never did (until mile 25 when I thought....what the hell am I doing).

As this is a marathon, it was pretty uneventful from that standpoint. I'm used to triahtlons where you have to worry about more than just running.

Train a lot more. My longest run to date was 16 miles. I fell off the wagon in early February and missed/cut short the all important long runs. I guess that's why I gave out at 18. Until that point I was averaging about 10:15 and was feeling like a rock star.....

Water, medal, obligatory guy at the finish line asking the quesitons to see if you really need medical help or are just worn out.

Met my cousin and his buddy (who had finished, showered, and started drinking.....they finished in 3:25 and 4:00).

After I got showered, we ate and the drinking commenced!


Training.....seriously, this is not a distance to try to "fake through". I undertrained for my first half-marathon but was able to finish without walking, albeit slowly. The one tip I can give out.....whatever you do....DO NOT SKIP YOUR LONG RUNS!