I thought about writing this post the Monday after I completed the , but in hindsight I’m happy I didn’t. Because I didn’t finish the race under my four hour goal, I was a little let down. But given the eight days I’ve had to reflect, I feel much better about the fact that I finished the race.

The good thing about this outlook is it allows me find success in finishing my first marathon, while making realistic goals for the next. Yes, believe it or not I do plan on running another marathon.

Some of the key things I learned:

• Rest the day before
  • We traveled to Vancouver and wanted to see some sites. Walked around more the day before the race than I should have
• Don’t get caught up in the hype
  • It is really easy to get excited before the race and start out too fast.
• Stick with your game plan

  Following an ankle injury suffered I had to get realistic about how fast I would run. Initially I thought I would about an 8:15 pace (3 hour 36 minute finish). Due to a couple weeks of not being able to run, I pushed this back and decided to aim for a 9:15 pace for the first 13.1 miles and a 8:45 pace for the last 13.1 miles (3 hour 55 minute finish).

  Being caught up in the hype I started out too fast (some miles in the low 7 minute range). This killed me later on the race

• Have a cheerleader
  • I knew Mary was going to meet me on the other side of a bridge at Mile 18. I didn’t want her to see me struggling, so I picked things up and kept my eyes peeled as I crossed the bridge. Seeing her then and toward the finish line was a definite boost, one I really needed.
• Be happy with finishing
  • This is more advice for a first marathon. I’ll be less happy if I don’t improve on my time in future races

Overall the race was a great experience. For anyone planning to travel for a race I highly recommend Vancouver. Well-organized, great staff, and an awesome course.

Great to see you Blaire and I’m sure we’ll be out again soon!

We headed straight to Portland to grab some dinner and catch a show while we are in town. I made the mistake of mentioning that the Darkness was going to be in town while we were there and Trevor bought tickets immediately. Dinner was at the Clyde Common where I’ve been trying to have their grilled cheese sandwich for forever! Again we failed at this since we missed happy hour but were delighted with the soup and other veggies we had there. After a quick trip to Powell’s Books we walked over to the Roseland theater to catch the openers. Both Crown Jewel Defense and Foxy Shazam put on very entertaining shows. With two fun openers over the crowd was ready to see the Darkness back in action. Great show and good to see that Justin Hawkins still has that sweet falsetto voice.

Thursday night we headed to the Jezierski homestead to visit. Good times seeing most of Trevor’s family and laying low for the most part. We had an outing to the Vancouver Mall to see Ryan in all his Hot Topic glory. Fun having a family dinner that night and watching “Undercover Boss” together, with Rachel and Gordon as well, since my friend Ellen’s dad
Bernt was the CEO that week. Friday night we had a nice little visit over at Joel’s to say hello and see how Dash was doing. My how he’s grown over these past months! You’d never know that little guy was two months early anymore.

Saturday morning we met Todd and Jenni for brunch at Circa33 in Portland. Great little spot with some tasty breakfast dishes. I had some peach stuffed french toast per Jenni’s suggestion and it was awesome. Fun seeing them, chatting and getting caught up on Jenni’s 30th birthday she just had. With a quick visit to the vintage candy store we parted ways before heading to the Adidas Employee store (thanks Jenni) and then headed home in awful rain. Thanks again Trevor for driving, promise not to forget my ID next time!

Two weekends ago Trevor and I joined Channah and her friends in Vegas to celebrate both her and her friend Jessie’s 30th birthdays. What a fun trip and good way to get to know new people. Most of the gang that came down were Tyler and Channah’s church friends that we didn’t know that well so it was quite the getaway. We all stayed at Planet Hollywood which made things much easier but wasn’t the grand hotel we anticipated.
My favorite part was the girls’ dinner at Olive’s at the Bellagio- it was beautiful. We were seated on the patio to take full advantage of the fountain show all night, it was amazing. I think Trevor’s favorite moments tie with having a “Vince Neil Experience” and as always singing karaoke at the Imperial Palace. Great getting a chance to see cousin Chris who also happened to be there and get some much needed vitamin D were also welcoming. After brunch at Henry’s in the new Cosmopolitan Hotel I think I know where we’ll be staying next time.