failure is not final

Saturday, I attempted my first marathon (outside of the Ironman triathlon). I felt great and was actually ahead of pace up to mile 24, which is where I fell apart. My legs started getting tight, my vision got a little blurry and I started feeling dizzy. I kept looking at my watch and could see that my hopes of hitting the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon was slipping away. I can honestly say, I tried to push as hard as I could. I needed a 3hr 10min 50sec, I finished in 3hr 13min 3sec, can you say bummer! When I crossed the line, I could barely stand, much less walk. I have always been one to set my goals high, and I guess trying to qualify for the Boston on 2 months of training was a little bit high. I will say, that now there is a fire in my gut to make this goal. I will put the training in, and I will give it another shot. Failure is like a wedge, it will either drive us "up" or "down."

I have learned that when you push yourself to the edge of physical failure, you get to know yourself in a way that few ever experience. I did placed 75th out of 1,163, but like I tell my boys, win or lose, you just have to give your very best. I can say, that I left it all on the course...........but I still want another shot...ha