I LOVE #2: Go Surfing

While on vacation a few weeks ago and I completed (slightly) #2 on my 30@30 list: Go Surfing. This was a big one for me. Since I first hit the waves years ago surfing has been a surreal activity that I only occasional get to do. While I was only in the water for an hour or so, and only got up maaaaaybe twice, I'm still going to grudgingly count it, since I don't know if I will have another opportunity.

Just like my last post, this one has a lot to do with my summer in Ocean City. The house had two surfboards that had been handed down over the years. They were junk, but they floated, and most of the time kept you above water! What I loved almost immediately about surfing was the rush of riding the waves. That feeling, when you hit a wave just before it crests, and it takes you and your board with amazing speed, its awesome! In Ocean City it was so easy to love. Many mornings I would wake up early, sit on the porch with coffee, then take the board and my work clothes and hit the water before I went to work. Most of the time I would paddle beyond the break and just lay there, looking over the blue ocean at the newly risen sun, and back at the boardwalk. It always seemed so far away, and it was like being out there on my surfboard, it would put me in a place where no one could reach me. I was alone, in the BEST sense of the word. Some days, I would even go right back out after work.

After that summer I didn't surf until after I graduated and lived by the Outer Banks. Even then it was only twice or so, and it would be a few years later that I would get the chance again.
However, going out this past summer, paddling past the break, sitting on the board looking over the ocean, it still gave me a sense of peace....and then a rush as I headed into a wave.:)

#2: Go Surfing

Free McDonald's but no Free Pizza!

While on a business trip in Eastern PA this summer I swung down to Jersey and a place near and dear to my heart, Ocean City! I lived in Ocean City for a summer while in college and it was amazing. I surfed in the morning and evenings, worked at T-shirt shop on the boardwalk, and roamed the streets of Ocean City with my friends, eating ice cream and pizza. My favorite pizza place in Ocean City was, and still is, Manco and Manco's pizza. It's a very traditional New York style, hand tossed pizza that's sold by the slice or pie on the boardwalk. I immediately fell in love with it that summer. When I created this challenge for my 30@30 I knew I would somehow have to make my way back to Ocean City to try it again. Would it be as good as I remembered? I would be crushed if it wasn't!

On many days during that summer I would visit a particular Manco and Manco's on the boardwalk during my lunch break. I would grab a couple slices, cover them with paper plates (tip so Seagull's leave you alone) and savor each saucy bite! So one of the great things about actually living and working in a beach town such as Ocean City is the amount of free stuff you could get from other businesses. For me this consisted mostly of free coffees and macchiato's from a neighboring cafe, monkey bread from a place down the walk, and sometimes free pizza late at night from other parlors. However, despite my propensity to gain free food and drinks (I swear to you I ate free McDonald's all of July and August) I could never get free pizza from Manco and Manco's! I would try so hard almost everyday to flirt with the girl at the counter, talk it up with the bakers, and still....nada! One day they gave me 30 cents off, but that was almost worse than having to pay full price. Despite their financial stinginess I swore by those cheesy slices all summer.

My return trip this summer was terrific! I walked the beach, checked my old house, snapped some pictures, and eventually made my way to Manco and Manco's. And I am soooo glad to say it was just as good as I remembered, if not better! What a relief to know its a quality slice of pizza, not just a quality memory! As I thought about how to rank it, I decided this one stays outside the system, mostly because I didn't have an appetizer or any kind of specialty slice. How could I properly grade this slice of heaven without fulfilling all the requirements?

Thus Manco and Manco's will not enter the contest....and I am okay with that. I know that every time I venture out to NJ I will, without a doubt, find myself back at Ocean City, sitting on the boardwalk eating Manco and Manco's pizza...at full price as always.

Oh How Things Have Changed! Update on my 30@30

It has been a while since I have written much about my 30@30 challenge. So I though I should provide a brief update, just to show that I am still working on it!

Oh how my life has changed so quickly! Only a few months ago I was substitute teaching and had no leads on any full time jobs. Now I am three months into a great job with wonderful people and a full schedule! The only down side so far is much less time to accomplish all 30 items on my list. I have been going at a decent clip though, and I have plans for this fall to pick things back up. One thing for sure is that I can cross off #20:"Go Somewhere I've Never Been". Since starting my new job I have traveled to 6 different states and every trip has included places I have never seen or been too. I will write more about that later. The pizza challenge continues with a few more to add in the next few weeks, including a trip to an old favorite!

I'm looking forward to working on quite a few more in August. I don't anticipate traveling as much for my job so that should free up some time to play frisbee golf, wear a tux, maybe even have dinner with a celebrity! But no matter what I am still determined to accomplish all 30 things before November 23rd! Continue to wish me luck!!!

Why I think a College Football Playoff could Ruin the Sport

It seems college football is finally heading towards a playoff format, and at the very least, a plus one situation. With that said I can not help but feel very nervous for the future of this beloved sport. While critics of the BCS and in general the media (not to mention ESPN's horribly overdone coverage on the 'situtation every fall') have been screaming for a playoff to begin, the loudest voice belongs to the money to be had by TV, stadiums, cities, and a very small percentage of colleges (almost all college football programs lose money every year). So here are a few things I wish they would keep in mind when it comes to a college football playoff:

PROS

• This will definitely help decide a clear cut champion. The most used argument against the BCS is its failure to crown a 'true' champion in a lot of years. I believe it was 2003 when an undefeated LSU team was paired up with a one loss Oklahoma team for the national title. Critics, and again ESPN, almost broke into riot when USC, also with one loss, was kept out of the game in favor of the Sooners. In a playoff system, USC would have had a 'fair' shot at being crowned champions. (on a small note, the following year Auburn was left out of the national title game despite finishing the season undefeated).
• This ALMOST guarantees the SEC a spot in the playoffs every year. In the last five years of dominance by this conference, it has become commonplace to believe the SEC will always reign supreme over any other conference. A playoff system will protect the SEC, the infinitely superior and toughest conference, against being left out of the national title picture forever. A two, possibly even three loss SEC team will undoubtedly earn one the four spots in most years over a one loss major conference team and definitely over an undefeated minor conference team. I list this very cynically but also very sincerely. The college football world is so enamored currently by the SEC this would be considered a "PRO" for many.
• The money generated by a playoff system will be mind boggling. After years clamoring to create this system, bowls will surely fork over multi-millions to host these games and in turn create revenue from the actual event. In addition, it seems under the current proposed system, cities will bid for the right to host the championship game, with the winner being the highest bidder. This is very much like the current Super Bowl system. And finally, TV will come out as the biggest winner, with ESPN (who has first bid rights) raking in billions in revenue. 

CONS

• Rematches will still happen. How long will it honestly take before the top 4 ranked teams are two SEC and two Pac-12 teams? My guess is this scenario will not take long. A playoff does not solve this problem, only enhances it because now you have to let the one loss Michigan's and Alabama's and USC's in, regardless of who else is there. I would imagine within 5 years the top four teams will be LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, and Michigan.
• If its not conference champions, whats the point? Under the proposed system, the top 4 ranked teams will be in, regardless if they win their conference. So if an undefeated Texas loses in the Big 12 championship game against a two loss Kansas team who cares? It won't matter and the games will lack enthusiasm. Further, this creates multiple situations such as this past year when a team that finishes tied for 3rd in their division (not conference) will leap frog conference champions. Obviously it was not the best situation this year. 
• Somebody will still get left out. Every year commenators argue about the teams that get left out. They say if only we had a playoff then this wouldn't happen. It seems almost to obvious to state that someone will always get left out. The only difference with a four team playoff is its the 5th best team. It's Oklahoma State getting left behind as #5 instead of #3. Basketball has a HUGE bracket and they still have this issue. 
• Teams such as Pittsburgh, Louisville, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Houston, East Carolina, Boise State, Connecticut, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida, Oregon State, Minnesota, and many more will become irrelevant and never have a shot at winning a title. What do they do when all but four conferences collapse? The Big Ten becomes the Big Twenty. Every week will see epic match ups, but the competition will be so insane and schedules so tough that weaker squads will have no chance at finishing close to the top. Dominant teams will become more dominant. Not to mention the polls will continue to favor the traditional powerhouse teams with multiple losses over the conference champion with multiple losses.
• The college football season will expand to 16+ games. Eventually the four team playoff will just not be enough to satisfy the folks at ESPN, and so the format will grow to include 6 teams, then 8, then 12, etc... With that length of season players will move on to the NFL with more wear to their bodies. The average career of a professional player will drop below 10 years, injuries will become rampant, and a decline in sport participation will result. A couple of weeks ago LaDanian Tomlinson retired after 11 years. That's a somewhat lengthy career for an NFL running back right now. I bet if he played in a college football playoff era it would have been more like 8 years. 8 YEARS. Imagine retiring after 8 years. Seriously.

The BCS system is definitely not the greatest system. While it has USUALLY crowned a National Champion, to many teams get left out to many years. But a playoff system as they are proposing will devastate college football and numerous programs. I don't have the solution, but neither do they, not yet. More time needs to go into this with student-athlete well fair in mind, not just money.

The Pizza of my Youth

Adornetto’s was an unexpected but great addition to my pizza list. As a kid we would go to Andornetto’s almost every weekend for their salad and pizza! If you look on their website they proclaim themselves as one of the top 100 pizzerias in the country, so this place is as good as I remember it! We loved our trips to Adornetto’s with our friends the Moore’s. They had a player piano that was played by a ‘ghost’ and a love meter that told you how ‘hot’ you were! So on a recent trip to Ohio, when my brother told me we were going to Adornetto’s for dinner, the answer was an excited ‘great’!

 

We started off on the only way you really can at Adornetto’s, with their house salad. Loaded with mozzarella cheese and a delicious Italian dressing, it quickly took me back to my childhood! There was no doubt in my mind this was the best ‘addition’ we have had. For the pizza we landed on the garlic cheese pizza. It was great of course, and I did manage to sneak a regular piece of cheese and pepperoni in there as well! So, after another successful and fulfilling pizza trip, here is how Adornetto’s ranks:

 

Sauce=3

Cheese=4

Crust=4

Toppings=4

Overall=4

Additions=5, House Salad with Italian Dressing

Total Score: 24/30, and nothing but great things to say about all of my trips to Adornetto’s!

The Albemarle Sound

#9 on my 30@30 list was Teach Again. This was a tough one for me to decide on. I truthfully did not really want to include it as something to do this year but I knew if I didn’t force myself to I would most likely regret it the rest of my life. For years now I have wrestled with teaching, especially in secondary education. I have sworn off ever going into a classroom again only to become determined to return to teaching the next day. It has been back and forth since I left my full-time teaching job 7 years ago, and through those years there has been only one constant, I had not tried it again. So I did.

At some point in my high school years I decided that I would grow up and become a high school social studies teacher, a basketball coach…and maybe tennis, live somewhere in the south preferably North Carolina (not to far, not to close), and find a place as close to the beach as possible. When I finally reached college I declared myself an undecided major. It seemed way too reasonably to follow in the family footsteps and choose right off the bat a career in education. However, after only one semester I gave in and made it official. Despite contemplating switching majors many times, and a horrible student teaching experience, I graduated and passed my license exam to become certified. And then lo and behold, after a month of searching, I landed my dream job!

I still think about that year of teaching in Currituck, North Carolina…every. day. Over the past few years I tell people the biggest regret in my life is leaving that place. But I can admit, it was hard, right from the start. I really struggled with teaching high school, being away from my family and Amy, and adjusting to such a different culture. After the first three weeks I returned to PA over a weekend for a wedding. I remember stopping for the night at my friend Matt's house in D.C. and venting so much frustration about education and how much I hated it. It is hard to admit but I made up my mind teaching wasn’t for me 5 months into it.  But I’ll get to that.

I can name a few reasons why I wanted to teach again. 1) After spending 7 years trying to do everything I could possibly do to get away from teaching, I had gotten nowhere. The only option left, really, was to return to the classroom against my own will. 2) I know…that when I lived in NC I hated my life most days. I was miserable. But most of my thoughts now were that I could have done it…it would have gotten better. 3) I remain very passionate about education, and I still LOVE to teach, but how would I know if I still hated the classroom if I never took a chance and tried it again? So I put my name on some substitute list (it sucked, I was miserable filling out these app.’s) and got called in March from Eden Christian Academy.

It was amazing how it all came back to me so fast…at least how much I disliked it! I couldn’t stand most of the middle school classes, they were so immature and irritating. After period 2 I was bored out of my mind and had drank my weight in coffee. You know what’s amazing about education right now? With all the advances and supposed improvements in how we teach, TEACHERS STILL GIVE HANDOUTS. In the middle of all this, however, I LOVED being a part of a community again. I LOVED how when I came in next time to sub the kids were excited to see me and laughed at my dumb jokes as if they were the greatest thing ever. I LOVED the few moments when I got to teach something for real, and they listened.

I am very, very glad I taught again this year. I had to do it. I have tormented myself for so long over my decision to leave Currituck. And sitting here now, I could be a teacher for the rest of my life. Would it be my dream job as I had believed in high school? No. But it would be a great job, and I could do it. There is so much more I wish I could write about teaching…but this point in my life is not the time, maybe in a few years when I can go a day without thinking of Currituck.

It was a cold, clear night in late December 2004. I was the JV coach for the Currituck basketball team and we had just gotten crushed by Bertie, a school located two hours away in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. I had almost gotten in a fight with the clock operator. The A.D. was driving the bus home, and the head coach and I were in the front 2 seats, talking a little about the team and the school. After a while the A.D. turned to me and said “hey look out your window, that’s the Albemarle Sound we are crossing.” The sound was big and the bridge took a while. It was a beautiful sight, with the sky melting into the still cold black waters. I thought how odd it all was that I would find my life here, on a bridge, crossing a sound, in a place I didn’t know existed until now. I closed my eyes and immersed myself in an imaginative reality, in which this WAS my life, for the next 35 years; The A.D., the coach, the players, the sound…and I thought I could do this, and I smiled. The next day I returned to PA and Ohio for Christmas break. And when I drove back down to NC I had made up my mind to leave after only one year in Currituck…. #9: TEACH AGAIN

Cheeseburger Pizza in Paradise!

One of my favorite parts of running in any race is the meal that night, when everything is over and all you feel is STARVING! After Amy’s marathon we demolished a Chinese buffet! When Amy finally woke up from her post-race nap in VA Beach (I hurt too much to sleep) we took to the streets to find a good place to dine. Our intentions were not to end up at a pizza place but alas, we did!

Doughboy’s Pizzeria is a local chain found up and down the main drag. It is decorated in a very beachy, almost Hawaiin theme. One of the reasons we picked it is because it was not far from our hotel and I could barely walk! It was empty after the race and as I proudly wore my marathon finisher hoodie we dug in to some terrific food!

We started with a very simple yet hot and fresh dish of French fries. I am kind of a fry fanatic and nothing looked better than that first plate of golden fries. They were lightly seasoned with garlic and surprisingly a great finger food to munch on as we waited for our pizza. For the main dish we settled on their specialty Cheeseburger Pizza. With a blend of cheese and thick cut rounds of ground beef it was a great choice! As the pizzeria name suggests, their crust was very doughy, but not in that “this is undercooked way”, but in the “this is soft and fluffy way”. We finished all but a few pieces which we took back to the hotel to consume as a late night snack!

Here is the ranking for Doughboy’s garlic fries and cheeseburger pizza:

Sauce= 3

Cheese= 4

Crust=4.5

Toppings=5

Overall=4

Additions=4, Basket of Garlic Fries

TOTAL SCORE: 24.5/30. Doughboy’s Pizzeria was a great choice for our post-marathon race and I would happily go there again! For this 30@30 item, Doughboy’s stands strong in second place!

The Tide will take us Out

We were on hour 4 of the canoe trip and every paddle was a battle against my will to give up. The narrow waterway winding through the tall reeds had finally opened up to a wide river, giving us hope that the end was near. After another hour and the end nowhere in sight the river seemed to grow longer with each tug of the rope tied to the canoe behind us. The day had begun with joy and another beautiful sunrise over the ocean and now it was ending with the sun dipping slowly beneath the river ahead. I glanced over the side of the canoe, staring down into the water that had seemed all week to be majestic and soothing. Now it looked black and ominous, seemingly stretching for miles beneath the surface. I started paddling again, thinking every second that I wouldn’t be able to finish this…

After I saw Amy at mile 13 the marathon course took me north of the hotels for the second half of the race. My first half time wasn’t bad and I still felt great. I had settled in to a nice rhythm and was running with a smile and the sun in my face. The day before I had created a marathon mix on my IPOD, to be used when I got bored or started to feel tired. Around the 15^th mile I turned it on and it instantly got me going again. I kept thinking I only have 11 more miles, I had run that so often in my training…I got this.

At mile 16 I got a nice surprise when I saw Amy’s parents standing on the side of the road! When you run a marathon without a partner it can get lonely, and familiar faces cheering you on and beaming with pride can get you through countless steps. I told them I was doing great and had some water. They wished me luck for the next 6 miles, at the end of which I would circle back around and see them again. I was doing great and felt the home stretch creeping up slowly but surely.

I almost didn’t run the marathon. In the week leading up to the race I became very sick. It started Monday, and by Wednesday I had a temperature over 100 and could barely move. I was defeated that week, unsure what I would feel like once Sunday hit. Marathon’s can be a very dangerous endeavor, every race people are pulled out for serious medical dilemmas. As I hit mile 17 my nose began to run. It sounds weird and it was a strong warning that my body was shutting down. A few hundered yards later my heart rate jumped to the point of some minor chest pains. I had run the whole thing up to that point but made a quick decision I had better take a break. I began to walk…and began to battle.

I didn’t start running again until a little after mile 18. Only a few miles before it felt like I was so close to the end and could cover the manageable distance left. Now it seemed like an insurmountable distance to finish. To make it worse the course took us through another military base, this one without any fans or marines to cheer us on. It was quiet and lonely. My marathon mix had reached its end and I began to really struggle.  Earlier in the race I heard a woman quote some wisdom and a warning: “When you run a marathon it doesn’t matter what religion you are, at mile 20 everyone sees Jesus.” Mile 20 is the common wall most runners hit, but for me it was mile 17-24. I walked and I ran, alternating until my chest began to hurt again. At mile 22 I saw Amy’s parents again, this time without much of a smile or many words. They wished me luck and encouraged me to finish it.

Throughout the race Amy had been receiving text updates about my progress. This is a great thing because you can tell where the runner is and how much more they have and even their estimated finish time. After I saw Amy at mile 12 and 13 she received a couple more updates. But since I was slowing considerably she began to worry and hope that I was okay. The last update came at mile 20. By mile 23 numbered streets began to appear. The marathon finished at 32^nd street and I was at 84^th street. I began to break down my distance, telling myself I would run for 10 streets then walk for 2. This helped for a while but then it just didn’t seem to matter and lost track of where I was.

Finally, with about 2 miles and seemingly years to go, I decided to make a last push and run until the finish. And just when I needed it I heard people cheering wildly for me and looked up to see the cutest cheerleader there running full sprint at me with her hands waving in the air. It was Amy, and our friends Elsbeth and Andy, and they had come to see me home. They were so excited for me and stayed with me until the final stretch. They promised me the finish was close and encouraged other spectators to cheer me on. Without them I would have walked the last two miles, but with them I ran most of it. As I turned the final corner and reached the boardwalk and the final stretch I felt nothing but happy. I was finishing a dream that had up until now seemed lost. I ran across the finish feeling complete.

Since the race was sponsored by Yuengling every runner was given four free drafts of beer and a bowl of Irish stew at the end of the race. At mile 18 the thought of this stuff made me feel sick. After I finished it was the best drink I had ever tasted and definitely the most deserved! We celebrated on the beach until my legs were about to give out and then headed back to the hotel for a very welcoming rest.

Amy told me after that she was worried I wouldn’t finish. I agreed, knowing it was all I had to make it happen. But after years of only wishing I would run a marathon, nothing would have stopped me from crossing that finish. It was an awesome experience and I am so glad I did it!

The sun had set and twilight was disappearing. Our canoe trip had become somehow peaceful. Nobody was talking, the only sounds were cutting of the paddles through the water. As we reached hour 8 we finally heard a scream and saw the finish, the rest of our group and the dock. We had made it. As we pulled into shore none of the guys said anything. We piled into the van and went to a shower house to clean up for a much needed seafood buffet dinner. With that shower all of the struggles and turmoil of that canoe trip were washed away and we dined in pure bliss of what we had accomplished. Running a marathon was the second hardest thing I have ever done. And in those moments when I was alone and felt like quitting I thought of that trip, of my friends and family cheering me on, and I knew the only choice was to keep moving forward, and trust that tide to carry me home. …#1: RUN A MARATHON.

The Tide will take us Out

“So when are we leaving?”  “We will start paddling out around 2, that is when the tide will take us out and it won’t take much more than a couple of hours.” I was at the end of a week- long backpacking trip on an island off the coast of Georgia; one of the most amazing and serene weeks  of my life. Along with 6 other guys we had spent the week exploring the vast palmetto leaf covered trails, leading us to deserted beaches, ancient ruins, and confrontations with armadillos and wild horses. But we had reached the end and it was time to head home. The girls on the trip outnumbered the guys almost 2-1, and they had canoed in, the guys took the ferry to the island, but now it was our turn to canoe out. With every canoe tethered to another canoe filled with supplies we shoved off at 2, remembering Steve’s words that the tide would take us out.

After an hour we could still see the island shoreline we had just left from. After 2 hours we were in the middle of tall grass and nowhere near the mainland. With the Georgia sun beating down on our backs our frustrations were endless. Never in my life have I wanted to quit something so bad. With each stroke of the paddle, the tethered canoe rope went slack for a brief second, and then yanked us back; stopping any momentum we had hoped to gain. EVERY.TIME. After three hours hope had abandoned us and all that was left was silence interrupted with the occasional swear word and muttered statement of “this is unbelievable”. After such an incredible week it seemed impossible to end on such an unforgiving note but it was impossible to focus on anything but the harsh reality that the tide was working against it.

A few months ago I finally accomplished a long sought after dream and #1 on my 30@30 list: Run a marathon. In college I had gone down to the Pittsburgh marathon to watch my friends run in it and felt inspired to someday finish my own. The problem was I didn’t like running enough. Sure I would do it, a few miles here or there when the weather was nice. But up until 8 months ago it was nothing but something that I would never get around to. However, they say if you want to run a marathon, you have to sign up first and then start training. So I signed up first, in August of 2011. There were no refunds either so I knew it was happening.

My training started out okay, filled with sunny fall days with cool breezes. I would run around college hill, a nice little community, listening to good music and thinking about how far away the marathon seemed. On Sunday’s I would even run later in the day and listen to football games on the radio. The winter time was a little tougher. My runs became longer, the days became shorter, and the weather became uglier! The day I ran 15 miles it was 30 and snowing huge, wet, snowflakes. Despite wearing multiple layers when I finished I was soaked to my skin, shivering, and just plain mad. Once February hit it became real. I only had a month or so to go. Whether I wanted to do it or not, it was going to happen!

I picked the Virginia Beach marathon for a few reasons. 1. it was flat course (I won’t lieJ), 2. It made it all seem more adventurous and worthwhile than running somewhere close, and 3. It was by the beach! And while I struggled through 15, 16, 18, and 20 mile runs, time continued to move and before I could run another step it was marathon weekend!

We left on Friday and stayed in a hotel right along the main avenue in Virginia Beach. We could see the ocean and boardwalk from our room and I couldn’t help thinking upon arrival that I would rather be here for vacation than a race! We took it easy that night and Saturday. As much as I wanted to hang out on the beach or go exploring I knew Sunday was going to be a big day and had to remain my focus. I thought I would have trouble sleeping the night before but I didn’t, I even went to bed early! And when I woke at 6:30 the next day, it was to a beautiful sunrise and a growing crowd of spectators outside my hotel window!

I think one of the most excited parts of running a marathon is the start line. As you line up you are so overwhelmed at first by the number of people, all of which seem to look in much better shape than you! You are filled with excitement, nerves, anxiety, fear and uncertainty of what the next few hours will hold. I felt all these things standing on the road in Virginia Beach plus one extra thing…I had to pee! What awful timing! Thankfully our hotel was right after the start. So as the race began and I crossed the start line I immediately stopped, made a right turn into our hotel lobby and the bathroom! When I came back out I was shocked to see everyone had passed by already, even the truck bringing up the rear of the race. I freaked out a little bit, ran a bit too fast, but eventually joined back in the pack of people heading south along the coast. I didn’t feel settled in until about mile 3. At that point I encountered the only “hill” on the course, an overpass arching clear of a waterway taking boats from a harbor out into the ocean. As a reached the summit I looked over at the vast blue waters and sunny skies I realized that all the nerves were gone and I was left with only excitement for finally running a marathon!

My best miles were 7-9. I ran fast, I felt great, the DJ’s along the way were playing great music. Mile 9 took us into a military base where we circled a path through all the barracks. Near the exit marines had lined the road, going nuts and cheering their hearts out for us. It was an awesome experience running through the middle of them! Around the bend was a last chance boys home, and under the surveillance and example of the marines, the troubled teenage boys had lined the road to go nuts for us, yelling our names and giving us high fives and fist bumps. I wonder if those boys will ever know what a difference they made in my life, if only for a brief minute?

The halfway point was back in downtown, right after a mile of surreal running on the boardwalk. As I turned the corner and started running through the towering hotels, I heard someone screaming my name! It was the cutest dressed cheerleader there, Amy! She ran with me for close to a mile, giving me some snacks and water and telling me I was doing great. When I asked her why she was wearing flip-flops and not running shoes she told me running shoes were not cute enough with her outfit and she was fine! Seeing her after the first couple hours of running was definitely a great pick me up. Finally I told her I was ready to go on by myself and I would see her at the finish. I didn’t realize then as I headed down the road without her that things for both of us were going to get tough until the end…To Be Continued to the Finish Sunday…