16 Days Til The Marathon

After that first 5k I knew that I had been bitten by a strange, new bug. It was an unfamiliar feeling to this nonathletic guy. I had never had any kind of desire to get better at any kind of sport, but I was hooked and wanted to be better at running. My time of 27.5 minutes was a good 5 minutes faster than I had ever done during a practice run. I wanted to get faster and go further.

I had been talking to several people who were runners as I prepared for this race. Sam and Chara Hosom, and Teresa Coats were kind of my go to people at first. I go to church with Sam and Chara, and I work with Chara and Teresa. Chara and I actually finished the race together. I will always remember that final few steps to the finish line with a great friend running there. I think she let me speed ahead of her to protect my manly ego... maybe not.

I texted Chara and Teresa all the time as I finished runs. I needed someone who knew about running to push me on. They did. Like any good runner would advise, they both told me to get good shoes! I knew I needed them when I got to the race and someone laughed and asked me, "You are not running in those are ya?" They were talking about my worn out New Balance sneakers that were for looks... not running!

As soon as that race was over, I went straight to Academy and bought these.
At the time I was so proud. These are Ascics. Little did I know that these were really no good either, but the salesman convinced me they were. It took me a few more miles of running before I realized that the only place to get running shoes was at a running store. But, for the time being I was happy, my feet were somewhat cushioned, and I was ready to push myself to further distances in style with my new shoes!