A huge accomplishment, and a couple of jakes's...

Eighteen ain't got nothing on me!!!

This week Bonnie and I had the honor of taking on 18, and we did so in true marathon fashion. It was a great run, for both of us. The preperation for this race did not include beer and wine like last week. This time, I was in bed and asleep by 10pm on Friday night. Our run began at 7am, so I was up at 5:15. Bon stayed up a bit later than me, and got up a bit later than me. I ate my bagels; I had 2 this week just for the extra carbs. I Got a hell of a stretch on and off we went. This week's run took place up in Vancouver, WA, and we are literally 5 miles from the WA border. The weather was perfect for running, it was 60 and cloudy. We are driving there and I hear this Alan Jackson song "Small town Southern Man" on the way I love. Well the guy dies at the end of the song, and of course I start thinking about Big Neil and I get upset on the way there, first time before a run I think. But the song ended (thank God) and I was fine. Gotta get my game face on. And keep in mind that I was excited to run 18 all week, and we were psyched bc this was a new course for us, and it was going to be nice and flat. It's always nice to run a new course.

So we had done 18 once 2 weeks ago, but that was the week we were supposed to only do 16 and things got messed up. But I was getting mentally prepared to do 18 all week. It's that number (18 miles) you hear, the one that wakes you up in a cold sweat. The distance you always hear the phrase "hitting the wall" associated with. But knowing I had done this distance once before was huge for me mentally. The run ended up being very enjoyable. Bon and I ran with 2 other girls, their names are Liz and Karie. We did a lot of fun runnng with them. We ran with them last week in lake Oswego on the crazy hilly run. We all ran together at different times, but Liz and I mostly ran together, as did bon and Karie. Just more experienced runners matched up. We ran with them for our last 18 mile run, so it was good to know we run at the same pace. Awesome conversation the entire time, which is so important bc anything to take your mind off the run. And Bonnie and I recently abandoned our ipods, so the chatter is even more key. So I mostly ran with Liz, and i ended up telling her about my dad and my brother Neil's accident. I am not afraid to talk about any of that, and with Neil, it is actually a good positive story bc it ends with him being the biggest bad ass and not at all letting his new situatiuon make his life bother him. Why would he? He has a shit load to live for. Best kids, friends and wife, so
bum leg = big deal. Man is that kid the epitome of tough. Dad was and still is so goddamn proud of his oldest and to the one son that took on the reigns of firefighting, and who sacraficed things by taking on the most noble job IN THE WORLD!!! I love you for that Neiile, I mean I love ya to death to begin with, as if you needed extra love from me. It's here anyways.

Our time was 9 min 12 second miles. I was so pumped about that. I had been running at just under 10 minute miles, so I was real pleased with my time. I felt like we were hauling at times. So we are getting close to finishing, and we are ALL ready to be done running for sure, and Bonnie tells us we are going to be at 17.6 when we get to the finish, bc she has the mileage tracker. So the 4 of us all agree to keep running til we hit 18. It was pretty cool. The people from TNT and the other people who had just finished running their runs were looking at us run by them at the finsih like what the hell are they doing. We would not be deprived of our 18 mile accomplishment!!!!

My most annoying thing was my kankles, and I can tell that's going to be my achilles come gametime. I broke one as a kid, and I sprained the other one a few years ago. The good thing is I handled my business with my ankles hurting pretty bad for the last few miles. So I will just push through, but I know the tail end of the marathon is going be the kankle challenge. But to be honest, I could care less come race day anyways, nothing is going to stop me.

But the highlight of the day was not completing 18 miles if you can believe that, it was this:

So after the run, Bon and I went to the supermarket to buy our ice for our much needed ice bath. So as we are walking in from the lot, I see two of Portland's finest (firefighters) walking in ahead of us. As soon as I see them, I decide on something, I decide that I am going to get these studs a cup of coffee. So I hobble into Safwway and I chase them down once we get in the door, as they are standing in the frozen food section. And I am half limping for sure, and I walk up and tell them I would like to buy them a cup of coffee from the Starbucks inside. They (of course) politely decline, and smiling, say no way. I tell them my dad and brother are firefighter's in Boston and I think the world of the profession, and c'mon, it's just a cup of coffee. They still tried to decline in true-jake fashion, but they looked at each other as if to say this might just be easier letting him do this. I think they realized I was not taking no for an answer, and they reluctantly obliged. I know they could tell by my face how much it meant to me to buy them a cup of coffee.

Now one of them is an older guy, about my dad's age. And the other guy is a young handsome hawaiin looking kid, what a good due, you could just tell. He is just about Neil Jr's age. So we start walking to the coffee stand and they're thanking me, and then the young guy sticks out his hand and says "what's your name by the way?". I tell them both that it's Sean, I reach out my hand and say "what's yours?"

They young kid says "it's Neil". I tell him that's my brother's name.

I am immediately drawn back. And then I reach out my hand to meet the older guy, and he says "I'm Neil too."

Are you kidding me????? These 2 firefighters have the same names as my dad and my brother. And Neil is not the most common name out there. I was blown away. And they were 2 of the nicest and most appreciative guys you could ever meet. And my dad's one year anniversary is upon us, May 22nd. Just weird, but in the best way weird can be. I have never been able to successfully buy two Jake's a cup of coffee before in my life. They always insist no, but these two guys let me. Unreal!

Oh and by the way, once we finsihed running, it started to rain. And let me tell you that the timing could not have been better because it rained so soon after we finished. I am talking minutes here. Therefore, I chalked this day up as a total dad day. From the song on the way to inspire me, to the 2 firefighters named Neil, to the weather being perfect just moments after we stopped our run. I think someone was saying hello, and maybe just looking out for us. Thanks for reading.

Sean