Athletic achievement accomplished: my maiden marathon

Last Sunday, @trang and I embarked on a 26.2 mile running race: the PHILADELPHIA MARATHON.

I sported a custom bib, announcing my intent to become a champion @steemmonsters competitor:

At the beginning of the race, I had a few goals. First, to finish. Second, to beat my father's time of 4:04:03 from the 1991 Marine Corps Marathon. And third, to break 4:00:00. I realized that by accomplishing the third goal, I could implicitly accomplish all three. So @trang and I started right behind the 4 hour pacers:

See @trang's post for more information about the race experience. Personally, I found the pain to exceptional.

At some point, we saw the 4 hour pacer catching our tail, so we upped the tempo. The last 6 miles were a fine balance between staying ahead of the wall of 4 while averting the impending catastrophic cramping. Luckily we prevailed, as my race results show:

I placed 420th out of 858 men aged 25-29 and 3,625th out of 9,517 runners overall. @trang had a miraculous victory, despite us crossing the finish line holding hands:

Turns out I crossed the start line slightly before her. With today's technology, there is no such thing as a Hillary-Norgay-style tie.

My father was in attendance to see his record shattered:

However, I can't help but attribute much of my success to the modern marvels of foam rollers, Mizuno Wave Rider 22s, Carbon Superfeet, and packets of Gu.

Supplements:

• ViewRanger Track
• Strava Track
• Vitamin I (ibuprofen)

P.S. I now have great trouble walking up or down stairs.