Move over Curt Schilling - Heidi

Being a Red Sox fan, I thought my son would think it was really cool that I had not one but two bloody socks after my 18-mile run with Martha on February 11. He thought it was gross but did ask to see the holes in my feet! It's amazing what an extra millimeter of toenail can do - no matter how short they seem. I now plan to trim my nails the morning of the Marathon. One learns from their mistakes. I was running well in a 5K two years ago when my shoe came untied in the midst of the downhill finish forcing me to slow to keep it on my foot. On April 16, I will double knot the laces of the shoes encasing my really short toenails.

Some of you were concerned that Martha and I ran on Wednesday in the snowstorm. The blog entries are posted a few days after I submit them so we actually ran the Sunday before the storm. Martha waited for me to end my 24 hours of being in the Hospital and then my family drove the two of us out to the starting line of the Marathon in Hopkinton. We drove the race course and kept driving and driving. When we finally got there, I think my son was worried about how far from home we were – so he offered to give me a hug. He probably thought he would never see me again!

Sunday was beautiful and the roads were bare and dry so everything turned out ok. As usual, our steady stream of conversation made the passing miles blur. One thing that helped keep Martha going was her plan to try her first Gu when we got into Wellesley. We slowed to a walk for our Gatorade and nourishment break. I had brought along a Gu as well, having tried it for the first time in the Boston Half Marathon. I had to lean against the wall of a store in Wellesley and laugh as Martha grimaced, puckered and gagged as she had her first swallow. Her descriptions about the consistency were not kind so having already discussed bloody socks, I will leave that to your imagination.

Even though the overall race course from Hopkinton goes downhill, we encountered rolling hills along the route. Once we got to where Route 16 crosses Route 128, we ran up Walnut Street to complete our run. I can now begin to imagine how the Heartbreak Hills will feel after completing more than half the Marathon!