It hurt. A lot. Whether it was the last vestiges of the sniffles I picked up at sea, the lingering peg leg styled gait acquired by running in the same looping fashion for hundreds of rounds of Deck 4 on the ship, or just age and mileages, I struggled through the race. My tendons were shorted out, my muscles were sore, and I just seemed to be limping through the paces. I finished. And I passed a few things along the way as you’ll see. I ultimately put my camera away as I had to set the proverbial shoulder to the wheel just to keep the gears moving to the finish line. And besides, I had this weird feeling through a lot of it — a sense I’d been there before, run segments of the roads/trails before. Was it deja vu all over again? I’m too tired to contemplate it.
A brisk morning but pretty great running weather.
Why is it when I’m told I can’t pet the dog I want to pet ‘im even more?
The start line.
NC State’s Bell Tower.
Not gonna happen, Kevin.
The crowd gathers.
I lined up around the 8 minute mile marker…
And yet, NO ONE was in front of me? That can’t be right… and it turned out not to be.
Running into the sun.
Running past the earth.
The streets of Raleigh
Autumn in Raleigh
Meredith College… I swear I’ve been here for a race before…
The bike path
The bridges of the bike path.
God light that’d make Robert James Waller proud.
Lonely roads ahead.
Zigging and zagging
Zagging and zigging.
Seriously lonely miles.
A turnaround.
Road sides to where I’ve been and where I’m going once more.
Like the sign says — mile 24.
Where’s the marker go? By the Arby’s.
Home stretch.
Right back where we started.
Ding dong ding. The bell rang but it was no PR. Still, a finish is a finish is a finish.
