Tuesday, August 31, 2004

I have not written about our incident last Thursday and Friday, yet. On Thursday I wrote my thoughts out and was prepared to add it to the blog when Julie called me to come home again. I would rather wait until tomorrow when I can look at what I wrote, place it on the blog and then write with a little more perspective.

We've been pretty crazed here as we worry about Jake's digestive troubles. He sometimes complains that his tummy hurts and we now question whether these complaints are his way of getting out of eating, or if he really has some discomfort from something blocking up his bowels. At this point we're kind of in a wait and see state of mind, which, when your child has an illness, isn't a comfortable way to be living. You want definite answers.

This past weekend really cleared my head out, though, and I'm through worrying about how many runners we get for the marathon and whether or not my friends are running. At this point, I have to concentrate on my own running and my own fundraising. And even on that front, I'm trying not to stress out about the total amount I raise. Truth is I've already raised over a thousand dollars, which is a lot of money in today's economy.

I put this pressure on myself and it really weighs me down. My head gets cluttered, that's for sure.

Ran yesterday and I was pretty excited to get out there. The weather is really beginning to be cool in the mornings, making the runs a lot nicer.

Aloha

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Haven't written for several days. We had some pretty emotional days since Wednesday and I wasn't ready to write about them in detail. I'll have something tomorrow. We took two trips to the emergency room with Jake and it wiped us out.

I did make the long run yesterday morning. 8 miles. I started off pretty ragged, but found my legs by the last two miles. I felt great at the very end and for the first time in about a month, I felt optimistic about the marathon and my running.

So far, we have raised about $1,600. I'm very happy about that, but there is still a long way to go.

That's all for tonight.

Aloha

Monday, August 23, 2004

It has been brought to my attention that, at times, my blog can be quite depressing. I was a little surprised to hear this. I don’t want to come across like our life here in California is one big major drag. Quite the contrary. We have a wonderful life. Our children adore each other and show a great deal of love and compassion toward their family and friends. And Julie and I seem to being closer than ever.

Last week was a tough week. A lot of crap fell in one week. I believe it was the alignment of the stars. How else can you explain how the Indians were one game of first at the beginning of the week and then promptly dropped seven in a row? For those of you who aren’t into baseball, I apologize.

However, I will make an attempt to find something positive to say in most of my entries. I believe that the only way to find your way out of the dark places is to generate some kind of positive thinking.

And here is how the week ended on a good note:

Friday night Budd and I took in the Van Halen concert. Despite my disappointment in some parts of the concert (I mean, we paid $100 a ticket!! I should have been blown out of my seat. I was not), we all had a great time. It was great to just let go for even a couple of hours.

Amazingly enough, I was able to get up the next morning and go run 10 miles in Pasadena. This despite the constant throbbing pain that keeps waking me up every night… gotta love tooth problems. Let this be a lesson to all of you kids who don’t think flossing does anything. By the time you reach 35 and you have to get a couple root canals, a little bit of string between your teeth that takes, like, five minutes to use, isn’t so bad.

The ten miles was pretty easy. I was tired, but I didn’t ache. Glad I went.

That night, Sophie and Jules went to a movie and a tea. Soph came back with the biggest smile on her face. She had so much fun. And Jake and I had a good time hanging out with Vill and Ben. Guys’ night… in. Still very cool.

The rest of the weekend was typical. Yard work. Cleaning. Laundry. But I like this routine. I love our house and I take great pride in it. I don’t whether we’ll ever be able to afford something bigger than this nice home, so I want it to look great all of the time. That said; it’s nearly impossible to keep the house clean more than a day when you have two kids running around. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Today I was uninspired to run and barely put in 20 minutes. I know that some of the stresses from last week were hanging on me. But we’ve written California Children’s Services (Julie did a great job with the letter) and once the envelope is in the mailbox, it’s out of our hands. We can only hope and pray.

Aloha

Friday, August 20, 2004

Yesterday was one of the hard days. Financial worries are the most stressful thing in my life. The most discouraging news we received was that we've been turned down for California Children’s Services. Apparently we make too much money. Strange, when I look at our taxes from 2002 and 2003, we made almost half what me made in 2002 in 2003. And yet, we qualified last year. I really don't know how we'll make it when we have to begin paying that 20% for all of Jake's medicines and doctor visits. And I haven't gotten a raise in 3 years. And I can't really quit my job and go look for a new one because I can't afford to lose our benefits. And whose really going to hire a 35-year-old man as an administrative assistant? And it's too late to start my career over, not with a family and our situation.

To make the day more pleasant, my dentist had a field day grinding away at one of my teeth. The fact that I've been grinding my teeth at night is not making my mouth feel any better. I have begun taking Advil like candy. That can't be a good thing.

But we have begun raising some money and that is something positive to come out of this very long week. So far, in the short week since I sent out the letter, we've raise $985. That's awesome. Of course, we have to continue to average about that amount to make the goal of $15K. What was I thinking?

Can I tell you how truly wonderful my wife is? Here I am, grinding my teeth over trying to raise the money, and she's stressing about wanting me to reach that goal, as well. I keep forgetting that I'm not in this alone. I know it's my body and it's my name signed at the bottom of all of those letters, but it really is a family affair. God, I love that woman so much. I lose sight, sometimes, of how fortunate I am to have Julie as my partner in life. When we were younger, and there were fewer distractions, I'm sure I told her that every day. Now, I'm lucky if I remember to tell her once a week.

I'm going to call her right now....

Okay, I just called her. That was worth it. I have to go now. I'm off to the Van Hagar concert.

I know, I know. How does a guy go from Springsteen to Sammy, Eddie, Mike and Alex? I can't explain it. I dig their music. It's pretty mindless and I need mindless.

I have to get up and run 10 miles tomorrow morning, so I can't get too crazy.

Aloha.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

After the great feeling Monday morning, I was a bit distressed at how unprepared I was to run this morning. Stress, mostly, was bearing down once again. Worried about the California Children’s Services application. If they deem us too "wealthy" for the service, we're suddenly responsible for that portion of the medicines we haven't been paying for a year. I don't need to tell you how fast our credit card debt will increase and how fast out Savings will be depleted.

At some point it has to get easier, doesn't it? Times like these I wish I could curl up in a ball and squeeze my eyes shut tight to make everything go away. However, I have enough of a grasp on reality to know that this method only works when you are three to five years old or if you are insane.

Still, I was able to squeeze out a decent run this morning, taking on the Decoro hill and pushing myself to run a little faster than usual. In the end, it was worth it.

The day was filled with old friends. I saw Tony and his daughter, Brianna, for about 10 minutes. They were on their way to a casting call for her, which was taking place down the street from where I work. It was cool seeing them, even if it was for just a brief time. Had lunch with my friend Wes, who his running the marathon and raising money for CF, and his partner in crime, Tom Lawless. Always good to see Tom. And on my way home another Wes, my good friend from North Carolina, called to check in. Wes is one of the most talented artists I know and I really respect him.

As I get older, I come to appreciate these small moments with my friends, whether it's a ten-minute walk or a phone conversation with someone I haven't seen in almost a year. Friends... good friends, are hard to come by.

Sophie had a difficult time yesterday morning when Jules dropped her off at Kindergarten. This morning was a little easier. It is gong to be a bigger adjustment than we thought. I know she's going to do so well once she gets comfortable. She's so special.

Aloha

Monday, August 16, 2004

Today was Sophie's first day of kindergarten and she did AWESOME! I can't believe how well she did when Julie dropped her off at the school. While a little nervous at first, she settled right in and even waved goodbye to Julie when her teacher took the class outside and the parents were leaving. I am so proud of her. Still, it's kind of sad, she's growing up so fast. I am constantly amazed at how bright she is, but it tugs on my heart. Julie is sad, too. Sophie is now going to be in school every day for the next 13 years. That "freedom" of a certain age of childhood is slipping away from us. Still, you can’t beat hearing the tremendous level of joy and excitement that she had when she called me before and after school.

I ran for about 45 minutes this morning and I felt great. The first good Monday run I've had in a long time. Must have something to do with settling in to the Pasadena runs on Saturdays. The rest of the day, for me, was average. I find myself watching the mailbox, hoping for people to make donations. Because I've set the bar high this year, I'm really nervous about reaching that goal. What if last year was a fluke? What if I don't even make half of what I made last year? Is the fundraising a failure? It's causing my stomach to do more laps than the Olympic swimmers.

Speaking of the Summer Games, there are these ads, they run them every 2 years, that show the roles parents play in the raising of a child athlete. One in particular this year has really affected me. It’s about how parents support the dreams of their children and begins with "I will be your breath" or something like that. It continues with "I will be your strength and support" etc. I can't help but think of Jake and this marathon. I running my body into the ground this year and I would do more if I could if it would help find a cure. I would give my lungs for that boy.

Not sure how I'm gong to make it through these next few months. Every time my body wants to quit on me, whether it's my back tightening up during stressful moments, or my knee clicking a hundred times or more throughout the course of the day, I just keep thinking about Jake and the hard road that may lie ahead of him.

I'll see a doctor in January about my knee. Because if a doctor were to tell me to stop running on it, that advice wouldn't be any good until January anyway. I'm running this marathon.

Aloha

Saturday, August 14, 2004

I didn't know what to expect this morning when I arrived at the group run down by the Rose Bowl. I was pleasantly surprised to see my old training partner, Sebastian, on hand to train for a half marathon. We ran two miles together until he turned back. I ran on. I wanted to get in 8 miles. Up ahead of me for the first 4 miles was a man named Peter Lyons, who is from Valencia and is also running for CF. When he turned around at mile 4, I was about 100 yards behind him and so I ran the last 4 miles back with him. Although I had to switch from a 5/1 to a 3/1 for the run back, it was worth it. It's always better to run with someone. It makes the time go by faster and you get to know someone you might not otherwise meet in your daily life.

Peter's nephew has CF, so the cause is close to his heart. We had a nice conversation all the way back and I hope to see him again in the upcoming weeks. I'm going to send him my letter this coming week to help him get started with his fundraising. Luckily, he works for Starbucks, so he should be able to get some corporate money out of them.

Now, if we could just get some more runners.

Aloha

Friday, August 13, 2004

And finally, I wanted to post the letter I sent out, just so it's there to read....

August 10, 2004

“Run, Daddy, run!”

That’s what my son, Jacob shouts to me when we’re chasing his older sister, Sophie down the street. While Sophie pedals away on her two-wheeler, Jacob’s little arms pump and his legs gallop in red, scuffed up hand-me-down cowboy boots. It’s at times like these that I’m filled with hope that his little body will continue to be strong and that his lungs will remain healthy.

It’s been a year since I first wrote most of you about my marathon fundraiser. Last year, I trained for the Honolulu marathon and raised over $11,000 to help combat Cystic Fibrosis, the deadly illness that afflicts 33,000 children and adults in the United States alone; the deadly disease that inhabits my precious son’s body.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) causes the body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus often creating potentially life threatening lung infections, as well as a host of other problems throughout the body. Jacob also has a great deal of trouble with his digestive track due to CF. Because the thick mucus blocks his pancreas; he takes digestive enzymes every time he eats in order to absorb the nutrients from his food. On an average day Jacob takes oral medication 10 times as well as having nebulizer breathing treatments 3 times daily to help keep his lungs healthy. During those treatments he wears a special vibrating vest that helps break up the thick mucus that clogs his lungs.

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive disease so we must do all these things to keep Jacob healthy. Although the gene for Cystic Fibrosis was discovered in the early 90’s and much progress has been made since then, currently there is no cure for the disease. One half of the individuals with CF live into their 30’s; however, the other half does not.

These are the dreaded statistics we live with as a family. Of course, you can’t dwell on the facts or you’d never be able to function. But the details about CF are always there, hovering like a black cloud. Most days, I fear that Julie bears the brunt of the responsibility for Jacob’s illness. She is home with him while I go to work and she administers most of his medications and does the majority of his breathing treatments. I don’t know how she keeps it together. If it was me, I would be in tears most of the time. As it is, whenever I drift to that place in which the specter of CF grips me, I walk around in a haze, struggling to stay strong.

I would trade all of the good fortunes in my life to find a cure for my son. I would use every ounce of my energy to help rid the world of CF. But I am not a doctor or a scientist. So I must do what I can… what is within my capabilities… to raise awareness and money in the battle. So, I have decided to undertake another marathon. On December 5 of this year, I will use every ounce of my energy to help find a cure and raise money by participating in the Orange County Marathon, here is sunny Southern California. But I need your help.

As I said, last year I raised a lot of money, and this year I have raised the bar. I’ve set a goal of $15,000. It’s a large goal, but it’s one I believe can be reached. Like last year, it’s my hope that anyone receiving this letter can make a donation of $50.00 or more. Those of you who donated last year, I’m asking you, can you spare ten or twenty dollars more? Or perhaps you have family or friends who would be interested in helping that crazy father in California who insists on punishing his body for a good cause. Of course, any donation I receive will be appreciated from the bottom of my heart. I pledge to all of you that I will dedicate the next five months of my life to making you all proud. And when I reach that finish line and find my children cheering for me, I’ll lift them in my arms and carry them with me.

Please make checks out to: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and mail them to me at:

Scott Malchus
22331 Los Tigres Dr.
Saugus, CA 91350

Or, you can go online and donate at this web address: http://active.com/donate/cffca/teammalchus

I need any donations by the end of November. Your cancelled check will serve as your receipt.

Last year’s marathon was a bit overwhelming. Besides being one of 6 people running for CF, it was incredible to be swept up in the mass of 20,000 people. The Orange County Marathon will be smaller and with the CF Foundation on all of the literature and t-shirts, I believe this race may be a bigger challenge. Each step I take won’t be for me, but for Jacob… for his life and future. He is such a sweet loving boy and we are blessed that he has been healthy his two years of life. He deserves to have a life like you and I. A life without the fear of hospitalization or worse. A life without Cystic Fibrosis.

As I train and eventually run the marathon, I know I’ll have to dig deep to find the energy to complete the grueling task. The energy will be there, though. It will come from the sound of my darling Julie and precious Sophie cheering me on. And it will come from the spirited voice of my beloved Jacob, shouting to me, “Run Daddy, run!”

*********



It's turned out to be an excellent day. I ran this morning for about 40 minutes (after lathering Ben-gay like gel all over my back) and I felt pretty good. I held an ice pack on my back for the drive into work and there hasn't been too much discomfort all day. Had a good meeting with one of the producers of my next project and got some good feedback.

Most important, though, is that I have sent out about 100 letters. I am surprised at how much of a weight has lifted off of my chest. I have just returned from dropping the envelopes in a mailbox and, man, I feel good.

So, like I said, it's turned out to be a real nice day.

I am looking forward to getting up at 5:30 tomorrow and driving to Pasadena for my first long run with the group.

Aloha


Wait a minute. Did I say 5:30?
You all know my Springsteen obsession. This song just came on and, well, it's just about one of the most beautiful songs I know. It was written during his turbulent "Tunnel of Love" days, so it may be more about his first marriage. However, it spoke to me as a parent and I hope to play it for Sophie and Jacob someday when they go off to college. Enjoy.

Aloha

WHEN YOU NEED ME
by Bruce Springsteen (found on the box set "Tracks")

When you need me call my name
'Cause without you my life just wouldn't be the same
If you want me come sunny skies or rain
When you need me just call my name

If you miss me, I'll be there
To brush the sunlight from your hair
I'll be there to guide you when trouble walks beside you
If you need me I'll be there
And when this dirty world has been cold to you
I got two strong arms waitin' to hold you
And when those mean days come along
We'll stand together and we'll take 'em on
So if you need me just call my name

When you need me call my name
'Cause without you my life just isn't the same
'Cause when this world kicked me around
You picked me up off the ground
So if you need me I'll be there

So, upon Julie's request, I have begun emptying out our email box. In doing so, I came across this poem Jan sent me last year. I'm not sure if I posted it back then, but here it is (again?). Enjoy

A Little Tooth
by Thomas Lux

Your baby grows a tooth, then two,
and four, and five, then she wants some meat
directly from the bone. It's all

over: she'll learn some words, she'll fall
in love with cretins, dolts, a sweet
talker on his way to jail. And you,

your wife, get old, flyblown, and rue
nothing. You did, you loved, your feet
are sore. It's dusk. Your daughter's tall.


From New and Selected Poems, 1975-1995, published by Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Copyright © 1990 by Thomas Lux. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Feeling better this morning.

Jan Denman sent me a link to a neat Olympic site that details the "origin" of the marathon race. I thought I'd share it with you:

"The marathon was never one of the ancient Olympic events, although its origin dates back to another episode in ancient Greek history.

In the 5th century B.C., the Persians invaded Greece, landing at Marathon, a small town about 26 miles from the city of Athens. The Athenian army was seriously outnumbered by the Persian army, so the Athenians sent messengers to cities all over Greece asking for help.

The traditional origin of the marathon comes from the story how a herald named Phidippides ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory and died on the spot. Phidippides was sent by the Athenians to Sparta to ask for help; a man named Eukles announced the victory to the Athenians and then died. Later sources confused the story of Phidippides, also called "Philippides," with that of Eukles. Although most ancient authors do not support this legend, the story has persisted and is the basis for the modern-day marathon.

The modern Olympic marathon is approximately 26 miles and usually takes over 2 hours for athletes to finish."

2 HOURS???? Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

Aloha

Thursday, August 12, 2004

I am an incredible crank right now. I had a tooth drilled out and a temporary crown put on this afternoon. Man, it seemed to take an eternity (which, of course, is impossible). Still, after three Novocain shots and an hour and a half in the chair, I can't feel my tongue and my face feels like a balloom. No, balloon.

It's been a miserable week as far as training goes. My nagging back has kept me limping and after I ran yesterday morning I seriously doubted whether I should do this marathon. Of course, that's not an option. After this marathon, though, I believe I will settle down and run 1/2 marathons. My body just can't take it and it's so damn discouraging.

Not that I want to be 20 again, but to have that body for just six months would be nice. Then again, if I were 20 again, I wouldn't abuse my body like I did. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Posted a picture of Jake on the donation page. It's temporary until I get a picture of Sophie and Jake to put in its place. I want her face with his. She's in this with him... with us. I was glad to hear Julie express the same thing. The last thing I would ever want is for Soph to feel like all of the attention is on her brother. I would never do that.

Speaking of Miss Sophie, she admitted last night that she was nervous about kindergarten starting next week. I am really proud of her opening up and telling us how she feels. And it really helped her. This morning, she told Jules and me (at separate times) that she felt better now that she had talked about it. I don't want to jinx the future, but could this be a sign of things to come? I hope she always feels like she can tell us anything.

I have confirmed that my friend, Wes Stevens, will be running the marathon. I'm so excited that he's going to help us out. He wants to raise a lot of money. Let's hope that his friends will contribute to CF like they did to the AIDS cause last year.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to Ross Dinerstein and Sara Goldberg, the first two people to respond to my email letter. Ross went to the donation page and Sara gave me a check this morning. Thanks guys.

Only 14,900 dollars to go!

Have to go now and find my personality. Would hate to get home and be this way around the family.

Aloha

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

The donation page is up and running. I'm pretty excited to see how it will work. There is a link on the blog, so... anyone reading this should test it out!

I'll try to work on the web page in my spare time.

Ran for about 20 minutes yesterday morning. I was still recovering from my very long weekend in which I spent Thursday and Friday nights (and early mornings) remixing "King's Highway." It's really going to be awesome once the remix of the entire movie is complete. Of course, I'll put up some kind of link when a trailer is online again.

I didn't run on Saturday, choosing instead to sleep in. Wise choice on my part. But I did not fully recover until sometime yesterday afternoon. I look forward to running tomorrow morning.

Sophie has kindergarten orientation yesterday morning and I took Jake to his gymnastics class. I don't know how much he really learns in this "class", but he enjoys jumping on the trampoline and playing with the parachute. Poor Soph came home from the orientation and was suddenly very ill. She couldn't keep anything down all day, not even water.

I'm glad to report that she's doing fine today.

Now that the online donation page working, I plan to send out a mass email, and finally get the letter out. That should all take place in the nest couple of days. Hopefully some folks will forward the email to family and friends and the donations will begin to come in.

Aloha

Friday, August 06, 2004

Sorry I haven't written in a couple of days. It's been a loooong week dealing with King's Highway and editing a reel for Tony. I don't think I'll be able to go to marathon training tomorrow. I really need to get some good sleep, especially since I'll be putting in another late night tonight.

The plus side to this is that we'll be done remixing the movie. It's doubtful I will get to sleep in tomorrow, knowing my children, but that's okay. At least I have the weekend to recover from the past three days and start fresh on Monday.

Besides, my left foot has really been bothering me today. I'm having problems walking on it.

That's all for now. Look for fresh entries next week.

Aloha

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

It’s the Tuesday after the half marathon on Sunday.

What a great excursion up to the bay area this weekend. It was just a wonderful getaway. Chilly, but a nice change of pace.

We arrived in San Francisco in the afternoon on Thursday. The kids great in the drive up the 5. The portable DVD player has proven to be a worthwhile investment. The hotel we stayed at in the city was a Holiday Inn on Van Ness and California. Turns out it was at the end of the line for a trolley car, so we easily hopped on one of the trolley cars whenever we wanted.

Thursday night we rode down into the city and had dinner at Mel's Diner. We wound up turning in pretty early. That drive can take its toll. We were all bundled up in sweatshirts and pants. Since we've been experiencing one hundred plus degree weather in Santa Clarita, it was refreshing to feel a cool breeze. It really reminded me of Cleveland in late September, in which you wear a sweater in the shade, but have to take it off in the sun because you get too warm.

Friday was spent down at the pier. The marathon expo was there in front of the Ferry building. We all ventured down to check out the free handouts and to get my running number. After that, we got a ride on one of those bicycle rickshaws. The poor man pedaling for us (Australian, I think) earned his money. It was a little expensive, but better than waiting for a trolley and having to be abused by a homeless woman shouting obscenities at Sophie. Poor Soph didn't know what to think when this lady started going off.

They have a merry-go-round, so the kids and I took a turn on it. Jules and I were able to enjoy a bowl of chowder in a sourdough bowl, while Sophie ate cotton candy and ice cream for lunch and Jake stuck to soft pretzels. Hey, come on, we were on vacation. Sophie is a good eater, and we're just happy Jake will eat anything these days. Man, I've never met a more finicky eater, myself included.

After lunch we went to the Aquarium by the Bay. That was really neat. After a couple of tanks, there is a whole exhibit that is below the bay and you get to walk underneath schools of fish and exotic creatures that live in the bay. Sophie remembered the Leopard Shark. Once we left the Aquarium, me made our way back to the hotel. Sophie loved the trolley cars and desperately wanted to ride on an outside bench. S Since we thought this may be our last opportunity to ride the cars, we were happy to get a seat on the outside for the duration of the ride back to the hotel. She had this huge smile on her face the whole ride back and those big blue eyes were so wide-eyed as she took in the sights. Meanwhile, Jake kept us in stitches with his knock knock jokes and his infectious laugh. We ate in at the hotel, ordering too much food that we hardly touched.

Saturday we went to the Bay Discovery Museum, which is geared toward kids Soph and Jake's age. I think they really enjoyed the place. Lots of tactile things to do. There were a couple of neat climbing areas. Sophie loved the arts and crafts part, too. In fact, she said that was her favorite part of the day (and the trip).

That night we drove to see some relatives of Julie's (Bob and Linda Banfiel) for dinner. I thought it was really nice of them to have us over for dinner. They had just returned from a trip and their house is in a bit of disarray due to remodeling, but it was comforting to be around family.

That leaves us with the race. I had a great time running this half marathon. The weather was perfect for running. Mid-60's and drizzling. I woke up, anxious, at 5:45 am. This would have been great if I had to run soon thereafter, however my portion of the race did not begin until 8:45. So, I had to kill 3 hours. Never the less, this allowed me plenty of time to grab a taxi to the buses that would take me to my starting point.

I did not find the "up" hills all that terrible. They were more of a gradual incline followed by some leveling out. The down hills.... that's another story. There were a couple of steep drops that I thought were going to take my knees out. In fact, my left knee (not the one I've been using a brace with) started to ache terribly a couple of times during the run. Nut I thought this was a much more relaxed race than the Honolulu marathon. I was able to take in a lot of the sights and appreciate San Francisco. I fell in with a group that was running a 2:15 pace and a 7/1 run walk. So I stuck with that 7/1 run walk even after that group left me behind. I didn't bring my water bottle, choosing to drink water at each water stop (and walking through those stops as well). This worked out great. At no point did I ever feel dehydrated. By the very end, as I was passing the beautiful baseball park there along the pier, I started to get very hungry. That, and my legs (not my feet) aching were the two big things I took from this race and will address for the marathon.

The course I ran took me through the park by the SF zoo, into Haight-Ashbury and into some of the industrial areas. I would love to someday try the whole run. But it was an expensive trip, so I don't know when that might be.

It was such a great trip. And to come to the end of the race and see Julie, Sophie and Jacob cheering for me, that made everything worth it.

Aloha