On Sunday, I ran my first marathon. It was a perfect day, a perfect venue, and a great race. My whole family was involved in the race in some way or another. My sister and brother ran the marathon. Gina and my other 2 sisters ran the 8k. Ana and her cousin ran the kids’ race. My sister-in-law, and even my mom(!), raced the half marathon. It was something to see my mom out there.

I finished in a respectable 3:25:43. My target was 3:20, so I’m happy. With some more training, I think qualifying for Boston (3:10) is within my capabilities.

The only downer is that my dad hit his head on the stove vent just before leaving the house for the race. It was bleeding and he was dizzy, so he missed his first Victoria marathon in 5 years. But he doesn’t give up too easily–I’m sure he’ll be running another marathon within a few months.

Today Sam uttered his 7th word. He grabbed a candy bar in the supermarket, thrust it towards Gina, and uttered, “Buy.”

Meanwhile, Ana was exhibiting her consumerism in a more sinister manner. Upon getting the groceries to the car, she showed Gina a package of Halls that she had swiped. “See?” she said impishly. Gina marched her back inside, and made her say sorry to the grocery clerk (who was having trouble holding back the laughter.)

I had the 97th fastest swim in the 2005 Vancouver Sprint Triathlon–or 58th slowest, depending on how you want to look at it. It took 17 minutes for me to swim 750 meters, 38 minutes to bike 19km, and then 22 minutes to run 5km. Overall, I finished 27th. It was lots of fun, and has me psyched to do more triathlons next year.

I ran 20 miles today, my longest run ever. Everything’s shaping up well for my marathon on October 9th. Unfortunately for Gina, she got bad shoe advice from the Running Room. After a single 10-mile run, her arch started to collapse. She’s been unable to run for a week, so her marathon ambitions have been dashed. She’s still hoping to run the half.

I had a meeting in Whistler yesterday. On the way back home, I stopped at Browning Lake and tried out my new 19 Riptide wetsuit. My only other wetsuit experiences were with old, ill-fitting wetsuits that I borrowed. This one fits like a glove and is designed specifically for triathlons. It practically did the swimming for me! It gives me a little more confidence that I can do the swim portion of the Vancouver Triathlon next month without drowning.

If you don’t have a GPS, try the Google Pedometer. It’s a hack of Google Maps, and it lets you trace out any route and get a distance calculation. It was put together by a marathoner from Britain.

I’ve been working on redesigning my training schedule for the marathon. This month’s Runner’s World talks about the FIRST running program, which has you doing just 3 intense running workouts a week plus 2 cross-training days. Another great site is McMillan Running–check out their calculator for figuring out how fast you could run for any distance. And to find an event in the Lower Mainland for any weekend you want, see the BC Athletics Calendar.

I took my 16-year-old time trial bike out for a ride today. It’s neon pink, which was a wicked cool color in 1989. The tires were flat and the chain was dry, but I fixed her up, rode down to the delta, and opened it up. I used to be able to do a 40K time trial under an hour, but I had trouble averaging 35km/h today. It was still fun. Gina and I are going up to Nelson next weekend, and we’re thinking about doing the short course triathlon on July 31st. Just for laughs.

My ankle recovered marvelously, and I’ve been back running about 25 miles/week. I’m eyeing the Royal Victoria Marathon, so long as my body holds up. I think it’ll be a big family affair: my Dad always runs it, and this year my older sister is signed up too. Gina’s talking about it, and my brother’s done it in the past. And it’s a nice flat course at a cool time of year, perfect for a first-timer like me.

I used to race road bikes, back in 1991, 92, and 93. So I always follow the Tour de France each year. But I’ve never had cable, and for the last 3 years, I haven’t even had a TV. This year that all changes. I ordered full cable on June 28th, and had Mike get a TV from his roommate, who’s always rescuing them from the trash. On July 2nd at 6am, I started my morning ritual for the next 23 days: I tuned in to OLN and watched stage 1 of the 2005 Tour de France. Go Zabriskie! Go CSC! Go Basso!