Rehabilitation has been long,tedious, and frustrating. Optimistically, I registered for the 2014 Boston Marathon back in September, but by January, my hopes were dashed.
Yesterday, I read a post on the Facebook page, Running for the Health of It, where some of the most gracious people, from all over the country, post workouts and races, while offering each other support.
The post was written by Felix Shipp, from Grenada, Mississippi. Felix is an avid marathon runner, and an all-around great guy. In the post, Felix indicated that he hoped to run the 2014 Philadelphia Marathon, and encouraged others to join him.
Second to Boston, Philadelphia is my favorite marathon. I've run versions of a Philly Marathon since 1978.
Strains of the 'Rocky' theme echoing in my head, and counting the months to November, this was the motivation I needed. In addition, after a long, dismal winter of being homebound, my wife, Crissy, renewed her dedication to training, setting as a goal running a half marathon before the end of the year.
After some discussion last evening, we decided:
It's on!!
She will run the Philadelphia Half Marathon, while I will work furiously to restore the gimpy leg and take another crack at the marathon.
This morning I called my daughter, Kelly. It was at Philadelphia where she and I ran our first marathon together in 2010. She indicated that she and her fiancé, Mike Silvestrini (they will be married in May) will also run the marathon.
So, for the first time, my wife, daughter, son in law, and I will take our spots on the Ben Franklin Parkway, starting a race together.
Pretty cool.
Felix is going to have to give up southern cooking for a bit and try a Philly cheesesteak. Then I hope to take him on a tour of our local landmark, Yuengling, America's Oldest Brewery.
We runners are all one family, and it's great to have one's family along for the run.
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