{"id":291,"date":"2009-09-14T20:22:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T20:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/09\/a-great-weekend\/"},"modified":"2009-09-14T20:22:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-14T20:22:00","slug":"a-great-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2009\/09\/a-great-weekend.html","title":{"rendered":"A Great Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I have a couple good philosophical posts on the way, but for now, a bit of life as a runner in Montana\u2026<\/p>\n

Saturday, Julie and I headed up to Whitefish for the Two Bear Half Marathon<\/a>. After picking up our race-packs we immediately made our way to Glacier National Park for a quick shot of nature and a sunset over Lake McDonald<\/span>.\"\"<\/a>
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\"\"<\/a>Then it was off to Michele and Cody\u2019s (many thanks!) for the night before the big run. Rising early, we picked up some coffee and a bagel and made our way to the Wave fitness club for the bus to the starting line<\/span>. Getting us to the start and lined out was at times a bit hectic, but with 160+ runners and a volunteer crew, such is to be expected.<\/p>\n

We started off at 10am, 30 minutes behind schedule. After that though, everything went perfectly. My first three miles were in 6min 30sec each, due mostly to the gentle downhill and soft dirt road surface. Then at the 5 mile mark I was at exactly 35minutes, a personal best, but after that I slowed down quite a bit. From the start I was with the very fastest group of runners (about 6 or 7 leading out ahead of me and gradually getting out of sight) and for at least a few miles I ran with Adam, a fellow 20-29 yr age grouper<\/span>. Around mile 9 he began to edge out ahead of me and I never managed to catch him again. He wound up finishing just over 20 seconds ahead of me to get second place in our age group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here\u2019s Julie just yards away from the finish line. Look at those muscles!
\"\"<\/a>And speaking of muscles \u2013 an 83 year-old marathoner comes across the line.
\"\"<\/a>Me with my award for 3rd place in my age group (and my distended belly, where did that come from?). Other stats<\/a>:<\/p>\n