Today was the Veterans' Marathon / Half Marathon (that's the one I ran) in Columbia City. I got up early to head over there, and I will admit I had butterflies. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish the whole race (or at least, run the whole thing). And I didn't quite. First bad sign was the battery in the iPod died somewhere around mile 5, which makes everything a lot longer. Well, there were really no other bad signs, I guess, except I had to walk a few times throughout the race. There is a wicked hill at about mile 10; doesn't seem fair to have a big hill that late in the race. But anyway, I just walked the hill. And otherwise, I just walked whenever I got to an aid station. I took some Gatorade, drank it while I walked, got another, and walked until it was gone. I did that a few times. I also got at one of the stations a packet of something that was kind of a goo but tasted like a caramel brownie. Not sure what that was but I liked it. I finished the half marathon in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 40 seconds. Not bad for my first attempt.