Dear friends,
Yesterday, I reached my goal of running 26.2 miles in the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon! I want to thank you for your support; without it, this experience would have been far less meaningful. Your contributions added up to over $7,600, shattering my minimum fundraising requirement by over $5000 and making me one of the top 5 contributers to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society from the greater San Francisco Bay Area. I can't thank you enough.
The race itself was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life, and also one of most rewarding. I set a very ambitious goal for myself -- to run the race in 3 hours and 30 minutes. For the first half of the marathon, I was having a great time running, talking with people, cheering along with the spectators; but by Mile 14, it started to get really hard and I realized that I probably should have paced myself better.
Over the next 10 miles, it got more and more challenging and I become more and more miserable. "Just keep running," I told myself, as I threw my 3:30 goal out the window. By Mile 20, the sun had come out, it was getting humid (in addition to being hot) and I realized I had about an hour more of running before reaching the finish line. Ugh. On Mile 22, my lowest point of the race, I caught eyes with a Team In Training (TNT) coach who started running along side me. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm gonna make it," was all I could say.
About 20 minutes later, I passed another TNT coach who saw me shuffling along and yelled, "THIS IS WHY WE TRAIN!" I wouldn't be surprised if most people in my state--unable to feel the bottom half of my body, parched beyond belief from the heat, wishing with all the world to give up--would have turned to him and said, "SCREW YOU!" But instead, it was the exact motivation I needed. I picked up my feet and started to increase my pace. In the last half mile, I focused on the path in front of me, blocked out the cheering spectators, the rock bands, the pain, the thirst, and the heat, and sprinted as fast as I could.
After 4 hours, 1 minute, and 27 seconds, I crossed the finish line. (Check out http://tinyurl.com/dannygreene to see the picture.) I had done it. I had run 26.2 miles, farther than I ever had in my entire life. I had reached my goal and was proud of my accomplishment.
Now, a day later, I'm still having trouble walking. People have asked me, do I have plans to run another marathon? Ehhhh, probably not. As I said, the first half was great fun. I think that half-marathons may be more my cup up of tea.
Again, thank you so much for your support. The past 5 months have been an incredible experience from raising awareness and funds for the fight against blood cancers to training for the big day. I thank you for joining me on this journey.
All my love,
Danny
