Virginia Beach Wrap-Up

The Virginia Beach Half Marathon is over, but it's still not far from my thoughts.

After the race, our group celebrated in style with a tasty lunch and beverages at Chick's, which overlooks Lynnhaven Inlet. Chick's is next door to the Dockside Inn, which we visited the day before. That night, we had some fun times near the beach, most of it at Harpoon Larry's on 24th and Pacific. I love that place. We downed Yuenglings and steamed shrimp, got smoked by some locals in foozball, and listened to excellent tunes as we recapped the weekend. Earlier, Anne got on one of those Ellen Degeneres rolls for which she's famous ... a fly landed in her white wine, and the next 30 seconds went something like this (as she scooped out the drunk fly with some paper): "I was enjoying that wine. Boy is someone going to be upset tonight (as she starts to impersonate the fly's wife): 'Where have you been all night? ... I sure hope you didn't get an FUI.'" The fly lived, for those of you wondering, to torment other tourists and their drinks.

Dan Flagler captured the weekend and race aura with some great photos he posted here. I've included a few of those and mine on this page. Dan is a funny guy, as you can tell from the captions at the bottom of the photos. I'm grateful to him, Anne and Dave for being with me last weekend. The trip was more fun and meaningful because the experience was shared with great people. I'm proud of Dave ("The Baumer"), who had never run farther than 10 miles. I think he is a true runner ... his first half marathon at 2:02:43 is a strong showing. His pace remained consistent the whole race, between a 9:12 and a 9:17.

By the way, my official finish was respectable, I thought, especially on wobbly legs the last 20 minutes. I finished 4,526 out of 17,018 finishers and about 22,000 entrants. I finished 3,088 out of 7,442 men and 452 out of 1,102 men between 40-44.

Monday was one long reminder I ran 13.1 miles and walked another six as a tourist. The soreness in my legs was as deep as I've ever felt. Deplaning on the tarmac at Reagan National was no fun. On the other hand, eating some foods I haven't eaten since the spring has been fun. I feel about 90% today and will probably run tomorrow night or Friday sometime.

I am proud of my second grade son, Will, who finished first in cross country practice the other day. As Kathryn said, "He beat the third graders." Will is a natural athlete and I like that his competitive fire is starting to burn. I also like that the classmate who finished second to him waited outside his car the next day when he saw Will, then walked in to school with him. Friends first, competitors next. Two good boys at a great school. Kathryn is also a good runner. Both will be competing again in a league this fall, which they enjoy.