Here’s how the run — which we were supposed to do at a 11:20-11:40 pace, and ended up doing closer to a 13:00 pace — went:

Miles 1-4: Hey, this isn’t so bad.  Sort of boring running through corn and soy fields.   And the deer and horse flies are annoying.  But the butterflies are nice.  Josh to me, “Do you think you’ll ever do a full marathon?”  Me, “I dunno, maybe.”  Josh, “I bet you will in the next couple of years.”

Miles 5-6: The headwind after turning (South?  East?  It’s all the same out in Flatland) and all the traffic on this road is terrible.  Thank goodness we had to stop for a freight train so I could get a rest.

Miles 6-8: Hey, doesn’t your friend live on this road?  Maybe we should go say hi.  We did stop and he gave us more water and let us be in his air conditioned house, which was AWESOME.

Miles 8-10:  Did it get about 15 degrees hotter while we were in his house…and sunnier?

Miles 10-12: You know, I am totally okay with our walking these last two miles because I think I might pass out.  By this point I was wishing for some UV coverage.

And upon completing our 12th mile in 2 hours and 34 minutes, not counting the break, we called my in-laws to pick us up about a 1/2 mile from their house.  Father-in-law rolls up in his truck quipping, “Ha, couldn’t make it up heartbreak hill, huh?”  No, no we couldn’t.  But you know what — our time even with the walking was not that much slower than my first 5K a couple of years ago.  So, maybe I do have a marathon in me in the next couple of years.

* “Monday to Friday” is a euphemism.  Because we keep a clean blog here, right?