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It happened one summer day between my junior and senior years in high school.  I was lounging around at the University Country Club pool  in Arlington with some friends when a guy who had graduated a few years earlier came up looking very sweaty and worn out.  We asked him what he’d been doing and he told us he just ran in from the beach.  I was absolutely floored.  I couldn’t imagine that undertaking.  It’s something that I’ve thought about from time to time.

I’m less than three weeks away from the Livestrong Marathon in Austin and last weekend I had to do my last long run in preparation for the race.  So at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday an out-of-town guest and I left my house in Riverside and set out.  We ran along the Riverwalk, behind The Landing then over the Main Street Bridge.  After a little jaunt around San Marco we jumped on Beach Boulevard and just went. And went and went.  In the end, after about five hours and 21.5 miles we touched the Atlantic Ocean.

I wouldn’t exactly call it a bucket list item, but it was a wonderful feeling nonetheless.  I didn’t feel all beat up after the run like I have after my two earlier long runs.  More importantly I felt confident that I had a good chance of successfully completing the upcoming marathon.