I continued to run and just enjoy this experience for the next 4 or 5 miles. I honed in on my music. I ran to the beat of the music. And I continued on my journey. The one thing that I was not prepared for was the mental gymnastics I was doing at each mile marker. I was a little disoriented with this and kept referring to my Garmin watch for my correct miles. It was also a bit disorienting to know that everyone else in this race was only running 13.1 but that I was running 26.2. But at the same time, it made the 2nd half of my journey definitely more interesting and it was super awesome to be out in Austin and running the course. It was great to see all the other runners out there. In fact, at about mile 19 I saw an old friend of mine Steven Elkins. He used to be the CIO of CTM at the City of Austin where I work. We chatted for a bit about working from home and running. I tried to explain I was running a full marathon and was on mile 19 of my journey. Steven said that I looked good. That I was really looking good for running that far. As I continued on my run, I noticed the fatigue set in. And somewhere at around between miles 20 and 22, the pain started to kick in. My sister Jenny was waiting for me at somewhere between miles 10 and 11. I found her at about mile 24 and yelled to her, “Whose idea was this again?” I was definitely in pain.
