Pictures at 26.1 and 26.2

I just don't think you can get an attractive picture from a 26.2 mile race. Really.

I was at least hoping to get a sweet hard-core one that looked like I was in agony. Or one where I looked really focused, like "run that ye may obtain/endure to the end" style. Or one where I look really fit and happy, thumbs-up style, you know?

Instead, they only got pictures of me near the finish line when I was high on oxygen and delirious from 4 hours of running and couldn't wipe this dorky smile off of my face. I was pretty bugged.

Feel free to browse. The URL is http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?69279311 .

By the Numbers: Rocket City Marathon, 12 December 2009

46112 - Approximate number of steps taken between the starting line and the finishing line

4 - Toenails that turned black during training

2 - Pairs of shoes worn out during training

1 – Number of friends that came to cheer me on

10+ - New friends made along the course

225 – Weight of the self-proclaimed “Fattest, fastest Jew in Georgia”

245 – Real price of the running gear I bought at the expo on Friday

50 – Actual dollars spent on said running gear

30 - Minutes the Rain Gods waited to let loose after the last marathoner had finished

1500 - Runners in the race

1254 - Finishers

575 - My place

2 – Number of heroine-laced “Gu” packets consumed during race (No, not really “heroine”…if you’ve used them you know what I mean)

3:58:20 – Time I was running

3:58:02 – “Official” time you’ll find on the Rocket City Marathon page

2689 - Approximate number of calories burned

38 – Degrees Fahrenheit in Alabama on Saturday

38 – Degrees Fahrenheit in Colorado on Saturday (now that’s just not fair!)

And the most important number of all: 26.2, baby!

Bam!