Just before the 19th mile I quit. I pressed the stop button on my GPS watch and turned off of the marathon course onto a street that I knew was a shortcut to the finish area. I unhooked one of the safety pins holding my race number bib onto my shirt and started walking.

It was around mile 16 that I started contemplating dropping out of the Richmond Marathon. I was running across Lee Bridge at my target pace of 6:50 minutes per mile. This crossing of the James River is known for a slight uphill that can have punishing winds. But today's runners were lucky as the moderate wind was actually blowing from behind, providing a tail wind.

I had been doing well up to that point, eating my energy gels as planned, drinking a little at each water station and even trying to enjoy the course scenery. However, my quadriceps were hurting and the pace became more and more difficult. I continued in hopes that the next turn would put me on less of an incline and the pace would become easier.

It didn't. The wind was now slightly head on and the road was still a gentle uphill. Just after mile marker 17, I slowed down, but kept running. I was wrestling with the idea of dropping out. "There is no reason to continue on and suffer like this. It will only get worse," I told myself.

At the next water station I walked for a bit. I looked behind me to see if I could see Tim, my running partner. We had started together, but I had pulled away from him around mile 11. I saw him coming and continued to walk until he caught up. He asked if I was hurting too and tried to encourage me saying we could still get a good time. I told him I was considering dropping out and just didn't care anymore. I couldn't keep up with his pace and let him go.

I decided to drop out and walk to the finish. And I was not going to be disappointed or beat myself up about it. I would get my phone and email the people that I knew were following my progress so they would not worry about me. Not long after is when I saw the cross street that I knew was about 2 miles from the finish. I was ready to stop and walk.

I pulled out the top right safety pin first. Perhaps it was because I didn't want to disappoint my family and running friends who were following my progress. Perhaps it was because the street I turned on is named Grace. I did not have a life changing epiphany or remember some wise words of wisdom. But before I went to remove the second safety pin, something caused the "I'm not a quitter" switch to turn on. I dug deep for the motivation and came up with this: "Dammit, I want to wear the shirt and get that medal."

I put the safety pin back through my shirt and bib, turned around to get back on the course, restarted my GPS and began running. I knew the next 7 miles would be difficult and painful. I convinced myself that 7 miles is not so long and I could push through. My pace continued to slow and I employed a run/walk strategy of running between water stations and walking while I drank. Gentle inclines felt like tough hills and gentle breezes felt like punishing winds.

I finished with mixed emotions. I had set a new personal record by about three and a half minutes. I had come in under my Boston qualification requirement. But I had quit. Sure, my quitting had only lasted about 30 seconds and nobody else even knew about it. My family and friends are all congratulating me and everyone is impressed with my finishing time of 3:11:45. That is all great to hear. I guess because I had trained for a finish time of 3 hours and because I had actually walked off the course I am somewhat disappointed.

It is hard to say why I couldn't keep up the pace. I don't think the course or the winds are to blame. I know I was plenty full of carbohydrates and never felt like I hit the wall. I think I can only blame my training. Although I had met all the targets of the speed workouts, I think maybe my long runs were too slow and I did not build up the endurance to maintain that pace for 26.2 miles.

What now? I think postponing that thought process is the only thing that makes sense right now.

One year ago at this time I was training for marathon #2 and a possible BQ attempt - 3:15. On Tuesday, the 19th of October, 2010, I ran 8x800 intervals on a mostly flat greenway. My times then were 3:07, 3:01, 3:02, 3:03, 3:08, 3:05, 3:08, 3:04, 3:03. My marathon time (and current PR) was 3:15:13.

Today I am near the end of my training for marathon #3 and a possible sub-3 attempt. Goal pace runs throughout the summer and fall have been tough, but target reached. My intervals have been sporadic at best. I often felt too sore or tired to do well on them. Tempo runs have also been a struggle and usually turn into short marathon pace runs instead of reaching 10k pace.

The schedule for today was 8x800s. Last week was a cut back week and I skipped Monday's easy run, so I felt pretty well rested. I went to a local college track before work. The inner lanes were blocked with high hurdles and the public is only supposed to be on the outer lanes. So I set my Garmin to do the measuring for me: .5 mile interval with .25 mile rest - repeat 8 times with a warm up and cool down.

I did an easy 1 mile warmup and then hit the lap button to start. I did not look at my pace as I ran, just wanted to see how the first one went. Running the outside lanes is kind of nice because a half-mile is less than 2 full laps. That seemed to help mentally.

The Garmin does a countdown beep about 3 or 4 seconds before you reach the end of an interval. Actually it is probably based on distance. Interval number one: 2:52.

Based on the Yasso 800 principle if you can do 800s (half-miles) in x minutes, you can do a marathon in x hours. I was aiming for 3:00 halves. I thought, "Not bad, but can I do this 7 more times?"

Quarter-mile rest (less than one full lap unfortunately) - beeping countdown to start - GO! I figured I could back off a little and try to conserve, but somehow came in slightly faster: 2:51.

I only looked at my watch after each interval. In fact I had the screen showing the last lap pace and time of day. I was looking for anything at or under a 6:00 pace for the last lap. I could easily divide by 2 to get the actual time. Or more easily, divide the difference from the seconds and 60 by 2. For example, if the Garmin showed a pace of 5:42 as it did for that interval, I subtracted 42 from 60 = 18/2 = 9. 3:00 - :09 = 2:51. And I was able to do that during my quarter mile rest distance, which were typically about 2 minutes long. However it wasn't easy to count on my fingers while running. "Oops! Watch out for that hurdle!"

Round and round I went, starting with the beeps, ending with more beeps. To make a long story short my times came to (including ones mentioned above) 2:52, 2:51, 2:53, 2:56, 2:55, 2:56, 3:00, 2:55 (last one - push it). Here is the Garmin report.

Supposedly this indicates a sub-3 hour marathon. I reckon I shall find out on November 12 in Richmond.

Week 1 of training went well. Higdon's Advanced 2 plan is underway. My biggest adjustment to the plan is increasing the easy run mileage and the overall mileage per week. I plan to be around 50 for the first few weeks and ramp up when the longer runs get longer.

My week went like so: M - 6m easy T - 4 hill repeats + some easy miles; 6m total W - 6.3m social/easy T - Tempo Run - slowly increase to 10k pace then cool down; 6m total F - 6m easy S - 2m warmup; 5m @ marathon pace S - 10m long run Total = 47ish

Weekend long runs are done with a group in a neighboring town called Davidson. The group is known as the Davidson Area Running Team, or DART. We are known as the DARTers. We have shirts and a Facebook group.

Two of my running friends and I live in a neighborhood called Birkdale. We usually carpool up to the DART runs together. We were known as the Birkdale guys until I posted this on our FB wall: "The Birkdale Area Running Friends - aka BARF - braved the upper 90s for about 50 minutes tonight." And now we are known as the BARFers.

We need shirts - colorful ones for sure. See how fun group running can be?

My bike commute includes about a mile or so of greenway. On Tuesday mornings I leave at 5:30am in order to join a running group that meets near my office. It is barely light then so I use a handlebar mounted headlight.

And it is a good thing too as I was playing dodge the toad. I started counting them at first, but then lost track. There had to be 20 or more. Most didn't move as I went by, but one hopped across my path. I'm pretty sure I missed them all.

Twelve hours later I was biking home and saw not one, but two, black snakes on the path. One slithered off as I rode by, the other just stuck his tongue out at me. I'm thinking I won't see as many toads next Tuesday morning.

On the same greenway this morning I saw some new signs up that mentioned coyote sightings. The circle of life just keeps getting bigger.

While running on that greenway last week I saw three deer. And about a mile later I saw my dentist. That's all I have to say about that.

A code orange air level today. I don't really know what that means, but I'm drinking orange juice so maybe it'll come to me. The forecast high of 97 sounds a bit intense, but Wednesday is the one day of the week I run with my buddy after work. No wimps allowed. Nor shirts.

Happy National Running Day!

The job I started about 3 weeks ago is in the motor sport industry - NASCAR, IndyCar, Grand-am, motorcycles, etc. I've never been a big fan, but it is easy to get into it especially when your clients are involved.

Today my boss came in and asked me if I knew what today was. I said, "Friday?" He said, "Fast Friday! The last day for practice laps before qualifications at Indy." I said, "Whew. I thought you were going to tell me I couldn't eat all day."

So all day during work people were watching lap times of the practice runs. We have a race simulator in the office and took turns trying to improve our own lap times. I went for the full effect.

What a crazy weekend. My wife is out of town so her sister and I played tag team on watching kids. I have 3 and she has 4 of her own (single mom even). She originally offered to watch all 7 for the entire weekend and give me some alone time, but I wasn't having any part of that. Instead, I picked up all 7, plus a friend of the oldest, and headed for the woods.

But not until after I got a long run in with my running partner. He had texted me and said he wanted to do 15 miles with 3 or 4 of them at a 6:30 pace. I said sure, why not? It was a great morning for a run. When it came time to pick up the pace, he began to leave me behind despite my Garmin reading 6:26. Eventually he slowed down, but so did I. I ended up with miles 12 through 15 being between 6:42 and 6:59. And our route ended up with 16 miles with an overall average of 7:27.

Then I showered, got last minute things together and went camping with 8 kids ranging from 2 to 12 years old. Saturday's forecast had showers and thunder showers in the forecast. Luckily we experienced both while there, but only mildly. I even managed to start a fire as it began to rain, thanks to a good tree canopy. Two packs of hot dogs and a package of marshmallows later, they were happy campers.

The good: Talking to the deer that looked at our pancakes forlornly, seeing the kids work out the tent arrangements without my intervention, and sleeping in a hammock with one of my daughters.

The bad: Watching my nephew fall out of a tree (though I semi-caught him). He was fine and back in another tree 2 minutes later.

The ugly: The bump on the 2-year-old's head that appeared after he threw a fit and learned that head butting asphalt is not the same as the carpet at home.

Mileage this week (still aiming for 4 minimum):
Mon - 4.13 in 31:34
Tue - 4.25 in 30:30
Wed - 6.37 in 48:40
Thu - 4.01 in 30:13
Fri - 4.14 in 16.14
Sat - 16.14 in 2:01:04
Sun - 4.18 in 32:40

See also: CAMPING SLIDESHOW

I went to sleep at halftime for the Duke/Arizona game. I really didn't want to stay up late just to watch Duke win. I had a minimum of 3 miles to run before work and knew better than to stay up way past 11.

So when I woke up this morning and checked the score I was bummed that I had missed the Duke loss. Not that I hate Duke or anything, it is just always fun to see an upset.

But somehow that energized me for the morning. I thought to myself, "I gotta get down to the weight room (in apt complex) and turn on Sports Center for the highlights. I wonder if somebody got injured?" My plan, as it is most mornings if I wake up early enough, is to do a few weight exercises and then head out for my run.

I didn't get down there until about five after 6, so I missed the big story. I caught some other highlights including Butler's upset - March Madness at its finest. By 6:25 I was outside and the Garmin was locating satellites while I got the iPod queued up.

I felt good and figured I had enough time for 4 miles and get back home by 7 for ESPN to do another game recap. The temp was cooler than it has been, 38 degrees as opposed to 55+. No Doubt's greatest hits provided the background music.

"I'm Just a Girl" "Hey Baby, Hey Baby, Hey!" "You got me feeling hella good So let's just keep on dancing".

I did not look at my Garmin until after the run. "Looky there! Negative splits," aka a progression run: 8:00, 7:30, 7:04, 6:57. Not too shabby. It must be the combination of March Madness (tonight it is hoping the Kentucky Wildcats can replicate the Arizona Wildcats upset), a Friday, and slowly beginning to believe I can train for a 3 hour marathon. I always feel faster when it is cooler out too - maybe because I'm just trying to stay warm.

If it was left to me, I would probably just run to enjoy being outside and occasionally enjoy the company of other runners. However, I did talk myself into my first marathon in 2009. I used my own made up training schedule - loosely based on Higdon - and finished with 3:32:41 (8:07 pace). "I don't know why anybody would want to do that," I said to my wife after crossing the finish line.

Last summer/fall I used the Run Less, Run Faster book/training progam to BQ with 3:15:13 (7:26 pace). The BQ attempt was mainly the idea of my running partner Tim. Although his BQ requirement was much slower, he ended up finishing with me.

We have kept up our base mileage and speed throughout the winter. A recent long run of 15 miles was around 7:45 average pace. I have been running every day since starting "Run or Profess Your Love for Muskrat Love Challenge."

Last night's group run included some discussion on hitting the fastest BQ time of 3:05 and what pace that actually was. Tim, who must have been a coach or trainer in a former life, said I'm running more now than last year and am ready a new PR. I replied I'm on the "Run More, Run Slower" program.

And thus I get this text last night from Tim the Torcherer: "We only have to average 7:03 to run a 3:05 marathon. You in?"

I did not reply until around lunch today. Careful to avoid committing, I wrote, "3:05 is for wimps. Go for 3. Only 10 secs faster."

The next text from Tim: "I was a bit apprehensive about a 6:51 pace, but now that you are all in I'll consider it."

The nerve. "You know what they say about people who ASSume?" I sent back.

And he said, "Some people don't know how to commit without a little prodding. So what do you think, 3:05 or 3:00?"

I texted back, "I figure if you say 3:05 this year you'll just say 3:00 next time. And we ain't getting younger."

"Atta boy," was his last response.

Aside from a small desire to go sub-20:00 in a 5k, I had not yet felt a need to do much racing this year. Maybe I need to find a new running group...

There is a store in Albemarle, NC, named Vac and Dash. They offer running goods, vacuum sales and service, UPS shipping, racing event timing, and t-shirt screen printing. Quite an interesting variety I should say. Tomorrow is their twice a year, free, but organized, Fellowship of the Idiots run.

It started 8 years ago when a few friends did a training run from town to the top of Morrow Mountain and back - about 19.5 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain/loss round trip. Others called them idiots and the fellowship was born.

Word got out about the fellowship and it has grown over the years. Tomorrow morning, along with some running buddies, I will join the Fellowship of the Idiots.

It starts at 5:30am and the temperature will probably be a bit below freezing. The way I see it, the only thing more idiotic about running 19.5 miles at that hour is having to first drive an hour plus to get there. We will leave at 4am to become idiots.

Have a good weekend! May you have high aspirations as I do to become an Idiot.