I s'pose you COULD feel disappointment if you look at the Beach to Beacon as a destination; I prefer to look at it, and everything that lead up to it, and everything that has sprung or will spring from it....all as a journey..a process to experience, to enjoy, to learn from, to spring from . But the PROCESS was great!!! You made some new friends, fought off a fair amount of temptation to ditch practice, you created your first blog, you got some great exercise, you loved being out in that fresh air and enjoying that great view, you got NEW SHOES...and YOU SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED the 3 mile run! That all sounds like pretty good stuff from where I sit!!! So quit with the pity party already!!!! Those of use still sitting on the sidelines getting vicarious enjoyment from YOUR JOURNEY are pretty da**ed proud of you!!!!!

SYNOF!!!!!!

Do not beat yourself up!! You did a lot of good things and invested a lot of time. Being disappointed is one thing but you need no excuses. Perhaps this line sums it up well.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
~John "The Penguin" Bingham

It takes guts to start. It takes even more to start and hang it all out for the public to see and read.

So dust yourself off. Let the foot heal and if you are up for the "Trail to Ale" go for it. There will be another Beach to Beacon in 2008 and I hope you will be there again and this time you will get it done.

Be proud you earned it.

I'm with your mom....um I mean your number one fan, you should be proud of yourself for the journey, not the destination. You're my hero for even trying. :) Count me in for the trail to ale....I'll start training now on the hills of Acton...and I might be able to "wrunk" it. Besides, I'm up for any race that gives you beers and pizza at the end. Love ya!!!

SYNTF

Eeks, I take that back. The trail to Ale is September 16th, the morning after a bachelorette party I have to go to. There's no way I'll be ready for that. Oh well, I'll be there in spirits, I mean spirit. :)

I will echo all sentiments above. The journey is the reward. Be proud, you've earned it. xox

Let's just set aside the actual running part for a second, which frankly, I think wasn't worth the time anyway unless someone was chasing you/you just heard there was a PBR sale at Hannaford and had no wheels.

Accomplishments from this effort that I've seen so far are:

1) Spun off "Ugly" as an adverb as in "ran ugly". I've been using it for the last month. "Man, my guitar playin's gotten ugly." That sort of thing.

2) Shown us that if you're going to go back to smoking it's best not to announce it in a blog where you're mom's a reader. I learned that one just in time, so thanks!!

3) Who knew about Body-Glide? I didn't.

4) Food is your friend. Welcome back.

5)Except for Baklava, well now that you've tagged it to cadaver skin that is.

6)Who isn't addicted to Craigslist now?

7)Single-handedly revived birth control by posting a picture of your ex. (in my house anyway)

8)Created a stirring debate on the age-old "beer or veggies?" question.

9) I always thought Shatner was the devil. hmm, or I guess cotton. Just kidding Shatner is the shiznet.

10) If there were more videos on mainetoday like that one you made, I would never leave the house. I mean I'm happy for that woman's dog being old and all, but come on.

11) They still make Etch-A-Sketches, and there are some modern masters of the sketch right here in Maine.

12) Ex-smokers, particularly parental ex-smokers are exceedingly harsh at times, though loveable.

13)Taught us the difference between lactate and lactose, without once edging into the verb tense of the word.

14)"Want to run? Go run. You like beer? Then drink beer. Discovered a new addiction to buffalo chicken wings? Then by all means, chow down." Is that Lao-Tzu crying I hear?

15) Who's are bigger yours or Jack's? The debate continues...

16) Soda is much cooler when you call it "Pop". I mean, I knew that before, but others might not have.

17) I'm not gonna touch the "Righty" favoritism.

and

18) There's nothing wrong with giving something your all and saying "damn the consequences". Do that next time you're out drinking and chowing wings. As a matter of fact, you should say it out loud a lot while that's happening.

So, what's the next step, what's the next blog topic?? That three day absence really made my work week suck, and I'd appreciate it if that didn't happen again.

JC

JC-

That is one of the best blog postings I've ever gotten (no offense, mom)! It was a walk down memory lane - I had forgotten about some of those entries and I WROTE THEM for crying out loud. And by wrote them I mean paid an intern five bucks a week (free pop on Fridays) to write them for me.

Thanks for the memories - and to everyone's non-harsh comments.

There is a new blog (no running involved, thank god): http://www.mainetoday.com/shannon/

bahhhh no prob Shan,

i mean, you did the running and all, so what's a few words.

the wasted blog is good, but maybe something more thematic. that worked well here. It's hard to be funny with random stuff.

oh, and more videos. well thought out, cinematic videos that is. if i want to see, well, let's just say i'd watch roger's vblog.

JC

JC, you're an 'effin genius. (I wasn't going to say anything about the ex, but way to do it for us...)

Shannon, you've made us all proud anyway. Celebrate your accomplishment with a frosty cold beverage and a thingy of Hot Pockets.

OK, so now you only get half a pitcher and half a plate of wings!! Hope you're feeling better.