Wooooooooooooooo!! I did it!
I had an amazing run yesterday. The physical pain was greater than before but the mental joy was a high point I’ll always remember.

First, just let me get the whining out of the way. On Easter Sunday of last year, a month after the last marathon, I broke a bone in my foot jumping off of a waterfall. I fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in my left foot. The podiatrist told me that this fracture takes a year and a half to fully heal. Also, a bone callous developed over the break and was rubbing on the tendon in my heal causing great pain and inflammation. He told me that I was not risking permanent damage but that it was going to hurt. Right on all counts! He watched me run and said that I was favoring that foot. I decided that I could hang with the pain.
What I didn’t account for is that because I was favoring that foot I was taking shorter strides on the hurt foot and longer strides on the other. In the 29,000 steps it takes to go 26.2 miles, any irregularities in one's stride become huge.

Here’s my account of the big day:
The night before the race I only slept in little 30 minute naps because I was so excited that I kept waking up and looking at the clock. 5 AM rolled around and I decided that it was time to roll. Shower, suit up, coffee, and whole wheat blueberry pancakes from Kristin and we went to the starting line.
At 7:30, I did an interview with Fritz Coleman of NBC4. I told him that I was so excited that I might puke on him. He laughed. The natural buzz of the event was very much like that excitement before a huge show like 3-11 day.

Boom! 8:24 AM, the starting gun went off. I kept thinking, “Go slow. Don’t be cocky and pour it on like last time.” I had this surreal feeling of going backwards as the front of the pack took off.
At mile 2, I noticed a sharp pain in my right calf, where it connects to the back of my knee. I must have pulled a muscle by taking a longer stride with that leg because I was favoring the other foot. No big deal. Walk it off. At least this time I had the right shoes! It was a beautiful morning. As we ran through Hancock park I was struck by my first wave of gratitude at how lucky I am to have such a fantastic life.

Around mile 8, a guy from NBC4 asked if I’d do an interview while running. I told him I’d love to. They had a camera on a motorcycle and a journalist (whose name escapes me) ran with me. Right before we did the interview, the first couple of 311 fans were on the side of the road and they cheered and waved and handed me a water bottle. Thank you!!!
The interview started just after they showed Kenyan runner Fred Mogaka win the race in 2:17:12. I told the interviewer, “I thought I was gonna win this thing until a minute ago!” Just kidding.

click here to check it out...

At the half way point, my leg was in spasm. I felt like the muscle was going to snap off and roll up inside my calf like a window shade. I had to walk. At mile 14, Kristin was waiting for me with some encouragement and some food and an energy drink.
For the next couple of miles I was on a walk-run pace. I would jog until the pain became too great and I’d have to walk a while.

At mile 17 something amazing happened. I guess you could say I got my second wind. I forgot all about the pain I was in and I was overcome by the most beautiful feeling of gratitude. I was thinking about all the wonderful people in my life. My fans, my girl, my band mates, my family, friends, etc... Tears were rolling down my face. That moment made it all worth it. I ran hard for about four miles.

Then the bottom dropped out. It felt like my calve muscle was ripping. I had to walk. I cranked up some Bad Brains on my iPod and limped along as fast as I could. I knew that I wasn’t going to beat last years time but I was going to finish.

Kristin and Zack met me at mile 25 and walked/ran with me until the finish line was in sight. I crossed the finish line and saw my friend Laurence who gave me my medal. I thought that I might barf on him, but then I started looking around thinking about what a great day it was and I felt really good. I finished in 5:39. About 11 minutes longer than last time.

So that’s my story! A special thanks to all the contributors that made the day such a triumph! As soon as all the donations are in we are going make some good sized donations to various research organizations. It looks like we are going to blast through last years total!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!! Nick