Hobbies?

[Jeff in Ottawa]

I do photography and run. You've all seen some of my photos. This weekend I am running a half marathon 13.1 miles in Columbus OH.

Hey, Jeannie, how was your half marathon?

Like Jeannie, I run. In three weeks I'm running my first full marathon. The Ottawa Marathon has turned into the biggest and fastest race weekend in Canada – 12,000 running 10 km, 12,000 people running the half marathon (13.1 miles/21.1 km) and about 8,000 people running the full marathon (26.2 miles/42.2 km). Last year's races saw new records for the fastest marathon ever run in Canada in both the men's and women's categories. Crazy stuff! I'm just hoping to finish in less than 4 hours. I ran my last long training run today – 20 miles in 2:59:21. When I finished my shoes were completely soaked and actually went "squish" with each step.

I also play goalie in hockey and for a 38-year-old guy I have some pretty impressive flexibility. I can still do the splits once I'm warmed up and hurt myself earlier this winter by doing them so quickly I bounced my, ahem, "cup" off the ice with quite a bit of force. Ouch!

I also do some work-related stuff by doing public events like chemistry magic shows. We have one coming up next Saturday. It should be a lot of fun.

 

[Jeannie]

Hey, Jeannie, how was your half marathon?

It was fairly good. I was only 10 seconds slower than my PR. The last 3 miles were really tough with long uphills and steep downhills. Mile 13 was all uphill on a brick road. My thighs are still sore.

Good luck with your marathon. I have no desire to ever run a marathon.