finish line fireworks

For the past five months, I've been training to run the annual Atlanta 10K, the Peachtree Road Race. I worked my way from 2 miles to 5.5 miles... and then two weeks ago developed an annoying pain in my right foot. After talking with some people and visiting my chiropractor, signs pointed to Plantar Fasciitis, the inflammation of the muscle that runs from the toes back through the heel. So I stopped running for a while, iced it and stretched a ton.
The morning of July 4th, race day, I was feeling pretty good. After an early breakfast of banana pancakes that my Dad whipped up, I met Ryan and his family to carpool downtown. We started out running with my friend Becca, who by some stroke of luck found us among the masses. What started out as a dull ache in my heel in Buckhead was a throbbing pain in my Achilles tendon by midtown. We stopped to walk for a minute, started running, and had to stop again. I wanted to cry.

Then right before Spring Street, I found my Dad's friend, 80+ year-old "Papa Bill," who has watched the Peachtree for the past 25 years. He was decked out in American flags, and as I left him he yelled through his megaphone, "Go, Devon, go!" So I did. The last 2 miles were a struggle, with a shooting pain consuming my right leg every few minutes, but I was hell-bent on running the remainder. We finished in 70 minutes — longer than I would have liked it to take, but under the circumstances, I was OK with that.
I'm exceedingly grateful for all the support and words of encouragement from my family, coworkers, friends and Ryan — who stuck with me, even though he could have run the course twice in the time it took us! THANKS EVERYBODY :)