New Guitar♦  

Posted by Aaron

Those who know me well know that I can't see an instrument without looking it over, trying it out and seeing what it sounds like. Right now I have two acoustic guitars, a banjo, a mandolin, a tuba, and an electric guitar. Oh wait, make that two. I was at Glory Days Antique shop in Springfield with my mom looking for books, and I stumbled upon a room upstairs filled with instruments. Looking at the guitars, I saw a headstock that intrigued me. And what do you know! The headstock was connected to a beautiful electric guitar. A Bently Les Paul. Shaped like the famous Gibson Les Paul, this guitar sounds beautiful. The twin humbuckers still worked, it just needs a little bit of rewiring for the treble/rhythm switch. I picked her up for $99! What a great find! Bently guitar company has since ceased to exist, but people who own them say they would rather have a Bently than most any guitar you can get. Wow!

I did it!  

Posted by Aaron

Its been two days and my legs are killing me. My shoulders are sore and muscles I didn't know I have are showing themselves. But I did it. I ran the marathon. I have never had such an adrenaline rush as I had that day. The night before I spent the night at my friends Dustin and Lisa's house. They have run marathons, ultra marathons and beyond that. I'd say they are crazy, but I understand completely. They gave me the right nutrition, and woke me up at five in the morning to give me more. Went back to bed, but I was too excited to sleep. So finally at 6:45 I was at Hayward Field, waiting for the start. I wanted to get in with a crowd of people about the same pace as I was(about 9 1/2 minute miles), but ended up running near the front with the 7 minute milers! They say you should start out slow, but the adrenaline kicks in and you really can't help but start out running fast! At 7:00 the gun shot came and we were off. And stopped. And off again! And slowed. And finally off through the crowd. At about mile two Dustin jumped in with me and slowed me down a bit. At mile four we started a routine. Run three minutes, walk one. He said that's how you run a smart marathon. Lisa traded places with him at mile 13. She has run long distance with me and knows when my head starts to get a little hazy. We did well until I hit a wall about mile 16. That was the first of I think five walls. But I managed to break through all pretty well. They say mile 21 is the hardest, but I got a huge rush there and ran better than I had for miles! The support was amazing, loud music and cheering at almost every mile. My parents were waiting at mile 23 to cheer me on. I was doing pretty bad at 25, but when I heard the cheering at the finish line, I got a huge rush and sprinted the last half mile! It was incredible. I didn't enter the race to win or break records, and certainly didn'd do as well as I had hoped, but I finished it. Got in at 12:38pm, so I made it in 5:38. I've been bitten by the bug, and can't wait till the next one I can do.

Yum... I was so hungry for real food, but that chocolate energy gel was so good....

Lisa and Dustin, couldn't have done it without them.
Well, maybe, but I'd be hurting a whole lot more.
My big sister Kookie, came to see my finish:)