Well...it's been ummm close to 2 months since I transitioned from "marathoner-in-training" to "marathoner!". And umm even longer since I provided you with reading material. So while I had a successful marathon, I still feel a twinge of failure as I think of you, my poor readers, coming here daily in search of my wit, my humor, hungry for the constant joy that I once provided for your lives and leaving unfulfilled.
Fear not, I have returned.
Yes my friends, I did complete the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon, held this year on October 26. Although I did not reach my lofty goal of 4 hours, I did manage the run the entire race (run used loosely here, as the final miles could hardly be considered more than a trot) and finished in 4:23:00. Not a bad first time I'd say. The experience in general far exceeded my expectations, largely because of the people who were there that day. Of course, the MCM is known as the People's Marathon, in part because it's in Washington, DC and partly because the crowd is absolutely fantastic. There was only one part of the race where there weren't people hooting, hollering, cheering, ringing cowbells, waving signs, handing out food and vaseline (which I ALMOST mistook for gu and ate), and consistently providing a reminder that a) those of us running were, in fact, crazy and b) they loved us for it. There were two extremely important people in that crowd (well 3 actually, now that I think of it), and mother and boyfriend endured a test of a different kind as they hunted me down throughout the race and were forced to become extremely chummy after having met only once before at the chaos of my sister's beautiful wedding only a month before. Throughout the whole race, knowing that I was going to see them, with the signs my mom made, propelled me to go a little faster, to keep my head up and not look at the ground and to make it to the finish line so that they could give me the water bottle I had so stubbornly refused to carry with me. My mom arrived the night before, making me spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and getting up at 5:30am with me to make it to the start line about an hour earlier than we had to. Then of course, my friend Ryan, who I was kind of running for, because after all, he is in the seminary, kept a watchful eye out for me at mile 14, making sure the whole world knew how awesome I was! He also found my crew afterwards at Chipotle, where mom and boyfriend forced me to sit down and eat a burrito. You know, after you run 26 miles (+.2), you're really not hungry. You kind of just want to sleep. So it took me about an hour to eat the burrito, which granted, they are huge burritos, but to be realllllly honest I can usually inhale them in a good 15-20 minutes. Chewing has never required such diligence.
To be really honest, the entire marathon is kind of a blur. It was incredibly fun, I've already blocked out any pain I felt - it's kind of like having a baby (I imagine) - really, really painful at the time, but so worth it at the end. Mile 22 was the real killer - over the bridge to Crystal City. No cheer squad, people were dropping like flies on the pavement, and we had been taunted at the beginning with promises of "water at the end of the bridge!" when they failed to mention that the bridge was the longest bridge in the world. Or it seemed that way anyway. I almost cried at mile 25 when I saw a girl with a shirt that said "My sister has MS. I'm running this race for her." When I saw her again at the finish line, I told her how her shirt touched me...she replied that her sister had died 2 years ago and she needed a new shirt....funny, the memories I have.
So now I have run a marathon, what now? After taking the required 4 weeks off, I'm in miserable shape, starting to imagine what you all must have felt when I said I would do one, because I certainly couldn't do one any time soon. What I must do now is find a new challenge, a new goal to propel myself along. Since sky-diving is out of the question (bad vision, torn retinas = blind), I'm considering a triathalon. You know. If I can learn to swim beyond the doggie paddle.
Ideas? Challenges? Congratulatory flowers? I can give you my address.
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