I went back to work this week after a vacation that began with me finishing my first-and last-marathon. I finished a marathon! My co-workers all wanted to know "How was it?" I told them all the same thing-it was cold, windy, hilly, awesome, ....
What I didn't tell them is that I don't remember much of the run, not 26.2 miles worth anyway. I know it was cold, my hands were so swollen I thought they were going to explode, my legs were like jelly.. But all of those memories are like background noise. The most vivid memories are these:
The morning of the run I was terrified as we walked to the square to get on the bus. What in the world had I gotten myself into? As I approached the bus, my husband gave his best "win one for the Gipper" speech, "Keep your mind in it and remember that this is something you will carry with you for the rest of your life". Then he took my picture and I got on the bus.
Once on the bus, the three of us had to sit in separate seats. Not long into our ride "Big Sis" turned around and said to me,"You're my hero." Was this the same girl who as an adolescent only ran with me because she knew she would get a smoothie at the end? "Little Sis" who was in the seat behind me said, "I hope we get there pretty soon; it's stinky on this bus."
When we got to our destination, we were handed plastic garbage bags to protect us from the rain. During the two and a half hours we waited, we had plenty of time to find things to laugh about including the man who looked like Pinnochio. We probably should have conserved our energy...
Along the route we heard people say "Bravo Bravo Mom and Little Sis!" (we had those names on our shirts)
At mile 20 I looked over and saw my husband standing on the sidelines. He gave me a kiss and promised to meet me at the finish line.
I guess what I remember most is "Little Sis" never leaving my side even though I knew she could have left me in her dust. When people started dropping out and were getting on the rescue buses, she said, "Do you see those people getting on the bus? That is not going to be you Mom!"
As we entered the Olympic stadium, I saw my husband. I was exhausted, freezing, and near tears. The look on his face is one that I will never forget-later he told me he thought he was going to cry. At that moment, all the training and sacrifice to get there was justified; I was a marathoner! Embracing my two girls at the finish line was amazing! My husband was right; this will stay with me forever....
.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
It all starts with a dream...
The night before the Athens Classic Marathon I had a ridiculous pre-marathon dream. This happens all the time, where someone is preoccupied with something so much in waking hours that it takes over in sleeping hours as well. The dream went like this: I had a marathon to run and had to get up at 4 am - all three of boys were tagging along. It was a pot luck marathon so I had a huge crock pot full of chili I was carting along. I needed to drop off my youngest at the free babysitting services my church was providing for the marathon. No matter that the church is 30 minutes from where my "dream" marathon was to take place. I dropped him off and realized I needed to use the restroom. I sit down on a toilet and start to um...use it. All of a sudden I see that I am not in a bathroom stall but rather right out in the open - on a toilet sitting behind the welcome desk at my church. The toilet is there to promote clean drinking water around the world...there are nicely dressed ladies at church walking around the lobby and I am praying that nobody notices me. Next thing I know I am at the marathon - getting ready to start. I walk down some steps to the beach and see a huge puddle of water in the sand. I look down and see that I have forgotten my shoes...
Then I wake up. This is exactly the dream I had before I ran the Athens Marathon on Sunday. I woke up giggling and told Ryan all about it dispite it's ridiculousness.
Here is my other dream, and how it played out - this time in real life. At some point in my life, I don't remember when, I decided it would be neat to one day, before I die, run a marathon. Then one day, three years ago, I was in Marathon, Greece with my boys and hubby, and I thought, why not do the original route? My next thought was to call my mom, who had instilled in me my running habit at a young age and had always also talked about running a marathon one day. I knew that her feet had sidelined her a bit but thought I would dream big. Why not run the marathon with her? Then we can both accomplish this huge goal together. The dream got bigger. We somehow were able to talk my younger sister into joining us on our journey. All three of us, living in different parts of the country, all planning to fly to Greece to run 26.2 miles.
Then to make the dream a reality - two years of side jobs, pinching pennies to put into our travel jar, paying for one bit of the trip at a time. Finding generous friends and family to take care of our boys while we were away. Oh, and of course the running. Lots and lots of it!
Finally, my mom, sis and I were at the Runners Expo getting our awesome Adidas running shirts for the race and our bib numbers. We spent the day before touring the city and then ate a pre-race meal of pita and tzatziki. Our feet were sore, we were tired, but we were one step away from our goal!
On race day, the weather was low 40s and unseasonably cold for Athens. We took a bus to Marathon, where we spent 2 1/2 hours shivering, teeth chattering, waiting for our race to begin. I may have used up a bit of energy just freezing and waiting, with no where to get warm, no where to sit down. Cold winds and icy rain falling on us. I wore tights with a running skirt, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, a beanie hat and some hand/arm warmers I had fashioned out of a pair of striped socks I bought at the 99 cent store. I was still cold!
The race itself felt long - the hills started at about 5K, with winds at least 40 mph. Some of the wind was at our back until we hit the 24K mark, and then they started blowing against us and to the side. The wind and the cold were tough. At 20 miles the course began to go downhill which was when the running got hard for me. My stomach was nausious from GU and hunger pains and my back wasnt happy with the downhill pounding it was getting. I feel like I walked a lot that last bit.
At 27 K my hubby and step dad were there, cheering me on. Then at the end, I turned the corner into the Ancient Olympic Stadium, hit the straight-away and saw the hubby smiling and waving me on. I ran to the finish, like so many dreamers before me, and crossed through to the other side.
Then I wake up. This is exactly the dream I had before I ran the Athens Marathon on Sunday. I woke up giggling and told Ryan all about it dispite it's ridiculousness.
Here is my other dream, and how it played out - this time in real life. At some point in my life, I don't remember when, I decided it would be neat to one day, before I die, run a marathon. Then one day, three years ago, I was in Marathon, Greece with my boys and hubby, and I thought, why not do the original route? My next thought was to call my mom, who had instilled in me my running habit at a young age and had always also talked about running a marathon one day. I knew that her feet had sidelined her a bit but thought I would dream big. Why not run the marathon with her? Then we can both accomplish this huge goal together. The dream got bigger. We somehow were able to talk my younger sister into joining us on our journey. All three of us, living in different parts of the country, all planning to fly to Greece to run 26.2 miles.
Then to make the dream a reality - two years of side jobs, pinching pennies to put into our travel jar, paying for one bit of the trip at a time. Finding generous friends and family to take care of our boys while we were away. Oh, and of course the running. Lots and lots of it!
Finally, my mom, sis and I were at the Runners Expo getting our awesome Adidas running shirts for the race and our bib numbers. We spent the day before touring the city and then ate a pre-race meal of pita and tzatziki. Our feet were sore, we were tired, but we were one step away from our goal!
On race day, the weather was low 40s and unseasonably cold for Athens. We took a bus to Marathon, where we spent 2 1/2 hours shivering, teeth chattering, waiting for our race to begin. I may have used up a bit of energy just freezing and waiting, with no where to get warm, no where to sit down. Cold winds and icy rain falling on us. I wore tights with a running skirt, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, a beanie hat and some hand/arm warmers I had fashioned out of a pair of striped socks I bought at the 99 cent store. I was still cold!
The race itself felt long - the hills started at about 5K, with winds at least 40 mph. Some of the wind was at our back until we hit the 24K mark, and then they started blowing against us and to the side. The wind and the cold were tough. At 20 miles the course began to go downhill which was when the running got hard for me. My stomach was nausious from GU and hunger pains and my back wasnt happy with the downhill pounding it was getting. I feel like I walked a lot that last bit.
At 27 K my hubby and step dad were there, cheering me on. Then at the end, I turned the corner into the Ancient Olympic Stadium, hit the straight-away and saw the hubby smiling and waving me on. I ran to the finish, like so many dreamers before me, and crossed through to the other side.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
PR
All three of us are in Greece now! It was a long trip to get here - more than 24 hours of travelling in all but so fun when my mom and I met up in Holland and then met my little sis in the Athens airport!
It is now 2 am in the morning and I have terrible jetlag still after two days here. Somehow I am able to stay awake all day but it isnt helping me sleep at night. I need to officially wake up in 3 hours to get ready to head out to Marathon on the free bus shuttle from Athens.
It has been a fun trip so far filled with lots of good Greek food and culture. My mom, sister and I were talking today about the race though, and how this particular race will most likely not provide us with finish times worth bragging about.
First of all, my little sis is in a different start "block" than my mom and me. That means that she has to start 4-8 minutes up from us, cross the start line with her timing chip (due to the rules of this marathon), and then walk really really slowly until my mom catches up with her - therefore my awesome little sis who is sticking with my mom the entire way, will actually have a slower time than my mom by 4-8 minutes.
Also, the wind here is brutal - we actually almost got knocked off our feet a couple times on top of the Acropolis (I know, you feel so sorry for us, right?) :) It is super strong, gusty and wintery winds - our hope is that they will blow us UP those big hills, but we won't know until we start.
We chose one of the hilliest Marathons in the world. Not an ego booster time from that either.
Something that we did yesterday that you are really not supposed to do, is we toured and walked all over Athens all day until our feet were sore. This is our own fault and please if you want a PR do not follow in our footsteps!
The jetlag thing might not help either, but after writing this blog entry hopefully I will have bored myself back to sleep and all will be well again...
My mom had a great point last night as we were all just sort of hanging out and laughing together. We have not exactly set ourselves up for the fastest marathon times ever here. But since this is each of our alpha marathon (and for my mother, also her omega, according to her...), then each of us, regardless of time, will later today accomplish a Marathon PR for ourselves. And hey, as my hubby says, we will beat out at least 6 billion people in the world by just receiving a marathon time at all. That has to count for something, right? :)
It is now 2 am in the morning and I have terrible jetlag still after two days here. Somehow I am able to stay awake all day but it isnt helping me sleep at night. I need to officially wake up in 3 hours to get ready to head out to Marathon on the free bus shuttle from Athens.
It has been a fun trip so far filled with lots of good Greek food and culture. My mom, sister and I were talking today about the race though, and how this particular race will most likely not provide us with finish times worth bragging about.
First of all, my little sis is in a different start "block" than my mom and me. That means that she has to start 4-8 minutes up from us, cross the start line with her timing chip (due to the rules of this marathon), and then walk really really slowly until my mom catches up with her - therefore my awesome little sis who is sticking with my mom the entire way, will actually have a slower time than my mom by 4-8 minutes.
Also, the wind here is brutal - we actually almost got knocked off our feet a couple times on top of the Acropolis (I know, you feel so sorry for us, right?) :) It is super strong, gusty and wintery winds - our hope is that they will blow us UP those big hills, but we won't know until we start.
We chose one of the hilliest Marathons in the world. Not an ego booster time from that either.
Something that we did yesterday that you are really not supposed to do, is we toured and walked all over Athens all day until our feet were sore. This is our own fault and please if you want a PR do not follow in our footsteps!
The jetlag thing might not help either, but after writing this blog entry hopefully I will have bored myself back to sleep and all will be well again...
My mom had a great point last night as we were all just sort of hanging out and laughing together. We have not exactly set ourselves up for the fastest marathon times ever here. But since this is each of our alpha marathon (and for my mother, also her omega, according to her...), then each of us, regardless of time, will later today accomplish a Marathon PR for ourselves. And hey, as my hubby says, we will beat out at least 6 billion people in the world by just receiving a marathon time at all. That has to count for something, right? :)
Friday, November 4, 2011
Short and sweet
Got a confirmation email today with my bib number and pick up info for my registration packet. Yay!!!!!! Praying that Greece doesn't change currency or leadership until after we leave. Making sure our camera is in good working condition in case we catch something newsworthy in Athens or in Istanbul (course would like to come home safe and sound!). Wondering where the roller coaster ride for the US dollar is going to land while we are there...
Thursday, November 3, 2011
9 days, phew!
One funny thing that can happen when you register for an event (or book a hotel, or rent a car..) from another country is that sometimes the over-communication that we are used to in USA, doesn't happen. In the Middle East and in Eastern Europe especially we have found that we don't always get the confirmation emails that we would prefer to get. It isn't a criticism, just an observation of cultural difference.
Last March, when I registered for the Athens Classic Marathon, I didn't get a confirmation email. My husband reassured me that a bill appeared on our bank statement, but I always had a nagging doubt in the back of my mind. A part of me believed I would get to Athens, go to the Expo, stand in line at the registration table, get to the front, and find out I am not actually registered. Then I would have to sit on my butt with a $3000 dollar marathon left un-run.
So imagine my relief when I received an email from the Marathon organizers earlier this week soliciting money for charity. I texted my mom and sister a very loud "PHEW!" (if texts can be loud, that is).
This week we are still in the taper and only 9 days away from our race. I have run three 1-hour runs this week and have one more to do - next week is even slower. I am focusing on hydrating, staying healthy, injury free and also spending time with my kiddos. I am usually thrilled to get time away from my boys, but the 10 days away from them is making me anxious and a little melancholy.
My mom seems to have her packing list well underway, and I have taken a step back in that department as my main focus has been preparing the house and the kids for our 10-day absence. I did send a care package to my mom and sis this week and finished the "gift" that we are exchanging at our celebratory, "we-finished-a-marathon-alive" dinner on Monday the 14th.
Tomorrow I am going in for a sports massage and then this weekend is cleaning and packing and a little running! The taper really baffles me I admit. It seems like not running is a bad idea...but if my Runner's World training schedule tells me not to run, then who am I to question?
Last March, when I registered for the Athens Classic Marathon, I didn't get a confirmation email. My husband reassured me that a bill appeared on our bank statement, but I always had a nagging doubt in the back of my mind. A part of me believed I would get to Athens, go to the Expo, stand in line at the registration table, get to the front, and find out I am not actually registered. Then I would have to sit on my butt with a $3000 dollar marathon left un-run.
So imagine my relief when I received an email from the Marathon organizers earlier this week soliciting money for charity. I texted my mom and sister a very loud "PHEW!" (if texts can be loud, that is).
This week we are still in the taper and only 9 days away from our race. I have run three 1-hour runs this week and have one more to do - next week is even slower. I am focusing on hydrating, staying healthy, injury free and also spending time with my kiddos. I am usually thrilled to get time away from my boys, but the 10 days away from them is making me anxious and a little melancholy.
My mom seems to have her packing list well underway, and I have taken a step back in that department as my main focus has been preparing the house and the kids for our 10-day absence. I did send a care package to my mom and sis this week and finished the "gift" that we are exchanging at our celebratory, "we-finished-a-marathon-alive" dinner on Monday the 14th.
Tomorrow I am going in for a sports massage and then this weekend is cleaning and packing and a little running! The taper really baffles me I admit. It seems like not running is a bad idea...but if my Runner's World training schedule tells me not to run, then who am I to question?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)