verbingnouns

For All the Things You Do: This Mile's For You

I did it. I've done it. I'm done with it.

I decided on Thursday night that I was going to dedicate each mile to a different person who has been important in my life. It was fun to have a different person to think of each step of the way. So, many of you (family and friends) got a mile from me. I hope you liked it.

Miles 1 and 2: Feeling good. Excited. We're running a marathon. How fun is that?!?

Miles 3 through 8: running with a 78 year old man who was running his 297th marathon (going for 300, of course). He was telling us jokes, telling us about his family, keeping us entertained.

Miles 9 through 12: still feeling pretty good. Encouraged by the fact that we're almost half-way there.

13.1: Halfway point. Turning around. Robbie and Aaron were there to cheer us on. Right knee starting to hurt. Angela's knee hurting, too. It's all downhill from here (in more ways than one).

About mile 15, I say: "I think you have to be a little touched in the head to be a marathoner. You see all these people? They're all crazy - including us."

Miles 16 through 20: in pain, but hey, we're in the homestretch (comparatively).

Miles 20 through 22: thinking, "the faster we move, the faster we get done." Wondering which I wanted more: a shower or a nap. Trying to convince myself that 8 miles is nothing.

Miles 22 through 25: thinking, "if anyone I know drives by right now, I would probably get in the car with them. Just quit right now and be done with it."

Mile 26: If I had it in me, I would all-out sprint right now, but my body won't let me.

Mile 26.1 through 26.2: I finally got my second wind. If only that had happened an hour ago.

The rest of the day: sick and miserable. Thinking about how I may never be able to walk again, much less run. Sunburned, dehydrated, tired, emotionally volatile. Came home. Still sick and miserable. Seriously considered going to the ER. Did I mention I'm never running again? Finally got to sleep.

I feel much better today than I expected to. Other than the sore knee and general tiredness, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm even almost ready to retract the "never running again" statement. I will (most likely) never run a marathon again, but maybe I'll do a half-marathon some time...or a 5K. Yes, a 5K sounds perfect.

This has definitely been an interesting experience. Maybe I'll have some more intelligible thoughts to share about it in a week or two.

Posted by christin at January 14, 2007 04:56 PM | TrackBack