That being said, I'm also a firm believer that things happen for a reason, and I try really hard to listen to that little voice inside my head when I hear it whispering. Ok, I admit that sometimes it has a hard time getting my attention and has to YELL at me before I listen, but as I grow older, I am allowing it to guide me more and more...with great results, I might add. And speaking of more, that is where this story began. At 30,000 feet (or however high we are when we fly from Chicago to Florida), sitting in my seat reading a magazine named "More"...which until that day, I never knew existed. A magazine for women over 40? I was less than a year from my 5Oth birthday, so I was more than qualified and considered myself part of the female demographics they were attempting to engage. How had I missed hearing about this magazine? Oh well, I found it at the airport magazine stand so now it was time to lose myself with a light read on our way home from a great family visit in Chicago, where we had just celebrated the engagement of our son and his fiancée.
Something very interesting caught my eyes as I flipped through the pages...More was sponsoring a marathon for April in NYC for women over 40...what??? How many women over 40 could possibly want to participate in marathons?? Not really surprising that I was unaware of this tidbit of information...if you know me at all, you'd understand that I am as uninformed about female sports as I am about what language is spoken by the people who live in Tahiti. Apparently, More had been organizing this marathon for six years and the numbers of participants have continued to grow each year. I had never run in my life and had a distinct aversion to almost anything athletic. In high school, I recall trying to find a way to get out of gym class and would cringe each year when the President's Physical Fitness Test was added to our requirement for our Pass/Fail grade. I'd think to myself.....you want me to run HOW many times around the track??? And sorry, but sit-ups and pushups were not my idea of fun by any stretch of the imagination. So, needless to say, I was shocked at myself for even considering reading the article, never mind that I actually checked out the website when we arrived home. The one thing that drew me back to the article...you could either run, walk or do a combination of both in the full marathon, or 1/2 marathon. What was I thinking??? It was being held in NYC...and I live in FL. I'd just left my son's engagement party and we had a busy year ahead with a wedding set for the fall. For no reason apparent to even me, I actually began to consider the training program and how I could combine a trip to visit my inlaws in New Hampshire, a quick run to Boston to see my daughter's new home and a drive through CT to visit with my mother and the rest of the family, on the way to NYC, all in a week's time. Now I knew it was a bit ambitious and crazy...but never put a problem that involves travel in front of me, I'll find a solution and add another leg to the journey to boot. And, after checking everyone's schedule, I arranged the entire trip, and I hadn't even begun training for the marathon. The logistics of all we intended to do, where we intended to drive to, who we intended to see, and where we intended to stay read like a 4 state, 4 city 1200 mile road trip. Which is exactly what it turned out to be...and it all worked pretty much exactly as planned.
But I'm jumping a bit ahead of myself....I needed to train for a 13 mile walk/run, and I'd NEVER run before...but that did not seem to be an issue...how hard could it really be??? I had one advantage over a majority of the other participants...I lived in Florida and the self monitored 4-month training sessions were set to begin in January, the most beautiful time of the year in south Florida. What a breeze that would be, no numb fingers or toes training in the harshest winter months of the year. Little did I know, I'd be wishing for some of those cool temps...I was bloody HOT during all those afternoons racing around my neighborhood. First hurdle, figure out the paths to take so that I was meeting the requirements for miles per day and time constraints per miles. I would need to complete my 13 miles in a certain amount of time or I would not be allowed to finish. The whole walk-a-minute run-a-minute was working quite well, until my knees decided they didn't like the pavement. Up until then, I'd been doing just fine on the treadmill. Someone forgot to tell me....it's not exactly the SAME. Silly me decided to try to run/walk 3.5 miles in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in January during my 3rd week of training....big mistake. I was sent home from work and ended up on crutches with bursitis.
So much for a warm sunny day in South Florida...I was freezing...brrrrr
A week later, two ugly little stretchy black knee support braces were added to my training outfit, and off I went, back on track for April. Ultimately, I was able to fast-walk a 15 minute mile which would enable me complete the 13 mile course in the allotted time required by the rules of the marathon. I have always been a quick walker in my everyday life, so the increase in my speed was not something beyond my physical capabilities. I was determined to get through the training, fly up north, visit my family and complete this marathon. Our weeklong schedule was planned to go something like this:
--Wed arrive in Boston, meet Stacey and Scott
--Wed all drive to New Hampshire for 2 day visit with husband's parents
--Thur pick up Brian and Taryn at NH airport
--Thur goodbye to S & S, they travel back to Boston (S has class)
--Fri drive back to Boston with B & T to stay with S & S
--Fri night Red Sox game at Fenway (all except me-not my thing)
--Sat goodbye to B & T, hubby and I drive to CT for brunch at brother's house
--Sat afternoon drive to NYC
--Sat night at Tavern on the Green Central Park for pre-marathon pasta dinner
--Sat night hotel in NYC
--Sun MARATHON!
--Sun back to CT stay at Mom's
--Mon night meet friends for dinner, drive back to S & S in Boston
--Tues hang out, hit the airport and home
By the time we got on the plane, I was ready...I'd made it through the grueling training schedule with the help and motivation of my husband, family and friends. Three days a week, I'd train after work by myself walking the shorter distances. He would come with me on the weekends, when we took the 10, 11, 12 and eventually 13 miles walks, as I approached the end of the training sessions. Little side note here...my feet hate to be in shoes, they are just not happy campers in anything other than an open backed wedge, mule or flip flop. I often joke that we moved to Florida 10 years ago, because I wanted to spend the remainder of my life wearing only open toed shoes...and I gotta say, I am pretty much following that credo. No one told me that your feet take such a beating during the training...this was not something I had even considered in the planning stages. I'd done a lot of research on the proper running shoes, and even purchased 2 nice pair of Adidas sneakers with the thought that I'd swap them out to keep both in good condition for the marathon. Well, 300 blisters and 400 band aides later, my feet still hated being in those sneakers. After I left NYC, and before we flew home, I gave that almost new pair of sneakers to my daughter because I knew, and my feet concurred, that I'd never be walking in those things again!!! As a matter of fact, I still have a brand new pair, in the box in my closet...perhaps I should have them bronzed :)
All of us together in New Hampshire
Our day in Boston was warm and sunny...this is just about the time I lost my prescription glasses and had to fit one more stop into our trip through CT. Thank goodness you can buy glasses in an hour!
My love affair with seafood is never ending...yummy
There is always room for dessert..like mother, like daughter...love the gelato :)
Time to carb up...that should not have been an issue, I'd been eating 3 days nonstop
Bright sunny morning in Central Park
So, you may be wondering if I ever did reach my goal and complete the half marathon, in Central Park, in New York City, on that beautiful spring morning??? Through no fault of my own, I did NOT walk the full 13 miles...the folks at More magazine decided that due to the record breaking heat wave that descended upon the city that weekend, they would not be allowing anyone to finish the race/run and cut everyone's distance in half. (In a race in another state, a few days prior to our particular marathon, a participant had collapsed and eventually died as the result of running in record breaking high temperatures). Although I completely understood the safety issues involved, I had to wonder at their concerns because I didn't even feel the heat that day...I'd trained in some pretty warm temps, so the weather felt the same to me. Not even sure if I broke a real sweat during my entire walk. There were some ladies who were dripping wet before we even started the race. The walk was a challenge for me in only one respect...I'd trained almost exclusively on flat terrain and the hills in Central Park were kicking my butt at one point. We took a few of our weekend walks up and down one of the bridges here in town, but let's face it, Florida is not well know for having hills or mountains, unless of course, you count sand dunes?
We all crossed the finish line and were awarded our medals, however for me, it felt like a hollow victory....almost as if I'd cheated to get it. My initial reaction was to plan a return trip the following year, and complete the entire 1/2 marathon. On our long drive back through CT, heading towards Boston, I reflected on all the reasons I'd attempted something so far outside my comfort zone. Never mind what other people thought, even I couldn't believe I'd be crazy enough to attempt something so physically challenging. Remember, I'm the gal who hated gym class as a teenager, and thought an indoor treadmill would be a sufficient training tool for a marathon. In 2009, I turned 50 years old..... it just seemed to be sufficient reason to strike out, into a athletic arena which was foreign to me, and attempt to prove to myself that I had the tenacity to attain a goal as lofty as this one.
Across the finish line and still fresh as a daisy...my training days in South Florida were tougher than the actual marathon.....love those cute little knee support braces...NOT!!!
As a result of my self-imposed challenge, I discovered a few things and lost a few things during my 50th year...some very important and dear to me, only one, insignificant and fleeting in nature. I lost my fear of setting a goal which initially seemed unattainable. I sadly lost a small toe nail (it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to grow back, yuck), which in and of itself solidifies my decision never to do that to my poor little toes ever again. I discovered that the love of a daughter-in-law is invaluable to the very foundation of our continuously growing family. And lastly, I gained the knowledge that it is never too late to push yourself either mentally of physically, no matter what year of your life you happen to be living in...just go out there and do it!
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