Well it’s been over a week since I did something that I thought would be impossible one day, and that was to run a full marathon – 26.2 miles. Well it probably ended up being 26.5 miles with some weaving in and out of the crowds, but yeah – it’s a long way to run.
To say that I was fortunate to be on a team to run for something other than myself is an understatement. It was absolutely the best decision I could have made for NYC. We do a fair amount of fundraising for JDRF (you can still donate HERE if you haven't already) and I was pretty excited when they allocated me one of their spots back in April. But the thing is when you run with a charity team is that when the going gets tough, you know that you’re running because someone else has it tougher than you. So really, it’s not that tough for you as the runner. You know you are lucky to be healthy enough to even consider, let alone finishing, a marathon.
When I realized that I wasn’t going to hit my goal time, I’ll admit that there was some disappointment but it didn’t deteriorate into anger or frustration. I’m proud of myself for that as that realization occurred at mile 19 or 20. I had been out there for 3 hours at that stage and was working pretty hard, but I am thankful that I wasn’t delirious enough to forget why I was out on the course. I never got to that “dark place” that sometimes happens when you have a crappy outing in an event that lasts a long time (long is a relative term here).
The day was so special because I had the chance to have my family and friends out on the course cheering me on. They definitely wore out their Metrocards chasing me down from place to place, and while they didn’t hit every planned stop to see me at, they did a phenomenal job. Cousins were thrown into duty at the last minute and did a more than admirable job. Friends got thrown into the mix with crazy signs authored by Marc, my sister, my brother-in-law and my nephew. And of course, we had team t-shirts.
My parents, who have lived in the NYC metro area all of their lives, got to see a true NYC event for the 1st time ever and the spirit that goes with everything that is the NYC Marathon. It was a treat listening to them tell stories of their fellow comrades in the finish line cheering section. You can tell they were impressed with it all and trying to take it all in. The fact they missed me going across the finish was kind of ironic and a bummer, but I know they were anxious for me and cheering no matter what the outcome was.
And obviously Marc did his thing with ensuring that I had absolutely everything I needed from him – from taping me up the night before to making sure I had everything before I left to catch the bus to the start to having cheers and gels on the course to having clothes for me to jump into after it was over. I have no idea how I would have been able to pull this off without him there by my side.
The cheers came in from all over the place via phone,e-mail, cards (via USPS!), texts, Facebook and Twitter. It was a big deal having that kind of support. While I wanted to deliver an awesome performance with respect to my final time, I know that they were all proud of me for just keeping it simple.
“Say What You’re Gonna Do. Go Do What You Said.” That I did. I ran a marathon.
Final time: 4 hours,14 minutes and 4 seconds. A new PR.
And we'll have a geeky post on the run itself in a few days. Stay tuned.