The View from the Other Side

So despite my best efforts, I abandoned blogging way before I intended to last year.  I had so much to say.  If you followed my earlier efforts, you would know that I am a mediocre runner who was training to run the NYC marathon for the very first time at the age of 54 at this time, last year.

I covered some simple topics - training, mindset, yoga with running, frustration.

I had so much to say! So little time to say it!

The happy ending to that story was that I saw it through; I raised $3,500 for Fred's Team/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I finished, injury-free.  Recovery was not so bad.

Everything that I had heard but doubted proved to be true....the training is harder than the marathon; it would be an experience I would never forget, the "bug" would bite me.

They were right.

I trained, I cried during some of my long runs, I learned the value of epsom salt baths and ice and pasta.  I questioned my sanity, I wondered what I was thinking and why I thought this might be a good idea.  I learned how to run with large quantities of water and to tolerate gels.  I couldn't wait for it to be over.  "One and done" became my motto.  

I prepared 6 hours of playlists to entertain me during the marathon.  

During the last week pre-marathon, I approached the event with a mix of dread, anxiety and terror.  I worried about everything - the weather, the port-o-sans, event security.  I ran out and made extravagant last-minute purchases of socks and underwear and cold weather gear which, I hoped, would ensure my success.  I had a legendary breakfast of lemon waffles AND oatmeal the day before.

Then, something crazy happened...I showed up, waited 3 hours at the starting village in Staten Island, NY in unheard of windy, cold weather conditions, started....and the rest is history.  Thus began one of the greatest, most memorable events of my life (outside of my wedding day/births of my children/college commencement, of course).

As it turned out, I didn't need 6 hours of playlists...I only listened to about 15 minutes' worth of music on the Queensboro Bridge.  I couldn't tune out the experience.  I didn't want to miss anything.

Friends and family came to cheer me on - starting in Brooklyn and following me all around the city. Friends at home tracked my progress on the New York Road Runner's marathon app.  The well wishes and suppoprt were overwhelming.  Suddenly, loved ones were at 59th Street, 61st Street, along First Avenue, in Harlem, the Bronx, at the entrance to Central Park. If they came to see me, I stopped to hug them.  Seeing familiar faces along my journey made me feel a bit like Dorothy en route to the Emerald City.  

So, now....I'm training again.  And fundraising.  But the view from the other side is quite remarkable. The first time I ran after the marathon, about 2 weeks after, I discovered that running had taken on a completely different quality.  The experience left me with a sense of trust in myself, my body, my feet, my spirit  - everything - that nothing else can really compare to.  

So now this training cycle is different as well...knowing what to expect and knowing how I will feel during, say, a 16 mile training run is both a blessing and a curse.  It's sort of knowing what labor and delivery will be like after you've already had a baby and are having another one.  I've lived and learned and will be taking cues from last year to try to make this year a little better.  First on the list - running with a group of people during the long runs....hopefully it will prevent me from crying a little bit.

And I will continue blogging past August.  Stay tuned.