"Good morning Chris, half awake and half ready?"
It was intended to acknowledge a tradition of sending each other a text on Marathon morning. Of course we were both running the half instead of the full. So it was appropriate that I sent it about half an hour too late. Chris had already left his home and his phone along with it, thus cementing the half-ness of it all. When we met downtown to make our final preparations for the race, Chris even mentioned that he'd half expected the Marathon morning text.
In reality, I wasn't even half ready for this race when I sent the text (but I was probably close to half awake). I was kind of dreading the whole thing. But sitting in the lobby of our building, being vaguely nervous alongside a vaguely nervous Chris helped to get me mostly ready to at least head to the start.
I didn't have the best race. As far as finish time is concerned, it was my worst half in... a very long time, even though I managed a respectable 1:33:44. But it is almost exactly what I expected, given the amount of real "training" I did. I think I even recall someone asking me on Friday how fast I was going to run it, and I am pretty sure my response was 1:33 (Everett might even be able to back me up on that, because I am pretty sure he was standing there, if not the person asking the question).
It sounds like I am having a little pity party here. That's not really the case. I am disappointed in myself for how I managed to go from "Austin is going to be my best half ever!" in December to "Boy this race is going to be a train wreck!" as of two weeks ago.
No.. I didn't have the best race. But I actually had a pretty good day, race included. It started with just seeing Chris's familiar face in the morning. Before the race, I also ran into other familiar faces - Jacob, Kim, Declan, and Joe. Each of them managed to lift my spirits in their own ways. By the time the gun went off I was mostly ok with the idea of running.
The first five miles were pretty much just a painful blur (the "why"of that I may or may not get into here). I didn't really relax until the descent on South 1st street. Maybe I knew my family was up ahead, or maybe I was looking forward to something other than uphill, but things changed for the slightly better, or at least my quads finally shut up and let me do some thinking.
When I did see my family, it was a huge relief. I got some much-needed high-5's and the beginnings of a smile may have formed on my mouth.
Then Gundy sidled up next to me. I don't recall our brief conversation verbatim, but it was something like this:
Gundy: "Oh, hey Bill! How's it goin'?"
Bill: "Hey Gundy! You know, I didn't even want to roll out of bed this morning."
Gundy: "Yeah. But you did."
Bill: "That's right. I didn't last year."
That's right! I didn't last year! Or rather, I rolled out of bed, gave it a brief go and then rolled right back in. Yes, I was sick. It was a completely different situation. But that afternoon when I felt better, I was kicking myself for not going out and running this race. I was kicking myself for weeks, and in one way or another, all year. Those four words made all the difference. I didn't start running any faster, I just started running happier. After all, I was running!
The rest of the race was not so bad after that. I got a boost from more and more familiar faces along the way - Kim on the 1st st. bridge, Everett & Mandy around that corner, Michael & Jenny turning onto Enfield, Kim again on the big hill... several Rogue coaches and runners, and a few others who have probably slipped my mind. I got a little bit of energy from each of them, and used every ounce.
After the finish, I ran into a handful of other people (including Kim again - she must own a teleporter... or a bike or something - or maybe I was just hallucinating), and we all lamented our poor races. Then I went to work for a quick shower and headed up to mile 18 of the full course to transform into a spectator for a couple hours.
Penelope's teacher, Mr. Valdes, was running the full Marathon, and I met my family up there to cheer him on. He and his sister were actually the only people I was expecting to see. Instead, I saw a bunch of people I had no idea were even running the Marathon that day. I am not sure I even remember everyone who came by, but I will give it a shot... Gina and Alicia, Mark and Amy A., Amy B., Danny (it's been like 10 years!), James and Jordan leading a pace group, Kathleen, Tauseef, and of course Mr. V and his sister. I probably missed a few. I know that half of you saw me before I saw you.
In the words of my daughter, who is much better at this cheering thing than I am... (big breath) "GREAT!" (big breath) "JOOOOOOB!" I had as much fun cheering you on as I did running (the part of the race that I enjoyed... not the sucky stuff).