It’s been 16
years since I started down this marathon road to raise funds for charities in
Nick’s memory and I can say without hesitation, the runs are not getting
easier. Likely at this point you are saying
“Duh!! Your 16 years older, battled
through 2 years of chemo, and are now dealing with Parkinson’s. What do you expect?” OK,
point taken.
So on to
this year’s Marathon Challenge. The
goal was to run/jog 26.2 miles over 4 days in under 4 1/2 hours total time. My strategy was to run a longer run on the
first day, give the old bones a rest on day 2 and then 2 shorter runs on day three
and four. While this is not a big improvement
over last year’s challenge, the hills around our home in Charlottesville will
more than double the vertical climb this year.
Day one was pretty
much on plan. I was slightly slower than
last year but I attribute that to the hills and the Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s
makes my left leg stiff starting out and because the brain to muscle connection
is slower it also causes the left foot to drag a bit. The
first 2-3 miles are really slooooow and awkward as I work to get the stiffness
out. So slow that the deer I pass on the
road don’t even bother to run off. On a
typical day the first miles will be around 2 minutes slower than my last.
I started
day three stiff and sore but loosened up a bit as I got into the later
miles. Did I mention there are a lot of
hills where I run? Turns out over the first two days of running I’ll
climb more vertical feet than the whole Boston Marathon. On this
day alone I’ll cover the equivalent of running the infamous Boston Marathon Heartbreak
Hill 3 times. It turns out, as tough
as the uphills are, it’s the downhills that actually beat up your legs. By the
end of the second day of running my left quad (thigh) had more knots in it than
a 5-year old’s shoes. At this point I’m just a hair below the pace I
need in order to bet the 4 ½ hour mark.
Day four
dawned rainy and cold (35 degrees). I
normally don’t mind either rain or cold, but rain just above freezing is the
worst. There is just no way to dress
that will either keep you warm or dry and the more clothes you wear the heavier
they get as they saturate. Kind of like
running with a 5 lb. bag of sugar on your back. The good news, this will to be the shortest
of the three runs. After struggling through the first few miles
the quad loosened up enough to get a reasonable stride out of it. The pace
was slower than the previous two days but I was able to complete the run.
And yes…we
made it…26.2 miles in just under 4 hours 30 minutes. Definitely tougher than I expected but a win
just the same.
To put this
in historical perspective, my last Boston Marathon was in 2018, in between chemo
treatments, and I completed that in 4 hours 5 minutes. I know it is stupid to look back and compare
the two but I had hopes that one day I would be able to run a marathon
again. I’ve come to the realization
this may be the best I can do.
Truth is, it’s
not about me, or the marathon challenge.
It’s about raising funds to help people who are struggling in some of
their toughest moments. We’ve all been
there and we remember the relief when someone reached out and said” let me help”. Your support
for me and Help in the Nick of Time has allowed us to do that for hundreds of
children and families.
So that’s it
for this year. I’ll be back next year to
do it all again…God willing and the creek don’t rise.
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