I've spent a lot of time thinking of how I could best describe the marathon. I spent five months training. I'd found all the dry-fit shirts, socks, shorts and hats that money could buy to make sure that I stay comfortably dry and blister free. Now imagine that I put on all my expensive gear at 3:30 am and get into the shower for an hour, fully dressed, and then I walked 1.5 miles to the starting line of the race and then run 26.2 miles. Soaking wet.
Yes, I'm a total dork and carried my cell phone with me while I ran. I snapped this picture at mile 16. I was wet, tired, sick of hearing Japanese (I swear I was the only American for miles). I thought, "Wow I only have another ten miles! Yuck!" I just had to get that picture. I'm realizing now that you can't even tell what it is. Just a 16 mile sign.
I called Eric as I crossed the finish line. Yes, my finisher pictures were all of me talking on the phone. I just had to have someone to share it with. I'd been pretending that he was actually there the whole run.
My shoes were so gross that I left them in Hawaii. I wanted to throw them in the ocean, but I was scared of the $1500 littering ticket. All in all, the trip was a major success! I hated the marathon, but really, only complete nut-heads enjoy that masochist crap anyway. I was in HAWAII! Here are a couple of the pictures I took. Some of them are pretty bad because I had to take them with my cell phone.
This was the beach where we went to watch the Billibong Surf Competition. We were late and missed the whole thing, but it was still fun to see the crowds and beaches along the North Shore. We stopped for some killer shaved ice from Motsumoto's. Looks like regular shaved ice, but it's not. There's a scoop of vanilla ice cream underneath. Yummmmm....
This was the view from my lounge chair yesterday afternoon. I had on my headphones and was listening to Jimmy Buffett's song, Boat Drinks, smiling my guts out. It was one of those moments I want to remember forever, to look back on while at the dentist or shoveling the driveway.
I could not be happier about our trip. I finished a marathon. I relaxed. I bonded with some of my best friends. I came home happy to see my kids and they were happy to see me. Life is good....for today.
14 comments:
I am so proud of you Yowie Ynn. You now belong to a very exclusive club; people who have completed a marathon! You may never run another one, but you'll always be able to say you've been there, done that. Way to go.
Puff
Great job, what an amazing accomplishment - I am so proud of you!
WAY TO GO LAUR!!!!!!
What a huge accomplishment - AND you got to spend a week in Hawaii, I am totally jealous!
Congrats! I know you're saying you'll never do another marathon, but I promise you will! The bug always seems to come around in the springtime. I bet you had so much fun in Hawaii...I"m jealous! I wish I could have been there with you. Love ya, Chels P.S. I saw Andy Rowell today at Target. He still wants you (just kidding). Love ya,
Way to go Laurie! I'm so proud of you. Chelsa might be right however. Right after I've done events like this, I usually say "never agian", but after a while the memory turns into on of fun & adventure, and the pain & discomfort gets forgotten. You're the greatest!
Grandpa Bob
I'm so glad you survived...because if that was me I would not have made it! I'm so proud of my Laur! What a fun story to tell for years!
CONGRATULATIONS!
I thought about you all weekend. The rain is a bummer. I am jealous.
I guess I won't be running a marathon for another 2 years!
So I am just shocked that after all that you had any energy to talk on the phone. Seriously I will never understand, I am not a runner and never will be. Mike wanted me to start running with him and I told him the only way I would ever run is if some scary person was chasing me. So even if you never run a marathon again you did one and that is amazing to me!!
Wow-o-wow-o-wow! You rock, girlfriend! You seriously ROCK!!!!
Good Job Laurie!! I look up to you! that is so awesome you finished. What an accomplishment!
Way to go girl! I think running marathons is insane (Jon almost died after running the St. G marathon) but I'm so impressed you finished! You're awesome. Glad to have you back and blogging again :)
way to go lar! Your shoes are sick. You just need to run the St George marathon. You won't have soggy shoes after it. Next October. I'll see you there!
Way to go Laurie! I knew you could do it. It will be like having a baby, you will forget and want to to it again in no time!!
Laurie...your awesome!! Don't give up on the marathons yet. I remember when I was running mine, I told myself and all the family there, "Don't let me do this ever again!" But, I want to do it again...and I will, so stick with it. I guess I wasn't running in complete mud and rain..but is was super hot and really was awful. So, next year we can train for the St. George one...you have to give it another try! Good girl-your awesome.
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