Heading Out East for the Marathon

The last day of my training regimen has come and the marathon is in only 48 more hours. I think I have logged nearly 600 miles over the last 12 weeks and this all came to an end with a small 4 mile run this morning. It appears most everyone at the gym is aware of the fact that I am running a marathon on Sunday. It isn’t something I have advertised and it isn’t something I have boasted about. I have been asked why I run so long and my answer is that I am training for a marathon.

I remember my first marathon back in 2002 which started with a mere suggestion from a co-worker. I thought I was in good shape because I have worked out for years but was never really serious about running. I ran cross country in high school but that was only to get me prepared for basketball season. I hated the fact that after the long runs back then I couldn’t walk downstairs and my cross country running career was practically ended. I did run on my own for about a 6 month period again in high school and my “claim to fame” was running 2 miles in 12 minutes. Thankfully some 25 plus years later I can actually surpass this accomplishment because of that innocent conversation I had back in 2002. I thought that it couldn’t be that hard to run 26.2 miles because I was in shape boy was I wrong!! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That first marathon was the hardest and I was pissed after completing the run. I was not even close to my goal time and I felt embarrassed. Of course now I realize that was my ego talking and I shouldn’t be embarrassed for completing a marathon no matter how long it took.

Yes, after my first marathon I had to “save face” with myself and one year later I took over 30 minutes off my finishing time. Then on my third marathon I failed to finish because I developed tendinitis on my right knee during the race and had enough at the 15 mile mark. That would be the one and only marathon I have failed to finish and incidentally that was the Arizona Rock n’ Roll Marathon inaugural race in 2004. Since that time I have completed 5 other marathons and 3 of those have come in the past 7 months. Yes, my ego is telling me I had “unfinished” business in Arizona which leads me to this weekend. I am fortunate enough to be able to “redeem” myself by running the marathon and hopefully complete that redemption with a finishing time that qualifies me for the Boston Marathon.

Five years ago my family and I flew to Phoenix for the marathon but this year we decided to drive. After working this morning and incidentally I had the strangest conversation with a vendor who swore to me they didn’t offer something they clearly offered because I was staring at as we spoke. Anyhow I picked the children up early from school and the mini-van was all packed and we headed east to Phoenix. It is a little over 350 miles which could be a long way but when the entire family has driven across country twice it is just a small trip!!! I do find it so strange that having lived out west for over 15 years now that it really isn’t anything to make 200 and 300 mile car trips whereas on the east coast this is very unfamiliar unless you are going to Florida for the annual summer vacation from New Jersey!!!

The mini-van was indeed all packed and we were driving east. The drive wasn’t the most exciting as there really isn’t anything between here and Phoenix other than a great deal of desert. California is not only a long state but a deceptively wide state and my son just couldn’t understand why it would take us 5 ½ hours to get to Phoenix when it was “just the next state”. I had to explain and show him the map that just because it was the next state didn’t mean we would be there in less than an hour and as we drove I think he understood how wide California really is.

The children are great passengers and of course having the DVD in the minivan is a God send!! This keeps them occupied and also teaches them the principle of taking turns. Each of them alternates in picking out a movie so there isn’t any fighting and really my son is so amiable and will watch just about any movie. The trip was uneventful and we arrived safely in Phoenix to same hotel we stayed five years ago. There was a little issue with our room but fortunately “cooler heads” prevailed and we were able to get the room we had anticipated. After a very nice dinner we headed back to the room for a good night’s rest.