I am a Marathoner (x2)

If I stop doing Marathons now, and never run another again…am I still a Marathoner?? Sure, at least in my own mind I will be. I still cannot wrap my mind around it; I have run 26.2 miles at a time TWICE. Then, I stop and think…runners are crazy…why do we do this to our bodies??!! I will tell you why I do it. It gives me a goal – it’s odd tho, because I have never been a goal person before, at least not on purpose. Another reason is that I see that I inspire people – and maybe I always have in one way or another…but this is more clearly seen. For instance, when I get someone that has never ran more than a few miles before want to run 10 miles with me one Saturday morning (I don’t recommended this without some training), or, when my friend Anna ran her first 5K with me last year. Or, how about my friend Daniel from Fargo, ND who saw me training for the Twin Cities Marathon on FB and decided to train for the Fargo Marathon? He ran and finished the Marathon last weekend as well! I hope there are many more stories like this to come! Ragnar Relay here I come!

Runners really are some of the nicest people I think. We know what the other is going through, how tough it is and how much dedication it really takes to get to where we are at that moment (even if it means running in the rain). Here is my Fargo Marathon story.

I was on pace for a 5:15:00 finish (my TC finish was 5:45:00 – the TC course is much more hilly than Fargo so I think my goal pace was appropriate). I had been having some mild discomfort in my left knee (the knee that I had hurt somehow during training) around mile 8 but it was nothing serious and I was taking ibuprofen so I wasn’t worried. Then mile 17 came. Now, let me also say that during the TC Marathon I did not stop once to use the bathroom, not once! Not the case for this one. I had stopped at least 3 times by mile 17. This probably didn’t help as I was stopping running and starting again so many times, that may have aggravated my knee more than usual. Well, the bathroom using continued so you can imagine the pain just got worse. But I pushed on! I saw Robbie at mile 21 and I was in pain, but I was also almost done! I knew that I could get those 5.2 miles out of the way, and even get a better time than the TC Marathon if I just kept pushing along. About mile 22-24 I started seeing this lady run by me…then start walking, she did this a few times, I guessed her to be mid to late 50s. I heard her say to someone that she had been having cramps; it took awhile, but after I thought about it, I realized I could help her out. I turned to look and she was way behind me walking. I didn’t want to stop and go back so, I kept plugging away and waited until she caught up to me again. I asked her if she was still having cramps, she said she had been having them for the last 10 miles. We talked for a bit about our Marathon history; she was from the Twin Cities and she had done more than 50 Marathons in 21 different states…wow! She inspired to be part of the “50 Marathons in 50 States Club,” but she just hadn’t gotten there yet. I asked her if she wanted the last of my Margarita 3x Sodium Shot Bloks because I didn’t need anymore since I had just taken the last of my fuel for the race. She accepted with a smile because she knew that sodium intake is the key to warding off cramps. She thanked me and said she normally had some with her, but for some reason forgot them this day. I just smiled, thinking in my heart that maybe this is why I had the extra amount with me, and also maybe, just maybe why I was supposed to be going at a slower pace. I started running and she did too; we only ran for a bit and then she had to stop, but she told me to keep going and wished me luck. I saw her behind me a few times after that for the last 2 short miles we had left, but didn’t see her after I crossed the finish line. I looked online and a woman named Bonnie who was 57 crossed 3 minutes after I did…tho I am unsure how we didn’t see each other by the food, maybe she was with her family and/or friends just as I was with Robb, Daniel and his friends and family. Either way, I am glad I was there to help a fellow runner.

Afterwards it kind of made me think of this little book I have, I believe it is called The Christmas Visitor or something to that affect (and when I mean little, I mean little, it is the size of a business card). This story is about a man who is told Jesus will be visiting him on Christmas evening. The man waits and waits and as he is waiting he gets a few visitors who are in need of his help. He helps them all, and even though what they are in need of he was saving for Jesus’ visit, he still gave it to them. In the end he wakes up and it is morning and he is disappointed that Jesus didn’t show up. Then he hears Jesus’ voice telling him that he was there…he was those visitors that showed up at his door, the ones he didn’t have to help, but did anyway.