More Marathon Adventures in the Town of the Cow

Saturday was a great day for me as I completed my 10th half marathon, but it was an even bigger day for Erik--the Cowtown Marathon marked Erik's 2nd full marathon. I admire Erik so much for taking on such a huge task. I know how tired I feel at the end of a half marathon and I can't even begin to imagine running 13.1 MORE miles! He has been a real trooper with all of his training and even makes it look easy at times.

As you read in my previous entry, the day did not start off in an ideal manner. The marathon and half marathon share a course until they split into different directions around mile 8. It was my plan to run with Erik until the split and to provide support and companionship along the way. The Cowtown gods would have none of that and Erik and I were separated before we even arrived at the race. Remember, I insisted that he hop out of the car while we were still on the freeway! I barely made it to the race in time to start and had no time to look for Erik. So all I could do was to send good vibes and positive energy his way!

After my race I hung out with running friends Liza and Vi and basically killed about 2 hours until it was time to wait for him at the finish line. I usually don't get a chance to hang out at finish lines and watch people finish, but I am starting to think that I should do it more often. We stood at the finish line for about 30 minutes while we waited for Erik to come across. I saw all kinds of amazing people as they completed their marathon (and some of them their half marathons). Some were jubilant and did cartwheels as they crossed, some stopped and grabbed their baby or child and ran across when them in tow, and some looked as if they had just been out for a pleasant stroll. One older man was completing the half marathon and it was all he could do to stumble across the line. He stopped and sputtered a few times and finally walked across the line and into the arms of the medics. It was moments like that that brought tears to my eyes. The best one turned out to be one of those "small world" moments. I saw a guy approaching the finish line, but then he stopped and another runner-a girl-appeared from the crowd. This caught my attention and I wondered if it was what I thought it was. As he began to get down on one knee, I was jumping up and down and saying "He's proposing! He's proposing!" to Liza and Vi. We all had tears in our eyes as they ran across the finish line hand in hand. The "small world" thing is that I know the girl who got engaged! Her name is Lucy and she was the 2 hour pace girl at the Heels and Hills and Him Half Marathon in September. We became friends on Facebook after the race and are in touch from time to time.

I was so proud to see Erik cross that finish line in 4:29-he was looking very tired and somewhat hobbled, but he was finished. Soon after that we found our way into Jake's Hamburgers and enjoyed a wonderful lunch with Liza and Vi. Our table was by the window so we were able to soak up all of the beautiful sunshine and blue skies. The restaurant is right on the finish line, so we were could see person after person cross the finish line as we ate our huge, juicy, hard earned burgers! It was a great day indeed!

So I have now completed 3 half marathons in 28 days, and running in races 6 out of 8 weekends. Whew! I picked up 2 new PRs in that time (10K and 15K) and am pleased, for the most part, with my finish times in the other races. This was my busiest stretch of races yet, and I really enjoyed it! Next up, Grasslands Trail Half Marathon on March 20. I haven't really done much trail running, but I am looking forward to trying something different and new. We'll see where this next adventure takes me!