I ditched church today

Well, after an involuntary hiatus (child #3 dropped our laptop) I'm back online. While I was away I had many experiences where I thought to myself I need to write about that on my blog but I couldn't. So as in my sporatic journaling over my 32 years, I will begin with today. I'm a little rusty at this writing thing, so please be gentle.

I ran a half marathon this morning. It was great! I finished a tough course, pushed myself a little, and still paid enough attention to my body to know when to take a break when I needed it.

A few comments:
I woke up at 3:45 am this morning to prepare, make sure I found a parking spot, made it to the shuttle, etc. I arrived at the start before 6am. Which was great for what I thought was a 6:30 start. But no, it didn't start for another hour. My husband said, And you didn't have your book. But I could have, because they had a clothing drop off at the start and pick up at the finish. I've learned my lesson.

Early on in the race, there was a car driving through the runners. It was somewhat dangerous and a little annoying, but I moved on. There were other runners who couldn't, for whatever reason. They proceeded to throw cups of water on her car and block it from moving any faster than about a 9 minute mile pace. There was probably a time in my life where I might have been one of those runners. (This next statement is by no means meant to be boastful or say Shame on them, merely to recognize that I've come a long way on the road to being the person I want to be). I commented to the woman I was running with, "Gosh, I'd feel bad if she were trying to get to someone who was injured on the course." And I really meant it. As a runner, in a race of about 10,000 people, cars should not be on the course, or clearly separated, but I'd like to think she really needed to get somewhere and that was her best option, or maybe she was just stupid, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Around mile 11 on the course I witnessed a beautiful thing. Picture this: a man in a wetsuit, with a surfboard in one arm and a 2-3 year old little girl in the other, people running by, people cheering, lots of commotion. He bent down for her to capture a butterfly that was landing on the sidewalk. It was wonderful to be reminded me of the way children force us adults to look around and enjoy the moment. I think I need that lesson about once an hour.

I've always run alone, until this past few months when I joined a running club to train for an upcoming marathon. The half marathon today was a warm up, but not everyone from the club ran, and aside from matching t-shirts, we weren't a group today. No set meeting place before or after. I just so happened to find two women from the group that I run the long distances with. One woman was so excited for the race, she was out ahead of us before we reached the first mile. I ran about 7 miles with the other women, and then I needed more liquid, so she went on ahead of me. No problem, I probably would have done the same thing. I found people along the way who had the same pace for a while, but I refuse to be random comment girl and start up conversations with a complete stranger because our feet happen to move at the same pace some of the time. It wasn't until the end when I had no one to congratulate, or congratulate me, that I felt a little sad. I certainly wasn't going to say to my husband, "Husband, arrive at the finish at 9:30, fight the crowds, keep three kids together and happy and come hug your sweaty wife when she crosses the finish line." I've taken three kids enough places to know what's worth the effort . . . this was not. With that said, I still longed to see someone I knew. The marathon will be a different story, with my family, and the running group . . . I hope.