Training: Watching and Learning

The home stretch. *

This post isn’t going to have anything to do with my training. This week, I’m going to talk about other races.

Last night, we were in Monterey for a corporate anniversary party. This morning, I got to see the Big Sur Half Marathon in progress. As we drove along the coastline on our way out of town, we came up behind the sweep van and I watched a runner get in. I don’t know if she was behind the course time limit, if she was injured or if she’d just had enough of the rain, but as I watched them wrap her in a heat blanket and escort her into the van, I started crying (subtly in that my-family-would-think-I’d-lost-my-mind-if-they-caught-me way that I sometimes do). All I could think of was all of the hard work of training, all of the hours that she’d put into this, and she was all going to end with a DNF.

I was crushed. Seriously, completely crushed.

We drove on a bit further and as the course routed itself onto a trail, I got to see the back-of-the-pack runners and walkers doing their thing. And I couldn’t help but notice that every single woman (yes, all women) had her head held high. Some were smiling. And more than anything in the world I wanted to stop my car in the middle of the road, leap out in the rain and cheer these women on. Had there been anyplace to park, I would have done just that, never mind that my family would have known for sure that I’d finally and completely lost my mind.

Across the country, two of my high school friends were running Philly. Jane ran her first marathon in a time I can only dream of, sub-4:30. In the half marathon, Dennis — who I say with absolute love was probably the least athletic kid in high school — ran his first half marathon and broke 2:00. I am beyond amazed and inspired by both of them, so much so that when I go to the doctor tomorrow morning for a routine checkup, I’m going to talk with her about distance running and the fact that I’m giving serious consideration to 26.2 in 2012.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get the little guy to bed so I can go out for a run.

* Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/chijs/6320326100/ via Creative Commons.

Tags: big sur half marathon, dnf, half marathon, philadelphia marathon, running, training