The Marathon Story - Part 1

Written Sunday, 2/3/08, 3:05 PM
Posted Friday, 2/8/08, 11:18 PM

4 AM
Wake up at dive hotel ever SO calm
ZERO nerves
I reset my cell phone alarm and go back to sleep until 4:30

Wake up again
NO nerves still
I'm not surprised; I'm always this calm when it's serious or when something matters to me

I turn on the TV to see what the weather is (low 60s) and go take a shower
I use the peppermint smelling body gel scrub I got from the Hershey Hotel in PA
I took it to the hotel with me because the minty smell is good and invigorating and also because it brings me good memories from our recent trip north this past Christmas
I wanted to start the morning off right and so far, so good

I brush my teeth and my hair and head out of the tiny bathroom
I start to get dressed
Underwear, athletic bra, shorts, shirt
Watch, wristband, iPod

I put on deodorant, lather my legs with IcyHot cream and put on my flip flops
I play a little of my iPod music as I pack my PJ's and bath things
I put my purse and papers in the room safe

Lu (fabulous Ironman brother) calls at 4:53 AM to say he's on his way
I look out the window and already see runners roaming the streets below
I can't believe the time has finally come

The hotel has breakfast from 7:30-10:30 AM in the dining room
Doesn't help me when the marathon starts at 6:15
I knew this beforehand though so I had requested use of their microwave when I made my reservation (I made my reservation at least a month in advance, by the way, but many hotels were already booked)

I call the front desk to ask about making my oatmeal downstairs now
Man says "sure, come on down"
I take my 2 Advils to help with inflammation before heading out
I take the elevator from the top floor (17th floor - great view at least and the same floor I lived on when I lived at the beach on 29th Street come to think of it so that's a good thing)

I go to the front desk and tell him I'm the girl who needs the microwave
"Oh yes, follow me"

He leads me through the dining room with the old paint and funky 50s-looking painted murals of male waiters
Clean dining room but interesting to say the least

I put my oatmeal in to cook at the sole microwave in the building (I told you this place was a dive!)
A fellow older runner (late 40s, early 50s) joins me
She needs water for her stuff and there isn't any around the microwave area
We chat as she looks around but she has to leave to get some
She comes back and when my stuff is done, I wish her luck and go back upstairs to eat

I journal a few lines as I eat
I don't have much to say
I have turned everything off - the TV, the iPod, my mind - and am just calm, calm, calm
I thank God for that and say a little prayer for myself and everyone running

I'm done eating when Lu calls at 5:28 AM and tells me he's downstairs
I remind him he has to come up to put my time chip on my shoelace
"That's right," he says, "let me lock up my bike and I'll be right there"

He comes up and chats with me
He says many things, all gems
"There's no pressure, this is your first time, you're going to go to school here, just learn and have fun"

Have fun ... that's one of my goals
I make a note once again to consciously do that

I give him the stuff I need him to hold for me in his bag
He asks me which shoe I want the chip on in case I'm superstitious
I'm not but I ask him to put it on the left and then no, the right foot shoe!

I sit on the bed and lather my feet with vaseline to help with the blisters I will get
Lu takes pictures of me getting ready, putting on my socks and running shoes
He's so excited for me and I'm so glad he's with me

I take my Immodium (Lu says "you're gonna take that now?" "Always do right before I go for the long runs." I tell him. "Ok, then do what you always do.")
I drink water
I drink Gatorade
I don't want to drink a whole lot though because I don't want to have to go pee
I want to go bathroom though but no coffee, no bathroom so I am S.O.L. (sh*t out of luck), no pun intended :-)

There's just one more thing now: my bib

I ask Lu to pin it on my shirt for me to make sure I don't stick myself as I had done earlier in the week putting on some pants that were missing the button
I tell him that litte pin prick is still hurting me and I don't want to be distracted by a possible new one
He's more than happy to help
We put it down low on the shirt because my water belt sits right at my waist and the number has to be seen

# 5726

The bib is on so that's it
I'm done and I'm ready to rock (as Lebo said ... rock 'em, Narah) 'n roll

Off we go!

We go downstairs sometime between 5:45 and 5:50 AM and walk a block together before Lu takes off to South Beach to meet me there at mile 4
I very calmly continue walking to the start line

Thousands of people are all around
It's dark, cool - 63 degrees or so - and a bit windy
There's a sea of people walking this way and that way on both sides of the street
Thousands of men, women
There are children seeing off their Moms or Dads or whomever they know, too
Some babies are asleep in their strollers, others are wide awake wondering what the heck is going on

People are everywhere
Some are sitting on the curbs, stretching
A man is sitting on a bench reading the newspaper

Some guys are doing sprints
Some people are jogging their way to the start line
Two guys are jogging away from the start line (seems they forgot something)
And a group is warming up doing side-scissor-running

People are yapping, yapping away
To each other, to loved ones on their cell phones
I listen a while as I keep walking but then turn my iPod on to drown out all the noise

I get to the corrals where you line up and wait to start the race
I find a great spot not where I wanted to be but not all the way back at my assigned spot (they assign according to your estimated finish time which I did not know)
I turn off my iPod and stand there a while taking it all in
I think "wow, this is it"
I'm SO happy
I feel so ready and prepared

I finally look at my watch and it's 6:03 AM
I call Tod right before I turn off my nephew's cell phone which I had because it's so teeny tiny small and fit right in my belt

He says "You're going to do great. Go for it all the way. We'll be there. I love you."
As always, his support is music to my ears.

People are looking for their friends and yelling for them when they see them
People are just yapping, yapping, yapping still
I can't help but hear all the conversations going on
I find them amusing

Maybe this is their way of handling the moment
I get quiet and matter-of-fact calm at moments like this
Even when I was walking with Lu, we were just walking side-by-side quietly

As we wait in the corral for the race to begin, one of the ladies next to me says "I see you have your superhero"
I show her Ian's little Ben 10 XCLR8 action figure and tell her "I do; my 4-year old insisted so Mama had to oblige"
"That's so sweet," she says "good for you, good luck"
"You too" I tell her

I'm glad that I have Ian this close to me
My sunglasses are my Dylan reminder ... I laugh at the thought and vision of him putting my big ol' brown ones on and tilting his head back so they don't fall off his face
I'm smiling thinking all this and shaking my head

I touch my 2 necklaces
I'm wearing one with a cross Tod gave me and one with 3 diamonds which I always say represent the 3 diamonds in my life - Tod, Ian, and Dylan

I'm also wearing pearl earrings Mom gave me to wear the night before when I came over for a lasagna dinner to die for (the perfect last supper!)

And I have a little Virgin booklet in my water belt pocket she wanted me to have with me for blessings and good luck

Sweet Mama

I really am such a super-loved gal
I know I'm very lucky and blessed

My teeth are chattering
A little bit of anticipation anxiety and it's cold too
I jump in place to warm up
I stop, I look around, I notice there's all sorts of different people and groups running for so many different causes and a million different reasons
This is AWESOME

It's still dark and we're waiting a minute or two or three and then I hear something
Someone begins to sing the national anthem
It's so cool to be PART of an event the national anthem is played at
I feel a cool breeze on my face and look up at the sky and just say a humble thank you

When the song is done, some 12,000 people cheer and WHOA!
That makes my hairs stand on my arms and on the back of my neck
I am so excited now

Fireworks are set off
Beautiful red ones - WHOAAAAAAAAA! - so stunning against the black sky

This is moving and I feel the lump in my throat

I realize this is big because what I am about to embark on is one of my lifelong dreams here
This moment, right now, this is no daydream anymore

This is the real thing

It's 6:15 and the runners at the front have begun
Moments later, we're inching forward, close together

People are excited and clapping and whooping

Some people start to run
I see a big open space to the right of the huge crowd and go there so that I don't get pushed or shoved
I never do and I never get stepped on either
A good thing given my already beat up black-nail-and-blister-filled feet

I run a little but then I see the Start Line up ahead and people walking so I stop and just walk as well
I don't want to waste any energy that does not count

I keep moving forward with people with their signs and pompoms cheering wildly from the sidelines and music blaring from huge speakers on a truck bed
I keep my iPod off still to take it all in
All I can think is "this really is amazing" "this is really amazing" "this is really amazing"

Finally, I cross the Start Line at around 6:25 AM and start my digital watch for that 26.2 mile run and as I do so, I realize that when I touch that watch again , it will be all over and I will be something else, someone else

I realize I will have changed and transformed and grown in ways still unbeknownst and unimaginable to me at this starting point

I realize that I will at last be what I've wanted to be since the day I was just a kid standing on the sidelines on a rainy day at a marathon (El Maraton San Blas) in Puerto Rico where I spent the years of my early youth, soaken wet with brand-new blue overall jeans bleeding their blue ink all over my white shirt and underwear and chattering teeth, seeing the very same brother who is now with me run and cheering him on

And that with him now supporting and cheering me on, along with my family and friends near and far, I will have come full-circle when I cross that finish line and accomplished what was until then only a goal and merely a dream ...

And I will be a MARATHONER!

God is ...

"The same life-force that grows an oak from an acorn, a mountain from the earth's molten core, a stream from the spring thaw, a child from an egg and a sperm, an idea from the mind of a human being, is present in all things, all thoughts and all experiences."

- Joan Borysenko

Endorsing Hillary?!

Someone I dearly love wrote in their blog that they're supporting Hillary over Barack Obama. Waaaaaa! She says that the Clinton family has been one of her favorites for many years and that Hillary wants change.

On liking the Clintons:

I didn't mind the Clintons before, I even liked them when Bill was in office. I thought he did a pretty good job. Except for Monica, of course, and a few other things, it seems he was not bad overall. The Clintons of late leave a whole lot to be desired though.

On wanting change:

Listen, anyone running a campaign against the opposing team wants change. That goes without saying. The only change Hillary wants though is her in the White House. For her this is another step on the career ladder. I think she's probably a hard-working lady who means well and wants to help people but she will do stuff as part of a job, not as a real feeling from the inside that who we could be as a country is AMAZING.

The Clintons are pros at the political game and this position of President is just that, a position to get, a title. That's why they have come out swinging at Barack with all the crappy comments about race and about the Obama campaign being a fairytale (A fairytale? Are you insane?!) etc. etc. They thought they could say these things and actually get away with it. They think they're entitled, that they're some sort of a political dynasty. It was so terribly unprofessional and arrogant and off-putting to me. They never had me with Barack in the picture but they lost me there completely.

Besides, the Republicans will love to oppose everything Hillary tries to do in office even if it's good. With Barack Obama, they know this is who he is, that he works with people across the aisle, that he expects to get things done and be friends with everyone and not play the b.s. political game. They respect and like him which is not the case with Hillary.

Although I think she has somewhat gotten a raw deal for years, I just don't connect with her either. She seems wooden to me and her speeches are more of the same. Where's the inspiration, the call to us, the citizens? There is NOTHING there!

Barack is in a league of his own in a thousand ways and what I like best of all is the fact he has raised money from individuals and not special interests so he doesn't owe crap to anyone.

This is the people's campaign and not the lobbyists' and corporations'. This is such a personal campaign for all of us supporting him. This is our lives and our dreams, not just a push to the White House as the next personal goal.

This person I love also noted Hillary saying in the latest debate that it took the 1st Clinton to clean up after the 1st Bush, and it would take a 2nd Clinton to clean up after the 2nd Bush. Well, sure that was "cute" of Hillary to say but, to me, this is the real thing and no cute sound-bite could ever sway me from TRUE, INTRINSIC CHANGE.

Bottomline, with Hillary, I expect more of the same - lots of fighting, nothing getting done for this country. With Barack, lots of discourse and compromise and arriving at the middle, Americans involved and plugged in, helping make things happen at long last. A very easy decision for me, especially with his plans for community organizing and service.

It's just brilliant and man, I just cannot wait for the HUGE transformation of this country inside and outside its borders!!! It may hurt a little or even a lot but for growth and transformation, that's what's necessary, baby! I say, let's go!!