Greenriver Marathon: the best 27.4 - mile training run we've ever had!

Not a bad run for the amount of sleep we had the night before ... which was NONE. I can't believe we stayed up chatting like we were at a junior high sleepover! I've never had so much fun in all my life!

One of the first things I remember that moring was trying to fill my fuel belt bottles with water and goo. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't focus my sleepy eyes enough on the bottles to get them filled. But a banana, yougurt and Luna bar later we were walking briskly the half mile to the starting line. I use the term "starting line" loosely. It was really just a group of really obsessed runners all going out for a long... long... long run on a Saturday morning. The river trail was beautiful, and the people we met and chatted with were fun and interesting. Remember Arthur and his marathon-running dog named Shari? Ah, good times.


I was surprised to feel as awake as I did. I guess you can't get too sleepy with your heart rate up that high. We were well-equipped with our printed-out map of the course (with written directions), mp3 players, fuel belts, goo, water, $20 (you know... just in case), some ibuprofen, Icy-Hot for the legs, and of course a cell phone. You'd think we were toting a little carry-on luggage wheely deal thingy, but no. Didn't we look cute?



This must have been taken at the beginning ... we're still smiling and my feet are coming up off the ground. Around mile 11 or so my legs started to rebel: "We're going back to sleep!" they kept saying. But I forced them to keep following M&M. She was on fire.

So, the directions were a bit sketchy at a few junctures. Is that a word? Junctions? We spent several extra minutes and approximately 1.2 extra miles over the rest of the race making sure we would find our way to the finish line. That means we got lost. But somehow it was fun even then! Maybe it was sleepless delirium. Maybe M&M and I can't help but have a good time!

Let's be honest here. I didn't feel great most of the time. But I felt tremendous joy as M&M sprinted to the top of the steepest hill and I put one foot in front of the other to try to catch up. My favorite moment was M&M watching her heartrate plummit on a downhill and her cheering and pumping her arms in the air with joy.

Mile 24 (the real mile 24, not the pretend one the guy TOLD us was mile 24) was disappointing for both of us. Asthma is asthma and there's not too much that can be done about that. To be perfectly honest, I was happy for the chance to slow down and enjoy the beautiful scenery on the shore. The course ended on a strip of beach front across the bay from Seattle and the Space Needle. Beautiful! It was fun to see our friend Sue cheering for us at the finish and to be done. I love doing this with my friend. I love that it is over now, but I look forward to being in better shape (and getting sleep) before our next marathon... whenever that may be!