The Denver Rock'n'Roll Marathon - What a great time

Well it may not have been my fastest marathon, but I certainly had a great time! Yesterday, I ran in the Denver Rock'n'Roll and it was incredible.

First of all, the weather was absolutely perfect! It was the kind of fall day I could just drink in. In the 60's... not too hot, not too cold, filled with brisk air and morning sunshine. Taking in deep breaths as we ran through the streets and parks of downtown Denver, my body was filled with energy, I marveled at how great I could feel... especially since most of my training runs had been downright depressing.

There had been many times during the training season when I'd thought about quitting. In fact, the week my Dad died, I actually had decided to quit. My heart just was not in it. I kept thinking, "Why am I doing this? Who cares?" I just wanted to hide somewhere and feel sorry for myself.

I told my running partner, Bonnie, that I was going to give up on the marathon, but that I'd try to keep her company for part of the long runs when she was in town. The next time we ran together felt really good. It turns out running was much more therapeutic than laying in bed crying. Go figure! So I decided to stick with it, after all.

Yesterday, as I was hearing all those wonderful people on the sidelines, ringing their cowbells, cheering, yelling out "Go Spartans" (yes...that was me..I'd worn my Spartan Cheerleader costume), I was so happy. For the first time since my Dad died, that weight of grief was totally lifted from my heart and I felt "normal" again... better than normal. Really, really happy. And so incredibly grateful to be alive and healthy... running this race... accomplishing this goal...

But what I'm most grateful for are my family and friends. I think I'll have to write a separate post about that... Right now, I just can't do justice to how deeply moved I am by the wonderful emails, text messages and phone calls I got wishing me luck and sending prayers for the people in my life who need support.

And then there were the people who actually ran with me.

If it weren't for Bonnie, I never would have done this. She is the perfect running partner (and friend/therapist!) We'd been talking about running a marathon together for over 5 years and we finally did it! There were others who trained with me when Bonnie was out of town - John, Michael A., Julie, Doug, and Rene. And then there were even people that came to the race! Michael B. surprised me by coming with his two younger boys. They roller-bladed at my side through miles 18-20 and were there cheering me on at the end. There was Doug who found me at mile 25 and ran that VERY difficult last mile with me. If it hadn't been for him, I would have walked it.

All these people kept me going. The virtual running buddies. The real running buddies. My Dad, Craig, my family. They mean SO much to me.

It occurred to me (getting all philosophical here) that life can be like a marathon. There are the ups and downs...times that are exciting and times that are painful. But what keeps us going are those people who love and support us. Those beautiful people who don't mind whether we're fast or slow or sweaty...they just are willing to be there for us and tell us to 'keep going.'

I just checked my time and it was 4:46:28. The time was better than the 4:56 I did on my first marathon, but not as fast as the 4:29 time I did on my second. But I would have to say that, regardless of speed, I had one of the best times of my life.