Monday, October 8, 2012

A post mortem

So.  The race.

First, the upsides.
1.  I finished.
2.  The weather was gorgeous.
3.  Ken and Geoff were there to cheer me on.
4.  My dad put a medal around my neck at the end.
5.  I can cross that mother known as "marathon" off my bucket list.

Next, the downsides.
1.  I finished--in the top 90% of my age group.
2.  Go ahead.  Read that again.
3.  In other words, I finished in the bottom 10% of my age group.
4.  This bothers me.
5.  Which means I am more competitive than even I thought I was.

Will I run another marathon?  Probably . . . not.

Am I glad I did it?  Yes.  Absolutely.  Loved being in that canyon for almost the whole damn day.  Still seeing sage blooming gold in my mind's eye two days later.

9 comments:

wjmom said...

Ann! I'm so proud of you! Good for you! (I can keep inserting small sentences with lots of exclamation points if you'd like!!!)

Amelia said...

This is a seriously impressive achievement. Congratulations!

Lisa B. said...

I find it tremendously impressive that you would do this. So, for what that's worth, I am impressed. I think it would be amazing to have that achievement live in my mind and heart with the images of an October canyon. I hope that's the way you remember it. For what it's worth, that's the way I'm going to remember the day *I* ran a marathon. I mean, the way I'm going to remember the day *you* ran a marathon.

CSIowa said...

Congratulations, Ann! I am proud of you. I will probably never do a marathon, but I did finish my 10K in just under one hour, which was my goal. My competitive nature likes to tell people that I took third in my division and ignore the fact that I was in the top 50% of my age group. Now my "practice" race is over, it's on to Ragnar Tennessee! With the right group of people, I can see you enjoying a Ragnar relay. With you on a team, I can see everyone enjoying a Ragnar relay.

Louise Plummer said...

I like the image of your father hanging a medal around your neck. I'm seeing this more from your parents' point of view. This I know: you make them so thoroughly happy.

Sara Z. said...

!!!!!!!!
Why did I think it was this coming weekend the 13th??

YOU ARE AMAZING.

AND NOW YOU NEVER HAVE TO DO THAT AGAIN!!

Emily said...

This is amazing. Good for you. And like Sara Z. says, now you don't have to do it again.

Congratulations!

Erin said...

Congrats! Way to pursue your goal. After seeing my husband compete in several, I really have no desire to experience that kind of pain. :)

Philsy C said...

While I am so proud of you, I can honestly say that I will die happy one day knowing that I was able to check off that mother on my own personal bucket list of "Never doing a marathon." Love you!