Marathon Season

Living gratefully today, I appreciate hats and gloves to keep me warm in the colder morning air.

Every year from 2004 until 2019 a key focus to my running was training for a marathon, sometimes two. It was also a common goal for my husband Darcy for most of those years. After completing my 17th marathon last September, the Sioux Falls Marathon, I considered that it may be my last. It was a hard run both physically and emotionally. 

Some worsening hip pain a couple months later and a visit to an orthopedic specialist sealed the deal. My marathon days were done. My running days, I hope, are far from over though. Physical therapy and ongoing diligence to do my targeted exercises have allowed me to run comfortably, though shorter distances and 3-4 times a week now. 

October is usually marathon season. I ran nine of my seventeen marathons this month. I miss the training and the mindset. I miss the anticipation and the satisfaction, the amazing feeling of crossing a finish line 26.2 miles after crossing a starting line.

If I wouldn't have decided on my own that I was done marathoning, the COVID-19 pandemic would have done it for me. My heart, and feet, go out to all those who had their sights set on a marathon goal this fall. Maybe they ran one virtually, and covered the same distance.  

But it wouldn't have been the same for me. There is no way to replace the excitement and energy of hundreds or thousands of people coming together in the pre-dawn hours to take on the journey of a lifetime. 

In this marathon season, I am savoring the runs I do get to take. And the memories of the wonderful marathon experiences Darcy and I have had over the years. One such memory was eleven years ago tomorrow.  The Kansas City Marathon on October 17, 2009 was exactly ten months to the day from my third cancer surgery--bilateral mastectomy. 

It was the first marathon Darcy and I finished side-by-side. We would do that two more times. The 2009 Kansas City Marathon will always be one of the most powerful and treasured marathon memories for me.

That's the special thing about memories. They keep marathon season alive in my heart. And if marathoning is about anything, it is about heart. 

Pictures help too. Here we are at Mile 26 in Kansas City. The emotions are running through me now.