I celebrated my 30th birthday by drinking all day. I had a great time celebrating with friends. My friend Staci celebrated her birthday by running the Rock & Roll Marathon in San Diego. A bit of a different type of birthday party than what most people have. I traveled to San Diego to cheer her, celebrate her big day and spend some time with my friends who now live in Chicago.
There is an excitement buzzing around the hotel. Staci’s younger brother and his girlfriend were running their first 13.1 mile race. Michelle and Staci are race pros and offer nuggets of advice to the newbies. The runners ate breakfasts of oatmeal and yogurt while hoarding bananas. I feasted on way too many pancakes, bacon strips and slices of French toast. (Working on my energy stores for the Ironman. T-Minus 24 weeks)
It is hard for me to just watch. I wanted to hop in the corral and run the race with everyone. Even though the Rock & Roll events stress me out, it is fun to see 30,000 people embark on such a test of endurance and dedication.
All of the half marathoners in our group finished and we waited at the finish line for Staci to finish. Roughly four a half hours in to the race, the half marathon was coming to an end. The last participants were coming down the final stretch. If you have never watched the final group of people come in at the half marathon, I highly recommend you try. It is one of the most motivational and heart warming scenes. There was the older lady, probably around 85 years old, walking toward the finish line with her two adult sons holding her hands. There were groups of people who need to lose at least 100 pounds to be in a healthy weight range crossing the finish line, making those steps toward a healthier lifestyle. I saw one gentleman who was probably not much older than me come down the home stretch with a walker. His legs were in braces and his knees did not bend. There was a war vet with two prosthetic arms and one prosthetic leg carrying a flag across the finish line.
Not everyone needs to run a half or full marathon. Don’t ever say you can’t do it though. Yes you can. There is a huge difference between “can’t” and “don’t want to.” If you need just a little motivation to try it out, go watch some of the last finishers of a race. Those folks are a true inspiration.
There is an excitement buzzing around the hotel. Staci’s younger brother and his girlfriend were running their first 13.1 mile race. Michelle and Staci are race pros and offer nuggets of advice to the newbies. The runners ate breakfasts of oatmeal and yogurt while hoarding bananas. I feasted on way too many pancakes, bacon strips and slices of French toast. (Working on my energy stores for the Ironman. T-Minus 24 weeks)
It is hard for me to just watch. I wanted to hop in the corral and run the race with everyone. Even though the Rock & Roll events stress me out, it is fun to see 30,000 people embark on such a test of endurance and dedication.
All of the half marathoners in our group finished and we waited at the finish line for Staci to finish. Roughly four a half hours in to the race, the half marathon was coming to an end. The last participants were coming down the final stretch. If you have never watched the final group of people come in at the half marathon, I highly recommend you try. It is one of the most motivational and heart warming scenes. There was the older lady, probably around 85 years old, walking toward the finish line with her two adult sons holding her hands. There were groups of people who need to lose at least 100 pounds to be in a healthy weight range crossing the finish line, making those steps toward a healthier lifestyle. I saw one gentleman who was probably not much older than me come down the home stretch with a walker. His legs were in braces and his knees did not bend. There was a war vet with two prosthetic arms and one prosthetic leg carrying a flag across the finish line.
Not everyone needs to run a half or full marathon. Don’t ever say you can’t do it though. Yes you can. There is a huge difference between “can’t” and “don’t want to.” If you need just a little motivation to try it out, go watch some of the last finishers of a race. Those folks are a true inspiration.
It's a beautiful sight! Watching newbies and people with greater challenges than I make a leap of faith in themselves to try and concur the race brings tears to my eyes each time.
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