I have run 48 miles in 8 days, which is almost equal to the amount of miles I ran during the WHOLE month of April; the month we started preparing for the marathon. It has been a great experience so far. Not only because of all the great runs I have completed and all the great places in MI I have gotten to experience on a different level (Kensington Metropark, Walled Lake, Presque Isle, Lansing, even Farmington and Novi. You realize beauty in places while you are running through them because you actually take time to look around, instead of just driving by) , but also because of the transformations I have seen in the people I know training for the marathon.
My brother in law, Trevor, has become a different person in the past year since he has gotten serious about running. I remember him being a smoker, and kind of a couch potato (I mean that in a nice way Trev!) when we were younger, and now he is a machine. He is serious about his running, he has tested various numbers of new running shoes, and even got his name in a running magazine a few months ago because he participated in a shoe study. This is less of a hobby for him and more of a life style change. It has been great to witness that.
My friend Rachel has also become a running machine. In fact, I feel like I am the only one that has not transformed into a running guru, and that’s OK. I’m still having fun. With every week of completed runs, I have seen her confidence grow in all aspects of her life. It has made me realize that running is more than just physically moving your body. It’s also about going outside your comfort zone, and trying new things, and pushing yourself to limits which you did not know you were capable of reaching. That is an important lesson to learn and applies to everyone, whether you run or not. (Although I still chickened out of riding on the tube behind the boat this weekend while we were up north. I know I should try it, but it still scares me. I don’t want to go that far out of my comfort zone.)
This weekend was our second 16 miler. I ran with Trevor, and our friend Shawn. Shawn rode a bike the whole 16 miles. He was a great help, although I felt bad for him since he was using a bike that I think was 30 years old, and had no padding on the seat. He hung in there though, and provided water and Gatorade for us the whole time. We ran from the cottage we were staying at down to the harbor in Presque Isle, MI. It was a beautiful morning, and the boats were still sleeping in the harbor, there was not a lot of movement yet, as it was a holiday weekend and I think people were sleeping in. There was a great breeze just off the water that was very refreshing.
39 days left until the marathon, and I am very excited to finally get to the day we have been training for all year.
I did not bring my camera on the run, but here are some pics I found online of the lighthouse and harbor we ran by, a map of the county we were in, and a pic of us before our run. Trevor is in the black shirt and Shawn in the white.
*Jen*
