on the iPod: "water tower town" -- Scotty McCreery
With exactly five weeks of training left, everything is becoming increasingly real as I prepare to run the New York City Marathon. I'm starting to get excited about what the city has to offer: eating in great restaurants, shopping, Broadway shows, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and hopefully some time at Ground Zero. But my mind never strays from running 26.2 miles through all five boroughs, ending in Central Park. It will be a monumental event for me and I wish it were tomorrow.
After training solo for two weeks I was delighted to have my best good running friend Mrs. Murie back by my side early Saturday morning. She ran the Tour De Fleur, a 20K race in Dallas, a few weekends ago and then went camping the following weekend, so we've been keeping in touch via text and email, and were both ready to be laced up together. We headed out right after the sun rose, which is usually still a relatively quiet time of morning in Fayetteville, but with approximately 400,000 bikers in town for Bikes, Blues, & Barbeque, there was an energy in the air and the sounds of engines revving from every single inch of paved surface. Not to mention the smell of ribs, brisket, and pulled pork sandwiches that tempted us to call it a day and get our fingers a little bit greasy.
Our somewhat-developed-but-not-really-written-down training plan called for a 20 miler, but when I mapped the route in my head -- Mud Creek, Skull Creek, Meadow Valley, Frisco, and Wilson Park -- I was already thinking that it might be more than 20. Advanced planning is not at the top of my skill set, it makes me anxious to make decisions, i'd much rather have a general idea of how things will work and simply go with it. So it didn't bother me that we might be going further, in fact I kinda wanted to push it a little bit and see what happens.
As always with Mrs. Murie, we started out fast and furious, but I held my own and kept up with her all the way through the first eight miles, where i'd dropped a frozen water bottle about 5:00 a.m. at the very end of the Meadow Valley trail. I'm really starting to love this newly opened spur off the main artery, as it's a great way to add four miles total without leaving central Fayetteville, but there's very little in terms of water options. This has been a bit of an issue in previous training runs, so making a water drop en route to Starbucks was a no brainer. When we got there it was still somewhat frozen which made the water really cold and refreshing.
It was at the turn-around as we were taking a break that I looked westward and first noticed it. It was one of those moments where I knew that I recognized something, but couldn't put my finger on where/how I knew it. Hmmm. More looking, more familiarity. Yeah, I definitely recognized the small, pale yellow house with an American flag, but otherwise nondescript. But what the heck, how did I know it? Then BAM! it hit me. Like getting slapped across the face. Like a piano falling out of the sky. Like a herd of elephants crashing into a china shop. Like a football coach in the ditch.
I was staring at the official residence of the oldest Duggar offspring and his wife and their two kids. Real Duggars!! Not some wannabe freakishly large and oddly conservative family, but the real thing.
I don't care what anybody else thinks, I love the Duggars. I've watched the reality show since day one, when it was called 16 Kids and Counting (they've since had three more, hence a name change), and have seen some episodes multiple times. I think they're great. Michelle is my favorite, but I like them all. The oldest Duggar child, I never remember any of the kids' names because they all start with "J", got married a few years ago and he and his wife immediately starting making their own Duggar babies. Over the years i've seen a few of the older kids shopping at Sam's Club, and even passed by almost all of them at the Little Rock Half Marathon two years ago, but i've yet to see Michelle. Darnit. I'll continue to patiently wait.
Mile 13 took us directly through downtown Fayetteville. Even at 8:30 in morning, bikers were up and riding. They looked like they were having a really good time, but their pipes were extremely loud. Cigarettes, black leather, and cut-off shirts were the norm. Corn dogs and funnel cakes were plentiful. We ran directly behind the main stage that had been erected in the Walton Arts Center parking lot. It towered multiple stories above the makeshift concert venue like a metal statue honoring all things decadent, and for a brief moment made me want to come back later for some live music. I'm fairly certain that the bikers thought we were the oddballs, as we passed by soaked in sweat and struggling forward toward more miles. They're probably right.
The final six miles back to Starbucks found my legs feeling stronger than they ever have. Literally, they felt outstanding. As usual, Mrs. Murie picked up the pace and left me behind, but that's how distance running happens and she and I both know that running is an inward competition in a lot of ways. While listening to my iPod and getting lost in the sport that I love so much, I did the math in my head and realized that, yes, we would be going longer than the planned 20 miles. I also realized that I would be running more miles than Duggar children. That made me smile.
We'll most likely do one more 20 miler before NYC and a handful of 14 or 15 milers. And two weeks before is the Chile Pepper 10K. At this point I feel great and am starting to really focus on running the greatest marathon in the world. It's going to be such a great weekend and I'm a blessed man to be able to do it. There'll be more races afterward, in fact i've already got two half marathons on the docket, but this might be the apex for me. If so, I'll look back with a smile on my face.
Postscript. As part of running the NYC Marathon, I'm so excited to be raising money for Shoe4Africa, an organization founded by runners that raises money for health care and education initiatives in Kenya. Please take a look at my fundraising page and help me support these great people. There's a link below. Every dollar counts, so do what you can. Thanks, everybody.
http://www.shoe4africa.org/charity/civicrm/contribute/pcp/info?reset=1&id=460
Postscript Two. I want to give a shout-out to three great people, Carole Swope and Bruce Wilkins and Jamie Huneycutt, who will all be running the Chicago Marathon next weekend. The weather looks perfect and it's going to be an amazing weekend. I'll be there with them in spirit for every mile, but the finish line is theirs.
Run.
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