Tuesday, October 18, 2016

#ReadersWorkouts -- Marathon


Joy at Joy's Book Blog has built up a community of people who love to read and work out. You know that I enjoy both of those things, so I'm joining in.

The Columbus Marathon runs in the middle of October each year. Since I'm a runner, I always look forward to it, even though I'm not running it.
I trained for it twice and ran it once.
Like last year on the morning of the Marathon, I got up and went for a run. I ran the marathon route near our house. The streets were nice and wide, empty of parked cars. Banners flapped along the side of the road, letting runners know how much farther they had to go to the finish line.
The mile marker near our house is 22. So I ran it backwards for 2 1/2 miles then turned around and came back for a five-mile run.
The sky was dark as I began and a glowing full moon sat heavy in the sky. Gorgeous.

On the run back, the streets had become a little busier with volunteers setting up tables and pushing giant trash cans into place so the runners could dispose of their water cups.

I texted my running friends pictures of the moon and talked about the preparation for the marathon.
One friend asked if it inspired me to run another marathon.
"No!" I texted back. I remember the pain in all of my joints and my muscles, even as I trained, running 20 miles then 22 miles then 24 miles, plus all the shorter distances in between. I picture myself coming down the stairs at my house, holding onto the banister and the wall as I slowly eased down each step.
Later that morning, on a beautifully sunny, warm day, I walked along the sidewalk, clapping and cheering for the runners.
"Go runners! Keep it up!" I'd yell.
I ran into so many friends and neighbors lining the sidewalks as I walked to the coffee shop. It was like a festival.
In front of the coffee shop, I took a picture of runners making their way down the street. Musicians played all along the route to keep the competitors moving along.

And then, I felt just a twinge, thinking, I could do the marathon again.
Hope your exercising went well this week.

5 comments:

Carol said...

I'd like to do a marathon, but I'm so bad at training. I'm thinking once my daughter goes away to college I'll try it.

Vicki said...

I would have loved to do a marathon when I was younger, but I think I'm too old to train now. Your post makes me miss Columbus! :(

Tina said...

The header for your site is gorgeous, I just wanted to tell you that.
A marathon is beyond what I can manage now but I used to run years ago. Never did a marathon. I enjoyed reading your post.

Joy said...

What lovely descriptions. I really enjoyed the full moon this weekend, but I saw it late at night, not early in the morning!

our life in france said...

Well done you for even doing just one marathon, I dont do any form of exercise except gardening and the odd short walk but I admire anyone who does, you will have plenty of places and space to run in france..

Cockadoodle Doo or Cocorico?

 We stood in the middle of the road, having walked together 13 miles that day and Claudine grasped my forearm. "Mais non! It doesn'...