The ORIGINAL Marathon

I did it. It wasn't my first marathon, nor hopefully my last, nor my fastest nor my slowest. However, it may be the most memorable marathon and the one I am most proud of for many years to come. I can't lie that I'm also pretty proud of qualifying and finishing the Boston Marathon. Yet I think it was this, my 11th marathon on November 11, the original marathon from Marathon to Athens, Greece that I put at the top of my list. I ran 42 km almost exactly 4 months and 2 weeks after giving birth and finished in 4 hours and 3 minutes (I don't know how I figured out all of these funny coincidences with numbers other than I had a lot of time to think during those 42 km). I had always thought it would be pretty cool to run the original course, but I had never really thought it would become a reality. Now I can say I did it.

When I signed up for the race way back last spring I had no idea how training would go and if I would even be in good enough shape to run the entire race. As I mentioned in another blog it was not easy between finding the time with Emma, getting the energy while taking care of a young baby, and finding the time with Steve's busy travel schedule. Yet, considering the scaled back training program I had I was feeling pretty good come mid-October about the shape my body was in. However from mid-October until race day those energy levels sharply declined mostly due to Emma's decline of sleeping well at night. And it seemed as I approached November 11 that my runs were getting more difficult instead of easier. So by the time race weekend came around I put all previous time goals aside and truly told myself it was just about finishing. I also wanted to be sure we were able to enjoy Athens, which meant a full day of siteseeing and walking probably 4 or 5 miles the day before the race, which I would never normally do.

The morning of the race was an early one. Although it did not start until 9 am, I was up before 5 am. To my surprise Emma must have known it was a big day and only woke up once that night, but I woke up many more times wondering why she wasn't awake!  My wake-up call was extra early because I had to make sure Emma was fed and bottles ready for the 7 or 8 hours I wouldn't see her (the longest time I have been apart from her to date!). From there it was out our hotel by 6 am so I could make the walk to the shuttle bus location that would take us the 26.2 miles to the start line. Lucky for me I met several nice Americans that were also running and one in particular that I stayed together with from the time we left the hotel until the start of the race, looking out for each other to make sure we got on the bus and to the start line.

Like most other races I have run that involve a shuttle bus to get to the start line it was a mess. There were people pushing, worried whether or not they would get on what seemed like a very limited number of buses. Lucky for me and my new friend we made it on and settled in for the almost one hour ride to the town of Marathon. It was a pretty relaxed ride except for the pigeon our bus hit on the way there (I was sitting in the front row), luckily that was the only excitement. By the time we got to Marathon we still had 1.5 hours to wait in the 50 degree weather for the start of the race. There's nothing like having plenty of time to sit and ponder your crazy decision to run 42 km. Yet it went surprisingly fast, especially by the time I got done waiting in line to use a port-a-potty! There was also a crazy announcer and loud music to keep us entertained, especially as he kept reminding us that if we did not drop off our clothing bags by 8:30 am that we would be stuck with it and have to run to the finish line with it. I am not sure how anyone missed those announcements that seemed to be made every five minutes, but low and behold I did see someone running with their bag!

By the time the race was about to start I was happy just to be in the starting corral after all the effort involved that morning. I wasn't sure if I still had enough energy left, but at least I knew I wasn't losing any more energy like the Greek lady waiting in the same corral as me who was dancing and singing loudly by herself like nothing I had ever seen at a start line before. I wasn't sure she knew how far she was about to run, but I did see her again at the finish line so I guess her strategy worked!

I couldn't wait to see this face when the
hills were getting tough!

Finally, there was a little festive Greek music to get us pumped up in the moments preceding the gun shot, and then we were off! While waiting for the start of the race had been cold the sun quickly heated up the course and most of the race it was in the mid-60's, a little warm for my liking but pretty nice with only a little wind. The first 7 or 8 miles started off pretty easily and was relatively flat, but I was quickly finding out that this course was really going to be much less scenic than I anticipated and without crowd support. Although the fans picked up they were very intermittent to start and they were not the stereotypical loud Greeks, but instead many people simply stood on the side of the street and just stared without saying a word - I had never experienced anything like it! And on top of that, it smelled! I still have yet to figure it out, we were in the countryside but I saw very few animals, just barren land as we passed through small towns, and it still really smelled for no apparent reason! Luckily as the miles passed I either stopped noticing it or it got better. And the fans got better, it started to be a lot of fun as we passed through the small towns to the shouts of "bravo bravo" and loud music and dancing. I even heard Yanni Live at the Acropolis being played! Just like many other races children lined the streets to give high fives to runners, and many also were handing out olive branches as we ran by! And the further along I got the more I noticed that people (especially women) were cheering specifically for me. I started to realize just how few women there were running the race and I later confirmed that when I saw it was about 80% male finishers. It was fun to realize how excited they were for me, a κυρία (lady) running the race as I came to find out later that running and exercising in Greece is still not looked that fondly upon for women as they are supposed to be having babies and taking care of their family (once again just like My Big Fat Greek Wedding).

Looking better than I felt here at mile 16!

As I started to hit miles 8 and 9 the hills started picking up. Although there was no heartbreak hill on this course it was basically one slow continuous uphill until mile 20. Despite having done one of my better jobs at starting conservatively it didn't help as the hills took their toll on me. By the time I got to mile 16 or 17 and saw my cheer squad (Steve & Emma) I thought I was done for. Yet, to my surprise and for the first time in my marathon running I turned a corner for the better at mile 20 (instead of hitting the dreaded wall). Once I hit some downhill and flat areas I actually started increasing my pace and held it. Maybe it was my conservative start pace, maybe it was the fact that I stayed better hydrated than I ever had before because the entire race they gave out full bottles of water instead of cups and I was actually able to drink more than spill more at ever water stop (yet there was a fine balance of not drinking too much), maybe it was that banana I decided to take and eat at mile 19, or maybe it was the random Greek man who started running with me and telling me there were no more uphills that did it but I had the best last six miles I think I have ever had. I got nervous that I wouldn't be able to hold my pace when I was at mile 23 but somehow I did and it sure is fun to keep passing more and more people as you're on the home stretch. There was nothing better than being able to run as hard as I could to finish the last 200 meters inside the first modern day Olympic stadium. I had done it - against some people's advice that it wasn't smart to try to do so much after having a baby. I listened to my body and confidently feel that I didn't push it past what was right for it to do now, but instead it showed me just how amazing your body can be when you do your best to take care of it.

What a cool finish line! The first modern day Olympic stadium - look how long & narrow that track is!

After the high of finishing (there's no better feeling, if you haven't experienced it I highly recommend it) and doing everything I could to soak in the feeling and the atmosphere of being in that Olympic stadium I headed off to find my support crew. On my way out I found my friend from the start of the race and found out he had done much better than expected as well. That's one of my favorite parts about running. Not only doing well yourself, but being able to enjoy that success and hard work with people you hardly know but are supportive and encouraging and who just want to see each other do the best they can.

I finished!

Unfortunately the finish line set-up was a bit like the line-up for the shuttle buses, a mess. As a result Steve and I had a very difficult time finding one another, but once again with the help of complete strangers who let me use their cell phone I was able to track him down (I was glad to be able to repay the favor when we happened to be on the same flight as them the next day and helped them find their missing stroller!).

My wonderful cheerleaders!

I was happy to hear that Emma had a good day as well since it had been one of my biggest worries of the day. I shouldn't have even been worried though as I knew Steve would do amazing with her as he always does. I simply could not have done it and trained for the race without him. Every other race I have felt that it has pretty much been up to me my level of success, but this one was different as I heavily relied on his help with Emma for every training run (although lucky for him usually Emma was asleep while I ran!). If I haven't already said it - THANK YOU!

Celebrating with a Greek beer and wearing what? A Rosemount cross country shirt of course!

Finally, one last thought. Several people have asked me now that I have run marathons and had a baby which is more difficult and if you're wondering I am still undecided. They are so completely different. I will say though that this marathon was probably the most difficult of all my marathons. Even though it was not my fastest it was definitely one of the biggest mental challenges I have experienced to keep myself running the whole way. I will also say that both are amazing experiences and a powerful testament to the incredible body God has blessed me with - I can't wait to see what else He has in store for it!

What a great day!