9-11 Memorial
Bigger, bolder, brasher. Not the Colorado Rockies, but good to be USA home.
What I learned from my 50 State journey (twice), no matter the accent or our politics – Hawaii, Texas or Maine – we’re American. We ALL stand together 🇺🇸
Trans-Atlantic flight, Amsterdam to JFK. Customs, luggage retrieval. Rental van to our Saturday nite sleeps. All the years I NYC-worked, never ever on Long Island.
Hampton Inn. American TV. Food Network! Thirty minutes more, downstairs with the Questers – PIZZA nite! SOAKING in the junk food. Nothing more American than pepperoni pizza & 2-liter Coke. U-S-A! We’re not the healthiest bunch of folk. LOL>
BUSINESS CLASS sleep – and a FULL nite on Long Island. Despite the massive time difference, ZERO problem staying unconscious ‘til the morning alarm 😊
Breakfast, shower. Luggage at the Front Desk. Goodbye, first Half adventure. Ash & Tom (already in New York) exchanging marathon totes while I’m running in nearby Eisenhower Park. Goodbye sweaty shorts, hello Antarctica sleeping bag. YES!
Registration, bib pickup. Soooo many runners. Triple 8 story back-burner’d this day. New Yorker accents, fancy run shoes. Thin guys to the front – winner’s breaking 3 hours today. Photo opp with the Six, then crowd bunched close at the Start. Kinda overwhelming, sheer amount of people. Weather? Couldn’t be better. Legs? Heavy.
Lap 1, Ashton. Lap 3, Sis. emotion OVERLOAD.
Sis saw yesterday’s Amsterdam post & booked a New York flight, same day/hours later. Just WOW. Reason I ran my first marathon (Alaska 2013). Reason I ran all 50 States TWICE (her Hawaii Birthday ultra). And today, will be the reason I FINISH all 8 continents.
[I mean, once you finish six… the last 2 – with no time cutoffs – should be a cake walk. It’s just another 52 miles, right?]
More walk than slog. More slog than jog, but Sis stayed with me. Six-hour course limit. Slow-n-steady. Legs moving (or not) – she’d make sure I’d hit the time. Well until lap 8, then… see ya. 2pm. Plane to catch, work in the morning. Absolutely SERIOUS!
Clocks a sub-10 5k, medal/finish pic, husband waiting with the car. CRAZY proud! & sooooo very appreciative ❤️
LAST LAP. It’d be tight. 16-minute walk pace. Certainly, wasn’t setting any speed records – but FINISH I did.
6 continents, 6 marathons, 6 days. Anything is POSSIBLE… with FAMILY.
-
- Triple 8 New York
-
- Day 6 START
-
- Eisenhower Park, L.I.
-
- SIBLING Day
-
- love ya Ash ❤️
-
- Garden City USA
-
- 6-hour cutoff 😬
-
- Day 6: North America
-
- TWO to go!
-
- 8 laps ’round
Icebreaker Marathon
“It doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’
There is a lot of satisfaction in that.” ~ Fred Lebow
Woke early cheerleading myself; only 3 to go. Little bounce day-over-day. Legs stopped moving day prior – think ‘lead legs‘ the new norm. No real recovery. Lack of sleep taken its toll. Trained for ‘miles‘ & throwing multi-day distance. Never foresaw sleep deprivation. Mind fuzzy/cloudy, nothing’s ever crisp. Reality/dream states blurred. And emotional. Even at Christmas, my family… we’re not huggers. Certainly not weepers.
Suck it up buttercup, it’s Race day 6 – and today, this day I’m running 26.2 in the Red, White & Blue 🇺🇸
Sunday. BIGGEST race field of all 8. Hundreds of participants. Flat course & NYC confidence. Crazy fast field. End of Lap 1: Ash & Tom. Taste of HOME, my Colorado FAMILY. Lap later, had it settled in my head. I got nothing to prove. I’ve got folks who love me. I’ve been to Chile, marathon’d in Antarctica. Nothing left in the legs, spirit dinged. Finish the Half & heading HOME. 5 continents in 5 days. I can live with that.
Lap 2, no Ash. Text’d to meet at the tennis courts. It’s just ahead; they were geocaching. Got it! Thankful they weren’t hanging idle while I’m slow-slogging ‘round Long Island. New York State not… ‘the City’.
Ahead on the right. There they are. Smile. Short wave.
Left. Look LEFT. Tunnel Hill mirage. So weird. Same headband, same hydration vest. Smiling, laughing. Talking. No, it’s REAL. Half-a-country away from her St. Louis home. She’s HERE. HOW?
Long embrace. TEARS. No words. Sis – in Garden City, New York ❤️
And Ash. And Tom. And my in-law bro, Paul.
They’re all here.
Run, walk, crawl but finish. I can do this. Triple 8 FINISH.
-
- Sis SURPRISE
-
- Triple 8 BOOST
-
- Taste of HOME ❤️
-
- marathon STRONG
NY Sibling SURPRISE
“I feel that the world needs dynamism. The outer world needs dynamism and the inner world needs peace. As seekers, we have to pray and meditate in order to have peace. To be dynamic we need physical fitness at every moment, and running helps us considerably to keep physically fit.” ~ Sri Chinmoy
Cairo – Rome – Amsterdam ✈️
First half of World, economy. Second half… so much better. YES!
FIRST CLASS to Amsterdam. Tight connection in Rome (& extra carry-on), no time to check bags. And FOOD. Airline dinner would be my only calories Friday. Touchdown: Schiphol Airport. Many thanks to the fine folks of KLM who gave Triple 8 a nice shout-out & photo opportunity 😊
1am check-in. Nicest of our hotel digs & five hours sleep. New continent/day, same drill. Shower, marathon clothes, luggage downstairs in the lobby. Race Day 5. Appreciative of the journey but today… everything opposite Cairo. Low energy, spirit vacant. First day felt I was just showing up. Silent. Breakfast’d separate from the Group. Hoping the crisp temperature change would help push/inspire. Legs like lead. No pain, cement logs. Big lumbering weights attached my hips.
2 short out-n-backs then 8 laps in Bos Park. Scenic wetland run ‘round a North Sea canal – speed skating in high Winter, rowing practice this day. Weekend day. Expecting a larger runner crowd, though most Half-competing. 2 cups of orange juice, quiet reflection. Camera done; race time.
Cold, quiet, damp. Bird calls. Folks dog-walking. Happy pup sounds. Sub-10 out-n-back miles. Walked/jogged Lap 1 ‘round Bosbaan. Running low, no energy. Ear buds in. Kicked up the tunes.
Lap 3: Push to the Bridge. Walk. Run Bosbaan length to the opposite end – & REPEAT.
Halfers joining the journey crowded the trek but BOOSTED spirits. New energy, runner chat. Wouldn’t walk again ‘til lap 6. Forward movement; slow n steady. Water/juice. Water/juice. 20th bathroom stop (slight exaggeration). Peanut butter n banana (sans bread) mi new amigo.
Slogged the long stretches of Canal. Cool winter weather a HUGE PLUS. push, push, PUSH.
Strangely emotional. Dizzy. Mind cloudy. Gotta finish. And SLEEP. Tomorrow USA – I’ll refuel there. Food, no food, don’t care anymore. Shower, airport, SLEEP. Maybe sleep on the 20-minute van ride to Schiphol. All consuming thought 💤
Finish Banner. Medal, done.
Five continents, five days. Too much. Spirit BROKEN, openly wept. Tomorrow USA. HOME 🇺🇸
-
- KLM FIRST CLASS
-
- Hello Holland! 🇳🇱
-
- Amsterdamse Bos Park
-
- Day 5 Start
-
- Bosbaan ROWING 🚣
-
- North Sea wetlands
-
- Day 5: Europe
-
- 8 laps ’round
Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Marathon
