Roger
I have now accomplished my goal and completed the Boston Marathon. As my calf was sore almost from the very beginning I purposely kept it slow as I preferred a slower time over the possibility of not finishing or having to walk a portion of it, which I NEVER did! In addition there was a pretty big headwind (~10-20 MPH) the whole way which turned my legs into lead, especially up the hills. I'm also pretty sure that they kept on moving the finish line further and further back as I approached it, but fortunately I they must have run out of room and I was finally able to cross it.
As was posted, I ended up doing it in 4:45:43 which I am pretty happy about as it is under my 5 hour goal, especially under the above conditions. I like numbers and as I progressed through the race, I continually updated the time that I was shooting for. Under 4:00:00 was ruled out around mile 5 so I figured out around mile 18 (first of the "Hills of Newton") that 4:20:09 would be cool since it was the day of the race (04.20.09). Around Heartbreak Hill (mile 21) I re-evaluated my time and thought about 4:32:10 (sequential countdown) but that was gone by the time I ran down to Cleveland Circle (mile 22.5) . By the time I hit mile 25 (Kenmore Square, which was almost surreal, running through a major Boston intersection with all of the cars and buses replaced with screaming and cheering people around 10 deep) I decided to do everything I could to nab 4:44:44, but as I ran down Hereford Street (~ mile 26) and onto Boylston Street, I was completely spent and didn't have any kick left, so I finally decided on trying for 04:45:45. Unfortunately I wasn't actually sure where the exact finish line was (and at which point the clock stopped) so I guess I came in 2/100th of a second too fast!
Frankly I had been envisioning this moment pretty much the entire time I had been training for this journey and my thoughts of crossing the finish line always had me in a breakdown of tears with flashbacks of everything I did to get there rushing through my mind. But that was not to be the case and as I am typing this, I really haven't quite figured out where the dramatic ending went. I suppose that the easy answer is that I was just so worn out that I just wanted to get over the finish line and put an end to my misery that I had been enduring for almost 5 hours. It also could be that the reality of what I have accomplished hasn't actually kicked in yet. Maybe someday when I am walking across a street somewhere, it will hit me and I will finally break down into a fit of tears, as onlookers stare at me and contemplate what is wrong with me. One thing I know is it is a question that I will always think about for many years to come.
So now that it is over, it is time for me to reflect on what has happened and what I have learned in the last 10 months regarding Health, Passion and Love.
Health. While the weight loss is the most tangible facet of this project, it really shouldn't be, because the bottom line is I failed myself in taking care of my body for the first ~47 years of my life. While I voluntarily made myself unhealthy with a complete disregard for healthy eating and a completely sedentary lifestyle, Julia would want nothing more than to have just that - a normal healthy life. Fortunately I have righted this wrong and I will do everything I can to maintain the "new" me for the rest of my life. It is also my hope, as I stated when I first created my www.RunningForMyExistence.com website back in June of 2008, that at least ONE person takes what I have done to heart, sees that they can change their life for the better, and follows my example.
Passion. Running a marathon is a goal a lot of people have and I now respect anyone that has ever run one, especially Boston! I am proud of this accomplishment and it will be hard to come up with a new goal that will top it...but I will find one.
I have pledged to my wife, my friends and family and myself to continue to run marathons, although the thought of it right now kind of turns my stomach and causes my legs, almost on cue, almost wince in fear and remind me of the pain that they endured yesterday. Physically my body is screaming NO!!! but my mind is saying come on, it will be fun. Fortunately I have no fear that my entire body, from head to toe, will get itself together in the near future and I will regain the passion I had before. After all, I still need to get that 4 hour marathon under my belt.Love. The leaves the only "goal" left that you really can't measure with a scale or a finish line...or can you? To celebrate my accomplishment, my wife and friends put together an After The Marathon Party to celebrate my accomplishments as well as say thanks to everyone who had helped support me on this journey. And it was here at the After Party, that I realized what I had been searching for this whole time.
It goes without saying that I was humbled by how many people showed up for my party and I cannot say thanks enough. I challenge anyone to walk into a room of ~125 of the most important people in your life applauding you and not say "life really doesn't get any better than this" to yourself over and over. At that point, I was handed a microphone to make a speech. Normally this would cause me retract into a full fetal position on the floor but probably because I was just so tired or possibly because I knew every single person standing in front of me, I really didn't have a problem broadcasting my thoughts and voice over the speakers. From what I recall, I thanked everyone for coming, tried to defend my time running the marathon and then thanked the three "women" who had helped me across the finish line: My mom Hope, who died when I was 1 year old but kept constant watch over me as I trained, my wife Mary, whose undying love and patience never ever faltered even though I gave her 10 months of stress that would have broken any other person in the world, and my niece Julia, who gave me the inspiration and desire to see this whole project through. With that, I spoke the words that everyone was waiting for - Let's eat!
And it was also during this speech that Julia's mom explained to me several hours after giving it, what I have been looking for all this time. You see, unbeknownst to me at the time, when I mentioned in my "speech" how important Julia was to me, Julia turned to her mom with tears in her eyes and said "I never realized how much Uncle Roger loved me". And that really does trump everything else in the world that has happened to me. And it was at that point that I discovered that I had found my existence.
Well, I could go on and add another three or four paragraphs but I really don't think I need to. Actually I think the picture below pretty much sums it up so I will leave it at that.
I don't know what tomorrow will bring but I do know what yesterday brought and today I'm a better person because of it.Thank you for reading these blogs, have a nice day and a better life.
Roger
PS Below are some additional pictures from my "Big Day". The first two were taken by my good friend Mike Lee as I was just about to round the corner off of Hereford and onto Boylston Street for my final .25 mile. The remainder were taken by my brother, Richard Wright, right at the finish line. Thanks again for reading this blog.
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