My Hero

He did it!  My husband finished the DOathlon!  I am so proud of him.   He didn't have much time to train in the last few weeks and these running/endurance events aren't his thing.  He can squat, lunge, push, pull hundreds of pounds - that is his thing. Lifting is his equivalent of my running.  For the last month he modified his training to put in a few bikes and a few runs.   It would be like me going to a weight lifting contest after training with my 8 lb dumbells for a few weeks.  It would be like me doing any strength training at all - yeah, right - I'm not that talented or so predisposed.

That is why he is my hero.  He was nervous about being able to finish and he was anxious about being slow but he did it anyway.   Yeah Jim!

And for me?  I finished.  I finished!  I FINISHED!   I can't imagine how the winners felt today, but I bet that my joy was 10 times greater!  I have never started a race with full acceptance that I may not finish.  I had no expectations.  There was no pressure.  I just went out there too see if I could run, hoping that this would signal that I have no injury.  (Or a very little one.)

It was a small, very fast field that went out fast and got faster.   I laughed out loud when the field dropped me in the first 200 meters.  But I raced my race.  Free and easy.  Nice and slow.  At about 2 1/2 miles in the first 5K run, I finally caught a runner but still stayed low key.  My back wasn't crazy about the bike thing, but finally about 15K into the 20K it relaxed and I found my rhythm, but still used the easy gears.  Definitely my slowest bike ride ever.

And the last 5K run.  It was the SWEETEST run in my life.   I think I smiled the entire time.  I was so happy that my back held it together.  That run felt so good.  I even caught a couple runners - what's up with that? I was so thrilled that I crossed the finish line and just kept running.  Partly because I needed to grab my camera to get a picture of Jim finishing.  And then I turned around and ran all the way back.  I was like a little kid - I just kept running around. 

I was fifth from last- I gave up counting my rank from the top winners - way too much math!  Jim came in second to last.  And what that means my friends is that WE didn't finish last.  For a day that started with no expectations, it is my most treasured finish ever.

I always have a song that seems to be in my head during a race that also seems to describe my day.  This time it was Free and Easy Down the Road I Go by Dierks Bentley.   The song and my day were heavenly.

I'm Back!   No pun intended.  Oh what the hell - pun intended!  I'm livin' large today!

Comments

[lifestudent]

As they say, the only person you are racing against is yourself :) Not only did you finish, but you sound like you had a blast - and thats worth more than anything else. Congrats!

[Bob Gentile]

woo hoo Congrats to you guys, well done!! and love that song FREE & EASY by Dierks :-)

[Art Dinkin]

I'm proud of BOTH of you! :)

[Nancy]

YEAH!!! I'm so glad you are back and you got to do this together!! Great attitude, too!!

[Doug]

Rock on Amy! Congrats on surviving and feeling great at the finish!

[Marcy]

YAY AMY!!!! CONGRATS to both you and your husband!! Sounds like you had fun and that's all that matter, right?

[Kent]

Fantastic race today -- I knew as I saw you finish you had passed a number of other runners. You looked strong out there today. Congratulation on the race and injury-free status!

[Jamie]

Congrats to both of you! A wonderful achievement and you had fun!

[Laurie]

Yay! I'm glad you're back and feeling good and that you had such an enjoyable race. Congrats to your hubby too!

[Tom]

What a great report--of your back that held up and Jim's hero status. It was so touch and go for you right up through yesterday.

We're now waiting for your Mom's comments and hopefully not your chiropractor's...

Congratulations, Amy!!!

[pat monahan]

Hey, was that your husband in front of me? I ran a 5k and just hoped that the 10k winner wouldn't finish before me. congrats on your race and pain free back.

[Amy]

Thanks for all your comments! I am still smiling.

Kent - I was glad I saw you when I was going out on the bike. I tried to find you after the finish but must have been too giddy to see straight.

Pat - I so know that feeling. The funniest part of this race is that as I came in from the bike to transition to the run, a couple of the FINISHERS were packed up and heading home. I still had 3 miles to go. We chatted a while about their race. When I was finishing, they were finishing handing out the medals. Man, you know you are slow when it is all over and you aren't even done.

[Rob]

awesome, great job

[Andria]

Congrats to both of you. Sounds like it was a fun time and it's nice that you both could share something that you enjoy Amy! Now you get to go do the heavy lifting with him!

[Bill Carter]

Congratulations! I don't really know how people can train for 2 or 3 different disciplines. Running is more than enough for me and still manages to kick my butt. Congrats to your husband as well...he sounds like one great weightlifter, but that is not always (or usually)conducive to travelling quiickly over land.

Best of luck,
Bill

[Database Diva]

Amy, I'm so happy that you were able to run your race and share it with your husband. You don't have to have a fast time to have a good time! I hope this means that you will continue to be pain free!

I ran/walked/crawled the Seafair Marathon with my husband in July. We was hurting big time, and we had the honor of being last. We even had a police escort for the last 10 miles.
http://seedivarun.com/blog/index.php/races/seafair-marathon

[MOM]

I'm a little slow on comments on Amy & Jim's Duoathalon. Of course, congrats to both of you, and glad your back held out for you. I know no pain, no gain, but lots of pain...maybe no gain. You stills have lots more grit than this ole girl.. must take after your Father...CONGRATS again to you and your HERO!!!!