Nostalgia

I love fall, that cool overcast weather. It makes me sad, but in a good way; it makes me think of the paths I have not taken, and of all the possibilities I had before me when I was still in grade school. It also reminds me of how miserable and off my head I was sometimes. It's curious to consider the dumb stuff that cast me into the deepest depths of gloom, and how cavalierly I treated what was really important.

It also still seems to be the start of the new year. It's been years since I've been to school, even a few since I've taught, and still the feeling persists that, when September rolls around, all these great new things will crop up. A bit of brisk weather to get us going, and then some long dark months during which we retrench and ferment our plots, and then Spring brings them to fruition with that mania sparked by the longer daylight hours. Something like that. If I consider the year starting in January, like much of the world, it doesn't seem right somehow. Yes, I'm rejuvenated, but there's nothing on the shelf and by the time I sort things out, it's May and starting to get too sticky to bother.

Anyway, I love fall. Especially the weather. Especially today. It was like 11C when I ran, crisp and overcast. Nice.

I was supposed to run about 15 miles according to the plan...yesterday. That didn't happen. My hopes weren't high today, either. My cold is on its way out, but still...so tiring myself too much will just delay the departure. So I grabbed the dog and entertained vague plans of running 8 miles with him and returning home, then running 10 miles with him and returning home...meanwhile, we were just coasting along. He was being very good and seemed loaded with energy, but was content to lope beside me on the grass beside the path. Plus, he didn't have a bowel movement for at least an hour, which is a minor miracle in itself, and allowed me to sink more deeply into the zone. We passed and were passed by another runner a few times, and exchanged a few words (not the dog, though). And then we were six-ish miles out so we turned around. I figured he could do 12, but didn't want to push him further, nor myself.

And 12 miles it was. Around 11.5 I started to feel tired, and soon after I decided to walk the rest of the way home to let things loosen up. A nice relaxing jaunt.

Anyway, back to that fall nostalgia...during the run, I was thinking about half marathons and why I prefer them to other race distances (although, 5Ks are good, in a different way). I guess the recent Army 1/2 has sparked some memories, especially in connection with my husband. And I have time now to dwell on this. Wrote my last anatomy test yesterday, and my new courses don't start until October 1st.

HALF #1, March 2004, Seoul. My first race ever was a 1/2 and it was because of this race that I met him. I was a bit bombed out in general in a good way, had moved to Korea a couple of months before and didn't have much contact with other Westerners, which was cool for the first month and then felt a little odd for the 2nd....anyway, I was happily trying out new things, kumdo, raw squid, pickled fruits, following people up random mountain paths, etc. I eventually met up with some hash harriers, and one of them had the nerve to ask me out (well, more than one--the odds were in my favour), and I accepted and then asked him his name. LOL. I was injured at that point, had been for more than a year, and was running very sporatically (ok, not at all until I joined the group). But, some weeks after I joined the group, we started planning for this weekend and the 1/2 marathon sounded cool. How long is that? Oh, about 2X longer than I had ever run before. Oh, well, I had about 3 weeks to prepare for it, I think, and got back up to about 6 miles beforehand.

I jogged it in 2:06 (as "Brad"...there was a mix up with my own entry) and had problems walking the next day. Meanwhile, my husband was a MAN and bolted to the turn around in about 45 minutes, and then walked the rest of the way with some friends.

HALF #2, December 2004, Seoul My husband/then boyfriend was in Iraq during this time, and I was working overtime, still injured, still not running much beyond once a week, which was really mostly scrambling up hills and through shiggy and over fences. lol. Anyway, my friend Karen had a bib for this race and I ran it for her in about 2:03. I was the only Caucasian there. So I was English Speaking Practice Central. Lots of fun. Some guy gave me what I thought was soy milk but was really makoli (sp?) afterwards and this turned my stomach, then I went to an opera with some friends and then went to another friend's birthday party/crawl and then my cab home rear-ended another and I hopped out and walked the rest of the way. The nights are long in Seoul.

HALF #3, March 2005, Seoul My husband/then boyfriend was still in Iraq, and I was still working and playing hard, and was starting to crash. Turns out I had tonsilitis the week or so around the race, plus other things...a few weeks later, I got tired of falling asleep while speaking/standing/walking and went to my doctor and got a whack of bloodwork done and my doctor put me on an herbal detox and some diet modifications. It was East meets West medically, and very effective. I was still running on Sundays with the pack, but my injury had gotten progressively worse. Thankfully, there was another mix up with my registration, and I never did find out my finishing time. I suspect it was 2:17. Not sure why. I walked quite a bit. It wasn't fun until I got to the finish line, and then we had a bbq and so forth.

HALF #4, January 2006, Ottawa My running dwindled to nothing soon after the last 1/2. I could manage maybe a few minutes at a time, which was fine for hashing. But, yes, running got slower and slower, and finally I gave it up. Left Korea in June of 2005, and spent some time in the Middle East, where running was not an option. Temps were 40-55C--but dry, and I liked it--and so I swam. I rejoined my husband/then boyfriend/future roommate in Colorado in late July, and we hiked around and so forth for a few months. Meanwhile, I was doing yoga and resistance exercises, and missing running a lot. Finally, around October or November, 2005, I restarted. We were living at 6000+ feet above sea level, so my lungs BURNT after about a minute at first. Fortunately. This kept my progress slow and sure. Anyway, I rashly decided to combine a visit home to my folks with the Hypothermic 1/2, despite my low volume of training. My longest run had been about 7 miles. My injury resurfaced around mile 9 and I was slowed to a walk of shame. 2:14.

Fortunately, that trip north of the border was the last straw for US Customs and Immigrations. I got an invite to the back room, and eventually they let me back into the US, but just for a month. So my then common-law husband and I decided we should shit or get off the pot, and we rung up our folks and then went to the local courthouse and paid $10 (Cash Only. No Checks Accepted) and took some papers outside and signed them there with some friends, then went and had pizza. It was my dream wedding. My only regret is that we didn't have family there for the ceremony, but there was no ceremony anyway, so maybe we'll have a big anniversary party one of these years and invite everyone to a bbq or something.

HALF #5, April 2005, Denver This was a sad occasion. We moved away from Colorado shortly after, but decided that we could squeeze in this race, in Denver. We ran together for the first time, for the first nine miles. Then my husband started having problems with his knee and told me to leave him. I hope this won't turn out to be prophetic. Anyway, I went on ahead, and it got hot and I started to slow down. Mile 11 took about 18 minutes. Actually, what had happened was a death on the course :( a homeless guy, so the course was rerouted, adding an extra .7 of a mile to the course, 13.8 miles in total. My time: 2:18. I almost missed seeing my husband finish...turns out he restarted running and gutted it out in 2:25.

HALF #6, September 2006, Virginia This was a joyous occasion. We moved away from Virginia soon after. Meanwhile, I was still wrestling with USCIS (and I'm STILL wrestling with USCIS...) so I had lots of time to train. I figured, this is it, I'm going under 2hrs. The summer was hellish and I got heat exhaustion once, and there were a few days where I stepped out to water my garden before running, sweated through my clothes during the 5 minutes that took, and nixed the run. Anyway, we chose a nice little picturesque race, the Battlefield 1/2. Some modest inclines, but nothing too bad. It was a bit hot, in the low 20s, but ok. We started together and then my husband told me to go ahead at some point, maybe mile 7, and I came in at 1:59. Good enough! He was not too far behind, around 2:05.

HALF #7, April 2007, Virginia Well, we missed Virginia so much! LOL. It was the inagural Dismal Swamp 1/2 Marathon, so we had to return. I was training for my 2nd marathon at this point, so was pretty fit. Somehow, we both thought that the run would be on trails--we'd been to the swamp before, and remembered walking on dirt/gravel--but, no, it was road, and DEAD FLAT. A marble wouldn't roll on any part of this course. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but when I read of courses like the Ottawa 1/2 being 'flat' or Philly being 'flat', I have to laugh. Yes, they're fast courses, and relatively flat, but this swamp race was FLAT. Anyway, I tore off a chunk of time and came in at 1:50, and my husband was soon after, in about 1:53. We both started late, the gun went off when we were in the portas. I got out first. Fortunately, it was also chip timed.

HALF #8, September 2007, Philadelphia. I was training for my third marathon and my husband for his 1st, and as we lived pretty close to Philadelphia, where his dad and step-mom lived, we decided to head up for a visit and give this race a whirl. It was near-perfect race weather, maybe too sunny, but only about 7-9C, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to hit the loos before the race, and I was running great but starting to feel a little full around 10K. Hit 10 miles under 1:20 and then really started to have to go. I tried hanging in there, but, man, I copped out a short time afterwards and ducked in some grotty thing that didn't even appear to be race related--it was coated in old newspapers. I didn't care. I hovered for over 2 min and my thighs were cramped up. Finished in 1:47. My husband cracked 1:50 with 1:49.

HALF #9, January 2008, Ottawa. Again, I decided to combine a visit home with this race because there was unfinished business. My husband couldn't come, unfortunately. The weather was decent--cold, but not too cold, not too windy, and conditions were mostly not icy, just a few patches. I eased into the run and it went really well, far better than my expectations. Finished in 1:47 again, but ranked far better than at Philly. Having good trail/winter shoes really was an advantage.

HALF #10, May 2008, Ottawa. My husband was away in Kansas on pre-deployment training, but had this weekend off. He flew up, and hoped to run the 10K, but had knee issues. We went down to cheer my dad for the 5K, and I ran the 1/2 the next day. It was too hot and humid for me. I held onto a pace, but it was slower than I'd hoped for, and I was miserable. At least I got rid of the 1:47 streak. With 1:48:00. :/. But that didn't really matter. I had my husband with me and we had a great weekend.

HALF #11, September 2008, Ottawa. Thought of my husband lots and ran 1:41. We are stronger when we think of our loved ones.

It's strange to think that September is nearly gone. I'm glad. It's one of my favourite months, but not when it's standing between me and my man. At any rate, I hope to run the Hypo 1/2 again, and maybe my next 1/2 after that will be with my husband. I hope so. I think I will be so glad to see him again that I'll actually run with him and hold hands with him crossing the finish line...which we could perhaps manage until about 50M to go when we'd likely drop the connection and try to outsprint each other. I have, however, promised that I will watch one football game with him, as in, actually watch it and not just be in the same room reading. LOL. As for where our next 1/2 or TV might be, we have no idea where the Army will send us next.