2
Of To Run A Marathon
The warnings began streaming in on Tuesday before the marathon.
The race officials began warning runners that it was supposed to be unseasonably warm on Sunday and to take precautions in preparation. I remember sitting at the laptop in our dining room and reading the first e-mail to Chad. Really, though, what was the big deal? Most of our training had been done during the hottest months of the year.
In fact, because of Chad’s schedule, most ofhis training had not only been done during the hottest months… but at the warmest time of day. He had been working the 2:30 shift all summer – 2:30 in the afternoon until 2:30 in the morning. He would come home and sleep from about 3:00 a.m. until 10 or 11, then get up, eat a bit and head out for a training run. He was logging the majority of his miles between 11:30 and 1:30 all summer long.
Personally, I loved running in the heat… so, we took notice of the warnings, but were not too concerned. We packed extra sunscreen and made sure that we had our warm weather running clothes. We also began drinking extra fluids and really studied the route to know when and where the water and Gatorade would be available. We wereso prepared!
When I ran the Detroit Marathon the year before, I literally had just made it through… but this one we studied and knew the course and had a firm grasp of what was going on – truly the ben-eft of having already done and been a part of one marathon. We were ready! Our anticipation was palpable! We were so excited to not only be a part of one of the greatest marathons around, but also to have a weekend away. We hadn’t had a weekend away, just the two of us, in quite a while and we wereso excited!
The warnings were now coming daily and we continued to prepare to depart. We had planned to leave Thursday after the kids got home from school and drive to my brother’s house which is two hours away. The kids would be staying with my brother Kraig and his wife Missy while we were gone. Thursday afternoon we finished getting everyone packed and I recall sitting at the dining room table paying bills. We had come a long way since the days of truly ‘pinching’ pennies, but we still needed to be very wise with our money and a weekend away like this was a definite strain on our budget. I usually went to pick Abbi up at the bus stop, but on this particular day, since I was engrossed in working on bills, Chad happily went to pick up his baby girl.
I will truly never forget the conversation when he got back from picking Abbi up. Abbi was only eleven, and in the sixth grade. She was tall and beautiful. She was working her way up to at least six feet tall and was ver