In October I posted about how my wife and daughter were running in their first half marathon. Neither had run before. They were doing this to benefit the American Liver Foundation. Many of you made donations. Thank you very much.
In January, I shared a DWF file of the race map where I had used the markup capability of Autodesk Design Review to indicate where they would be at specific times in the race. This allowed me to drive from location to location, so I could cheer them on from the sidelines.
As part of her thank you letter to donors, my wife recapped her overall experience. I thought I would share it with you. It has nothing to do with DWF, so those not interested can stop reading here.
Journey to the Half Marathon
I have always admired runners. They were always the fit girls running the walking paths or the buff guys with the extremely developed calves. They weren’t regular people-they were true athletes, or so I thought.
This all began with a phone call from Stephanie. She had just moved out of the house to her apartment for the next semester at ASU. She had been working as an intern with the American Liver Foundation in the spring and continued on through the summer. They were looking for runners to raise money for the foundation, and Stephanie thought we might want to get involved. She called and asked if I would be interested in running the half marathon in January of 2007. Mind you, this was in July. I told her that I didn’t think I could do it. She responded that we will have a trainer and five months to get ready. All we need to do is raise $600 each. I agreed to it but still wasn’t truly committed.
On Saturday, August 5, I picked Stephanie up at her apartment at 6:30 AM. Yes AM! We proceeded to Tempe Park where we were going to meet our trainer, get our schedule for training, and meet others who were going to train with us. We met people of all fitness levels. Most had participated in numerous marathon events. Still there were a few of us who were new to the idea. We approached the group feeling a little intimidated. Then we met our trainer: Richard. He was such a nice guy, very encouraging, and helpful with our questions. He told us what we could look forward to and gave us our training schedule. It was a few pages long! We were still a little concerned, but Stephanie and I said we’d look over the schedule when we got home. We would then let each other know if we were truly committed. It didn’t take us long to know that this was doable. I called Stephanie and said, “Let’s do it.” And so the journey began…
That Tuesday we started running or running/walking as we called it, for just 30 minutes at a time. Remember, it is August which is our hottest month of the year. Each Saturday, I would get up at 5 AM to get Stephanie at 5:40 AM so that we were at Kiwanis Park to run along the canal at 6 AM. Even then it would be 90 degrees. We were determined. We started off our Saturday runs at just two miles. We were so proud of ourselves when we finished 4 miles. We continued our running four or five times a week - running a little longer each week. By mid September we added a track workout with our trainer once a week at the ASU track. Once again, I always did this run with Stephanie. We had the same six people at this workout each Wednesday. They became our good friends. We could feel ourselves slowly getting stronger.
At the end of September, my nephew was getting married in New Orleans. I had to keep up with my running, so I ran on the Mississippi River levee near where I grew up. Not knowing how safe it was in New Orleans at this time, Scott volunteered to run with me. He would run until he got tired. I would run ahead of him then walk back and meet him. Scott ran enough to keep me in his sight. It was fun to run with him even though the humidity knocked me down a bit. By then I was running about seven miles.
I bought a new pair of running shoes in October. They were actually a birthday present from my children. They had given me a gift certificate to use. I went to The Runner’s Den, a place well known by runners. The gentleman at the store had me try on about 25 shoes and worked with me for almost an hour making sure the shoes fit me correctly. Now that’s service! Although shoe shopping is supposed to be a woman’s dream activity, this was somewhat different. It had a purpose. I also had to buy some new running clothes. You know, you must look the part. Our trainer, Richard, always laughed at how I matched.
Sometime in October, Stephanie was getting discouraged. She found it harder to do the longer runs on Saturdays. She felt like she had hit a plateau. She was getting so busy with her work, her schooling, and her running. After just an email from Richard, she was reinvigorated, and we were on our way again. Isn’t it funny how the words from a trainer are more motivational than the words from a mother?
Then in November, I had scheduled a holiday shopping trip to Houston with my mother and my sisters. We stayed at the Galleria Shopping Center Hotel to get the most shopping hours in. Even though it was cold and rainy at 7 AM, I kept with my running schedule. I actually ran around the track above the Galleria 40 times to get in the designated eight miles. I think my sisters saw that there was no stopping me. Of course I continued my shopping after a shower. At this same time, Stephanie had to go to Salt Lake City for a public relations convention for ASU. Her colleagues couldn’t believe she got up so early to get on the treadmill so that she could get in her miles for the week. When you are out of town and out of your routine, it is even more important to stay focused.
The week of Thanksgiving was a taper off period for us. It was nice to run just three times that week and for shorter distances. Richard knew better than to make it a hard week for the group. Even with the holiday Stephanie and I continued with our running, but this time we ran here in Scottsdale rather than in Tempe. I enjoyed that.
December began with our Saturday workouts beginning at 7 AM instead of 6 AM. It was too dark to start earlier, and it was getting colder. Our last track workout was in mid December. We followed that with happy hour at the Gordon Biersch Brewery in Tempe. No, Stephanie did not consume alcohol. Tempe is not New Orleans. Stephanie was just as happy with her Diet Coke and the camaraderie of the running group. We were also pleased to have a college friend of ours from New Orleans, Jeff, come in for a visit. Jeff has completed marathons including the Boston Marathon. How surprised we were when he phoned us to run with us for our 12 mile run. He had to catch the plane that morning, but we felt honored to have him with us for the first seven miles. From then on, we knew we could complete the half marathon.
The next few weeks were another taper off period meaning we would be running shorter distances. That was nice for the holidays. Richard even had a Christmas party at his house that we all attended. While we were in Houston and New Orleans for the holidays, we continued with our running. This time Stephanie had the opportunity to run on the levee with me. It was not so hot and humid in December.
As January rolled around we were ready. We went to the Race Expo where we got our race number, chip for timing, and bought a few souvenirs. The next night we had our “Last Supper,” as Richard called it, at a local pasta restaurant. It was nice to see the group before our race the next day. That evening I laid out exactly what I was going to wear and what I needed for the race. Scott had his map ready, including time markers he computed, so he knew where to be to cheer us on. I was a little anxious.
The next day was the race. We awoke to one of the coldest days ever in the Phoenix area. We picked Stephanie up at her apartment at 7 AM. It was just 24 degrees when we left our house. I threw a pair of mittens in the car. That was smart. Scott dropped us off at the start then would meet us at the four mile mark. We got in our running group and waited for the start of the race. We were freezing. Finally, our group was called, and we were off. We did see Scott and our friends, Tim and Marie, at the designated first mark. It was only then that we took off our gloves and our sweatshirts. We then reached the seven mile mark where the American Liver Foundation staff cheered us on. At eight miles we saw Stephanie’s boyfriend, Brad, and his mother. Then at ten miles we once again had Tim, Marie, and Scott cheering for us. The next two miles were the toughest for us, not only were we getting tired, but we were also going uphill. We knew we had it in us. By mile 13 we were looking forward to the end. We did it. We had achieved our goal. We even made it 10 minutes earlier than we had anticipated. It was so great to see our friends at the finish line. They really were the real troopers. Yes, we were cold, but at least we ran to get warm. They were cold the entire time.
I felt such a sense of accomplishment when all was done. I had the opportunity to spend such good quality time with my daughter through the five months of training. I couldn’t have done it without her, and I think she would say the same. We set our goal and made it. We raised funds for a great cause. We made new friends, and we had fun. I’m looking forward to running again next year. I guess that makes me a runner.
I had not mentioned this before, but we collected all of the money we pledged to raise for the American Liver Foundation. We were so surprised that with just a short email to our friends and family that we could reach our goal. Everyone was very generous. On behalf of Stephanie and me, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Sheryl
DWF may go beyond the paper, but I am proud to say that my wife and daughter went beyond their own expectations.
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