Marathon #7: Sacramento, and much, much more

***Spoiler Alert***  I married Marion…. That said, the goal of this blog is to use it as an outline for a book, so when that book deal happens, I promise to devote a big, fat chapter to my courtship with Marion, but in the meantime, I will keep the nitty-gritty of it all off of the internet in respect to key players, but just know that when the book comes out, that chapter alone will be worth the purchaseJ  I will share that our wedding included skydiving, dirt bike riding, and lots of dancing; Peter nick-named it the “X-Games” wedding, which was quite fitting.  However, the absolute best part of that day in early November, 2006, was that I became a step mother to an amazing seven year old girl named Hannah, who is now fourteen…… yikes… time flies…. 

Marion and I started dating officially on September 19^th, 2004, just two days after my twenty-fifth birthday, and two weeks before marathon #7, the Cowtown marathon in Sacramento, Ca.  We had been friends for months, so he was well aware that I was a runner, and that I was nearly fanatical about qualifying for Boston, he even knew what time I needed finish in to do it.  Which is why I was truly touched when he left me a voice mail message at 10:40AM on Sunday, October 3^rd the day of the marathon saying, “Hi, it is 10:40, so hopefully you have finished by now, and if you did, you qualified for Boston!”  Pretty cool.

I flew up to Sacramento the day before the race, it is a quick flight from LA, and far more easy on the legs than the five hour drive in the car. I rented a car which was one of those gigantic Lincoln’s or something, picture your grand parents last fly ride, and that was me rolling around our State’s capital.  My hotel was nothing special, and barely a hotel at all, but it would do for the purpose of this trip, which was to get in and out of Sacramento as quickly as possible, meaning with the fastest marathon to date. The expo was not very "expo" like at all, but it was simple, and efficient, which I appreciated; I didn’t really need another energy gel, anyway.

My pre-race nutrition was not quite honed in yet, but a huge smoothie and  fore-arm sized brownie for lunch, then a box of Junior Mints later than night when I watched the movie Ladder 49, yummy.  Before I went to bed I knocked back some trail mix, and Gatorade, not a perfect pre-race meal, but not too dangerous either.  I slept, which was a blessing, but I was thrilled when my alarm went off, because my body was primed and ready to go.  The race started in a park in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, the crowd was on the small side, which I loved, it felt intimate, like I already knew these runners, because they were real runners, but I just nodded and smiled among them, knowing today would be more than just a race that gave me my seventh finishing T-Shirt, one to wear every day of the week, but something more.

The race started off well, I was running at a quicker pace than I needed to meet my qualifying time, which was perfect, it meant I was banking time for when I really needed it.  The course weaved through neighborhoods lined with trees heavy with leaves that had yet to fall for Fall, which meant lots of shade underneath nature’s umbrella, a check in the “pro” corner for this course.  The only not-so-scenic section was the stretch between miles 12-14 on the frontage road to the freeway, but I did not think much of the ugliness because I was way ahead of schedule at the half way mark, yay.  My energy started to wane a bit around mile 17, which is normal for me, but that is where I saw a gorgeous couple come galloping across the park yelling their beautiful faces off for me to “Go”, it was my friend Sarah and her boyfriend, Mike. They came to the race to surprise me because Sarah knew how important Boston was for me, and that I was betting on this race for it to finally happen.  Sarah is an amazing human being, she was the first friend I made my freshman year in college, and is a Pediatric nurse today, I am very thankful to have her in my life.  Also, she has perfect timing, because I needed some pep in my step at that moment of the race, and she and Mike gave me the jolt I needed to keep pushing my pace, I was so close.  She told me that my younger sister Sarah, along with Tim and his family were waiting for me at the finish line, which was like drinking gummy berry juice; I was good to go to finish strong! 

The final mile of the course looped around the park toward the finish so I could see it about half a mile before I made the final turn, and I heard the announcer reading off times, I looked at my watch, it read 3:35; I did it.  I would finish under 3:40, I had punched my ticket for Boston, finally.  My official time was 3:37, whew, and Tim was the first person to come up and tell me that I qualified, which made it extra special.  I was impressed with my execution, I did what I needed to do, but I was in shock that after three attempts at qualifying for Boston after my San Francisco “Do it by 25” goal, I did it, and would be running the Boston marathon in six months.  I could not wait to call Marion back after his adorable message to tell him I did it, and ask if he wanted to come with me to Boston, and everywhere else for the rest of my life.

Marathon #6: Back On The Horse In My Home Town

The end of 2003 was fairly drama free, I moved into my new apartment on New Year’s Eve with the intention of waking up, and starting fresh in the New Year, 2004.  My apartment was a fairly large studio in West Hollywood just two blocks below the Sunset Strip, and it was fantastic.  I still dearly miss the early morning runs I would do on my favorite six mile loop where I would run along Sunset Blvd. and practically taste the regret of what went on the night before.  I saw many a “walk of shame” on those mornings. 

I did not have a refrigerator for a few months, so I stored my perishables in my parent’s old Playmate folding cooler on my balcony, clever huh?  At this point in my story, I had been a vegetarian for over a year, so there was never any stinky meat on my balcony, unless I invited some over:)  While on that topic, the year 2004 brought some BIG changes in my life, I finally had some great production work gigs again, and had started my dream job selling running shoes at the best running shop in LA, The Starting Line.  I learned a tremendous amount of needful running tidbits during my stint, but once my full time job kicked in, I started to burn up from working seven days a week, so I left my retail days in the dust.  On the upside, I met a very special fellow at my day job named Marion Spates. Marion was a 3D artist, and Production Manager, and since I was a production Coordinator in charge of moving the work along, we worked pretty closely together.  I found it interesting that he seemed to always be in my office, I did share it with my producer, Chris, so it could not have all been me, but even when Chris went home for the day Marion still found reasons to stick around and chit chat away.  I knew I was toast in the “Uh-Oh, I have a big crush” department, when every morning on my drive to work I hoped to see him before everyone else arrived for a quick talk in the kitchen, my office, or even at his desk.  There was something about him that just felt right; he was kind, funny, a hard worker, and friendly with everyone in the office, plus our eye contact was ridiculous.  Yes, there was no doubt in my mind that meeting Marion would change my life forever.

All the while during this heart fluttering fun at work, I was training for my sixth marathon, a home town jaunt in Palos Verdes.  I was not taking this race seriously as a Boston qualifier because the course was incredibly hilly, and a total time crusher, but I thought it would serve as a long run to get me out of my Tucson funk.  The PV marathon is a very small race in terms of participants, but it literally goes by my parents front yard, which was not by chance on my part, I wanted a built in support team for this race, my bruised ego needed it, and my parents did not disappoint. 

I did not break any land speed records with that race, but it was by far the toughest course I ever conquered, so that was satisfying, and I finished feeling better than expected, thus it served its purpose of turning my Tucson frown upside down.  Just a few days later I was ready to find a new marathon on the horizon that would serve as another shot at Boston, and I was turned on to the Cow Town Marathon in Sacramento in early October, which meant lots of Summer running on Sunset, and may be a little romance?  Hmm, stay tuned...