It is the month before our wedding and besides normal wedding stress- tracking down RSVPs (if you haven’t submitted yours, you know who you are and you’re making me an insane bride!), making payments to our vendors, and hoping I lose enough weight for my dress to fit comfortably- we’ve faced an overwhelming amount of other life stressors. Within 3 days a few weeks ago, Racer K sliced open his finger with one of our awesome new knives, we had a small fire in our oven, and the next day a friend of mine from high school passed away. That was pretty heart wrenching. As the days have passed, we’ve learned that my sister’s cancer has spread further despite the chemo, K’s computer has stopped working, and now we are dealing with an IRS error- not ours, theirs, but of course with the IRS, their error becomes our struggle to correct it.
Needless to say, we are tapped out emotionally.
Thankfully we are running again, though all this stress has led to a severe pinched nerve in my neck forcing me not to run and to live on muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories. When will it end? We ran the Oak Barrel Half Marathon completely untrained and while it was my worst half time, it was still a great run and our first race together.
That smile on my face is relief that I finished at all. I had some serious sciatic pain in the last couple miles of the race plus a small asthma attack in the last mile. It was a tough one to finish but yes, I can go out and run 13.1 miles without much preparation. This was also the last run for my beloved Vibram Bikilas. I am now running in Merrell Barefoot Vapors.
A few weeks later, it was time for the Country Music Marathon and thankfully, one of K’s good friends came into town for the Country Music Marathon. That was a fun day! We got up early (for those who know me, getting up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning is a big deal and shows my commitment to our friends!) and headed out to the race course to spectate. We cheered as the runners passed us and called out to our friends when we saw them. We caught people at miles 2 and 9, then we headed to the finish line. Unfortunately, the police presence was OVERKILL this year due to last year’s Boston Marathon bombing. Forgive my momentary tangent:
One isolated incident at one race out of the thousands that are run each year does not necessitate a SWAT team at each race or the multitude of police officers on the course generally ruining the spectating experience (many of them were being real jerks). We carried a backpack so that we would have water, a place to put our hoodies when it warmed up, etc. Backpacks and bicycles are not weapons! People carrying them are not automatically doing harm. I do not want to live in a country where the police suspect EVERY ONE of being a terrorist and ruin all community activities. The police stopped people on bicycles who were innocently using them as *gasp* transportation around the course. They shooed us away from watching our friends cross the finish line because of our backpack. It is unacceptable. No, I do not want to trade my freedom or my community for the illusion of security. I am not attempting to diminish the pain and fear brought on by the bombing of the Boston Marathon. I am simply saying that turning races into a general police state means the terrorists have won. They have instilled enough fear to rob us of our freedom to run and be a community without severe restrictions. *End Rant*
Furthermore, let’s go over some basic race rules (maybe they aren’t but they should be):
- If you are a spectator, STAY OFF THE ROAD/ COURSE! Do not spill into the road and force runners to go around you.
- If you are in the race and decide to walk, move off to the side first. Do not stop short in the middle of a pack of runners. Yes, I know it is difficult but be polite.
- If you are in the race and you decide you need to take a picture or text someone, see rule #2… or better yet, DON’T! Be present in the race. If you carry your phone for safety or music or whatever, fine, but the texting and incessant picture taking and selfies can wait.
All that said we were still glad we went out and our friends felt our love and support. I did have one incident in which I was glad to see a police officer. I don’t normally interfere with the lives of others but when we stopped for breakfast, there was a gentleman in an alleyway attempting to get into a vehicle with a window shim. I saw it happening and it bothered me and there was an officer around the corner. I explained what I saw to the officer and he spoke to the man whilst K and I got our breakfast. I didn’t talk to the man himself because if he was a criminal, that would endanger me. Safety for one’s self is always important. It turned out it was an innocent situation. The guy had locked his keys in his car. No harm, no foul, but at least I followed my instinct to have the situation checked out.
That night we went to the East Nasty post-marathon party. It was great to reconnect with people we hadn’t seen in a while since right now, running with East Nasty isn’t something we can fit in our schedules.
Also, before all the CMM madness, we Dined Out For Life in support of AIDS research. It was a great meal at Lockeland Table!
As you can see, the guys down the bar from us were less than pleased that I was taking a picture of my gorgeous fiance. I don’t know what their problems were.
So, April is about to turn into May and our wedding day is fast approaching. We can’t stop life events from happening, good or bad. People die, babies are born, bureaucracy screws up, and the sun continues to rise and set. I can’t wait for our wedding day to get here to put all the planning behind us and get on with our life together, not to mention the chance to celebrate with so many loved ones. I’m looking forward to a few days respite in the sun with the Love of my life. I’m looking forward to a few days without social media or television or texts. I’m looking forward to finally being his wife!