Marathon Man

Bill had intended to run his fourth marathon at Disney World in January. Unfortunately, the Army developed other plans. He's scheduled to leave in the middle of what was to be our Disney World week for a couple-week long pre-deployment site survey visit to Afghanistan. Obviously, we were disappointe d by this news, but what can you do? We're hoping to reschedule for either Disney World or Disneyland during Bill's shorter pre-deployment block leave period in March. Anyway, since Bill had trained for the last several months to run a marathon he decided to run the Tucson marathon instead. The marathon was a full month ahead of his training schedule for Disney, but he figured he might as well give it a shot.

A few friends of ours were also doing the race. And since a couple of them were doing the half marathon, Drew and I left our hotel in time to watch them finish. This would leave a couple hours between their finish and Bill's projected finish, however, and I was thrilled to see a playground near the finish line (which was at a local elementary school).

Drew entertained himself for quite some time on the playground equipment and was an altogether very patient little boy as we waited for Daddy to finish.

The Tucson race was much smaller than the previous marathons Bill has completed so we had no trouble finding a viewing spot near the finish line. Drew was on the lookout for Daddy and his blue shirt for quite some time, and properly identified EVERY SINGLE blue shirted person we saw, including the women. "There's a blue shirt, but that's not my Daddy." "There's another blue shirt, but that's a girl. That's not my Daddy."

Finally, we saw the right blue-shirted runner approaching the finish.

Bill with his cactus-shaped finisher medal.

Afterward, we had plans to go to a local brewery restaurant with our friends that had done the race too. Bill said that his primary motivation for the last 8 miles of the race was thinking of the very large alcoholic beverage he'd have at the restaurant. He beat Drew to bed that night and was very relieved to not have to go to work the next morning.

That Bill continues to do these races astonishes me, but also makes me very proud of him. Drew can't wait until he can start racing like Daddy. He just got his first lace-up Nike sneakers and thinks that now because he has running shoes like Daddy he is all set. The morning we left to go up to Tucson the day before the race Drew told Daddy he wanted to run the marathon too. Bill said "Sorry honey. It's very far...too far for Drew." To which Drew responded "But I have my new running shoes!"

Marathon #3

Yes, Bill has apparently been bitten by the running bug, because this past Sunday in Phoenix he completed his third marathon in the last 6 months. We took advantage of the long weekend and went up Saturday afternoon and stayed until Monday morning, fitting in some shopping on Saturday after the marathon expo and relaxing with some post-marathon football in the hotel on Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately I didn't get my camera out at the expo, but Drew is just adorable at these. All the different vendors give away free samples of a variety of things and Drew loves to try them all: apples, carrots, chocolate milk (it had some kind of energy boost added in), mini protein bars, fortune cookies (the marathon sponsor was P.F. Chang's), and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting. He always heads up to the samples hesitantly but happily takes one when told it's okay and always says thank you.

On the morning of the race, despite the fact that it didn't start until 7:40, we had to leave the hotel around 6 to get Bill down to the start line in plenty of time. It didn't seem to faze Drew to be woken up at that hour and be brought out to the car in his pajamas.
I actually kind of hoped we could drop Bill off and I might be able to carry him back into the hotel without him fully waking up, but as soon as he saw the people eating breakfast in the hotel lobby area he was raring to go.

Our first stop: Bill at about mile 8 1/2.

It was much easier to follow Bill around the marathon course in Las Vegas when Drew was at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Drew was not pleased at the amount of walking we had to do to get back to the car after our stop at mile 8 1/2. The whole time we walked he pleaded "Carry me Mommy, carry me." Even after I carried him part of the way and got him back in the car, he continued to cry, "Carry me Mommy." This was one little boy who had woken up far too early. He couldn't even be calmed with drinks or snacks. Next time, we'll bring a stroller.

About 10 minutes later, as I tried to negotiate my way around the road closures with a tiny Phoenix map and the GPS, Drew gave in and fell asleep. So, rather than attempting to see Bill at mile 12 and 17, we opted to just head right to 17 and Drew got in a little bit of a nap.

At mile 17, we found a parking lot near a park. There was no playground equipment we could see, but there were police and fire department command vehicles there. Drew was thrilled (though he doesn't look it in the picture) that he was as big as the tire on the big fire truck.

Drew clapping and cheering for the runners at Mile 17.

Bill at mile 17. Unfortunately due to his headphones and the fact that we were across the street from the runners, he didn't see us, but we saw him!

Bill approaching the finish line. Phoenix is part of the Rock & Roll Marathon series, hence the large balloon music clef.

The marathon's finish line was set up a little bit differently in Phoenix so we couldn't meet Bill right after he crossed. Instead we headed to the family reunion area, where we had arranged to meet at the letter C. After waiting a while with a little boy that was getting hot and hungry (it was in the high 70s by noon that day), we headed for some treats. Happily, we found a shaved ice stand and just take a guess at what color Drew opted for.

After one more exit from the family reunion area to go to the bathroom, upon our return, Daddy had finally found his way to the letter C.

Here's a little boy very happy to see his Daddy!

Drew pounces on Bill in a way that communicates he has no concept of what running 26 miles does to Daddy's body.

A picture's worth a thousand words, right? Bill is taking a little break from the marathons for now. His knees need a break and we'll be glad to not lose him for a few hours each weekend for training time. But we continue to be amazed and proud of his achievements. I can't even make it a mile!

Las Vegas Weekend & Marathon

As my cousin Sarah recently pointed out to me, it's taken me quite a while to get this post up, considering we returned from Vegas on Monday night. On Tuesday, when I had a little time to start it, Bill had the camera at work so I couldn't upload the pictures. Then later that day I had the camera with no time to upload them. Wednesday and Thursday were consumed by work and preparations for Bill's company's Holiday Party. Finally today I managed to get both the camera and the time.


Anyhow, last Wednesday Bill came home from work sounding terrible. His voice was nearly gone and what was audible (between his hacking coughs) was very nasal. We had hoped to get on the road around 1 on Thursday afternoon, but Bill determined with how he felt on Wednesday night that he'd have to see a doctor before we could go. Those in the Army will share my displeasure that with it being Thursday, there was sergeant's time in the morning, so the earliest appointment Bill could get was 3:00. Fortunately the doctor told Bill the virus and its associated congestion was limited to his head, and told him just to take it easy for a few days. I don't think running a full marathon a few days later was exactly what the doc had in mind for Bill. When Bill mentioned it the doctor said, "Well, at least it's not in your lungs. I won't tell you not to run, but listen to your body." With Mucinex and some other meds in hand, we finally got on the road around 5:00.

Two of Bill's Episcopal buddies, Peter and Andrew, flew in for the weekend to meet up with Bill, so since Bill had slept in the car from about Phoenix on, he was ready to go meet up with them even though it was after midnight by the time we got in. Bill dropped us off at my parents' house and took the car back down to the Strip to meet Peter and Andrew. On Friday and Saturday, the boys played their way through half the hotels on the Strip, having better luck at some casinos than others, but enjoying themselves nonetheless.

Friday night my parents and I took Drew to the Festival of Lights at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. The Preserve is a historic site commemorating where the Las Vegas springs originally bubbled up. I'm sure it's an interesting place to go during the day, but we were a bit disappointed with the organization and setup of the whole light display. One of the reasons we were attracted to this display was the advertised kiddie train ride. Drew is a huge fan of trains, particularly since the birthday arrival of the GeoTrax train set. So when we bought our admission tickets we, of course, spent the extra $2 on the train ride. We headed there once we were able to find our way around a little bit (signs and directions were a bit hard to come by). I can honestly say that those two dollars are possibly the worst money I've ever spent. The train ride was about 4 minutes long and did not follow a track through any of the lights, but rather just headed down and back a road decorated by a handful of inflatable snowmen, penguins, and snow globes. The driver actually tried to make the ride more interesting by slowly swerving back and forth. We were not impressed. Anyhow, once we managed to find our way to the gardens, we did find the lights to be pretty, but the train ride had permanently colored our opinions of the place.


Grandma, Grandpa, & Drew in front of the Christmas Saguaro Cactus




Drew leads Grandma & Grandpa through the gardens at the Preserve



Mommy & Drew



As a bonus surprise, on our way out to the car, we ran into a completely unadvertised Elmo!



Saturday night Bill and his friends came up for dinner at my parents' house. We enjoyed the traditional pre-marathon dinner of pasta. This was the second of two pictures I took of Bill and his friends, and you'll notice that Drew snuck into this one at the last minute.


After leaving my parents' house, Bill, his friends, and I went back down to the Mandalay. Bill and I had our own room for Saturday night so I could see him start the race without waking up Drew. We made just a quick stopover at Fremont Street in Old Vegas. We watched the Don McLean's American Pie Light Show at the Fremont Street Experience (I may have embarassed the guys with my singing along) and played in Binion's Casino for a bit. Finally Bill determined it was time to head back to the Mandalay. He went to sleep and Peter, Andrew, and I went downstairs to play. That was a decision I regretted when it came time to wake up at 5:00 the next morning to see Bill start the race. But I did wake up.

Around 5:15 Sunday morning Bill and I (and thousands and thousands of other runners) headed down to the starting line outside the Mandalay Bay.


After the race started the fireworks began. It was really quite a sight to see this massive fireworks display over the lights of the hotels on the Strip.

Somewhere in that sea of runners is Bill, though my camera batteries died before I actually found him. He was able to find me to pass me his jacket though, so that was good.


Despite the road closures due to the marathon and my complete and total lack of a sense of direction, I was able (with some phone assistance from my father) to negotiate my way to a road running parallel to the stretch of the race from about mile 14-21. Going by Bill's intended pace I arrived at the first point about 20 minutes before Bill passed me and then made my way to the next stop about a half hour before Bill arrived (with enough time for a quick breakfast stop).

Bill between miles 15 & 16



Bill between miles 20 & 21.



Bill getting ready to cross the finish line. Peter and Andrew woke up in time to join me in cheering Bill on at the finish line, and my parents and Drew came down too.




Bill crossing the finish line at the clock time of 5 h 20 m 17 sec. His chip time was a few minutes shorter than that due to the mass start of thousands of runners. I still can't believe he wants to continue running these things! Tempe in January...

Drew is thrilled with Daddy's post-marathon cookie treats!

Family shot after the marathon. We actually took two different pictures and my eyes were closed in both of them. I could possibly be the least photogenic person on the planet.

Funny story about my Geneseo sweatshirt. Waiting for Bill between miles 20 & 21 I was standing near some spectators with Florida Gators gear on. After their big win over Alabama the day before that sent them into the national championship game, several runners commented on the spectators' Florida gear, yelling "Go Gators!" Obviously I didn't expect to hear any comments on my college gear...Geneseo not really as nationally recognized as the University of Florida. Strangely enough, after about the third or fourth comment about the Gators, one of the runners pointed to me and said "Geneseo? Livingston County baby." Not long after, another runner said something similar. I was shocked. I didn't think little Division III Geneseo had any name recognition outside of the Northeast. But then again, we were just on the Sportscenter Top 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAnZJJDSvTg

Marathon Man

Sorry for the blogging break--it's been a busy week since returning from San Francisco. Details and pics from our trip are coming in a separate post, but I wanted to at least get a post up about Bill's first marathon (yes, he's planning to do more).

Last Sunday, Bill was one of thousands and thousands of runners who competed in the 2008 San Francisco Marathon. The race started around 5:30 and early mornings in San Francisco, even in the summer, are what one might call "brisk" to say the least. So Drew and I slept in a bit at the hotel with plans to catch up with Bill at Golden Gate Park and then again at the finish line. Bill's friend Andrew Doehler, one of his buddies from his time at Episcopal, lives in San Francisco and was originally supposed to run the marathon as well. Unfortunately (or actually it turns out fortunately for us), Doehler broke his foot a few months ago and was obviously sidelined for the marathon. The reason this was good news for us was that Doehler has a car and picked us up at the hotel to head down to Golden Gate Park to watch Bill and some of Doehler's other friends run. We ended up at the exit to Golden Gate Park, just as the runners were entering the famed Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. It was a great vantage point. As you can see in the first picture, we were able to see the runners as they approached the hill. We only had two false sightings of Bill before we saw the real thing. Would you believe other runners had the nerve to wear blue shirts and black hats to try to confuse me like that? When I asked Drew if he saw Daddy yet, he started saying about every runner "That's not Daddy. That's not Daddy." Fortunately, he tired of that after a few minutes. Anyway, when the real Bill did approach (see pic), he slowed for a quick hi to us and to very sarcastically say "Yeah, this was a GREAT idea."

Unfortunately Doehler had to leave our location at the park before Bill arrived in order to meet another of his friends unfamiliar with the city at the finish line. He intended to come back and pick us up, but after experiencing the mayhem near the finish line, recommended we take a bus. After some quick help from some native San Franciscans on a bus route, Drew and I were on our way. I guess I didn't need to be nervous that I wouldn't know where to get off the bus. Nearly everyone on the bus was headed to the same place we were!

We arrived at the finish line with about 15 minutes to spare before we saw Bill finish. Unfortunately, the picture I snapped wasn't the best. He's in the blue shirt, in front of the balloons. His finish time was 4 hours 50 minutes. He had hoped to run it in 4 1/2 hours or less, which he was on pace to do for the first half of the marathon. Unfortunately, the second half of the race he had some trouble with his legs cramping and had to take walking breaks more than he would have liked. He said he learned a lot about how to approach his next marathon. I think it's just an amazing accomplishment to finish and I'm so proud of him. I also think he may be crazy to want to do it again, but he has his sights on the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon in Tempe in January.

At the end of the race they pass out these thermal plastic blanket type things that are designed to keep runners' body heat in--they kind of looked like white garbage bags. But Bill said they worked.

Family shot after Bill finished.

Drew was a big fan of all the freebies they pass out at the end of the race...peanut butter, strawberry smoothies, granola. He tried it all...sometimes more than one serving!

After a short walk back to the hotel and a Subway lunch pick-up, we relaxed in the hotel for most of Sunday afternoon. Here Drew helps Bill stretch. Not long after Bill fell asleep in that very location on the floor. I woke him up after a bit to shower and get in the bed to sleep.

Details on the rest of our trip coming soon.