The Vancouver Marathon

A lovely long run with good friends. I had the rare great privilege of accompanying Deepi, Mima and Elizabeth on their very first marathon. Thank you, Ladies.

I finished in 4:53:00

The women all beat me by a second...

Something about a photo-finish.

Here is Deepi in her own words (with her kind permission).

I had a total blast even though every fiber of my body is aching(will definitely be calling in the massage offers). Managed to get completely inebriated by 3 PM...(after running the marathon, of course).

Slept it off till 9 PM and then got ready and was taken out by my non-marathon buddies to a really great Burlesque/Vaudeville Show....

I know it sounds bizarre but it was brilliant!

So being my Impetuous, Naive Self I once again jumped into something - training for a marathon - and by the time I realized I was in way over my head... it was too late to turn back!

MOST people train for a couple of years and run a minimum of 2 Half-Marathons before even considering doing a FULL. But noooooo not Deepi! I consumed a little too much wine during the Holiday Season last Christmas, after having neglected my workout routine for about 4 months, and bet my buddy Vince that I would and could run 26 miles in 4:30 with only 4 months of training... Which I didn't follow as religiously as I should have.

The Marathon itself was very humbling and a perfect time to reflect. Although Vince was to be my personal "Pace Bunny", I decided to share him with two of my girlfriends. He lived up to his reputation as a great pace bunny and was extremely entertaining, motivating and down right irritating cause while the 3 of us were trying desperately to just keep moving he would break out into dance whenever we passed the bands and DJ's along the route. I would have given anything for a piece of that stamina, but I am sure if I make it to my 21st marathon... I would probably be able to do the same.

So we ran our little hearts out with a head wind and rain pounding us for what felt like an eternity. At about 15 miles I started to embrace the idea of just completing... which we did in 4:52. We all had smiles on our faces and nobody ended up in the first-aide tent... which in marathon-speak equals a very successful first marathon.

I am thinking of doing the Kelowna Marathon in October(is that a collective groan I just heard?)....which means I will be taking the rest of May off(during which time I promise to spend oodles of time with my loved ones) and start training in June. I promise to work on my time management so as not to be neglectful of my highly cherished friends and family :)

P.S. The only bling I wore to the burlesque/vaudeville show at the Commodore Ball Room was my medal ..... I am such a geek! ;)

Yes, Deepi, you are. But only in the best possible way.