Marathon Day

Today was the Silicon Valley Marathon. My friend, Don, ran in it. He's done this for several years. He also runs in San Francisco and trains with a local running club. Actually, if you ask him, he plods and walks more than runs, but he sets himself a goal to finish each one, and he does.

This year while I trained for the Avon Walk, I ran into Don on one of the local running trails used by his club. Later, we talked about my walking and how much I enjoyed it and about my times. For a walker, I tend to be pretty quick. My ridiculously long legs actually do me some good here!

Just before the Avon Walk, Don suggested I think about walking the Silicon Valley Marathon. Now, I've never done a marathon and never considered the possibility that I could. But, after the Avon walk, when 39 miles was not difficult, and even in the training phase, when I walked 10, 12, and 14 miles on a Saturday while keeping up my 3-mile daily walks, the idea suddenly seemed plausible. If I could walk 26 miles on a Saturday and then another 13 the next morning with no problems, why couldn't I walk 26 with no second day walk to deal with?

So that became the plan. After the Avon Walk, I didn't give up the training, I just kept going, and started looking at registering to walk the marathon. Don was very sweet, catching me before or after church to ask how the training was going and to tell me about his marathon experiences. To backtrack a bit, the Silicon Valley Marathon does allow walkers; they start an hour earlier. This marathon is not one that the elite runners compete in, it is more a community marathon for people like Don who train regularly and work hard, but are in it more for the endurance than the speed. The perfect first marathon for me.

And everything went well, until my chest x-ray came back with the non-shadow. All through the x-ray and the CT scan and right up until the surgery, I just kept thinking that this was a setback, but I'd still be able to get ready for the marathon. I had come to see doing this as a way for me to prove to myself that despite the cancer, I was still strong and able to push myself to do something new and exciting.

After the surgery, I realized the marathon wasn't going to happen. The recovery took too long and because of the nature of Sarcoidosis, I'm not stronger after the surgery recovery; I just keep getting slowly worse. My chest is heavier, the pain is more prevalent, my breathing gets worse each week, and the cough has started. My 3-mile walks are a challenge some days, so I'm quite certain 26 is out of the question right now.

That said, I'm not giving up on the idea. Yesterday I met a neighbor whom I haven't talked to in a few weeks. She asked how things were going with the Sarcoid and I told her what I know right now. After hearing me she paused a moment and said very succinctly that 2009 just has better be a much better year for my family and me. I agree. So next year, at the 2009 Silicon Valley Marathon, my poor husband will be getting up early to get me there at 6am to start my walk. And at the end, I'll be the happiest of all the finishers.