Friday, January 25, 2008

You play, you pay

I was talking to my friend, John, at spin class Thursday morning. He mentioned this movie he was going to see that night and asked if I was going (no, this was not a date, you bunch of crazies!).

It was called the Spirit of the Marathon. It's a documentary about the 2005 Chicago Marathon. It followed six people: two elite runners, two experienced marathoners, and two first-timers.

The movie told the story about why they were running and followed them through training and the race. The message was that running a marathon will change you forever.

I was pretty excited about it and even bought my ticket in advance on Fandango (mostly because then David couldn't invent an excuse as to why I needed to stay home and watch him play XBox). The movie was being shown just on this one night, nationwide, one showing per theater. How cool is that?

When I was leaving, Sage, who usually wouldn't care if a UFO sucked me up into its bowels and flew off as long as she had DADDY, threw a semi-fit. She cried and said "What about ME?" and I tried to explain that it was a grown-up movie and that she couldn't go. I heard her crying as I shut the door.

I forgot all about that as soon as I got to the packed theater (good thing I did buy the tickets in advance!). I saw John and his lovely wife and went to sit with them.

The moment the movie began, I was engrossed. It was so familiar to me. The novices, that is. When they started talking about the elite men running 4:40 (GAH!) miles they kinda lost me (yeah, that's four minutes, 40 seconds per mile, which is faster than running 12 mph).

We got to learn about Deena Kastor, who won an Olympic bronze in the marathon but had never actually won a race. Right at the end of the Chicago Marathon, you could tell her body was giving out. Another woman was gaining on her, but Deena held her off. The entire theater went nuts when she won - it was so cool!

The movie reminded me why I love being out there, especially as I watched a single mom bond with her running partners. It also reminded me that 26.2 miles is REALLY far. And that it's really an accomplishment to go the distance, as it were.

I am hopefully going to be healthy enough foot-wise to run a marathon with Cindy, Torrey and John in June. We'll see.

I miss it. Stunningly. Because you know, those miles hurt. But as my favorite runner from the movie, a senior citizen named Jerry, said (and I paraphrase): Even the novice runners follow in the elite runner's footsteps during a marathon.

We're all running the same path. Some just faster - HOURS faster - than others!

I left feeling inspired and proud to be part of this amazing group. I am a marathoner.

But you know, Sage wasn't all that impressed. David went to get her this morning and when he brought her into bed with us, she very clearly did not want to see me. She made David put the comforter over my head so that she didn't have to look at me - much to David's amusement. She literally cried if I came up for air.

So I'm thinking that this is, well, odd, even for her. Then it hit me.

"Sage? Are you mad because Mommy went to the movies last night?"
"Yes. Mommy all gone."
"Well, Mommy came back, didn't I?"

She thought about that for awhile. And then she demanded her milk and cereal. And her Little Einsteins.

No matter how long - or short - the journey, Mommy will always come back. Sometimes, I come back a little better than when I left.

3 comments:

Jen C said...

Awww Sage missed you!

When I had a girls' night out last week I had to explain to Ellie why she wasn't going. I said, "it's a playdate for me. It's just that it's at night."

Her response..."I want a night time playdate too!"

Pink Dawn said...

Ye, my girls also only want me when I want to go out w/o them.

I am so glad that I didn't see that movie- I would feel so inferior since it takes me like a day to run a mile.

Cheryl said...

Jen - That WAS a nice try by you, tho..

Dawn - HA! All it takes is one step..you could totally do it!

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