First, my birthday: I turned 40 on October 11th. I remember when I was a kid that 40 seemed really very old. 40 was parents who were almost grandparents. 40 was working all the time. 40 was no energy to do anything. 40 was losing your fashion sense and getting gray hair. Didn't all 40 year olds wear glasses and compression hose? 40 was just... old. On my birthday, my family and closest friends-who-are-really-family came over to our house. We had Nu-Ways (a loose-meat burger from Kansas City, where I grew up) on Oopsie Rolls, Pepperoni Chips and Parmesan Crisps, Veggies, and a Sugar-Free Cheesecake (see above image). I did make some concessions for people like my dad who aren't into "alternative" foods. I made some of the Nu-Ways on regular buns and... well... that's about it. In the end, my verdict is that I would rather have regular Nu-Ways on my birthday, but the Oopsie Rolls are a good everyday alternative. The cheesecake, however, was delicious! It had a citrus-y flavor and perfect cheesecake consistency. It's definitely a do-over!
Five days after turning 40, I ran a half-marathon! That's right, folks, 13.1 miles of nothing but Shelley and her running shoes... and an iPod with a rockin' playlist... and a knee wrap... The weather was fantastic for running. I hadn't done my training as completely as I'd wanted to because of scheduling and problems with that knee and, if I'm completely honest, a lack of internal motivation. (I do believe in the adage "we make time for the things that are most important to us.") Anywho... On the day of the marathon, things were going very well. As I said before, the weather was great. The crowd was HUGE--around 17,000 runners! I met a friendly woman just before things got started who was also running her first half-marathon. There were bands playing, fireworks going off and excitement filling the air around me in kind of a constant buzz. I started off walking the .3 miles to the start line (I told you there were tons of runners!), then followed my plan of running a mile and walking 3/4 mile. All was well until about mile 6. I started feeling a little twinge in my knee, so I slowed my running down. It felt pretty good until I hit the 8 mile mark. The pain became pretty sharp and continued through walking or running. I knew I'd see Bill, my sister, and the kiddos relatively soon, so I kept up the running until after I passed them and rounded the curve out of sight. The pain by that point was bad and I walked the remaining 5 miles. Just after 10 miles and just when I thought I couldn't do it any more, I saw Tina and Amy holding signs for me along the side of the road. I hugged them, used a little of Tina's Body Glide, and then cried as I limped off from them, but felt like I was on such a high... I knew I could finish.
In my last mile, a man walked up next to me (not a difficult feat at that point--I was limping heavily and moving pretty slow). He is an attorney from Akron who is married and has children. He's walked marathons since the 80s. He asked me about my job, my children, my boyfriend, my town, my family, my life. He gave me encouragement, but didn't dwell on the fact that I was hurting even though it was obvious. He told me I could finish the race and wouldn't even be the last one in. He even told me he was undecided about whether he was going to do the half or the full marathon and that he just might walk down to the finish line with me for the half this time. He renewed my faith in humankind--If I ever doubt that there are caring and wonderful people in the world who care as much for strangers as for their own agendas, I will remember that guy. So, at the top of the hill that led to the finish line, I told him my knee was feeling better after the slow walking and that my family would be waiting for me at the finish, so I thought it would be a great idea for him to go ahead and do the full marathon that he'd trained for. He said, "Well, if you're sure, then I'll go ahead and do that." Then he thanked me for pushing him on. HE thanked ME. Can you believe that? I wish I had a picture of him to share with you, but it was the last thing on my mind at the time. If you know an attorney in Akron, though, who might have been walking the Columbus Marathon, please put him in contact with me.
I did finish the half-marathon in 3 hours and 2 minutes--even with all the walking and even with the ultra-slow walking, I was just 3 minutes beyond my goal of finishing under 3 hours. I'm very proud of that. Maybe it's good that I waited so long to blog about it. At first I felt like I'd never do another one. Now, as long as my knee recovers, I know I'll do another. And another. And another. And so on.I think that's where I'll leave it for tonight. I know I promised "food" in the title and there definitely is more to come. I have to give that cheesecake recipe, I still need to talk about Cami's dislocated elbow, you haven't heard about my 70s birthday party, and I'll have to update you about the knee. All of that, AND I've been trying lots of new recipes! I hope it's not as long between blogs next time. Thanks for stopping by and sticking with me through the rambling parts. :)
