Motion

Marathons give a whole new meaning to the concept of Mind-Body connection.

I'm not even going to attempt to describe what I think Mind-Body connection means in a New Age kind of way (remember, I've had one Pilates class and took my first yoga class on Monday) but I can describe what it means to me in a marathon kind of way: When it hurts, your mind knows it hurts and so doesn't your body.

Saturday's Baltimore Marathon was my second marathon. I finished in a respectable 3:51 minutes but not without some deep contemplation on life, liquids, and lactic acid.

I cruised through the first 21 miles of the course with my good friend, E (who by the way, just had a baby SIX MONTHS AGO!). I felt strong on the hills between miles 17 and 21, which I kept thinking had to end (what goes up MUST go down, right? Wrong.) At 21 miles, I got double whammied with Charlie horses in each quad that exceeded in pain any of the ones I experienced in pregnancy. (Labor pain is in a category unto itself; at least I knew I wasn't going to die from the marathon though the same could not be said when I gave birth.) Needless to say, the last five miles (still up hill, with a slight downhill the final 1/2 mile) were slower but I still made it within my goal time--it's just a little painful to know that I was on pace to achieve my dream time.

Other marathon notes:

• I should have known I was in trouble when we met up with a guy at mile 7 and ran with until mile 20 who belongs to a club called "Marathon Maniacs. " Not only had he run the Twin Cities marathon the week before, he was running the Atlantic City marathon THE NEXT DAY. He has a wife and three kids--one of whom is three months old. Wanna take bets on whether or not he still has a wife?
  

• Here's some Mind-Body connection for you: it's amazing I didn't strangle myself after the first 30 minutes Ava's breakfast-lunch-dinner-and-every-minute-in-between song was stuck in my head (miles 2 through 7). Who knows, maybe Marathon Maniac actually saved my life.
  

• There's something to be said about just plain, old, regular socks. I got two pairs of special socks for my birthday: special because they are fitted to the left and right foot and labeled "L" and "R"accordingly. But if you unknowingly put two "L's" on and then proceed to run 26.2 miles they are no longer special, they are sadistic. Every toe on my right foot is not just blistered, it's blood blistered.
  

And finally, I have two splurges to report for the day:

1. I played with my daughter for 45 minutes, uninterrupted, outside with the sidewalk chalk today. We drew a hopscotch board (love that game!), airplanes (aka "airpeens"), and clouds (aka "cowds"). You should definitely draw yourself a hopscotch board.

2. A good friend stopped by this morning for a surprise visit that felt better than a planned one ever could have. Surprise someone this week!