Iceland bound...

I forgot to mention, I found an online collection of wonderful photographs from the race. I saw a lot of Team-D people in this collection, so check them out...you might find yourself!!!

http://www.pbase.com/flydra/2006_marathon_in_reykjavik

As part of training for next year's marathon, I'm going to run Hamilton's Around the Bay race. I ran it in 2005. It's 30 kms, and it's the oldest road race in North America...even older than the Boston Marathon.

In fact, one year....1900...a bunch of Hamilton boys hopped on the train and headed down to Boston & swept it clean! Top three Boston spots that year went to Canadians...all from the Hamilton area. All ran the Around the Bay every year, but none had ever run a full marathon! I can't imagine how they must have felt in Boston...pretty miserable, I would guess...a newspaper article from the time read "Nothing was left to the Bostonians but the credit of being able to cook pork and beans to perfection...". They probably didn't like that too much!

The full story is here: Boston : the Canadian story

Hehehehe

I'm hooked, what can I say. What a great way to see the world without being away from the kids for too terribly long. Any longer, I'd miss them too much to go. Any shorter, it would hardly be worth going. And to have that feeling that I'm making a difference & being part of a team. It's worth its weight!

So feel free to continue reading along. And feel free to sponsor me! ;-) (and you thought that part was over!!!) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I emailed the marathon & told them I was on the wrong list and they changed it!! :)

I have uploaded trip photographs to my livespace MSN thingy. Click the link to see the slide show.

We took the kids to Canadian Idol last night...what fun! Martina McBride performed and then Steffi got da boot. Good times.

Had to park the car & then run across the street to the bank machine to get some cash to pay the parking dude. Found myself SPRINTING back to avoid getting creamed by oncoming traffic. Was struck by how strangely PAINFREE I feel. I mean, there is some water retention...my ankles are a little puffy....that's it. I am in less pain since the run than I was leading up to the run. What is that all about?

Here's a video link of a couple of them (pretty cute, be warned, you'll want to get a puppy).

What a great way to spend my first day back -- I took the kids to our friend's farm. This is where we got our dogs & they have a new litter so we just let the dogs play all afternoon, we talked the hours away, and the kids played really nicely.

5:34:35

Not quite as slow as I thought :) The only unfortunate thing is they stuck my time in under the half marathon results, as well as several other team diabetes members. So from their list, I'm dead last in the half marathon. Like Julie says, we know the true story. I emailed the marathon people, I really hope they change it!!!

Photo taken by Jonas, friend of Julie's (my roomie extraordinaire) and excellent haunted reykjavik tour operator...(highly recommended).

I don't know if it was the Icelandic air...or there being power in numbers. As soon as I got to Iceland, I started to seriously believe that I could do anything.

That run was right up there in my top 3 physical accomplishments of my life. (the first two being the PJ-clad, excited Ben and Chloe, who surprised me by being at the airport last night, where we shared the Hugest Hugs Ever).

The first half of the marathon felt strangely good and relatively effortless. I went steadily along at a nice pace and took in the most gorgeous race route imaginable. We ran along the water, through parks with aromatic gardens, through residential streets where people were sitting out, waving us along.

The second half saw some pain and I definitely slowed way down. I stayed very relaxed, and I think this was key. I kept reminding myself that everything past 21 km was a bonus.

I touched every pilon marking each kilometre. 42 good luck touches.

And at one point, I stopped outright to play with a stray cat for a few minutes until she ran off, so I did too.

I thought so much about my sister as I ran! And my grandfather, who was a distance runner & would have been proud to know I've followed in his footsteps.

Even though the last 5 km felt long and I was walking as much as running by that point, it was so beautiful I didn't care. And then came the 40 km point and that's when I knew it...I realllllly knew it....I was going to finish & I started getting all weepy! So I shook off the boohoos and ran the last 2 kms very slowly, very deliberately, one foot in front of the other, and over the line I went.

Thank goodness for Joy with a big hug at the finish line. And the Ottawa girls for their big smiles and pats on the back. Because if I hadn't seen a familiar face right then, I might have crumbled. Julie was an awesome roomie and she's a great photographer, so I'll gather up some pics and post them. Check Julie's Blog for pictures of everything and other race tidbits. She did a great race, in great time and seemed to be smiling the whole way!

Everyone's asking...."what next?"....good question!!!!