Monday, October 29, 2007

por A

this morning alexey sokolov won the dublin marathon in 2:09:07; the first female, alina ivanova, finished 20min later. congrats to fa(s)tmammycat, who ran a solidly-paced race, running the last quarter of the race faster than the first. that is how "real runners" run, fastcat.

i ran my first -- and i swear on Z's HoL my ONLY -- marathon 6 years ago, right after i'd had my iliac bypass surgery and needed to test the new plumbing. what better incentive than running a marathon? to increase the likelihood of a Finn Cheering Squad i ran in my hometown, and parents, grandparents and almost-forgotten friends from high school came out to watch.

when my mom and i ran the Race for the Cure a couple weeks ago we talked about my grandfather and the influence he still wields today, 5 years after his passing.
-- i remember the first time i ran the Lady Equitable - my mom said. the Lady E was a 10K that ran through the city's inner harbor. it was a spring rite of passage for my high school track team too, though our coach turned a blind eye because the official stance discouraged road racing during the track season. - and i was SO nervous. i didn't get any sleep the night before and i couldn't eat anything that morning because i thought it would just come back up.
- because you'd never raced 6 miles before?
- no, because your grandfather was there. the running part of the race didn't scare me at all.
- aw mom he would have been happy no matter how you ran.
- finn you don't understand. you were the granddaughter. his relationship with you was much different than mine. you could have been lazy, no-good deadbeat and he would have loved you the same. but he never forgave me and weird sister for not being sons.

that may be so.
and when i crossed the finish line far off the boston qualifying time i'd planned to run, i met no recriminations or awkward silences. just congratulations and helpful hands that wrapped me in mylar and bustled me to a sunny patch where i sought to dispel all the lactic acid in my quads and hamstrings by eating a hootenanny of bananas.

10 comments:

Twenty Major said...

fa(s)tmammycat,

heh

I suspect she's rummed up at this stage.

FINN said...

i should hope so.

i should also hope she was sufficiently pie'd beforehand.

Twenty Major said...

One can never have too much pie.

FINN said...

esp if it's custard & rhubarb, or steak & guinness.
that IS a tasty... pie.

Twenty Major said...

A man can make pie when he knows visitors are visiting. Beyond that if someone wants to go up a mountain it's hard to plan around.

Hard and hilarious when one considers the weather.

Twenty Major said...

Also, I thought I should just mention that the Cutting Crew were enormous cunts.

Not too many places give me the chance.

FINN said...

oh you're just sour because lisa hannigan gave mr. ricecakes the boot and now he's off the scene. don't fret, he'll return.

i suspect your pie and mountain metaphor is a tomas o'crohan reference that I cannot place...

Twenty Major said...

I think you give me entirely too much credit for that.

FINN said...

turtlerubbish.

how dey Spaces treatin ya?

Twenty Major said...

Spacetacular. Digging the stacks, I have to say.