“’But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat. ‘We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
‘You must be,” said the Cat. ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’”
– Lewis Carroll
For someone who said that they never wanted to be stationed there, I really want to get back to Washington, DC. Especially on a weekend like the one that is in front of us.
A glorious sight: the weekend’s end state.
Before Senegal, I was lucky enough to attend language training in the nation’s capital. I say “lucky” now, but before the big move I had chalked Washington up as an evil hub of over-sized “information dominance” institutions that should be avoided at all costs. I never wanted to be stationed there, but I figured six months at the Defense Language Institute wouldn’t be so bad.
I’d always said that marathon running was for crazy people- and certainly beyond my scope of ambition. But I also said that if I ever ran one, it would be Marine Corps. Why? Well, sure I’m military, but that’s not the reason. Like all true sailors, I love to complain- and I felt that there would be no room for this whatsoever if I were out on the course and surrounded by so many combat veterans, amputees and double amputees. While they were gutting out the hairpin turn climb after Mile 6, I’d be in utter awe of this grit and mental fortitude as I plodded by in my fully functional body. No complaining authorized.
“I’m going out for a run. I’ll be back in four and a half hours.” Madness.
I can’t even explain exactly how I transitioned from “I’ll never run a marathon” to “I’m training for a marathon.” Really. The longest I had had ever ran was a 10K a few years back, so this jump to 26.2 miles was absolutely inexplicable. But I actually went through it; I ran the entire race and it will always be one of the best experiences of my life. Here’s why:
My adopted running family in DC. The bottom three are running this weekend!
I was ridiculously lucky to fall into a women’s running group just as my mileage was ramping up. Ever the stubborn loner, I had previously envisioned a training plan that would be done completely on my own: Megan running sans clue around the Potomac and clicking out my ten mile runs on mapmyrun.com. Pretty lame, and not to mention a horrible training plan. I didn’t just need a Garmin- I needed some kind of support structure that was on par with my own level of crazy. Preferably one that would supply me with lots of scandalous and entertaining stories over a 20 mile LSR on Saturday mornings.
I found everything I needed (or didn’t know that I needed) in my awesome group. The months of drinking wine training with these highly-successful but unpretentious chicks forged unexpected and genuine friendships that continue even though I am now so far away. Some of us might be taken away from DC because of work, but we are all still joined together by a common desire to run. Facebook helps too.
They make you awesome sparkle signs…
And they meet you at Mile 20 to run you in the rest of the way, keeping you on pace and supplied with GU.
If any of you out there are toying with the idea of trying to do a marathon, I’m here to tell you that it is possible- and if you allow it, you’ll gain so much more than just a shiny piece of metal to hang around your neck. You’ll be brought together with some of the most loyal and inspiring people you will ever meet in your life.
So best of luck to Sara, Meaghan, April, Kim, BethAnn and the other 30,000+ people heading out to Rosslyn on Sunday morning. Even if I never get out there again, I’m so proud to say that I’m a part of this great tradition.