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 " I think I'm hooked on marathons; I was warned this could happen!" |
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Lyne Desjardins Big Sur, April 25, 2004
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I remember very well the night our ½ marathon group from the Running Room went out to celebrate the completion of our race. Everybody was happy to have completed their first race or improve their time. That was October 2002. This one guy, Brian, was sitting beside me and he was so excited. Earlier in the day, he had signed up to do a marathon in Iceland. He was so pumped; he had gone out for 2 runs that day. I had flirted with the idea of doing a marathon and my plans were to do one in Ottawa in 2004 and then Big Sur in 2005. Brian's excitement was very contagious because, I decided right then that I would do Big Sir in 2004. Why Big Sur for my first marathon? I picked it for 2 reasons. First and foremost is the view, second, because that's where my husband and I had our honeymoon twelve years earlier. Training for Big Sur went well. I did a combination of indoor and outdoor running.even in -27 weather.and that's without the wind-chill! I took a marathon clinic with the running room but since my marathon was 1 month earlier than the one they were training for, I did all of my long runs alone since my training was ahead of the group. I remember one Sunday morning when I was out for a 20km run after a significant snowfall, halfway through my run, I looked up to see our car heading towards me. My kids were excited to see me! My husband jokingly offered me a warm ride home but I am happy to say I declined. I think I ran the next ½ km with a big smile on my face! As Marathon Day got closer, I got more excited. I had dreams about race day. I missed the bus to the starting line and nobody saw me cross the finish line! Thank God they were just dreams! April 25th, 2004. Here I am standing at the starting line in what looks like a sea of people. A lady is singing the national anthem and I've got tears rolling down my cheeks! Yes, I really am standing here and this is not a dream! I'm ready to run Big Sur! The race was great and the weather was perfect. The view was breathtaking. The water stations were well staffed and stocked. There was entertainment at every one of them. The Taiko drummers located at the start of the 2 mile long hill really gave the runners a boost and the piano player located at the other side of that hill was music to everyone's ears! When I crossed the last hill and bridge, I had tears rolling down my cheeks again! But I had to control myself because I couldn't cry and breathe at the same time! I crossed the finish line and I soon found my husband, video camera in hand, with a smile on his face that was just as big as mine! I forgot about the pain when they hung the medal around my neck! Hill training paid off! Yes, Big Sur is very hilly but I tackled the hills one at a time. The downhills and the slant of the road did a number on my right quad and the last 3-4 miles were a bit tough, but hey, who expects to finish their first marathon pain free?!
Big Sur was everything I imagined it would be!
And it brought back great memories of our honeymoon. Lyne Desjardins, Stittsville, Ontario The Administration
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