Running Widow

You've heard of golf widows, right?? Their husbands are always out on the course and their wives never see them. Well, I'm a running widow. My husband goes for runs at least 4 times a week. Sometimes the run is a short 40 minutes, other times it's a long 2.5 hours. I know my running-loving husband would LOVE if he could share this hobby with his wife, but she's a running-hater. Oh, I try. I THINK I could maybe do a 5K (~3 mi) right now, but that's about it and I'd be struggling. Oh, and running outside and running on a treadmill are not the same. I discovered this when I started bootcamp. I could run 5K on the treadmill no problem, but I couldn't run around the Papal Cross twice without feeling like I was going to die. Suffice it to say, I will forever be a running widow.

Wes ran in the Dublin Marathon on Monday. His reachable goal was to get a better time than he got at the Connemarathon which was 3:10:25. His super goal was to get a sub-3 hour time. He's been training like a fanatic (even though it's pointed out to me numerous times that there are guys out there with FAMILIES who run more miles than him per week), so I knew he had a pretty good shot with at least the reachable goal. The marathon started at 9am and the weather was really perfect - mostly cloudy skies and cool temps. The route took him up through Phibsborough which isn't far from our apartment, so I went up there to cheer him on. There was a bigger crowd than I had expected and even cars that were passing the runners would honk and cheer them on. It was pretty cool! Anyway, it was only mile 2.5 and I have to say, he looked like he was struggling a bit. I was kind of worried, but I figured they had just ran up a hill to get there and if it were me, I'd already be walking, so I just headed off and prayed that he made it all the way around! The route for this marathon wasn't the best in that it made a huge circle around Dublin. I prefer routes where you can easily hop over a river or something and see them a few miles later. So, I basically had two hours to kill until I could see him again in the city centre. I did this with my book, coffee, and window shopping. I ended up seeing him again around mile 25.5, which was by Grafton Street. There was a really good crowd there since it was close to the finish line. He came around the corner and I checked my watch and knew he had a really good chance of meeting his super goal! I thought he looked pretty good, but apparently, that was a ruse.

In the end, he ended up doing 3:00:25!!! Just 25 seconds from his super goal, but he shaved off 10 minutes from his last marathon. I'm really proud of him! He said that around mile 19 he had to stop and stretch because he was cramping up. He only stopped for about 20 seconds because he knew if he didn't get going again he never would. Then, unbeknownst to me, right after I saw him by Grafton Street he was passing the 26 mile marker and it felt like a knife was driven into his calf. Come hell or high water he was going to finish! And he did!

And we hobbled home.

Wes (in the blue shirt) around mile 25.5.