Rock and Roll?

The Portland Rock and Roll Half Marathon was today.  I really wish I had known about this event.  That's what I get for skimming my e-mail I guess....

Anyway, the route went right by my house.  A long stretch of the course took the runners up Hawthorne, which is a mere two blocks from Main.  I could see the runners if I just went out into the street.  It was pretty cool.  I felt bad for all those runners, I know how brutal that steady incline from the bridge can me.  (It made me cry and curse. I hate long slow hills.)  Chris and I got up early (well...actually not early at all....but SUNDAY!) this morning to watch the runners run.  And to see Tom play.  One of his bands (I don't remember the name) had a gig this morning on one of the stages along the course.  Yay!  Free motivation and fun music on a Sunday morning sound awesome to me. 

Watching the runners turned out to be quite the emotional experience.  I had tears in my eyes the whole time.  I wanted, with every fiber of my being, to be there with them.  I did. I wished running was as easy for me as it appeared to be for them.  Every time I saw a runner bolt toward the spectators and get a hug from their kid or a kiss from their spouse I seriously had to wipe away tears.  Oi.

I suppose all this is happening because running and I are not getting along at the moment.  I'm slogging through the runs, but it's about 3 miles before I start to feel like I'm not wearing concrete shoes.  Most of the battle is in my head, I'm sure, because once I've pushed through that wall the running feels better than it ever has.  Which is nice, but it has never taken this long to get there.  I guess our relationship is evolving, running and I are officially over the honeymoon stage.  I guess we're both starting to realize we're in it for the long haul.

Rock and Roll Half Marathon