Eva Runs Through It

Noah works full-time,but has Wednesdays off.   A fact I’d forgotten, until he padded down the stairs at 11:11 (his number).  “You’re home!”  he said.  I’d just returned the night before from a much desired, very fulfilling, A+ training run.  “Let’s go to lunch”, he continued. I love my 1:1 time with my boy.  We talk about anything and everything.  Today’s topic was his next marathon.  “I’m just not sure why I’m doing it.  I don’t have the same reasons as last time”.  Granted, I found out he wanted to do another marathon on Facebook…’Today I start training for marathon #2’.  Wait...What??? Sigh...how do I explain it to the boy?  “Noah, you do it because it’s hard, but you are tougher.  You do it because you can learn about yourself.  You do it because once it’s done, no one can ever take it away from you.  Noah, you do it because you can.” Fast forward to the M...

No.  Not today.  Last year, I signed up for this race, completed half of it, and walked away.  I had the strength, but I also had my reasons.   I just couldn’t run through it.  I chose to say, “no”.  I took my ball and went home. Fast forward a year.   I got my ball back and I wanted to play.  But, I was physically tired.  I didn’t get to sleep in as planned, the six-hour drive to the race was difficult in the pouring rain, and to top it off, I was woken by a bear as I camped.   I had reasons this year too, but I was going to race. I teach my students about the three types of conflict in literature.   For some reason, they passed through my thoughts. Man vs. Man;  I was going to push during this race, and it was a race.  But, if someone had more oomph than I, by all means, go ahead.  If not, no worries, I’ll pace you.  This was a race, but I was not in competition with anyone els...

          They say you don’t know a person until you run a mile in his shoes.   I’m not sure about that, but I do know about running a mile over and over again for 6-12-24-48 or 72 hours.   Three Days at the Fair is a timed race around a 1-mile course.   To date, I have run this mile 466 times, including 115 this past weekend.   I have it memorized.             It may sound monotonous, but there is comfort in knowing the tail.  Let me take you on a trip around the mile. Start/Finish-This is the happiest place on the course.   It features the one aid station.   They are known to cook to order and deliver hot food right on to the course.   Nothing beats hot chocolate chip cookies at 2 am! The “HILL”-this thing will grown exponentially from barely noticeable, to OMG!   Before you tackle the hill, you have the choice of stepping a ...

Me:  I love you, Dad. Dad:  What? Am I dying? In fact, he was.  This was the last thing I said to my dad, and the first time I ever said it to him.  We just didn’t use those words in our house The first time my mom said it, was on my wedding day.  She was walking away from me, heading out the door.   I knew it was hard for her, and I cherished hearing it. Once when Danielle (of course Danielle would ask this) asked why, my mom said, “You know you are loved. Why do you need to hear it?”.   In college we used to say “I ludge you”.  I could do that.  We said it so we didn’t sound gay.  For many of my sorority sisters, there is tremendous irony in that statement. This weekend, I ran C+O Canal.  I had high hopes for this race, and I trained with a vengeance.  For some reason, I can go pretty fast on that course, and I’ve set two PR’s along that canal. On the trail, it got pretty “dark” for me.  Th...

I thought he had already left for work.  I went into our bedroom, and shut the door.  We were both surprised when he found me, on the floor, in child pose. M:  “What the hell are you doing?” E:  “I’m just trying to figure out how to get it all done” M:  “Tiggs, you’re exhausted.  You know you can sit this race out.  We kinda like having you around here, anyway.” E:  “No.  I’d feel worse if I missed it.  Besides, there are lots of people more busy than me.  I just need to re-focus.” M:  “You’re kidding, right?  You are human, you know…” I didn’t see him again to the end of the school day, when I was leaving work. M:  “Basehart!  You going or what? E:  “I’m still not sure.  I have to go home, finish that paper, check in on Nat and make sure she is set for when I’m gone, start the laundry, make a few phone calls, pack, and hop on the bike for a half hour to loosen up my legs.” M: ...

I have a sister.  She is no longer with us, but I see her often in my dreams.   To set the stage, Jeannie was an incredibly beautiful woman.  She had many eyes on her and she knew it.  She was the type of woman, that even in a crowded room, your eyes sought hers out.   She  was once described to me as “not just pretty, but unforgettable”.   She also had her flaws.  She fought battles that she didn’t care if she lost.  She lived with reckless abandonment, and was never afraid of breaking more than a few rules.  She portrayed herself as confident, strong, and stubborn, but there were a few cracks in her facade. Lately, I’ve been having a hard time letting go of a conversation we shared. I remember sitting on my dad’s swing with her.  She was telling  me about a band she just went to see, and reflecting on her hero worship for the singer.  I remarked that it must be incredible having all t...

To be honest, I’m not really sure how I ended up at this race.  But, one thing I’ve learned is that unexpected things can have the most memorable results.   Rog knows how I am at the start.  While he played Mayor--I swear, he’s the Kevin Bacon of the Ultra world--I stared at my shoes. “Gimme 4 miles”, I said “Gotcha” was his reply. Gotcha. I flashed back to 13 years ago.  Sitting on an airport floor, and strangers had just placed a terrified and exhausted baby in my arms. I had walked into the airport with a fully loaded diaper bag, and no baby.  I remember being  on the shuttle to the terminal, and a kindly lady asked Noah where he was going.  He said, “We have to get my baby sister, so we can share Mommy”.   They told me not to cry.  They said culturally, it might appear that I was unhappy with the child.  I tried my hardest to comply, as I got my first glimpse of her being pushed in a stroller, down a hallway,...