Yesterday was the PF Changs Rock n’ Roll Marathon in Phoenix. I didn’t run it. I think $125 is an awful lot of money to pay to run a marathon for a state I already have on my list. But Bruce had signed up and if he made it successfully from the start to the finish, he would qualify for Marathon Maniacs. He was somewhat worried about his heart. I worry that my encouraging him to run marathons may ultimately be bad for him, but it seems like such a healthy hobby now and I think it is better than sitting on the couch.
I drove Bruce and a few of my running buddies to the start then went home to watch them pass at mile 10. Bruce was ahead of Susie by a few minutes. It was her first marathon. Both of them looked really good at mile 10.
I drove to the finish, found a parking spot and ran to mile 20 where I would meet Bruce and run him in. I was wearing my fuel belt so I would have drinks for both of us and a few other treats that he liked. I did not want to take any aid from the aid stations since I was not a paying runner. When I finally saw Bruce, he wasn’t looking very good. He was hunched over and said he needed to walk. He thanked me for joining him. It was bittersweet for me. I really wanted to be running the marathon, but I knew if I were that I wouldn’t have wanted to stay with hm. As it was, I had plenty of energy to run around and get him things. There was a woman on the other wide of the course handing out pretzels at mile 22 and he wanted some, but she might as well have been 5 miles away. I said “Keep going. I’ll get you some.” I ran over to her, grabbed some, then ran back to him. I felt very spry and even heard someone say “You have WAY too much energy!” I did not confess that I had only been running about 5 total miles at that point.
Bruce continued with a mixture of walking and running to the finish. Susie passed us at mile 24 and went on to snag a BQ. She is so impressive! Seven kids and she snags a BQ in her first marathon. Bruce finished in yet another PR for him and qualified for Marathon Maniacs. A good time was had by all. This morning when we went for a run, he didn’t even seem terribly sore or slow.
On Friday, Charlie was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. It is somewhat nice to finally have a diagnosis and realize that he isn’t just intentionally being annoying. We have talked about it as a family and are working on taking one day at a time. He has sticker charts, which he hates, and more structure, which he also hates. But at least I feel like we can move from the problem into the solution. We don’t have this nailed yet. Not sure if we ever will. But we can try to support each other and be loving. And grateful for the lessons we will no doubt learn about tolerance.
