My marathon experience... but today was not my day...

my alarm clock went off at 7:30am.  The exact time that the Scotiabank Marathon and 1/2 Marathon runners started their journey.

I planned to go downtown to try to find them, despite not having really made any plans.  I parked my car at the subway parking lot, and walked to the bus stop, since the subways don't start running till 9am on Sundays.  I got on the bus about 30 minutes later, squished like sardines, having to stand, careful not to step on anyone's toes with the air cast on.  It makes no sense to me... that on a day where there are 14,000 runners downtown, friends and family going to cheer them on, why can't the subways start earlier... but anyway, this is not a rant about subway service... i digress.

I finally got downtown to the race site at about 9:15am, and went to gate lining the finishers' chute, after runners already crossing the finishing line.  I managed to see 1 of the 4 co-workers that I knew was running, and another friend, but there was no way to get to them though.  I walked about another km around all the fencing until I finally got to the family & friends area, all sectioned off by letters.  Met up with 2 co-workers, and 3 others that I knew! Not bad in a sea of people!  I walked around with a few friends, and we eventually found Marlene's hubby and friends.  One got a text that Marlene had crossed the 30k mark a while back, so we were definitely going to be hanging around closely to make sure we were there to see her and cheer her on!

But we were on the wrong side of the fence, so we walked down a bit further, managed to cross in between runners, and were finally situated where we were among less of a crowd, sure we'd be seeing her come in shortly.  

We were 300 meters from the finishing line.  The expression on people's faces varied... a lot. One lady was already in tears, and I could hear her crying. Others winced in pain, while others looked so proud to have come so far... and rightfully so.

We saw Marlene coming in; smiling!   So I grabbed a few photos while cheering her on... which she has posted on her site... glad I was able to capture her moment, and be there to see it!  :) We met up with her outside of the gates, congratulated her and headed home. Inspired.

While I was a teeny bit sad being there today since I should have also been running, I am so happy that I decided to go, rather than just watching results over the web.  Since my injury, people have been telling me to really think a lot about whether I want to run again once I get the green light.  Now knowing what likely caused my injury certainly helps, but being there today made my decision even easier.  I am not sure if a full marathon is in my destiny; if I will ever be a marathoner -- but I would sure like to try one day.

Congrats to Marlene on becoming a marathoner today, you're awesome! And to all others on a job well done! Too bad I didn't get a chance to meet more blogging buddies this weekend, but hopefully our paths will cross again soon, when I'm wearing running shoes rather than an air cast  :)

I have been researching "back to running" programs after an injury, and think that I have decided on one that seems very conservative and sensible, starting slowly to get my bones, muscles and tendons used to running again, while keeping pace and distance slow and short at first, and building very gradually. It's a 7 week program and I'm leaning towards using that when the time comes.  Don't worry, I'm not doing ANYTHING until I get the ok, but just wanted to get an idea. Wednesday coming will be 6 weeks since my last run, so I'm hoping it might come soon.