Send in the Marines. Please.
Hello Peeps,
Not gonna lie, I spent much of Sunday in a prone position! But the Marathon is in the bag. I committed to the Marine Corps Marathon in March as a fundraiser for cancer research and care, in memory and honor of your and our ♥ family and friends ♥. It’s been a weird year! We watched marathon after marathon cancel. MCM2020 went virtual: train, set your course, run your race, submit your results.
After a few hundred miles of training runs, some sun, rain and - yep - tears - I picked the bike path around Washington’s Lake Sammamish and October 17 as the place and date. Of all the things we’ve done in 2020, this one has had me the most spooked. I run, but I don’t think of myself as a runner, and most of you walk faster than my sprint.
But on the day, it really wasn’t that bad.
A couple of highlights:
Well, I’ll start with a reverse highlight. I arrived to Seattle and realized I’d left my running shoes in Portland. Haha #Freudian.
They say never wear anything new on a duration event; my sister Jen loaned me her lightly used Nike runners and we were back in business
Tough experiences have proven that I will lose my mind about one mile into any event and totally forget both my plan and what I’m supposed to be doing next.
So, Tom and I wrote down the plan:
“Run me in at 24 miles please!”
Yes, Kristen, I wrote it right over the top of your lovely email. Our mantra: “do not deviate from the plan!” We were tempted a few times. I put a set of nine ‘PacMan’ dots on my hand with a black sharpie – nine sets of three miles – so I would always know where I was on the plan – PacMan One! PacManTwo! … you get the idea.
OK, and, I found there are a couple of advantages to running virtual: there’s no “race anxiety” right at the beginning – you just get going. There are no distracting water stops every mile, no strange new power foods offered on the course. Take your own. Stick to the plan. And at the end, when you are running a little more slowly than you were in the early miles, you can take your time. No one is going to kick you off the course. And if you’re lucky, your sister Jen will be there with a sign and run you over the finish line with a whoop.
Thank you Jen!
In this wonky-donkey year, we – YOU – raised more than $5,000 for cancer research and care.
Well done.
Lisa
PS: still hate cancer? go here to donate online quickly and securely. (Huff, puff)
This piece was featured in the October 22, 2020 edition of Retirement Security Matters. For more fresh thinking on retirement savings innovation, check out the newsletter here.
