#rnr dc

It is winter.

I can still say that for a few hours.

It is snowing.

I use to hate snow.

I use to very much dislike winter. Growing up in rural NJ, I spent my winters in a deep hibernation. My mother thought people who run outside in the winter were clinically insane. My brother, who is 4 years older than me, grew out of playing in the snow when I hit my prime. Let's face it playing the snow by yourself is only cool for so long.

Snow to me as a kid meant hot coco, movies and grown ups complaining about shoveling the drive way.

This winter, after moving up to NH, I did what the Ham-sters do. I learned to Ski. I LOVE skiing. I spent arguably more time on the slopes then I did on the asphalt.

I'm not even mad.

When I did have a weekend at home I made sure to gather friends for a "Saturday AM 10 Mile Club". We would run 10 miles no matter what adventure Friday night brought. I love that club. It is officially something I look forward too. The members always change and so does the pace and the stories shared.

So all this skiing was a major buzz kill to that marathon training I was suppose to be doing.

But regardless March 16th came. I woke up that morning in DC and toed a starting line next to one of my best friends for her first marathon. I then spent the next 4 hours and 47 minutes by her side. The first 22 miles were nothing but laughs, inside jokes, and attempts to make friends. The final miles were all heart and maybe a tiny bit of hell. I had to check my pride so many times those last miles. This was not my race. The pain that I was feeling, the "Just go faster Mary and get it over with sooner" instinct was not mine to act on. My job was to be there. My job was to be a reason to keep going, a person to share thoughts with, a person to understand her journey. 

This is my favorite marathon to date. I learned so much about myself, I learned so much about the power of friendship and I learned that even with no "proper" training I can run a marathon.

It is hard to put into words the bond that you form with your running friends. It is even harder to explain the feeling you get from crossing the finish line next to a person who you cherish and whom has seen you at all stages of your being. I am so humbled and thankful for the woman who ran beside me, my best friend. She gave a new love for running. She gave me a reason to believe that miracles are possible and that there is more fuel, more magic just waiting to be found.

Except metro, metro's never good.

I wasn't signed up and ended up meeting with Jess and Avi around mile 11. I had a great run, ended up getting 15.3 with them.

We lost Jess around mile 21 when a very rude man told us that we had missed the cut off and blocked off the death loop around that stupid park. Jess sprinted ahead, thinking we weren't going to make the loop and tried to catch up with us, not knowing we were behind her :P

We ended up giving the man a stern "Go eff off" face and ran it anyway, along with several dozen of our closest friends. Avi had loads of fun  and is totally committing to future marathons, ultras, and ironmen (don't let him tell you otherwise).