Monday, June 27, 2011

Houston Marathon: I'm In!

In the wee hours of the morning, as I slumbered in my own bed exhausted after the trip home from Missouri with my sleep-deprived children, I got the email confirming that I had made the lottery cut for next January's Houston Marathon.

This is exciting because not getting in would have entailed finding a much-less-palatable Plan B race. Houston was my first marathon, way back in 1997, and I know the course. It's flat, fast and (usually at that time of year) nice and cool. I also lived there for seven years, four of them when I was in college at Rice University and another three working after that. I have lots of friends in town, some family too, and this will hopefully mean that even though Dan won't be able to come I'll have some people cheering for me.

Two other awesome factors: my friend Kathy also got in--this will be her second marathon (she's running Portland in October)--and the Olympic Trials Marathon is the day before the general race. So we'll have lots of inspiration from watching some of the people on this list vie to make the team that will run in London later next year.

A BQ there would sure be a nice 39th birthday present for me! Anyone else out there running Houston in January?

Last Thoughts on the Reunion

In the end, my high school reunion was a mixed bag. It was great to see people I've kept in fairly good touch with (in particular, my friends Angela, Scott, and Chris and their spouses), and to touch base with some other friends (Amy, Brian, Mike, Alice, Meghan, Laura and others) whom I hadn't seen in a very long time. But I sort of wish that we had all just gone together to a winery on our own. The music at most of the events was too loud (c'mon, we didn't come to dance or over-drink; we came to talk; it's not lame--that's the way it is when you're renewing old ties).

One positive thing I took away from the weekend (besides my 14-mile run!): it's much more interesting to talk about other people than it is to obsess about yourself. My mom has been trying to drill this in me for years, and I'm still learning.

Part of me wanted this to be like a big "so there" to a bunch of people I'm still mad at after all these years (as in, "hey, look at me, I'm thin, fit, *faster* than I was in high school...and I have cute kids, a great husband, a job I like and I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country"). But (gasp) nobody really cared. And you know what? I'm OK with that. I don't have to say "so there" to anyone. Living well is the best revenge, if any of us need revenge at all. And I'm happy to say that the people who might have a few "so theres" for me all seem to be living quite well, too, thank you very much.

9 comments:

  1. Lol about the HS reunion. I've got my 10th coming up and I don't know how I feel about it. And yeah...living well is the best revenge! And I'm sure people were jealous ;-).

    Congrats on Houston!!!! You'll run right by Rice! I'm gonna have to enter that lottery some time. I hear it's a fast course. Perfect for a BQ.

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  2. I really like Houston, although I've only been there once. I tried to get into this marathon a few years ago but didn't make it - I ran Austin for my Texas marathon. I LOVED Austin, but I would much rather preferred the flat Houston course! Good luck!

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  3. I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it)!!!

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  4. Oooh, Houston is exciting! I wish you were coming to Disney instead, but I am super excited for you. :) A BQ would be awesome in Houston but I think you can do it in Logan first. :)

    Glad the reunion was good! I have never been to any of mine and it would be a mixed bag for me too for sure!!

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  5. Congrats on Houston! You'll be great and a BQ there would be poetic, being your first and all.
    Love your last two paragraphs...people really don't care. Most are way too worried about themselves. Ha!

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  6. Living well is the best revenge!!!!!!!!

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  7. Congrats on getting in to the Houston marathon, good luck hitting your BQ! I will be rooting for you.
    Great way to sum up the class reunion.

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  8. Awesome post and insight on the reunion. So true. I always find the most confident and successful people never have a "so there" attitude.

    I'm glad you got into Houston and all. I think it will be good for you to improve your BQ time. Top of Utah will be your first BQ and Houston may get you into a faster group.

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