NJ Marathon: Truly Experiencing A New Life

Today, as Laura reminded me, I feel like Barney Stinson after the NY Marathon. AKA standing up without falling is my personal version of success.

Yesterday, Brad and I ran the NJ Marathon. Our second marathon. And thus, I have completed a marathon in two decades: Charleston for my 20s, and NJ for my 30s. That gives me a good ten years to recover, which I think I may need.

Between Laura and I, (mostly Laura!) we raised $1,570 for the American Red Cross in honor of Restore the Shore! Thank you to all who donated. :-D I definitely thought about your generosity during the race, and it definitely kept me going.



This has been a whirlwind of a year for Brad and I, and it all culminated with a hands-clasped-and-raised-above-our-heads jog across the finish line in Long Branch, NJ, 4 hours and forty-seven minutes after we started this epic journey. And, metaphorically (of course), this marathon kind of represents our last year.

Oceanport Stage: The beginning of the marathon--> Brad and I get engaged in Ireland. We are thrilled, happy, and running freely.

Monmouth Beach Stage: All these amazing quotes are lined up through the streets of Monmouth Beach. Inspirational and humorous. I would compare this to our home search... finding a house, losing the house, not giving up, and then eventually getting the house.

Long Branch Stage Part 1: Represents Sandy. We ran through some pretty run-down areas of Long Branch, which represents the low point after the Hurricane where thousands lost their homes and we had to cancel our wedding.

Deal: Literally. Dealing with it.

Allehnhurst/Asbury: Starting to get tired, pissed off, and sick of winter, not happy about rescheduling the wedding, work begins to give me panic attacks, an ultimate low point.

Ocean Grove: Everything is sunny, I start to feel better. These are the miles of the marathon I like best (around 20) because this is where people become real. The real cheering starts, and humanity wins out.

Asbury/Allenhurst Part 2: The wind. Reminds me of all those cold winter nights running into ridiculous wind trying to train for this crazy marathon.

Deal: Knee begins to hurt. I have to make a decision. Try to be heroic and carry on, or stop-being-an-idiot (because you're obviously not going to win this race). After the Charleston Marathon, I couldn't run for months because my knee hurt so badly. So I decided to walk the last five miles. I felt wussy, but I know it's better for me in the long run. And even with walking 5 miles, we finished in 4:47, which I'm pretty thrilled about. Not exactly a Marathon PR, but under 5 with a LOT of walking. We were on 4:10 pace for pretty much the first 20 miles, so we were walking rather briskly to make it under 5 hours. This is the stage of life where I needed to make a decision. Teach next year, or try something new? What am I doing with my life? 30 year crisis style. And just like I made the right decision in the marathon, I think I am making the right decision to retire from education.

Long Branch: Home Stretch! The end! Finished! Retiring from marathoning, retiring from education, Brad and I got married and we're ready to start a new chapter in our lives.

Overall, I'm so glad we did this. And HUGE congratulations to Jenny, Laura, and Mary for finishing their first marathon! And a MAJOR thank you to Eileen, Matt, Beebe, The Freemans, and Ursula for cheering us on along the way. The signs were amazing, and you all truly did help me to keep moving forward. Your energy and enthusiasm put a huge smile on my face, and I cannot tell you how grateful I truly am. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Gu Every 2!

Earned it:



And afterwards, I celebrated with this bad boy from Luigi's. Luigi's is my favorite pizza place down the shore, located in Little Silver. Known for their rectangular large pies, this Godfather sandwich (prosciutto, mozzarella, peppers, and basil) sandwich was a homerun. I highly recommend them if you're in the mood for normal, Friday-night-take-out pizza!



What a beautiful journey life is.