second wind part 2 (p.s. read this book!)

So much has happened in the last week!  My mind is full for sure and I find that it’s almost difficult for me to put some order to the chaos and actually write it all down.  Thankfully, it was time for another Running and Reading Long post (which is now REALLY late) so I have a bit of structure to work with for this post.

Before I start though, guess what?!  Cami Ostman, author of Second Wind, posted a comment on my last blog post about this book!  I saw it the other night and couldn’t be more thrilled/honored.  Oh yeah, I still get the chills when I think about it :)

This will be the last post about Second Wind and we are going to be discussing each one of Ostman’s 7 marathons that were part of her quest to run one on each continent.  At least that was the plan – instead I am going to focus on a few and then encourage you to read the book!  I’m long winded… we would be here all night!

1.  Europe – Ostman ran her first marathon in Spain – to say it didn’t go as planned is an understatement!  After reading the start time wrong, not being able to quite get to the start line and then getting lost on the actual course, I totally felt for Cami and Bill (husband).  To emotionally deal with running a marathon is a lot – to do that with everything going wrong can seem unbearable.  Cami and Bill had to jump across part of the course to catch up with the other runners in order to make sure to stay on course but this meant they missed some milage.  They were determined to do all 26.2 though and walked the pieces of the course when the race was over.

I really identified with Bill, especially considering my recent Ragnar experience.  Bill felt it wasn’t “really” running a marathon because they had to make adjustments.  We, too, had to make some adjustments after we realized at checkpoint 18 that we were one of the very last teams.  Our start time was too late for our pace.  We were told to jump ahead some legs and then double/triple up on runners at other legs so we could all still run the milage.  At first, I didn’t want to – I wanted to keep slogging along.  But I went with the team decision and realized after running almost 17 miles that I had DONE Ragnar, even if it wasn’t in the conventional way.

4.  Asia – Ostman and her hubby went to Japan to run this marathon.  I was really moved by Cami’s experience in Japan because I’ve been there as well and it brought back so many wonderful memories.  Ostman was treated like royalty upon their arrival and throughout their stay.  The section of the book where Cami was listening to the women drummers made my heart soar!  She connected with the female warriors’ cries and used this deep connection to bond her spirituality with nature.  I really appreciated this because I too, try to use my surroundings and experiences to find more meaning in life, in running – in most everything.  I find it furthers my passion and makes me feel rooted.

6.  South America – alright, this marathon was my worst nightmare!  First of all, they had to run in the rain – in a deluge is probably a better word for it!  But that wasn’t all of it – half way through she noticed something wet running down her legs… nope it wasn’t the rain.  Cami was on her period and due to some changes in birth control it was heavier than normal.  She kept running though, even though it was clear to all of the spectators what was going on with HER body.  Again, this would suck for me.  It took me YEARS just to feel comfortable talking about it with my friends much less having a whole town spectate.  Over the miles though Cami came to terms with her womanhood.  Ugh, that sentence sounds cheesy but seriously – it was moving for me to read.  I’m proud to be a woman but still sometimes ashamed of what this means – jiggly boobs, junk in the trunk, a monthly visitor – the whole kit and kaboodle!  Why am I ashamed of the way I was made?!  I’ve been thinking about this a lot and it won’t be the last time I talk about it.

7.  Antarica – wow – this marathon was a mess!  I felt so badly for Cami during the planning for this last leg of her journey.  Isn’t that always how it seems to work though?  You are so close and then road block after road block seems to be thrown up and somehow you have to perserve to get to your goal?  From natural disaster to pissy organizations, Cami was up against it all.  I think what I took away from this marathon was the fact she came to terms with the fact that it may just not happen.  Then some light would shine and the maybe’s would start all over again.  Life is a roller coaster.  Heck, so is running!  One day, you have an amazing run and then the next day you can feel as though you have never run in your life!  Sometimes, you simply have to accept these challenges as is and try to hold on until life/the situation starts to improve.  Cami did fight, which is important, however, she also started to realize that even if the the goal she had envisioned for so long didn’t come true it didn’t dampen what she HAD already accomplished!  How often do we have an “all or nothing” kind of outlook on goals?  I am very guilty of this and working on it.

Again, I LOVED this book and highly recommend it!  My training this week was okay but my mileage fell short of my goal.  However, I also was recovering from Ragnar so I am calling it successful!  I needed a huge amount of sleep!

*sorry for lack of pics!  I’ll do better tomorrow!