Another Hero in the Family

My races are done for the year.

I get to spend the next two months running simply for the joy of running. No training schedules on the chalkboard. No required distances to run.

I also get to pack my bags because we're going galavanting again.

This time, Doug gets to be the hero.

One week from now, we'll be packed and ready to head to New York City so my marathon man can do what he does so well and check one more fabled race off his bucket list.

In the past three months, we have gone cycling for a week in Québec. We travelled to Minnesota for Global Heroes. Doug also gave up Saturdays and Sundays so he could support me through two triathlons and one half marathon.

Oh, and somehow he found the time he needed to train for a marathon.

He managed to run five days a week. He managed to run for 3+ hours, multiple weekends in a row. He managed to squeeze in his hill training as well as weekly swims and bike rides.

Now it's his turn to wear the hero cap. And it's my turn to chase him around the running route and scream my head off at the finish line. To take his pictures and carry his dry change of clothes. To slowly walk with him back home after the race, make sure he drinks his water, rub his legs and feed him electrolytes.

I can't wait!

This video made me cry when I first saw it years ago. Watching 45,000 people running across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn was jaw-dropping. Little did I know I would get the chance to watch my own marathon man join the ranks of the NYC marathon runners.

November 4th 2012. Exactly four weeks after I had my hero weekend, Doug gets his turn.