Joy: Day 21

I have been looking forward to this day for MONTHS now!  Earlier this year, Ryan determined that he wanted to run a marathon sometime in October.  He originally planned on giving the Leavenworth Marathon a try, but after realizing there was no lodging in Leavenworth, (and that the marathon coincided with Oktoberfest in the little Bavarian-style town), he opted to find another.  Thus, we ended up traveling to Umatilla, OR this afternoon.

As we drove through the beautiful landscape in the peace and quiet, I read a book, worked on a project, and chatted with my husband.  I did try to sleep, but just couldn't get comfortable.  Plus, I may have felt slightly guilty that my husband was driving and maybe I should be keeping him company...  The drive was SO pleasant!  No children asking if we were there yet, or telling me they were bored, or bugging each other, or just crying.  Ahhh...JOY! 

The only major drawback was that Ryan forgot his GPS watch, which keeps him on pace.  We had hoped that maybe someone would be selling something useful at the pre-race convention...but the ONLY table set up was for the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce.  (This is definitely the SMALLEST race Ryan has ever participated in.  While Ryan had read that more than 300 people were signed up this year, we discovered last night that only about 60 of those would be marathoners.  The remaining individuals will be running the 1/2 marathon, walking the 8k, or running the Kid's 1 mile race.)  Back to the watch--we tried a few local stores to see if they even had something comparable, but our search of all 2 stores brought up nothing.  Hopefully, the app we downloaded to his phone will suffice and he'll be able to reach his pace goal!

Since we didn't really know the area, we signed up for the all-you-can-eat pasta dinner that the race sponsors put on.  When we got to the dinner, there was a table of about 8 people...and that was it.  We chose our own table, and were later joined by 2 more individuals.  One older(ish) woman told us that she has run 157 marathons, (2 of which were ultra marathons which are 100 miles!), in the past 13 years.  Holy cow.

After dinner, we just relaxed ALONE in our hotel room.  There were no children jumping from bed to bed, fighting with each other, or exploring every nook and cranny of this place.  Although, we had to laugh because when Ryan was talking to Kallie on the phone last night, she asked what our room was like.  He told her that it was a little old, (it is), and that there were two beds...and then he didn't know what else to tell her.  She asked, "Are there curtains?" (Yes.) "And an air conditioner?" (Yes.)  It really made us laugh.

There have been moments that we have missed our kids.  Well, at least times that we've commented how one child or another would enjoy this or that aspect of this adventure.  And, I know the kids would LOVE to be at the finish line and watch their daddy reach his goal.  But, not having to think about the normal care and maintenance of children.  Just having that break is a great joy!

I can't wait to see how Ryan's marathon turns out this time--to watch him cross the finish line, to hear about his experience, and to be his post-finish support.  Being part of his experience (once again!) brings me a lot of joy.