Best Laid Plans

I think it was inevitable that it was going to end up this way. Despite a lifetime of better efforts, no matter how much I plan in advance, deadlines are met with an adrenaline fueled, high octane dash to the finish line. Having spent most of November and December using the weather, work commitments, the Philadelphia Eagles home schedule and anything else I could muster as an excuse to not run, I found myself on a plane with Dani on the way back from Christmas and New Year with our family in Europe and only 14 weeks to prepare for Paris. Still enough time to prepare without the last minute, frantic panic. I was convinced. The plane touched down on January 6th, I vowed that January 7th was to be the first day of 14 weeks dedicated to gym enrollment, the accumulation of road miles, physical fitness and nutritional health.

January 7^th – Julian, You’re Fired.

Generally, I was not fond of my job. For nine months I learnt a lot, unfortunately most of the lessons fell in the “What not to do” column. But I was being paid, paying bills, I had a client that I loved to work for and (I later discovered) loved the work I was doing for them.

With a house move on the horizon, hiding out as long as it took for the clouds of the recession to pass by had been my plan. Unfortunately, the clients that canceled projects or chose not to renew their contracts did not share this plan. Neither did my boss who had the courage to ask someone else to pull me aside at the end of the day to ask me to pack up my things and bid me a fond farewell. At least I suddenly had time on my hands to run, you would think.

With my calendar suddenly open, I was now able to help Dani’s dad (Rainer) work on our new home. Even an untrained eye would know that a toilet and wash basin shouldn’t be 2 feet from the circuit breaker panel in the basement, or that outlets on all three floors shouldn’t be protected by just one fuse. Rainer had trained as an electrician in Germany many years ago, prior to a career developing new technologies for Siemens and he was heading over for three weeks to manage the rewiring project at our new home. A daily pattern quickly began to emerge – breakfast, work, lunch, work until 9pm, dinner and 3 beers, bed. No time to run, and limited physical capability to do so even if I wanted to. 11 weeks to go and no effort made to fulfill the promise I made to myself on the January 6^th flight.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye!

Other than the promise I’d made to myself, I’d forgotten a lot. I forgot that I’d made a promise to do this. I forgot that I was part of a team of 12 that were also dealing with personal and professional commitments as well as inner demons. I also forgot that I was part of a team of 2, and that Dani had our own plan and commitment to help each other get to the finish line. Despite my complaints, tantrums and reluctance to put in any effort, Dani had continued to forge forward. She was putting in the miles on the road or getting to the gym to run on a treadmill when the snow outside was too deep.

Then she quit.

She’d run further than she ever had before and was rightly proud of her accomplishments. She was financially supporting us both whilst running a business in the same recession that had cost me my job. Airfare to Paris and accommodation for two was going to be expensive. She wasn’t getting the motivation she needed from her coach, but more importantly she wasn’t getting any from me. Some kind of team-mate I was.

This was the motivation I needed to get back out there, but now I needed to find a way to pick Dani up too. I threw everything I could at her – the history of Germany v England (sporting and otherwise), the story we’d tell our grandchildren (a weapon she’d used to good effect to motivate us both early on in the project), and the fact that her competitive nature wouldn’t let me do this without her. I managed to get her back on the road logging the miles again, but she wasn’t convinced.

Paris 2010 BK (Before Kate)

On February 27^th, Tom had arranged for us to meet with Sports Psychologist, Kate Taylor. Mike and Kim kindly offered their home as a meeting venue and welcomed us on a cold Saturday morning with champagne bottle in hand, enough food to feed 12 hungry runners for a week and the phrase “We’re not going to run today right? it’s too cold”. My kind of people.

Kate had been introduced to Tom through his Bishop’s Collar network. As Kate Fonshell (her unmarried name) Kate had walked behind the US Flag in Atlanta 1996, representing her country as an Olympian in the 10,000m. Kate had trained as a Sports Psychologist and she wasn’t here to wave the flag, but to boost the flagging. In light of the mental cracks that were beginning to appear in us all it was as welcome as the mimosas and cinnamon rolls that accompanied the discussion.

It was amazing to hear a world class athlete talk humbly of the demons that they battled as a college athlete and as an Olympic hopeful. We openly shared our own worries and concerns and she reassured us all that the goal was still in our reach. We talked about visualization, devising a mental as well as a physical plan for the race, we had our running form reviewed and importantly for Tom, she reminded us that he had only provided us with the opportunity and that taking it was our fault and not his.

Importantly I felt that we came back together as a team with encouragement from each others accomplishments. Cristin joined us live from Dubai via satellite having completed a half marathon in the dessert. Helene’s run log showed that she’d run the equivalent of Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and back. Shannon, in true altruistic Coyne style, had found a passion for running that she converted to helping others. Mike had dropped pounds while he and Kim had become the envy of their neighbors as they ran to basketball practices rather than drive the few miles. And Dani asked the question, “With six weeks to go and only a handful of long runs under our belt, is there still enough time to be prepared for Paris?” Kate answered “Yes.” Team Europe was back in the race.

Running with Duffy.

After we met with Kate, Duffy suggested to Dani and I that we meet the next weekend and do our long run together. We run at a similar pace (10 to 11 minute miles), Dani and Duff like to run on Forbidden Drive, we had similar distance goals (Dani and I 14 miles, Duff,16). Perfect.

We agreed to meet at Valley Green Inn at 9:30am on Saturday March 6th; Duff and Dani had charted a course with appropriate intervals:

Section 1 - Valley Green Inn to the equestrian center and back - 1 hour, 5 miles, water and GU.

Section 2 - Valley Green Inn to Kelly Drive - 1 hour, 4.5 Miles, water and GU.

Section 3 - Kelly Drive to Valley Green Inn - 1 hour, 4.5 Miles, water and GU.

Duff was then in a position to run the extra 2 miles, body permitting. Dani and I were able to collapse into a heap, 5 weeks from Paris with our 1^st half marathon complete.

10:30am – Section 1 went as well as could be expected. The sun had emerged from its hibernation and the conditions for running were better than they had been for the previous 2 and a half months. Duff cast aside his sweatshirt and jogging pants and off we went on the next leg of the run, to Kelly Drive. The snow and ice on the path was still heavy in parts, making it more of an arctic assault course than a running trail. This made the section slower, but intact, we arrived at Kelly Drive and the end of Section 2. This is where Dani, Duff and I split up.

11:16am - Convinced that if he ran back to Valley Green Inn with us, Duff was confident that his car seat would be too appealing and that there was no way he would motivate himself to run an extra 2 miles to achieve his goal. Instead, he decided he would run from Kelly Drive to the Falls Bridge, and then back to Valley Green with his 16 mile goal accomplished. Dani and I wished him well, expressed that we may see him back at the end and we headed our separate ways.

12:24pm - Our final 4.5 miles were a slog and progress had not been quick. We stretched out our tired limbs as best we could replenished our bodies with water and shot blocks, and any other foodstuff that was lying in the car. We had run slowly and it took some time for us to be able to stretch our limbs enough to operate a vehicle. As we drove away, Dani commented, “I’m surprised that we didn’t see Duffy finish.”