Plain Can Be Lovely

Marathon training has officially started.  I still can’t believe I’m doing this! Kristen is following the same training plan from northern Ontario so we have been comparing notes.  For the last little while I’ve been obsessed with the film Spirit of the Marathon.  I own a copy of it and watch it every few weeks. Let’s just say Dan is more than a little sick of it right now.  Spirit of the Marathon follows six different runners, ranging from elite runners, to runners looking to qualify for Boston, to runners looking just to finish, as they train for the Chicago Marathon. The film is also really informative and covers key moments in the history of the marathon, including the origins of the marathon, how the marathon became 26.2 miles (they added the extra distance for the 1908 Olympics in London, England so that the Royal family could watch the start of the marathon), the story of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon (Kathrine Switzer), and the rise in the marathon’s popularity.

One of my favourite quotes from the film is: “When you cross the finish line, no matter how slow or fast, it will change your life forever.” In October I will find out if that’s true.

Here’s the trailer:

Tell me you don’t get goosebumps. Or maybe it’s just me. I just love this film and I can’t wait for Spirit of the Marathon II to come to Canada.

In sad news, my grandma passed away unexpectedly last week. She was 90 and I’ve been told had a wonderful last morning. She was laughing and talking and went to take a nap and never woke up again. It sounds like a peaceful death to me and I’m happy that she can finally be reunited with my grandpa, who passed away 15 years ago. Once again, I feel thankful for the time that I had with her. I’m also extremely thankful that I was able to see her one last time in Hong Kong in January. We hadn’t seen each other in seven years, and with every year that went by I was worried that something might happen. I’m glad that I’m able to say the opposite, that I saw her one last time and we had a nice visit. She told me she hoped I would come back to Hong Kong and visit again. She was very happy and I cherished our last hug. Dan also especially liked grandma because the first time he met her, eight years ago in Canada, she walked right up to him and shook his hand and said “Hi Dan! I’m Grandma!”

The last time I saw my grandma. No regrets.

Losing both of my grandmas so close together has given me a lot of time to reflect and I’m glad that I have no regrets with either of them and that they are both at peace. When I saw Grandma in Hong Kong she mentioned that she and my grandpa did a lot of travelling together. According to Grandma, my grandpa stated that they should travel a lot when they were younger because “When other people tell us about the places they want to visit we will have already been there.” I think that’s a good mantra for life.

So as I’m preparing for my marathon, both of my grandmas have been on my mind. Though truthfully, I don’t think either of them cared for running (or would have cared that I’m running a marathon). They might have been impressed with my medals though!

Rest peacefully Grandma. xo