 What do Sgt. Joe Friday and singer Darlene Zschech have in common? Inspiration for a marathon story.  Fox Valley Marathon: Before dawn. As we completed the previous installment, Vikki and Jules were about to begin their early-morning long distance Chicago Marathon training, timing their start in pre-dawn darkness in order to be finished with minimal overlap -- read, "running into" -- people competing in the Fox Valley Marathon on the same trail.
The first wave of runners was scheduled to take off at 7 AM, about the same time Vikki would have completed her first six miles, turned around, and headed toward her scheduled 16-mile finish from the opposite direction. In order to do so, Vikki, Michael and Jules had scheduled a 5:30 AM rendezvous to allow for pre-run schedule-check, rest room visit, and prayer before starting to run at 6 AM.
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 The banks of the Fox River, North Aurora, IL, 5:31 AM, September 16, 2018 It was a Francis Scott Key kind of morning: "Oh, say...by the dawn's early light?"
This particular Sunday was not just another long-distance training day. They had spent Saturday mapping out the plan for Sunday; a more intricate collaboration than had occurred in previous planning sessions. There's something to be said for Experience being a teacher. Their phone call was about an hour, going over and again the start time, the drive time, the water stops, the energy shots, the traffic flow. Distance had its own importance. Vikki had not completed any of her previous double-digit goals. Today's 16-mile run was admirable; however, she was struggling, lamenting that it should be 20. Twenty is the optimum number of miles a marathon runner should run in a training session before race day, and three, the optimum number of weeks that 20 should be run. Twenty miles were what Jules ran on the same day three years ago when she was getting ready for the Chicago Marathon . That same day, Vikki ran her first 26.2-miler. The Fox Valley Marathon. Today was the third anniversary of that sub-five-hour hoof. By Vikki J. Myers, Co-Founder, Worship Leader Sunday was a day of rest. Sort of. An imposed Sabbath. Weekends are when I schedule long training runs in double-digit miles. Saturday was a middle-distance, eight miles, because I needed to prepare for Sunday's long run of 18. The most I'll do before the marathon is 20, and I need to get in four days a week from here out.
It's difficult to say what's harder about running the distances at this point: the distance themselves, or scheduling the day. Both Saturday and Sunday present unique personal problems. Saturday is the catch-up domestic day -- cleaning, planning the next week's shopping, working with Michael to outline the family budget -- plus fine-tuning business affairs (read: rehearsal) with Kingdom Impact Theater and social media consultations. For good measure, I'll toss in the laundry (you can only run in the same clothes so many days before they start to run you), and my kick-back girlfriend Facetime with our stressed-out college junior.  Mount Everest: Earth's highest mountain above sea level. by Vikki J. Myers, Co-Founder, Worship Leader
 Vikki's early-morning training run along banks of the Fox River in Batavia, IL. (2014) by Vikki J. Myers, Co-Founder, Worship Leader I am not a morning person. My husband is. Even when I arise before he does, he manages to be awake before I am.
I do not function until coffee. To my husband, coffee merely expedites his pre-dawn functions. Michael is the kind of morning person who not only arises early, he speaks early, carries on dissertations, verbalizes op-ed opinion pieces or sermonettes before sunrise, often finishing with, "What do you think?" (Another chapter from the “Things They Don’t Tell You Before Marriage” Dept.) There is, however, one thing I do (to my knowledge) that throws off his morning routine. When my phone alarm goes off. Usually it’s a ringtone from my playlist; often at the crescendo of a song blaring like reveille (a remnant from my Army brat upbringing). A song I’ve sometimes used is Mary, Mary’s “Get Up!” Get Up: The Lyrics |
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