There are so many stories ...
So many stories inside of me trying to get out.
Stories I'm afraid to write.
I'm afraid to relive the pain
I'm afraid to share it
And most of all
I'm afraid no one will listen
No one will care
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Some Thoughts on Homelessness
I was sitting in a forum on the California Housing Crisis and Homelessness last night where a group of candidates for County and State Government answered questions on the topic. In that forum I was reminded of my own past in relation to homelessness. I don’t tell this story as a “woe was me”, I definitely made my own bed on this one and I dealt with the consequences of my actions. However, I do tell the story to give some perspective on what it’s like to try to get employment when you have no place to call “home”.
I was 20 years old, recently dropped out of college, and was just fired from a secretarial job in Houston (they wanted me to wear a skirt). I had a couple hundred dollars in my pocket, a small pickup with a camper shell, an unemployed boyfriend with stories of how beautiful Key West was this time of year, and “nothing better to do”. Hurricane Andrew hit Florida a couple weeks before, devastating part of that state.
We (he) decided to head out to Florida and see what there was to see. The “plan” was to pick up labor jobs with the contractors that were in Florida to rebuild after the storm.
But first, Key West! We got down to Key West in late summer, before tourist season started. We lived in my truck, ate as cheaply as possible, smoked cigarettes to keep down hunger, showered on the beach and bummed around. I looked for temp jobs and found out one important thing. You had to have an address and a phone number to get a temp job. The address had to be “local”. This was the early 90’s before cell phones and pagers. The lack of a phone and address made it impossible for me to get a job.
We managed to stay in Key West for a month or so living on the $ I started with, until tourist season started and the local police politely invited us to get off the island. On the way back up towards Miami we ran into a construction crew that was desperate for workers, even a girl and a skinny long haired guy, so we got our first roofing and construction jobs. That gave us enough cash to stay in a cheap hotel for a couple weeks. Eventually the work ran dry and so did the money.
We ended up staying in a spare room of a guy we met. And, because I had an address and phone number, I was able to get a temp job. Which worked right until my truck was repossessed for missing payments. I lost my job because I couldn’t get to work which was 40 miles away with no public transit options. Because I lost my job the guy we were staying with decided we were bad news and kicked us out.
We headed for the beach, of course, this time without a car. We found a Covenant House shelter for youth. We pretended that we were 18 and stayed at the shelter for a couple nights until we ran into someone that helped me bail my truck out of repo. The day we got the truck out of repo the hydraulics for the clutch failed. A $750 repair. The same guy, an angel named Kevin with a very sad story, paid for the repairs too.
Florida wasn’t a great place to be anymore so he bummed/I worked our way north along the coast as far north as New York City (not a pleasant place to be homeless - I drove through and kept on going). We stopped for a couple weeks in the Finger Lakes area of New York for another temp job, and ran out of money in Chicago.
In Chicago, we met someone who let us sleep in his living room with two very large, furry, smelly, white Akita dogs. Armed with phone number and address I got another temp job. Not having money for anything but cigarettes and fare for the “L” to get to/from work, I had to rely on bags of food from the Catholic Charities food bank to eat for a couple weeks. The temp job eventually became permanent and we were able to save up enough money to get our own place in a “loft” in an industrial building in the South Loop section of Chicago. We lived there for 3-4 years.
What I learned is... even if you have marketable skills, there are some requirements to get a job that almost require you have a home.
Now-a-days I’m sure there are some additional challenges like:
People who are living in their cars have a small advantage. They can, like I did, at least keep a set or two of clean clothes on hand and they can get to/from work.
These are the challenges faced by an able bodied young adult with marketable basic skills and determination to get a job. I wasn’t suffering from mental illness, drug addiction or health problems. I was just stupid.
I can easily imagine in today’s Silicon Valley there are people who are competent and find themselves on the streets living in their cars (if they are lucky enough to own their car outright). The company they work for “right sized” to make stock holders happy. They have no savings because rent takes every dime they have. Their landlord evicts them for higher rent payers and keeps the security deposit. Suddenly these people have no address, no reliable power source for that all important phone number and a very limited window in which to find an address and get a job before they run out of gas, food and laundry money in one of the most expensive places to live in the USA.
The candidates yesterday were talking about “wrap around services” for the homeless. I wonder what services are available to people who are able to work that provide an address, phone number, place to keep a couple sets of clean clothes, power for the now-required electronics and a safe place to rest. That really is the bare minimum required for someone to get themselves a job. The next challenge is getting housing that a single earner can afford to rent, pay utilities, eat, clean clothes, etc, etc.
I don’t have a solution to the homeless “problem” but I do have strong empathy for the struggle. Hopefully, sharing this story helps people who haven’t been there understand a bit more what its like to get yourself back on your feet without a home.
I was 20 years old, recently dropped out of college, and was just fired from a secretarial job in Houston (they wanted me to wear a skirt). I had a couple hundred dollars in my pocket, a small pickup with a camper shell, an unemployed boyfriend with stories of how beautiful Key West was this time of year, and “nothing better to do”. Hurricane Andrew hit Florida a couple weeks before, devastating part of that state.
We (he) decided to head out to Florida and see what there was to see. The “plan” was to pick up labor jobs with the contractors that were in Florida to rebuild after the storm.
But first, Key West! We got down to Key West in late summer, before tourist season started. We lived in my truck, ate as cheaply as possible, smoked cigarettes to keep down hunger, showered on the beach and bummed around. I looked for temp jobs and found out one important thing. You had to have an address and a phone number to get a temp job. The address had to be “local”. This was the early 90’s before cell phones and pagers. The lack of a phone and address made it impossible for me to get a job.
We managed to stay in Key West for a month or so living on the $ I started with, until tourist season started and the local police politely invited us to get off the island. On the way back up towards Miami we ran into a construction crew that was desperate for workers, even a girl and a skinny long haired guy, so we got our first roofing and construction jobs. That gave us enough cash to stay in a cheap hotel for a couple weeks. Eventually the work ran dry and so did the money.
We ended up staying in a spare room of a guy we met. And, because I had an address and phone number, I was able to get a temp job. Which worked right until my truck was repossessed for missing payments. I lost my job because I couldn’t get to work which was 40 miles away with no public transit options. Because I lost my job the guy we were staying with decided we were bad news and kicked us out.
We headed for the beach, of course, this time without a car. We found a Covenant House shelter for youth. We pretended that we were 18 and stayed at the shelter for a couple nights until we ran into someone that helped me bail my truck out of repo. The day we got the truck out of repo the hydraulics for the clutch failed. A $750 repair. The same guy, an angel named Kevin with a very sad story, paid for the repairs too.
Florida wasn’t a great place to be anymore so he bummed/I worked our way north along the coast as far north as New York City (not a pleasant place to be homeless - I drove through and kept on going). We stopped for a couple weeks in the Finger Lakes area of New York for another temp job, and ran out of money in Chicago.
In Chicago, we met someone who let us sleep in his living room with two very large, furry, smelly, white Akita dogs. Armed with phone number and address I got another temp job. Not having money for anything but cigarettes and fare for the “L” to get to/from work, I had to rely on bags of food from the Catholic Charities food bank to eat for a couple weeks. The temp job eventually became permanent and we were able to save up enough money to get our own place in a “loft” in an industrial building in the South Loop section of Chicago. We lived there for 3-4 years.
What I learned is... even if you have marketable skills, there are some requirements to get a job that almost require you have a home.
- You have to be able to appear at an interview clean and well kept (not covered in dirt and grime with greasy hair because you haven’t been able to bathe in 2 weeks)
- You have to be able to appear in clean clothes and have more than one set of clothes
- You have to have a phone number
- You have to have an address
- You have to be able to get to work
Now-a-days I’m sure there are some additional challenges like:
- You have to have access to a computer and internet to do the online application
- You have to have an email address to communicate with potential employers, even at the local fast food joint
People who are living in their cars have a small advantage. They can, like I did, at least keep a set or two of clean clothes on hand and they can get to/from work.
These are the challenges faced by an able bodied young adult with marketable basic skills and determination to get a job. I wasn’t suffering from mental illness, drug addiction or health problems. I was just stupid.
I can easily imagine in today’s Silicon Valley there are people who are competent and find themselves on the streets living in their cars (if they are lucky enough to own their car outright). The company they work for “right sized” to make stock holders happy. They have no savings because rent takes every dime they have. Their landlord evicts them for higher rent payers and keeps the security deposit. Suddenly these people have no address, no reliable power source for that all important phone number and a very limited window in which to find an address and get a job before they run out of gas, food and laundry money in one of the most expensive places to live in the USA.
The candidates yesterday were talking about “wrap around services” for the homeless. I wonder what services are available to people who are able to work that provide an address, phone number, place to keep a couple sets of clean clothes, power for the now-required electronics and a safe place to rest. That really is the bare minimum required for someone to get themselves a job. The next challenge is getting housing that a single earner can afford to rent, pay utilities, eat, clean clothes, etc, etc.
I don’t have a solution to the homeless “problem” but I do have strong empathy for the struggle. Hopefully, sharing this story helps people who haven’t been there understand a bit more what its like to get yourself back on your feet without a home.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Favorite Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Quotes
"The merest thought hadn't even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind."
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."
"Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word safe that I wasn't previously aware of."
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so."
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."
"Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word safe that I wasn't previously aware of."
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so."
Monday, January 31, 2011
Obviously...
Last night I went to bed normal time and Jeff (my husband) was still awake. I fell asleep OK and was in a blissful warm, comfy slumber when I get rudely awakened by Jeff's voice almost yelling "Oh My God! What happened here? Wake up!"
I crack an eye open and look at the clock. Its 1:30 in the morning and Jeff is standing at his side of the bed looking mildly panicked and pointing at the bed. He says, "The bed is soaked! All the way through the blankets!"
Well, that didn't make sense to me because I was still quite warm and comfy in that same bed and not at all wet. In my hazy state I remembered how our bed is a tube water bed, meaning the water is held in long individual tubes. There are four on "my side" and four on "his side" of the bed. My next thought was, "Obviously, the problem is on your side of the bed... so I can go back to sleep."
I went to roll back over and go to sleep and my hand touched the "border" between my side and his side of the bed and that was wet. It seemed I was lying in the last warm and dry spot on the whole bed and the wetness was busy encroaching. *sigh* so I got up and helped him strip the bed, take it apart and take out the four water bed tubes that had all sprung leaks mysteriously at the same time. Took them to the bathroom to drain in the tub.. sprayed water bed water all over the bathroom floor, etc, etc.
The whole bed, even under "my side" was wet. Jeff and I spent the night sleeping on the couch downstairs. The mattress portion of the bed is taken apart and hopefully drying. Don't know if we will need to be replacing the whole mattress and four tubes or just four tubes or if this is a sign that we should replace ALL tubes.. The bed is close to 10 years old and plastic can weaken (as we saw last night).
I crack an eye open and look at the clock. Its 1:30 in the morning and Jeff is standing at his side of the bed looking mildly panicked and pointing at the bed. He says, "The bed is soaked! All the way through the blankets!"
Well, that didn't make sense to me because I was still quite warm and comfy in that same bed and not at all wet. In my hazy state I remembered how our bed is a tube water bed, meaning the water is held in long individual tubes. There are four on "my side" and four on "his side" of the bed. My next thought was, "Obviously, the problem is on your side of the bed... so I can go back to sleep."
I went to roll back over and go to sleep and my hand touched the "border" between my side and his side of the bed and that was wet. It seemed I was lying in the last warm and dry spot on the whole bed and the wetness was busy encroaching. *sigh* so I got up and helped him strip the bed, take it apart and take out the four water bed tubes that had all sprung leaks mysteriously at the same time. Took them to the bathroom to drain in the tub.. sprayed water bed water all over the bathroom floor, etc, etc.
The whole bed, even under "my side" was wet. Jeff and I spent the night sleeping on the couch downstairs. The mattress portion of the bed is taken apart and hopefully drying. Don't know if we will need to be replacing the whole mattress and four tubes or just four tubes or if this is a sign that we should replace ALL tubes.. The bed is close to 10 years old and plastic can weaken (as we saw last night).
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Its been a long time...
life has been hectic for the last year or so, some my own fault, some not my fault.
Anyway, today I actually exercised at lunch for the first time in literally months. I got on the treadmill (which I hate) and started my run. For the first three miles I didn't like it so much.. but I alternated faster and slower miles. Then after three miles I was listening to a song I liked that was upbeat so I cranked up the speed. Then I found out I was running very comfortably at a 9:30 pace. I ended up doing a little more than 6 miles. It was very nice... I actually found my self not wanting to stop those last few miles.
My new discovery... 9:30 is a comfortable pace... 8:00 is doable. That is nice. Its been a very long time. I need to do this more often.
Anyway, today I actually exercised at lunch for the first time in literally months. I got on the treadmill (which I hate) and started my run. For the first three miles I didn't like it so much.. but I alternated faster and slower miles. Then after three miles I was listening to a song I liked that was upbeat so I cranked up the speed. Then I found out I was running very comfortably at a 9:30 pace. I ended up doing a little more than 6 miles. It was very nice... I actually found my self not wanting to stop those last few miles.
My new discovery... 9:30 is a comfortable pace... 8:00 is doable. That is nice. Its been a very long time. I need to do this more often.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sadness
I'm sad tonight. My daughter did something stupid and I had to punish her for it. She attempted to forge a letter from us (her parents) to her teacher. She was trying to cover up for forgetting to print out a paper. That was all. So she's punished, we are trying to teach her how important it is to be honest and take responsibility for mistakes and I'm sad.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Athens Race Report
For those that have read my email race report.. this one has some additional details.. it could be worth reading again :)
How does one describe running in the footsteps of history? Hot, mostly uphill, not terribly scenic, intense sun, water stops with full bottles of water, bananas, snack bars and PowerAde and 42.16 kilometers in length finishing the the 1896 and 2004 marble Olympic stadium. The course was much more difficult than we expected. Which was OK for me, I wasn't running for time. This was a race to take part in History, the 2500th Anniversary of the legendary run from Marathon to Athens after the Battle of Marathon.
We found out at the Pasta Party the night before that Philipedes wasn't the runner who did the run, but it still makes a good story. And that is the legend that created my sport.
The ride out to the start was long of course (they drove us out on the route). Our bus reeked of cigarette smoke. When we got to the start it seemed like they dropped everyone off a mile away from the starting line and the port-o-lets. It was so warm most of us dropped off our clothes at the bag check as soon as we got there. A quick trip to the port-o-lets and we find out, they don't stock toilet paper in these things. Fortunately a couple of us brought supplies from the hotel room and Bruce had an awesome roll he purchased from somewhere (when you are racing you appreciate the simple things in life!).
Then the announcements started.. [Think of a frustrated Greek man trying to speak clear English] "Take your bags to the bag check, please, believe me, it is too late.", "Please proceed to your blocks NOW.", "Look this is really simple, you have a block number and color on your bib, go to matching block number and color NOW.", "You must be in the right block to get a time." The guy really seemed like he was getting frustrated with these 12000 runners milling around trying to figure out where the start was, where the bag check was, and where is the TP!
With the exception of Neville and Suresh we all wanted to start together (Neville and Suresh started in the earlier "blocks" - greek for waves). Bruce, Phyllis, Keshni, Kellie and I were going to start in the same wave.. but then we got concerned that we would not get times if we didn't start in the right waves. So we split up, Phyllis in wave 5, Nissa in wave 6 and everyone else in wave 7. Phyllis crossed the line first and waited for Nissa, Nissa crossed second, and waited with Phyllis for the rest. As a result of this little fire drill, Phyllis's chip time is 9 minutes too long and Nissa's is 5 approximately minutes too long.
So we started the race in the town of Marathon. It is a smaller Greek town but it seemed like everyone came out to yell "Bravo! Bravo!" and clap. Many people had olive branches which they handed to the runners as they passed. It seemed like everyone was dressed in their Sunday best as they came out to cheer the runners. I have to say the crowd support along the course was very good and surprisingly friendly. The course started generally flat to downhill as it turned left for an out and back loop towards Marathon Beach and the burial mound of the Athenians that died in the Battle of Marathon. We circled the mound and returned to the main road connecting Marathon and Athens. Everyone was running pretty well and we were trying to keep the pace slow because it was hot and we knew after the drive out that the course had much elevation gain ahead (much more than there appeared from looking at the course information online).
The course in general stayed on this main road through various suburbs of Athens, aside from the loop in Marathon we were running almost entirely through commercial districts. There were occasional statues of Philipedes along the route and at one point you could see the sea. But for the most part the route was uphill from the point where we completed the loop in Marathon to mile 20 or so. And it wasn't a gentle uphill. It was a serious uphill. In my opinion, Big Sur has more hills, but is easier to run due to the beauty all around. This was not an easy course. The heat didn't help, but mile 6 or so it was already 68 degrees. There WAS a blue line painted on the road which showed the shortest route on the course for the Olympic athletes, we had fun running on the line of greatness :) I took a picture of my feet on the line as I ran.
Continuing on... Kellie dropped back briefly and I was feeling tired already (around mile 5 or so) so I dropped back too. Phyllis, Bruce and Keshini continued ahead. Then something interesting happened. We were running along and this tall guy in gray shirt and track pants was talking to this group of people he was walking with about the impact of the heat on pace and how X degrees in temp will reduce your pace by Y minutes per mile. I recognized what the guy was saying from an article I read. The guy's watch beeped, and they started running for 30 seconds. Then the watch beeped again and they walked for 30 seconds. "That's Jeff Galloway!" [Jeff Galloway is an US Olympic Marathon Medalist and was the pioneer of the run/walk method of racing that has helped hundreds of thousands of new runners learn how to run marathons.] So Kellie and I decided to run with this group and try out the 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk that they were doing. It really helped us a lot. The little breaks made the hills less intense and the running sections were much quicker.
We kept up this process and eventually caught up with Phyllis and Bruce. Bruce was not feeling well, decided not to push it and he continued at his own pace. Phyllis continued with Nissa and Kellie as we tried to catch back up with Galloway and his group. Eventually we did catch them but they didn't even pause at water stops, we did. So we decided to do our own 30/30 intervals with a modification of running 1 minute, walking 30 seconds on the downhills. We did this for the remainder of the race. Kellie kept track of the time, every 30 second she would say "Green light Go" or "Walk"... every once in a while She would say "Red Light Go" but that's OK... we knew what she was talking about. We even picked up people along the way that wanted to do the 30/30 method with us. So that was pretty cool. Doing this run/walk probably saved our collective behinds and made it possible for us to handle the heat and the hills with the best possible result.
Phyllis, Kellie and I stuck with these two random Canadian guys until about mile 23.. then Phyllis and I continued on ahead. I asked one of the Canadians to stick with Kellie to the finish line and he promised he would. It was so hot and I just wanted to be done.
Those last 3.2 miles seemed to take forever. I ran it as fast as I could and Phyllis stuck with me to keep me going and give me company. We ran past the Hilton Athens (our hotel) and I knew it should only be about a mile to the finish, but it wasn't. The course went down another street through the National Garden (I think) and I couldn't see the Olympic Stadium for a long time. So while Phyllis enjoyed the beauty of the scenery, all I wanted to do was get it over with. No "no such thing as good enough" this time. My mission was to be DONE. I did accomplish my mission... we finally turned the corner and there was the stadium with the Olympic rings in the background of the marble steps and seats. Phyllis and I yelled "Rejoice, we conquer!" as we crossed the finish line.
We walked down to get our medals then turned back to go back to the finish line to catch Kellie when she finished. She has a habit of hyperventilating when she finishes marathons and we wanted to be there to make sure she was OK. The people around the medals stand would not let me go back towards the finish (in spite of the fact that I saw others doing that without issue). I tried and tried to get back, tried to find someone who speaks English to explain to them that I needed to get back to Kellie, and they just refused. Frustrated I waited as close as I could. Phyllis was able to get back but could not find Kellie.
We waited another 15 minutes watching the finish line and hoping Kellie was OK. We saw one of the Canadian guys finish so we figured she had to be close. Eventually we gave up and went to get our gear bags and some food. We ran into the Canadian again and he said she finished in front of him. So we went to our meeting point and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually I went and checked in the medical tent for Kellie and she wasn't there. So we figured the only thing we could do is walk around a bit and look. Then we saw Keshni.. she just finished and she was doing well. Then we saw Bruce finish, he wasn't happy, but he was OK and he finished.
Finally we turn around and there is Kellie with Bruce's family. .. .more to follow...
Kellie kept it under control and kept calling time for the Canadians. And finished shortly behind us... In the end, I think we all had a tough time on a tough course, but we all finished. Which is a great accomplishment considering the heat and the hills. And we all finished in the historic Olympic Stadium.
How does one describe running in the footsteps of history? Hot, mostly uphill, not terribly scenic, intense sun, water stops with full bottles of water, bananas, snack bars and PowerAde and 42.16 kilometers in length finishing the the 1896 and 2004 marble Olympic stadium. The course was much more difficult than we expected. Which was OK for me, I wasn't running for time. This was a race to take part in History, the 2500th Anniversary of the legendary run from Marathon to Athens after the Battle of Marathon.
We found out at the Pasta Party the night before that Philipedes wasn't the runner who did the run, but it still makes a good story. And that is the legend that created my sport.
The ride out to the start was long of course (they drove us out on the route). Our bus reeked of cigarette smoke. When we got to the start it seemed like they dropped everyone off a mile away from the starting line and the port-o-lets. It was so warm most of us dropped off our clothes at the bag check as soon as we got there. A quick trip to the port-o-lets and we find out, they don't stock toilet paper in these things. Fortunately a couple of us brought supplies from the hotel room and Bruce had an awesome roll he purchased from somewhere (when you are racing you appreciate the simple things in life!).
Then the announcements started.. [Think of a frustrated Greek man trying to speak clear English] "Take your bags to the bag check, please, believe me, it is too late.", "Please proceed to your blocks NOW.", "Look this is really simple, you have a block number and color on your bib, go to matching block number and color NOW.", "You must be in the right block to get a time." The guy really seemed like he was getting frustrated with these 12000 runners milling around trying to figure out where the start was, where the bag check was, and where is the TP!
With the exception of Neville and Suresh we all wanted to start together (Neville and Suresh started in the earlier "blocks" - greek for waves). Bruce, Phyllis, Keshni, Kellie and I were going to start in the same wave.. but then we got concerned that we would not get times if we didn't start in the right waves. So we split up, Phyllis in wave 5, Nissa in wave 6 and everyone else in wave 7. Phyllis crossed the line first and waited for Nissa, Nissa crossed second, and waited with Phyllis for the rest. As a result of this little fire drill, Phyllis's chip time is 9 minutes too long and Nissa's is 5 approximately minutes too long.
So we started the race in the town of Marathon. It is a smaller Greek town but it seemed like everyone came out to yell "Bravo! Bravo!" and clap. Many people had olive branches which they handed to the runners as they passed. It seemed like everyone was dressed in their Sunday best as they came out to cheer the runners. I have to say the crowd support along the course was very good and surprisingly friendly. The course started generally flat to downhill as it turned left for an out and back loop towards Marathon Beach and the burial mound of the Athenians that died in the Battle of Marathon. We circled the mound and returned to the main road connecting Marathon and Athens. Everyone was running pretty well and we were trying to keep the pace slow because it was hot and we knew after the drive out that the course had much elevation gain ahead (much more than there appeared from looking at the course information online).
The course in general stayed on this main road through various suburbs of Athens, aside from the loop in Marathon we were running almost entirely through commercial districts. There were occasional statues of Philipedes along the route and at one point you could see the sea. But for the most part the route was uphill from the point where we completed the loop in Marathon to mile 20 or so. And it wasn't a gentle uphill. It was a serious uphill. In my opinion, Big Sur has more hills, but is easier to run due to the beauty all around. This was not an easy course. The heat didn't help, but mile 6 or so it was already 68 degrees. There WAS a blue line painted on the road which showed the shortest route on the course for the Olympic athletes, we had fun running on the line of greatness :) I took a picture of my feet on the line as I ran.
Continuing on... Kellie dropped back briefly and I was feeling tired already (around mile 5 or so) so I dropped back too. Phyllis, Bruce and Keshini continued ahead. Then something interesting happened. We were running along and this tall guy in gray shirt and track pants was talking to this group of people he was walking with about the impact of the heat on pace and how X degrees in temp will reduce your pace by Y minutes per mile. I recognized what the guy was saying from an article I read. The guy's watch beeped, and they started running for 30 seconds. Then the watch beeped again and they walked for 30 seconds. "That's Jeff Galloway!" [Jeff Galloway is an US Olympic Marathon Medalist and was the pioneer of the run/walk method of racing that has helped hundreds of thousands of new runners learn how to run marathons.] So Kellie and I decided to run with this group and try out the 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk that they were doing. It really helped us a lot. The little breaks made the hills less intense and the running sections were much quicker.
We kept up this process and eventually caught up with Phyllis and Bruce. Bruce was not feeling well, decided not to push it and he continued at his own pace. Phyllis continued with Nissa and Kellie as we tried to catch back up with Galloway and his group. Eventually we did catch them but they didn't even pause at water stops, we did. So we decided to do our own 30/30 intervals with a modification of running 1 minute, walking 30 seconds on the downhills. We did this for the remainder of the race. Kellie kept track of the time, every 30 second she would say "Green light Go" or "Walk"... every once in a while She would say "Red Light Go" but that's OK... we knew what she was talking about. We even picked up people along the way that wanted to do the 30/30 method with us. So that was pretty cool. Doing this run/walk probably saved our collective behinds and made it possible for us to handle the heat and the hills with the best possible result.
Phyllis, Kellie and I stuck with these two random Canadian guys until about mile 23.. then Phyllis and I continued on ahead. I asked one of the Canadians to stick with Kellie to the finish line and he promised he would. It was so hot and I just wanted to be done.
Those last 3.2 miles seemed to take forever. I ran it as fast as I could and Phyllis stuck with me to keep me going and give me company. We ran past the Hilton Athens (our hotel) and I knew it should only be about a mile to the finish, but it wasn't. The course went down another street through the National Garden (I think) and I couldn't see the Olympic Stadium for a long time. So while Phyllis enjoyed the beauty of the scenery, all I wanted to do was get it over with. No "no such thing as good enough" this time. My mission was to be DONE. I did accomplish my mission... we finally turned the corner and there was the stadium with the Olympic rings in the background of the marble steps and seats. Phyllis and I yelled "Rejoice, we conquer!" as we crossed the finish line.
We walked down to get our medals then turned back to go back to the finish line to catch Kellie when she finished. She has a habit of hyperventilating when she finishes marathons and we wanted to be there to make sure she was OK. The people around the medals stand would not let me go back towards the finish (in spite of the fact that I saw others doing that without issue). I tried and tried to get back, tried to find someone who speaks English to explain to them that I needed to get back to Kellie, and they just refused. Frustrated I waited as close as I could. Phyllis was able to get back but could not find Kellie.
We waited another 15 minutes watching the finish line and hoping Kellie was OK. We saw one of the Canadian guys finish so we figured she had to be close. Eventually we gave up and went to get our gear bags and some food. We ran into the Canadian again and he said she finished in front of him. So we went to our meeting point and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually I went and checked in the medical tent for Kellie and she wasn't there. So we figured the only thing we could do is walk around a bit and look. Then we saw Keshni.. she just finished and she was doing well. Then we saw Bruce finish, he wasn't happy, but he was OK and he finished.
Finally we turn around and there is Kellie with Bruce's family. .. .more to follow...
Kellie kept it under control and kept calling time for the Canadians. And finished shortly behind us... In the end, I think we all had a tough time on a tough course, but we all finished. Which is a great accomplishment considering the heat and the hills. And we all finished in the historic Olympic Stadium.
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