Careful Boston... My Girl is Wikkid Fast

Ho Hum. Another dominating performance at a major marathon for Lauren (yawn). Another great finish and another personal record (sigh). This time, Lauren zipped through the Chicago Marathon with a blistering time of 3:38:50. Which beats her PR from just a few months ago in Burlington. And qualifies her (again) for the Boston Marathon. And yes, that time is fast enough to qualify with the 18 year olds. Lauren has now elevated her game to the point where I can (almost) take these performances for granted. Which is not say they are not impressive. It is more like watching the Florida Gators play football. They win because they have the best athletes and because they work hard, and when you watch them, you expect great things. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but my girl has moved beyond weekend warrior/casual athlete and into the category of elite athletes who work exhaustively to perfect their skill.

The amazing part is that when I chatted with her post-race, it really didn't even seem like she had a good day. The weekend started with me having to bail out on traveling to Chicago, as we both decided it was too much time away from kids, dogs and work, especially so close to a recent vacation. There was a considerable lack of sleep on Friday night as a result of some snoring issues in a shared hotel room. There was some crazy cold weather to start the day. There were allergies (Jackson has not been an entirely positive addition to the Cady household). There were cramped legs with eight miles to go. There was a really odd feeling to our conversation that she didn't even run her best race.

Oh yeah. And there was another new record.

I still don't completely understand the marathon deal. It is such a huge commitment (bigger than I can make) and it is so taxing that I have been pushing for the past couple of years that Lauren shift her focus to half-marathons to reduce the workload (and potentially include me in the races). But I'm beginning to realize that you don't always choose the thing that drives you or the thing you excel at. I think that trying to reign her in to shorter distances would be like sending me to Jackson Hole for a week to ski the beginner trails. Cool to be there and certainly some level of fun, but I would probably leave feeling like I hadn't really seized the day. Lauren is now seizing her marathon days with the best of them, and 'effortlessly' is probably not the right word, but she's cruising. On the great ski days, we talk about hitting a sweet spot where everything comes pretty easily. You stop being amazed and just enjoy it without thinking about the effort involved. That's where I am as a spectator now. I continue to be proud and impressed, but I have come to expect greatness in these runs and she keeps delivering.

Congratulations, Lar! See you in Boston.