sunday (marathon)

on sunday, my sister ran her second marathon through minneapolis to st paul.  three friends and i followed her along the route, stopping & cheering and overall trying to make the other runners smile.  we had a great (and exhausting) time seeing her at these spots along her route.  our only mishap was around 11 and 14 in which we just really did not have enough time to get there, park somewhere, and see her.  thankfully she had many, many other friends along the way who were also at various spots cheering her on!  days like this kind of make me feel like i would never want to be anything other than a spectator! 

mile two:  quiet, empty streets in minneapolis before the race began // my sign

mile seven: still in minneapolis, we started giving out some free high fives.  it was a big hit!

mile twenty-one: this spot was hoppin' as the runners crossed the river into st paul

mile twenty-six: finally, the marathon ended in downtown st paul at the state capitol

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as for hanson, i ended up not going to the show.  it's taken me all afternoon & evening to be okay with this decision.  i've never missed a show of theirs in a state that i've been living in, so it was difficult for me to back out, because more than anything i felt like i was backing out on myself.  despite the fact that my sister is the one who ran the 26.2 miles, i was exhausted from planning the route around the marathon course where we would stop to see her, driving to said locations, finding somewhere to park, scanning the crowds of runners for her, and clapping & cheering my heart out... and doing this all afternoon.  it was really stressful.  i really had to listen to what my body was telling me and i knew i wouldn't be able to handle a hanson show tonight.  i joked with myself, "hopefully hanson will forgive me for missing one show," but really i just hope to forgive myself... forgive myself & let myself off the hook because it's perfectly okay to let certain things go.  i think that's hard for me, as someone who has the responsibility & discipline strengths. i like structure, routine, knowing what i am going to do & when, and sticking to a plan.  today i had to let my best laid plans go out the window many times, and so i feel okay that i didn't go to the concert too.  i know this may seem like something really simple to be writing such a long paragraph about, but maybe it will also resonate with someone else out there.  so, here's to the start of a fresh, new week!