Jenny ran the marathon in Viña del Mar, Chile. Check out the podcast. The weekend of December 3-4 we were fortunate to stay once again with our Minneapolis friends, Laura, Dan and kids, Theo and Grace, who are living in Valparaiso, Chile. Laura ran with Jenny for a stretch at the 30 km mark. The girls and I met Jenny at the finish, where I encouraged the girls to run the final meters with her. However, Jenny came in so strong she nearly dragged Frances off her feet. Members of Jenny’s Mendoza running group were present as well. Jenny ran extremely well and finished this, her first 42 km (26 mile) marathon, in 3:53:46.
Here is Jenny’s description of the experience:
I wrote a fairly detailed description of my experience training for this marathon on my blog (see that here: goodlifecooking.com) But here are some highlights about how it felt. I decided that if there was a year for me to take this on, this year was it. Training for a marathon, or any big race is no small undertaking and requires a lot of time- something I have lots of this year. I was lucky enough to find a group of fun loving, hard running folks who let me run with them, and they inspired me through their words and actions to believe that I could do this. I went through many emotions including excitement, fear, confidence and exhaustion and ended up settling on determination.
I found that the most important things for me were getting enough sleep, eating well (for me that means lots of good whole grains, proteins like beans, fish and chicken, cheese, yogurt and fruits and vegetables, and a reasonable amount of chocolate!), and keeping a positive attitude. And of course, a good training regimen.
The last 2 months were the most intense, and pretty fun in general despite a few twisted ankles and sore muscles. It was really satisfying to feel my body reach a level of fitness where I knew that I could finish this race. I didn’t know how quickly I would do it, but I knew that I would arrive. The day of the race I felt really relaxed and excited. I met several very friendly, upbeat people who gave me the last boost of encouragement that I needed, and when the race began I just went with the flow and let my body do what it knew how to do.
In the end, I felt great for almost the entire race and was thrilled to finish strongly and to arrive to the cheers and hugs of friends and family. It truly was a worthwhile experience, and one I may actually repeat!
Argentina Adventure 