Napa Valley Marathon 2016
This marathon was a very special one. I love the course and got to run with my friend Kim and it came on the weekend of getting to hold my granddaughter for the first time, and the day before my birthday. This time it was not about the medal.
Michelle and I flew out on Saturday March 6th from Singapore and thanks to time-travel and physics, we actually landed the same day into SFO. After checking into our hotel in Emeryville, we drove up to Napa to pick up my bib and also meet Kim and Doug at the expo. We caught up for a bit and then went back to the hotel and then over to Jeremy and Carrie’s house in Oakland.
We were extremely jet-lagged and had not really slept in an equivalent 36 hours. However, none of that mattered when we got to see little Clara for the first time and hold her.
Carrie’s parents were also visiting from Pennsylvania and Nick came over a short time later.
I’m not really sure how to put into words what it’s like to hold your first grand-baby – even though Michelle has several already who call me ‘grandpa’. She is the most beautiful baby in the world – and I’m not prejudiced. Jeremy and Carrie are naturals and emote calmness that is very evident. They’re incredibly loving and it is so wonderful to see how they are with her. They’re also not paranoid about folks holding their baby – or about germs – since their dog Shiloh loves to be around Clara also.
So this was the night before the race where you’re supposed to be carb loading and getting enough sleep. We didn’t do either. They had brought in take-out which included mini-burgers and fries, plus salad and homemade dessert.
After dinner, came the most nerve-wracking part. Michelle and I love music, but I’ve never really learned how to read music or play anything – except for a semester in early university. Michelle is an accomplished singer though and we had been practicing for our big moment.
A couple of years ago, Michelle got me a guitar for my birthday, since I had always wanted to own one. After trying it a few times, I gave up. It was too hard and my fingers never really did what they were supposed to. (Air guitar is much easier). Last year though, she had the idea, which I embraced, about taking up the keyboard/piano. We went to the local music store in Singapore and bought a super-advanced Korg professional, which is more advanced in my mind than some of the products we sell to IT and telecoms companies.
There it sat in the den for nine months, mocking me each time I passed by it going downstairs. It pissed me off that I could not get motivated to learn to play. Around Christmas, Michelle found a piano teacher who would come to our house and teach me on Tuesday and Thursday nights – when I wasn’t traveling.
The first few lessons were painful. The teacher teaches adults and kids and I felt like a kid some nights when I had not done my homework. Trying to read notes from a lead sheet and working on Jingle Bells – not fun. In early January, listening to my iPod on shuffle, this song came up – “Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon. I became more than obsessed on learning how to play and so that Michelle could accompany me.
That’s all I worked on for about six weeks on my own and with the teacher. I must have played the song 100 or more times on my phone and PC, every version I could find. I wanted to surprise Jeremy and Carrie by us playing it for them when we would come to visit.
We even bought another portable keyboard in Singapore before leaving so we could practice Saturday afternoon – and checked it in its original box with United.
I had also wanted to revise the lyrics some to be “Beautiful Girl”, in honor of Clara; so we did that. We brought the sheet music and had the revised lyrics with pictures framed for Jeremy and Carrie as well as Carrie’s parents, Earl and Lorie.
When the big moment came, I had to play on Jeremy’s upright piano. (He’s been playing for ten years and including at our wedding.) I soon discovered piano keys are much heavier and weighted than the keyboards, and I think I played in the wrong key – but with equivalent notes.
It was absolutely wonderful, and except for a few misses, it was how we had pictured for some time. Michelle sounded great of course, and we now have become the annoying friends who show up with our “gig-bag” and played our music a few more times for friends and family during the California trip.
It got late and it was soon time to leave and get a few hours’ sleep before the marathon, though my head was spinning. We went to sleep past midnight and got up around 3:30 a.m. to make it to Napa to catch the 5:00 a.m. bus to the start line in Calistoga.
By the time Kim and I got to the starting line, we really only had a few minutes for the inevitable pre-race toilet, and dropping off the change of clothes.
I felt a lot of pressure before the race as I was trying to get a qualifying time for Comrades in May this year. Spoiler alert: I didn’t qualify. We tried really hard and Kim really pushed me in the first half so I’d have a good enough half to have a chance to qualify. Honestly, I ran as fast and as hard as I could in the first 13 miles, but I knew there wouldn’t be enough gas in the tank to finish strong as I had in the past.
Napa Marathon is a “No Headphones” race. They will disqualify you if they see you running with headphones. So we didn’t. We talked during the first half until I was reduced to moaning and whimpering the last 10K or so. It is one of my favorite races and the scenery down Silverado Trail is stunning. The cool air felt so good. Until it started to rain hard the last few miles.
Let me give my shout-outs here: First to Michelle for driving my arse up there at 4:00 a.m. and then waiting around the route for endless hours and meeting me/us around the 18 mile mark with some snacks and encouragement, and then getting to the finish to wait again for me/us in the rain. Thank you! Secondly to Kim who could have run so much faster and made a pact to push me and stay with me throughout the race. The last few miles she was reduced to begging me to run when I was walking, and mixing encouragement with prodding. Thank you!
I was really happy to finish and get the medal. Number 48 for 48. In the top third overall and in my age-group. Pretty good for a grandpa. The not-qualifying part was disappointing but I had to have an honest talk with myself and say that “you’re not ready to run 90 kilometres with time cut-off points every 15K or so”. 2018 will be a downhill version again, so I’ll shoot for that. Plus my mind was so full of joy and happiness for my son and Carrie and little Clara that it kind of didn’t matter.
Here’s my winging/whining paragraph: This has been a really stressful – busy isn’t quite the right word – three months. When you make United/Star Alliance 1K by mid-March you know you’ve spent a lot of time on airplanes. Not training. We just had a lot going on this quarter and for everyone who travels on business knows, you spend almost double the time working just catching up on “normal” work and conference calls in whatever city or time-zone you’re in. Nevertheless, we know we’re lucky and I still love my job, so it’s a small price to pay.
After the marathon, and the wonderful hot shower and cold beer, we went back over to Jeremy and Carrie’s house. It was just us and them as Carrie’s parents had gone back already. As I’m writing this I try to think of the right words again to say what it’s like to hold your grandchild. No words really do it justice. There were long periods of just holding Clara, looking at her face, her fingers, her hair, her perfectness. Nothing else mattered then, and certainly not a marathon race time.
As Michelle has said, the months leading up to the birth, I was pretty emotional. I kept flashing to scenes from the classic movie “Parenthood”. Maybe it’s because it makes one think about the legacy they lead, the mark they’ve left, the good they’ve done. I’ve been no less fierce and committed at work and I had to laugh when someone in the office asked me if I was going to retire now. To do what? Sit in the proverbial rocking chair and knit? I don’t think so.
When I heard “Beautiful Boy” for what seemed the first time, I had to look up the story behind it, which most already know. John Lennon was 35 when he left the Beatles in 1975 and became a house-husband to Yoko and his son Sean. His last album, including this song, was released just a couple of weeks before he was senselessly murdered in 1980. If you get a chance, Google the song and look at the video with him and his son.
Sometimes in our lives we need to put things in perspective and remember what is really important and meaningful. The day after the race happened to be my own birthday and I’m especially thankful for what my own parents did for me and for all the beautiful people in our lives who make every day so special.
We dedicated our version of the song to my beautiful boy(s) and Clara – the beautiful girl.
“Beautiful Girl” (Darling Clara) Original words and music © by John Lennon, Lyrics adapted by Mitch & Michelle Lewis
Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
This is your child wow,
She’s in your arms,
You’re parents now
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl,
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl
She’s got mama’s nose,
And daddy’s eyes,
Wrapped in her clothes,
Her voice is sweet, even when she cries
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl,
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl
In California, so far way,
We can hardly wait,
To see her come of age,
But I guess we’ll all just have to have patience,
Cause it’s a long way to go,
And here before you know,
Cause it’s a long way to go,
Enjoy every moment
Before you tuck her in,
Take her hand,
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl,
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl
In California, so far way,
We can hardly wait,
To see her laugh and play,
But I guess we’ll all just have to be patient,
Cause it’s a long way to go,
And here before you know,
Cause it’s a long way to go,
Enjoy every moment
Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day your love grows deep,
She’s your little bear
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful girl,
Darling, darling, darling
Darling Clara
(“Good night Clara, see you in the morning”)
