Highs and Lows

The past month has been full of ups and downs, highs and lows. My niece finished her holiday with me with a final week of checking out the museums and sights around DC. We were pretty tired by this stage but she managed to see the Air and Space Museum, George Washington’s Mt. Vernon and a trip to Gettysburg. Sadly it just rained at Gettysburg but we got to see a lot and she enjoyed the civil war history experience.  We enjoyed a night out with our good friends A&PH at Hill Country BBQ in the city as she wanted to eat BBQ. As always, a night of BBQ means a meat coma and she enjoyed trying ribs for the first time. 

Marine Corp Marathon - MCM (42.2 km / 26.2 mile). The MCM is one of the largest and considered the best marathon in the mid-Atlantic. It is organised by the men and women of the US Marine Corp and is the largest marathon in the world that doesn’t offer prize money, instead celebrating the honour, courage and commitment of all finishers. The day of the Marine Corp Marathon arrived and it was my moment of truth and fear. Entry to this race is a lottery and I had wanted to do this since my first year. I got my entry by running one of the qualifier races back in March which was limited to 3000 entries. It was a 17.75 km race to celebrate the birth year of the Marines 1775. Completing this race gave me automatic entry to the MCM so that was step one. I trained for 6 months but like many who have been down this path, it was not the perfect training I had hoped for. I tore my calf muscle mid year which cost two months of training and it was difficult to catch up the missed training and do the longer training distances in the last two months. I was behind the eight ball but a good friend suggested that I start the race and run for as far/long as I could. I would at least experience the atmosphere which is race is known to be amazing for. So I persisted with the training as best I could and got myself to the start line early that morning of Sunday 28 Oct with about 30,000 other runners. Let's see how far I can go.

The race was definitely an experience. I had heard so much about it from other runners. The crowd was huge, loud and rows deep along the whole route. I’ve never seen so many spectators for an event. There was a band of some sort at nearly every mile and I was surrounded by runners for the first 15km. It was just busy, busy and busy. People had signs, rang bells and cheered like we were at a rock concert. The route was fabulous, through Arlington, Georgetown, the memorials, the Capital and the museums.

The blue mile is at mile 12 which marks the half way point of the race (21km). This mile is along a quiet stretch by the Potomac river and there are no spectators on this section. The mile is lined with posters about every 3m of a fallen soldier. This was a dreadfully sad, emotional and inspirational part of the race. I was able to see the face, read the name, the age and the year the soldier died. It was terrible to see such young ages, men, women, all services. By this point in the race, you are tired, hurting and wanting to stop. But looking at these brave faces who have fallen and given the ultimate sacrifice….well this was what keeps you putting one foot in front of the other. I have nothing to complain about and everything to be grateful for. So I kept moving to push through the back half of the race.

My friends A&PH said they might try come by to cheer me on so I was looking hard amongst the crowds to see them. I figured they’d be at a certain point but it was just going to be a miracle to see them, as it would for them to see me amongst the mass of runners. But, at mile 17 (around 27km) I heard them yell my name. They were next to the Washington Monument. It was an excellent chance to stop for a few minutes, grab a hug and some words of encouragement. I was definitely struggling by this stage. I figured I could make it to 30k but the final 10 or so kilometers would be the toughest part. So I pushed through, walking and running and hoping I didn’t pull a muscle somewhere. The crowd continued to be strong and while the runners had thinned out, there were still a lot of runners pushing those last miles out. I made it to the finish line in front of the Marine Corp Memorial (also known as known as Iowa Jima memorial). There were marines waiting to congratulate you and put the medal around your neck. I was holding back tears and was super happy to see that Marine and the medal. I moved onwards and was overwhelmed with happiness and relief. I called Deb who was home with my niece and just cried. She had been following my progress with my Garmin tracker so she knew I finished but I called to cry and tell her I was alive anyway. It was crazy at the finish as expected and the only way home was to catch the train. Deb picked me up at the station and I went home a very happy and relieved Batman. 

 

End of Flying. So after the high of finishing the marathon, I said goodbye to my niece and put the kid on the plane for the long journey home. The job ahead was to focus on my flying and work towards finishing my license. To cut to the chase, after a few lessons I decided to stop my flying lessons because I figured I just didn’t have enough time to finish before going home. It was a difficult decision to make but it was the right one to make. I have completed more than 90% of the required hours and training but the work required to finish the exams and prepare for the checkride (final flying test) was just not achievable.  The weather continued to cancel lessons on me and was adding stress to try and cram the lessons in. I would only be wasting time and money to continue here because I will have to repeat some flying at home to demonstrate my skills. So no more flying for me here. I am totally disappointed and while I haven’t failed, it feels like I’m quitting. So, it’s over for now but I plan to continue flying at home and get my license in Australia. On the plus side though, my friend AH is on the final stages of his flying and on track to get his license. Hopefully he will get it before I leave and we can fly down to North Carolina to First Flight which is where the Wright Brothers flew the first plane flight.

Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving with our American friends. It is a really nice feeling this time of year as Americans do everything and anything to be with family for this precious time of year. It was a big family gathering at our friends and we enjoyed a deep fried turkey, ham and all the trimmings. 

Deb was excited to have a big bowl of mashed potato and we loved passing the food plates around the table – we explained to our friends that this is what we see in the movies. They thought we were weird!! Now that deep fried turkey, I was hesitant but I’d heard good things from many people over the years. As you can see in the photo, the turkey is deep fried in a big can of hot oil. I could feel my arteries thumping just looking at it. But, it was actually really moist and quite tasty. It was a great day with our friends and I will miss the Thanksgiving experience. 

 

Macey. To cap off a month of highs and lows, Macey gave us an awful scare. She was dribbling badly one Sunday morning and was not able to eat her breakfast. She was not her happy piggy little self. We took her straight up to the vet who found she had something red and inflamed under her tongue. She also had a high temperature. They kept for the day and night giving her the care she needed. The next day was Monday and the surgery team took a biopsy of the red ulceration. It wasn’t a mass as such but the odds of it being cancer was still possible. We wouldn’t get the results back for a few days but we brought her home that night. She was terribly groggy from the sedation and was likely pretty sore in the mouth. We are 9 weeks from coming home and it was just not an option for her to have cancer of any sort. Macey is 10 now and we are very aware her years ahead are precious. She took a good day or so to return to herself and Deb and I were both really worried about what the results might be. The call finally came on the Wednesday and it was good news. She had cut herself somehow (probably chewing a stick) and the cut had got inflamed and nasty. Her breath has been horrendous but it was not cancer. We were so relieved and I was honestly preparing for bad news. I don’t know how or what we might had to have done had the results been different. So while she dodged this scare, I had to take her straight back to the vet for a urinary check and yes, she’s got herself a little infection again. She is prone to them poor little girl. So she’s been on a routine of tablets for pain and infection and should be able to start eating harder foods soon. Poor Macey Moo Moo.

Ben's Chilli Bowl. Our good friends A&PH took us for a wander through their city backyard - around the U Street area. We enjoyed lunch at the famous Ben's Chilli Bowl. Wiki tells me that Ben's Chili Bowl is a landmark restaurant in Washington, D.C., located in U Street, next to Lincoln Theatre, in the Shaw neighbourhood of northwest D.C. It is known locally for its chili dogs, half-smokes, and milkshakes, and has been an integral part of the neighbourhood's history since its founding in 1958. 

Just to be clear, half smokes are not smokes as we Aussies would say, they are half smoked sausages. Bit like a mild spicy hotdog frank. The chilli is mild, is like a meat and bean stew mix that you spread on top of your dog.

 

Going Home. We are now into the Xmas season and the lights are going up everywhere. It’s so pretty and I will definitely miss this time of year. I want to go and see the National Xmas Tree at the White House and I’ve got some cooking tasks over the next few weeks. We have been busy organising our return travels and removals which is no easy feat. The dogs will have their second vet appointment (of four) next week and I will start packing up the bikes and moving things around in preparation for the removal. For those of you wondering, we will return in February. I have enrolled in TAFE to do my chef course and am very excited to start my new adventure - the week after we arrive. So with 8 weeks to go, we have Xmas and hopefully some more snow to enjoy. Hopefully there will be more highs ahead as I don’t think I can endure anything more of the lows like we felt this month.

And here are some of Deb's cool photos as she polishes her photography skills. Some are from Shenandoah National Park after the leaves had fallen and some are from just around there corner here. Plus the others are from our U Street wander with our friends.