Love story, part 2

The rock. The day before.

A week ago, on a warm Sunday afternoon in October, Greg proposed to me on a rock in Central Park.

Now, some of you might remember this blog post from over five years ago. In it, I talked about how my parents met, and how they got engaged on a rock in Central Park. Well, Greg remembered that story well, and crafted a plan.

I was busy with work all weekend (I had three novels to edit), but Greg asked me to come out to a fundraiser with him on Sunday afternoon. He said it was for a charter school his friends Pat and Frank supported. I actually had a ton of work and was a bit distressed and said, "I really don't think I can go." He asked if I could go "for just a few hours"--he said I could meet them later if I didn't have time to go to the whole thing, so I agreed to do that. "But I reserve the right to leave early" I said. At around 1 pm, after dressing in a jacket and tie (he had me pick his tie after presenting me with a few options), Greg left the apartment, and I told him I'd meet him around 4:15. He told me to take the Q train to 57th and 7th, and then to call/text him to find out where they were, and if I couldn't reach him, to text Pat.

When I got there, I tried calling Greg but he didn't pick up, and then texted both him and Pat. Pat texted back right way, and it turned out that she and Frank were at the station to pick me up. She said Greg had gone ahead, and we would just walk about 10 minutes in the park to get there.

It was around then that I was suspecting something might be up, but didn't want to assume/hope too much.

Pat and I chatted on the way (she told me ALL about the fundraiser), and then a few minutes later Pat pulled me aside. She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag. "I'm supposed to give you this" she said. On the paper was the picture of my parents on the rock that I had posted in that blog post:

My parents, Fall 2006

Of course, then I was pretty sure I knew what was about to happen.

"And now I'm supposed to give you this," Pat said, and handed me a homemade card with photos of me on the front. Inside were song lyrics for this song (with a few of the details crossed out to match how we met-- "London New York," for example.):


And then Pat said, "Here, listen to this," handing me her iPod and headphones, playing the song for me to hear. 

"Now, follow me," and we kept walking.

Pat took this picture of me on the walk

I was listening to the song (which was quite beautiful and touching) while trying to remember where that rock was--I kept scanning the park (which was quite crowded due to the lovely weather) to see if I could find Greg. Finally, we turned a corner around the rink, and there he was, looking very dashing in the pink tie I had unwittingly selected for him, and I think I basically ran to him.

It's kind of a blur after that, but I recall Greg saying, "So, there's no fundraiser," and then he brought me over to sit on the rock (the same rock my parents were sitting on in the photo), and handed me a little box wrapped in a bow. As I was opening it, he asked me to marry him. "Of course I'll marry you," is what I think I said.

Opening the box with the ring

Pat and Frank were taking pictures the entire time, and Greg said there was quite a crowd of spectators around who applauded, although I didn't register any of that.* He said he had to keep asking people not to sit on that rock for an hour or so before I got there. He decided that pacing back and forth on it and looking possibly crazy was the best technique for keeping unsuspecting picnickers away.

Anyway, Greg told me later that he had read that blog post about my parents' proposal a while ago (he said he had pretty much decided that was what he was going to do when he first heard the story), and then wandered around Central Park with the photo of my parents on the rock, comparing background trees and branches and tiny rock features until he was certain he'd found the exact one.

Oh, it was a glorious day. And, as my father told me after hearing the story, "Now your marriage will be as solid as rock!"



*Apparently, there was a plane sky writing at the same time, and people had stopped to look up to see what was going on. Then, they looked down at us and saw what was going on, and applauded. We found out later that the writing spelled "Last Chance"--ha!

Training Run #1

I'm doing two training runs in preparation for the marathon--they're great, because my big obstacle to doing long runs is thirst, and these training runs have water and Gatorade stations, mile markers, etc. And this one has 2,500 people running. It's just the Central Park loop over and over again. The training runs go for 20 miles, but you can adjust to your training schedule. I'm going to try to do 17 miles, but if I'm feeling good, will go ahead and do 18 miles, 3 loops. We'll see how it goes. My alarm went off this morning at 6 am and I had no clue why.

Okay, time to go...by the time people read this, I'll be done, so I'll give an update.


I DID IT!!!

I ran 18 miles, even. Finished in 3 hours, 22 minutes, and 11 seconds, and that includes one bathroom stop of 2 and a half minutes. So, I averaged about 11 minute miles...I started out quick, finished slow, but felt good most of the way. Typical moments of Why the Hell am I Doing This, but overall good. Even wrote most of my speech for the SCBWI Conference in Oregon next month in my head. So it was productive in more than one way.

I could have done 19 miles today. I think I would have died at 20, though. But this shows me why most of the training schedules suggest doing two 20-mile runs before the marathon. The first one is going to suck, but the second one will probably feel better, and then you're both mentally and physically prepared for the marathon.

Okay, time to get all the city grime off me and then go to brunch with Rose!


ANOTHER UPDATE:
Uh, okay, so while having brunch with Rose, we figured out that I actually ran 19 MILES!!! Sheesh. The training run was actually really confusing, because after the first 6 mile loop they didn't have mile markers, and for some reason I kept thinking that when I finished three loops (one 6-mile, 2 5-miles), I had run 15 miles. Yeah, I was never really good with math. So, well, I ran an extra mile. Better than running a mile less than I thought!

Love Story

I knew they had met in NYC at a Taiwanese singles Christmas party.

My father was looking for a wife. He knew he wanted to marry a fellow Taiwanese, and he wanted her to be strong, independent, and smart. And she had to believe in Taiwan independence, too. He was living in Atlanta, Georgia at the time, but friends recommended that he go to NYC to look, so he did. His plan at this Christmas party was to dance with every woman there, rank them in order of preference, and then starting from his top choice, work down the list and ask each woman out until one of them said yes.

"What number was mom ranked?" we asked him when we were kids.

"Number one, of course!" he said.

As a child, I had always pictured a Jane Austen-esque party of hundreds of people, fancy gowns, and formal ballroom dancing, and wondered how my father managed to dance with every woman there. But of course in reality it was a smallish party, with 10-12 women.

What I knew: they met, three months later got engaged, three months after that they were married. And they're still married today, over 36 years later.

What I didn't know until their visit this past week: they got engaged on a rock in Central Park.

On Labor Day Monday, my parents and I walked from my apartment to Central Park on a beautiful, mild summer day. Our destination was my office, and then lunch, then the MoMA. My mother told me to take my usual route, but we took a few detours, checking out the remote-control sailboats, the Alice in Wonderland Statue, Bethesda fountain. Then we walked through the Mall, and tried to find the rock that my father had proposed on so many years ago. They didn't know exactly where the rock was, but they knew that it was near the street, because they had gone to the Park after a dentist appointment that my mother had. Of course, she didn't remember where her dentist's office was, but I guessed it was South of the park. My father went to a cluster of big rocks off the Mall, but my mother didn't think that was right. Then I took them to the rocks above the Trump ice-skating rink, and my father said it seemed right. My mother wasn't convinced, but they sat down on the rock next to each other, and she seemed content to believe.

15 miles and counting

I'll tell you one thing. It's sure harder to run a long distance when you don't have 4,000 people running with you and bands playing and people cheering and water stations and mile markers and a medal when you finish.

Decided to run 15 miles this weekend, because what the hell. What better way to spend a sunny Sunday in NY after a solid day of rain? Yeah, I can think of better ways, too...but I'm panicking a tiny bit about training before the marathon, because this whole Spring and Summer I was like, Oh, I'll really ramp up my training in the Fall after the half marathon. And now that time is here, and I'm looking at my schedule, and almost every weekend is booked in some way. But I'll just have to be more vigilant about planning ahead for the long runs.

Today I planned to run the big Central Park loop (6 miles), then another loop but with the lower loop cut off (5 miles), and then just the inner loop (4 miles). All added up it's...15 miles! I knew math would come in handy. Anyway, I ran the first two loops okay, although my mind was groaning, "Wait, I have to do two more of these?!?!" and I kept getting random ABBA songs stuck in my head. I was also tired and dying of thirst, so after 11 miles I stopped and bought a bottle of Gatorade. Orange-colored. Man, that Gatorade was just about the best-tasting thing I've ever had in my whole life. I gulped down a quarter of the bottle quickly and kept running, but I had lost momentum and now had this bulky, sloshing bottle of liquid that I had to hold. So after another mile or so I decided to walk and finish drinking the Gatorade. Walked for about a half mile, chugged down the drink, threw out the bottle, and was on my way. But very very slowly, because now I had the Gatorade sloshing around in my belly. I'd never wanted to walk more while running until then. But by then I only had 2 miles left, how could I walk? It's all a mind game, really. So, I guess I didn't really run the full 15 miles, but it's still progress. I'm still moving forward.

Cheesy slogans kept popping into my head while running. I kept thinking, Hey, that Nike slogan is actually very fitting! Just do it. Yeah. Just do it. Those guys are geniuses. And kinda like Jane Yolen and "Write the damn book." I'm doin' it! And I also thought of that saying, "No pain, no gain"--gee, I must be gaining a lot.

Anyway, I think I may take a nap now. My parents are coming to NY tonight for a conference and a visit, staying with me two nights. It should be fun, especially now that the weather is nice. Yay! Yay for sun, yay for parents, and yay for long weekends.

I'm a half marathoner!

I ran the half marathon yesterday morning, and actually felt great doing it.

I went to bed early the night before, although I didn't sleep well--kept waking up at every little noise, I think partially because I was excited and nervous. But I still slept enough, woke up at 5 am and had a bagel with peanut butter and honey, and then walked over to the start with my roommate Rose. We ran together most of the way, which was great--we didn't talk much, but just knowing she was there pushed me to run faster (and vice versa, she said, for her). And run fast (for me), I did indeed. I finished with an average of 10 minute 23 second miles--I was hoping for 11-minute miles. It's funny--for running, I tend to set very conservative but realistic goals, I'm not sure why. I think I don't like to put undo pressure on myself, when the main goal is to just finish the damn race.

It was the perfect running temperature--upper 60s and overcast. But it was humid, and the skies threated rain--we felt the stray drop here and there before the race. I thought the humidity was good for me, though--kept my throat hydrated. I felt really good running the first 6 miles, hills and all. I usually run the Park counterclockwise, so it was fun running the opposite way.

Around mile 7 we heard rattling in the leaves, and sure enough, seconds later the downpour started. It was cold, hard rain, and after a few seconds of it I said to Rose, "Well, at least it's an experience." It made me run faster. But I despaired that it would rain the whole rest of the race, and I didn't know if I could bear it. I had to keep my head down because the rain kept getting in my eyes, and I was freezing cold. Thankfully, the rain tapered off about a mile later, soon after we left the park and headed down 7th Avenue. It was awesome running though Times Square, the road was wide open, and then to the West Side highway. I had a 12-minute mile around mile 8, and sped up for the next mile and ran it under 9 minutes, which for me is unheard of. But other than that I was solidly running around 1o minute and 3o second miles. I felt like walking around mile 10, but knew there was only 3 miles left, and I also knew that every step I took was the farthest I'd ever run in my life, and that was exciting.

Took the last 3 miles at a slower but steady rate, and then still had something in me to speed up for the last 800 meters, finishing at almost a sprint. Awesome. And hey, I got a medal! I haven't gotten a medal for anything since the science fair in high school.

The people cheering on the sideline were great and really helped. There were also string quartets and bands along the way, and that was a good distraction. And, of course, NY in general. It was a great route, and I'd love to do it every year.

I'm a little sore and tired today, but overall I'm feeling good. And happy. Bring on the full marathon!!

Trudging on.

I did the full park loop the morning of the Fourth. I didn't wake up as early as I would have liked, because I had gone out on the lower east side to hang out on my friend's rooftop and drink beer. (Also saw Devil Wears Prada that night--liked it! It was exactly what I wanted/expected.)

I wasn't going to go out that night, because I knew I wanted to run in the morning, but I also don't want to start resenting my running. After talking to some people who have trained and run the marathon, some commented that they never want to run it again because it took over their lives. I don't want this to take over my life. I don't want to regret or resent entering. Then again, I also don't want to die when I actually run it. Everything is about balance.

I left my apartment around 9:30 am. It was 79 degrees out when I woke up half an hour earlier, and 81 degrees and rising when I left. But it didn't feel as hot as Saturday--it was overcast and pretty breezy. But I still felt like I was wading through water, sluggish, slow. But as I ran slowly around the Park, I realized that it's so much more rewarding if it's hard. That's obvious, I guess, but when I'm running after not enough sleep, 60% humidity, rising thermometer, I feel that I'm accomplishing something more. Like acquiring a book when the negotiations were a struggle, finding new love and hope after your heart was broken, writing that editorial letter when you didn't know where to start, having fun at a party you didn't want to go to, making it work in a brand-new city or brand-new job. One of the most beautiful moments of my life is getting on the ferry to Cosa Mui in Thailand about 9 years ago after a grueling 10-hour, crowded, uncomfortable bus ride from Bangkok. After waiting, exhausted, in the ferry station for about an hour, we finally got on the ferry to the island and suddenly everything was transformed. The water was impossibly blue, the sky equally so with perfect white fluffy clouds. We could see schools of glittering silver fish skim the surface of the water, and life was good.

My brother and his wife are celebrating their five-year anniversary this weekend in Las Vegas (101 degrees and counting!). They've had some challenging moments in their marriage, especially in this last year, but they've said that will make this celebration that much sweeter. I'm looking forward to being there to share it with them.