It’s been so long, I’m not even sure I know how to use Blogger anymore…
I can’t believe there is nothing from the whole year of 2011 on my blog. It was a good year. :) It came with ups, downs, lefts, rights, backwards, forwards…just as life likes to be. The biggest thing is that I decided as the year began that it would be my “Year of Health,” and I set out to make some pretty big (for me) lifestyle changes. Mainly to exercise, eat better, and adopt an overall more healthy way of living. So I hit the streets in running shoes and one of the best purchases I have ever made: a Garmin305 watch.
Around May my friend Jody asked if I wanted to enter a lottery to run the Houston Marathon. Yes-No was my answer. Never, ever, ever have I had even the least bit of desire to run an entire marathon. I never even understood what brain damage could ever make someone want to consider it. Yet the idea of conquering such a thing intrigued me now that the real life possibility was waiting for an answer. “Aw,” I thought, “If it’s lottery registration, the chances of us getting in have to be slim to nothin’. So what do I have to lose??”
Well, on June 26, 2011, I got the email notification that our little group of 3 had been chosen to participate. January 15, 2012 in Houston, TX, in a full marathon. Oh. My. Goodness. Really?!?! Is this a horrible joke?! There’s no turning back now, because other people who entered the registration lottery and actually WANTED a spot didn’t get one. So I’m stuck, like it or not. Excitement, anxiety, curiosity…you name it—over the next 6 1/2 months every emotion reared its face in my life. Over and over again.
So from June 27, 2011 on, we met at 5am every weekday to run. Or mostly every weekday. Some mornings sleep won the battle. Now for those of you who aren’t from this area, summer is hot. Really hot. And humid. Really humid. So getting started any later than 5am was not an option. Most mornings it was in the 90s even at that time. Sweltering, ugly heat. It’s a horrible way to wake up and start the day. Yet the bond and camaraderie that forms as you meet your friends and suffer through the elements together, while most of the world continues to sleep, is incredible and irreproducible.
As September rolled around we began a specific 18 week marathon training program. Training for me included much more than just logging the miles that would prepare my body to be strong enough to complete the length of a marathon. It included learning a greater measure of self control—getting proper rest, eating healthier, drinking enough water to stay properly hydrated, getting back out on the streets when I encountered personal set backs, believing in myself, staying committed. I’m not going to pretend that I do these things perfectly even still. But I do them better. And that is something to be proud of as I continue to work to be better.
On Friday, January 13, 2012, we piled in the car and headed to Houston. We got to Houston, checked into our hotel then picked up our runner’s packets, toured the expo, and visited the Olympic Trials visitors area. Excitement and nerves co-existed.
Saturday morning we got to watch the Olympic Marathon Trials. I didn’t think I was that interested, but went along because it’s what we were doing. There is only 1 word to describe that experience: INSPIRATIONAL. Time flew. The chill of the early morning was quickly forgotten. Tiredness vanished. Because we had the unique opportunity to stand a matter of feet away from the most elite runners in the USA; men and women who embody dedication, commitment, self-control, determination, strength, stamina, belief, and hope.
Sunday, January 15, 2012 was the big day. The day of my very first marathon. The weather could not have been more perfect. The set up could not have been more organized. I could not have asked for a better cheering section. The time of truth had arrived. The 3 of us running decided the night before that no matter what happened, we would all finish the course. No matter what happened, we would finish what we had begun. Oh the emotions! Oh the experience! As I began I was thrilled with excitement. As I continued I wondered why I had ever agreed to such insanity. I thought I would never pick up running shoes another day of my life. That I wouldn’t run ever again. That this was absolutely insane and that I would be a complete idiot to ever subject myself to pounding the pavement again. Then I remembered the people who believed in me and I didn’t want to let them down. So I kept going. In spite of pain, nausea, and exhaustion. And I remembered our promise to finish what we started. So I kept going. Even when I really had no idea how in the world I COULD finish, I determined that I WOULD. And I knew that if I dug deep enough, I believed in myself, and I could do it. For myself.
With .83 miles remaining, I looked up to see my hero. My friend Jody, who had finished long before me, was coming back down the course to find me. To run me in to the finish. When my mind and body were depleted, my belief weak, she buoyed me up to the end. Her support in those last few moments gave me the strength and focus to finish strong. I will forever love her for that amazing gift of selflessness. The Lord does answer prayers, and at 5:57:44, Jody was that answer.
I did it. I finished what I started. I completed a marathon. Will I really retire my running shoes? Never again hit the pavement for another second of such torture? Absolutely not. Because I believe. More now than ever before. I am so grateful for this experience to learn how to dig, how to trust, how to be.
14 years ago