Not Giving Up

 

 

Last Memorial Day weekend my husband and I completed a 1/2 marathon on a hot and humid day on hilly terrain that I am no longer accustomed to. I wrote "completed" because there was very little running involved. We walked a 1/2 marathon. During the first mile I questioned whether I would finish. By the second mile I started thinking about what lessons NOT finishing would teach me. Turns out we did finish and we did not come in last... there were exactly 12 people behind us. (Hubby chose to stay with me. He could have and has run this race many times.)

 

The hill leading up to this view isn't the steepest hill on the course, but it is the longest hill. It is also around mile 12.  Walking up that hill is physically the hardest thing I have ever done.  While forcing myself to take step after step up that hill,  under my own free will, I knew it would not be the hardest thing I would EVER do. That race and specifically that hill validated my hopes and plans to enter a full marathon. I learned that I can continue through pain. I learned that I had BETTER make sure I trained and was prepared.

A family member sent me an email encouraging me and giving me well wishes. It was a nice email and I hope to receive more encouragement like that during this training.  She also expressed some surprise that I was continuing to run after this race and referred to it as an "ordeal." That makes me smile. I learned so much during that race. I will continue to learn more and more about myself with each one. I'll probably learn more from the really bad ones.

I still count it as my second 1/2 marathon completed. Out of my three I've since completed I fought the hardest for this one.

    

 The medal for that race was kind of lame. There is a STICKER on the back with the race name and date.

"It (running) is not a linear process"
- Jack Clark (hubby)
 

 

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