A Birthday And A Butt Kicking (Repost)

In just 10 days from now I will fulfill my lifelong dream of running a marathon. I am having serious doubts that I will be able to do this. Because of my ongoing battle with shin splints which led to a stress fracture I have not been able to train the way I wanted to. I need some positive motivation for this last week and a half, so I have decided to repost my entry from when I ran my half marathon. It has reminded me that I can in fact do hard things. And I can't give up now. Had I given up on my half marathon I would not have had the amazing experience of crossing that finish line...

May 25, 2009...

For my birthday this year I got to do something I have been wanting to do for over 15 years. It is something I often wondered if I was even capable of doing. I had to get past many hurdles, both physically and mentally, to get to this point.

Yesterday, I became one step closer to fulfilling my life long dream of running a marathon by running my first ever 1/2 marathon.

By looking at the following pictures you will notice that I do not have the most perfect body for being a runner. In fact the first lesson I learned during my training is that you don't necessarily lose weight if you run a lot. I have not lost one pound since I have been running regularly. But that is a post for a later time. So it is by sheer will and determination that I have gotten to this point. This is why I am so proud of running this race.

It seemed as if the stars had all aligned for me to do it. My bum hip was suddenly feeling great, I found this race on my birthday of all days, and my dad who is my hero committed to running it with me. How could I not run it? This is what kept me going.

I had many emotional "moments" throughout the day yesterday.

Moment #1 was seeing this sign in front of our house as we left for the race in the morning...

A and K, I love you. You both totally rock!

They were thinking of me and took the time to make sure I had a good send off. That really meant a lot!

Moment #2 was waiting with my dad for the race to begin. Was I actually going to do this? It was a very surreal moment for me thinking how far I had come to get to this point...

And we were off...

I really wanted my dad to just go for it and not go slow just for me. And that is just what he did. He quickly disappeared into the crowd in front of me and I didn't see him again for a long time.

I had the best support group out of all the runners. I am calling all the times I saw them along the way my moment #3. They made sure I saw them cheering me on I think at just about every mile. I don't know that I could have done it without my husband and kids and also my mom rooting for me every step of the way...

Moment #4 hit me at about mile 6. This wasn't just another long run. This was THE long run I had been working my toosh off (literally) for. I was still feeling great...

Moment #5 - Not feeling so great anymore, I think it was about mile 10ish, and then I saw my sweet Emma running to me and joined me for a little while. How did she know that this is exactly what I needed to keep me going...



I will call all the times when I actually passed some people my moment #6. Who knew that would happen?
This little man, who was so in need of the sunshine that was so abundant that morning, became my little friend...

...I would pass him. Then he would pass me. And so on and so on. It wasn't until about the 12th mile when the little devil on my shoulder convinced me to walk for a second that this little man got a second wind and bolted to the finish and I was left breathing in his pale dust. He is no longer my friend.

This is my 71 year old dad finishing more than 20 minutes before me...

...which led to my moment #7 when, even though he was so exhausted, he ran back to meet me with about a quarter mile left to go so he could be there when I finished...

Moment #8 - Crossing the finish line.

I did it, I REALLY did it!

Moment # 9 came that night as I was laying down to go to bed. I was replaying the day - the amazing night-before-carb-load-dinner my mom made for us, all the emotions of the race, the fun time we had at my brothers and fabulous birthday meal and plethora of desserts my sister-in-law and nieces made for everyone after the race. I have to say this was the best dang birthday I have had in quite a while.

For those of you wondering what my time was for the Half Marathon...

My goal was to not be last (I wasn't) and to be able to just finish the race. I even remember saying I would be lucky if I could do it in under 2:30.

I came in at 2:29.

I am already thinking about which race to run next. I want so badly to improve that time. Do I enjoy a few more half marathons before I really go nuts and fulfill my lifelong dream of a full marathon? Or do I just go for the gusto? Whichever one I decide to do, I will be running and that is all that matters.

You may have noticed that in the video of me crossing the finish line Ben asks Lee if I won. To answer my cute sons question, yes I won.

I won big time!
Sure, my time was not great. My time will not be great 10 days from now, but I will do this. This time I have included my Heavenly Father in my training. I have never felt closer to Him than I have these past few months. He knows how bad I want this. He knows I have done all I can do. That is all He asks of us, right? I have complete faith that when I am running that marathon and I don't feel like I can go on, He will carry me to that finish line. Ten days can not come soon enough!