Finishing the Race...and Finishing Strong

In December 2009, my mom invited anyone who wanted to join her to complete a half-marathon the following year. She had never competed in a race before, and this was going to be her year to accomplish that life-long goal. So, we signed up for a race to be held the following December. In January of 2010, I began my quest of "becoming a runner." I had never done anything beyond a 200m sprint as far as races go, and that was well over 10 years ago...so this idea of running not only a mile but THIRTEEN (and let's not forget that .1 miles that follows the 13...). Could I go from running pretty much never to running 13.1 miles within the required race time limits?

Well, I began slowly. A little every day...and I found I was getting stronger. Throughout our "couch potato to runner" training, my family would email one another our successes and our troubles...and as we continued one step at a time, we got stronger. We began doing things we didn't know we could EVER do. This fall as we were doing our final half-marathon training, we'd laugh when we realized we were happy for a long run that was only 6 miles long that week. Who would have thought we would be looking forward to running that distance EVER? :-) But we were. We were getting stronger.

When December rolled around, we were ready. We were excited, we were nervous...and we were going to do it. We were actually going to attempt to run 13.1 miles at one time. :-) Here we are minutes before the race began...it was pretty chilly, so we all have our warm gear on, but it was quickly thrown off within the first couple of miles. (Everything runners discard as they run is picked up and then donated to the homeless, so we happily tossed our warm gear.)

In this pic: me, my dad, my bro-in-law Marsh, my sis Rach, and my mom

We started off faster than usual...it's hard to keep that adrenaline under wraps! The excitement that surrounds you with 28,000 plus runners...well, it's just awesome! So we reminded ourselves we needed to calm down and find our comfortable paces that would take us 13.1 miles. I found lessons hidden throughout the race...so if you have time, you can read some of what I learned. :-) If not, just know we did it! :-)

The first 6 miles really were cake, to be honest. I beat my goal time for the 3 mile mark, so I was excited. The sights were fun, we laughed and just took it all in. We appreciated where we were, how hard we'd worked, that we were doing it as a family (Rach and I ran together most of the way), and took notice of the people around us. Lesson learned: If you focus outside yourself, you really can push through anything and not even realize that it may be difficult. Each time we'd feel an ache or pain, tired, etc., we'd pray for the rest of our fam. It was amazing to be so focused on everything but me.

Mile seven got a little tougher...but still doable. Unfortunately my music kicked off at this point, so I ended up wasting about a mile running WAY too slow while trying to fix it... and the lesson I learned: If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. I should have had my music set up in a manner that I was good at manipulating so my focus could be on the task at hand and NOT on figuring out my new phone and how to make it play music. I will forever regret that I blew this mile...it cost me my goal time, and that really bums me out (but leaves me reason to do another, which I will certainly do.)

Mile eight and nine were ok- my music was back on, and I was able to look around. There was a runner who'd been near me most of the race that was starting to struggle, so I was able to chat with her a bit and wish her well. I headed on and happily enjoyed my run. It was hard, but good. Lesson learned: just keep on keepin on. If you focus on things to annoy you (sticky road at the drink stations, the Elvis runner who insisted on jogging with his stroller he had filled with a radio to blast Elvis tunes as he ran, etc.), you'll find them...but if you focus on the good stuff (the gorgeous weather, the gift of a healthy body, the support of a loving family, the comfort of your lucky shoes), you'll find that too. So I focused on the good...and it was good!

Mile ten was getting hard- I felt like I was heading into the unknown as I past that mile marker because I had never run further than 10 miles in my training. How would I do? Would I be able to do it? I was filled with questions and uncertainty...and the difficulty seemed to be getting greater. But I changed my mind. I could do this. I WAS doing it! So I realigned my thoughts to the positive. I had faith that the end really was coming...and I really was going to do finish. Lesson learned: faith will see you through. When you question and doubt, the road gets tough. When you focus on the end...you soar.

Mile eleven: panic attack. At mile eleven I ran out of water. I always carry a water bottle with me when I run. Because of that, I'd been drinking from my water bottle as necessary, and using the drink stations only when I felt like grabbing a cup. I didn't need to- I had my own water...right?! Lesson learned: Accept help when it's offered...you have no idea when you're going to need the strength you saved by letting someone help you.

Mile eleven continues: I had no idea the drink stations are much less prevalent on the second half of the course...so I started to panic. I'll die without water. I NEED water. What am I going to do?! How could I drink all my water?! After about half a mile of berating myself for not being careful and making use of the drink stations as I went, I decided to call James. I called as I ran. He picked up quickly and I told him I didn't know if I could do it. He told me he was proud of me and that he knew I could do it. That's all I needed to hear. I needed to remember I wasn't alone. Lesson learned: We're never alone- we just have to call. Doesn't this fit nicely with our need to pray? We have been given a way to chat with our Father in Heaven whenever we want to! We just have to stop and pray... He knows us better than we know ourselves...and He knows we can do it.

Mile twelve: "Winners train, losers complain." "I run so I can eat." "Find your happy pace." "Finishing IS winning." "Courage to start, Faith to finish." So many inspirational t-shirts surrounded me as I ran- and this is the mile I actually focused on them. No longer was I staring at the sights around me...I'd hadn't seen them since about mile seven...but in mile 12 I was no longer staring at my feet and the pavement. I started to look up again. I remembered the first half of the race and how much I enjoyed the sights and my surroundings, so I started to focus on them again. It WAS beautiful...still. There was water at this point as well...which helped me regain my focus and stop freaking out about dehydration. Lesson learned: Look up! If you're looking down you can't see all the amazing people surrounding you, cheering you on, wishing for you to do better. If you look up you'll see that you're not the only one dealing with trials in life. In fact, there may even be a few people who have it harder than you...which is hard to remember when in the middle of something tough, but it's true. Perhaps there's someone who needs YOUR help!

Mile thirteen: are my knees bending backward?! I swear my legs were going to fall off at my hips... I can breathe fine, but I'm pretty sure my body is just going to bust into a million pieces like the characters on Lego Star Wars. I decided to walk to rest a bit...but that seemed even harder. So I ran. I could see the final hotel and I knew the finish line was just beyond it...but I couldn't see the finish line. Was this ever going to end?! And then a spectator yelled out, "just two more lights and you're in the chute." Just what I needed to hear. I really was going to finish. There really was a finish line...and a chute! How fun to think I'd get into the chute and then I'd be done! :-) I was really doing it. I was accomplishing what I'd set out to do an entire year before...and I was going to be strong to the end! Lesson learned: You never know how much your words affect others. That man that yelled out encouragement will never know how much I appreciated his excitement that we were almost done. He was excited...and that made me excited! Our words, our actions, our thoughts- they affect us in ways we don't often recognize...and they affect others as well. How much more wonderful this world would be if we could all focus on spreading positive energy instead of focusing on the negative that surrounds us.

The End: I did it. I threw my hands up, blew a kiss to the camera (for my family watching at home), and ran across that line. I proudly accepted my medal, and set out to find the water. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I had finished what I started...and I finished strong. Oh how I hope that at the end of my life I can look back and think, 'Not only did I finish, I finished strong.'

Seeing my family: As I walked past toward the exit, I saw my dad and Marsh. We did it! I called James...he was so proud that I did it! :-) Rach joined us...she did it! :-) And then I saw my mom. Tears just came- I couldn't help it. My mom, who'd worked so hard to push herself and motivate us...who'd never been in a race in her life... had a medal hanging proudly around her neck. She didn't just finish her first race, she finished STRONG at exactly her goal time. I was SO proud of her. So grateful for her. I'm so glad we had this opportunity to do it together...to not just finish, but finish strong. If it hadn't been for her, we wouldn't be standing here with a gigantic accomplishment behind us.

I don't know if we'll all do another together or not (I hope so!), but if not, this race changed my life. As I've hit hard things since the race (ex: packing the house, moving right before Christmas, moving in, deep cleaning to leave the house move-in ready, etc.), I find myself thinking, 'it's just mile 11...push through...water's at mile 12 and the end is just around the corner...' and it is. We just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. :-)

Merry Christmas!!