Saturday, June 26, 2010

Keep Going


A couple of months ago I ran a ½ marathon. The training was treacherous to say the least. Every ounce of energy, will power and mental motivation was wrung from my being on a weekly basis for 4 months prior. If I didn’t have the pictures to prove it, I would never believe that 4 years ago, I trained and ran the full 26.2 miles. Half that distance should have been easy as pie, but it wasn’t.

I almost gave up.

I almost gave up when I didn’t have enough breath to run 3 miles without walking. I almost gave up when a 5-mile run was sheer boredom. I almost gave up when I developed blisters on the arches of both feet. I almost gave up when my knees throbbed after running 8 miles. I almost gave up when I calculated how slow I run and realized that I would most likely finish near the end of the field. I almost gave up when I stopped to think about the logistics of driving 8 hours to a town in Virginia that I’d never been to for this exhausting race.

But I didn’t and here’s why:

I did the training; I waded through the physical and mental obstacles and if I had given up, I would have let myself down. No one else would be disappointed but I would have disappointed myself. Although it would be more convenient and easier to stop short on the follow through, I would never forget it. It’s like going through the process of buying a house, finding the right place, making an offer, gathering information to get a mortgage, doing the inspection and then when the only thing left is to sign your name on 500 pieces of paper, you say, “I can’t” and go back to living in an apartment. 

Perseverance kicked my butt. My quad muscles were tight knots for almost 2 weeks following the race and one of my toenails is still black more than 8 weeks later but the exhilaration of finishing that race has launched me toward the next one.

What I thought was going to kill me actually empowered me to face another challenge. 

1 comment:

Becky Herring said...

I need to know more about your experience... I'm glad you didn't quit :)