many people ask me why I'm running a marathon at all. It's sometimes tough to answer, especially when I'm asking MYSELF in the middle of a 10 mile long run in 100 degree heat!I have already completed one marathon, so it's not as though I'm looking to cross it off my bucket list. Crossing that finish line was such an amazing feeling of accomplishment, relief, elation...a flood of so many emotions. It truly ranks second only to giving birth in the memorable moments of my life.
Since I am all set on the procreation end of my life, I'm doing it all over again. 16 weeks of training. Ugly, blistered feet during sandal season. Ice on my knees. Sunscreen in my eyes. Tears-sometimes from sunscreen-sometimes from pain-sometimes from the crazy emotions running for hours will pull out of you. Chafing. Giving up hours of my week to expose myself to whatever mother nature is throwing at me, just so I can be fit enough to run in a giant damn circle around St Louis.
Since I am all set on the procreation end of my life, I'm doing it all over again. 16 weeks of training. Ugly, blistered feet during sandal season. Ice on my knees. Sunscreen in my eyes. Tears-sometimes from sunscreen-sometimes from pain-sometimes from the crazy emotions running for hours will pull out of you. Chafing. Giving up hours of my week to expose myself to whatever mother nature is throwing at me, just so I can be fit enough to run in a giant damn circle around St Louis.
But those little bits of encouragement along the way are wonderful. Staff at Fleet Feet giving high fives when I tell them what I'm training for. All the 'likes' and comments on my Facebook status when I post a run. A cool bath to soak my legs in when I get home. The look of awe on my 11 year old stepdaughter's face when I tell her how far I went. Knowing waves and simple nods from other runners.
But that finish is what I'm craving. Pounding my feet for 26.2 miles so I can hold my arms up across that finish line and say that I made it!
This time there's even more to it. I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encou
rage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!
This time there's even more to it. I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encou
rage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!
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