Friday, June 19, 2015

NEVER STOP MOVING



In the recent past those words have become a mantra of sorts. I’ve realized that for me to stay sane as a person I need regular exercise and physical activity (hence the ridiculous number of races I do). On days that I’m not feeling great I know that all I really need to do is go for a walk, hike, bike or run. Those words also helped get me through the toughest physical challenge I have undertaken, running a marathon. I set the goal of running a marathon probably seven years ago. I had watched my brother run in the Boston Marathon and several other races. I finally decided that I didn’t want to sit and watch anymore, I wanted to be a part of the race. Even with that decided it still took me years to even sign up for a race. 

Nervous and excited selfie to start the race!!
On Sunday May 24th I stood in the starting line for the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vermont. I was nervous and excited, standing alone with only the butterflies in my gut to keep me company. I had signed up for this race before – last year. I had followed my training plan to a T, but unfortunately got very sick several weeks before and wasn’t able to run. Leading up the race this year I was more nervous than ever. Every sniffle I got made me anxious that it was going to turn into something more. But as luck would have it, I stayed healthy and was as ready as I could be for my big day! 

I couldn't do it without my cheering squad!
Even though I didn’t finish in the time I wanted to (in the end time didn’t matter to me one bit) – I finished the marathon, all 26.2 miles of it. I may have cried at the end when I found my Mom and sister and asked why on Earth people ran marathons. Tears and the pain that followed the race aside, I finished.
Never stop moving!
There were a few moments (okay, more than a few) when all I wanted to do is give up, stop running, stop moving. But I didn’t. I kept going, even though my feet hurt and my legs ached; even though I had a hard time standing up straight and keeping my head up. I put one foot in front of the other, sometimes at a walk, sometimes at a shuffle and kept going.

Post-race smiles!
Don’t get me wrong, the beginning of the race was awesome. Even though I was more nervous than you could imagine, I was also pumped. The people cheering on the side of the road, my fellow runners, the music, the energy was amazing. I used that energy to get myself going. And like many first time marathoners, I get a little over excited about the first few miles. I was cruising, really cruising. I was on course to run a sub 4-hour marathon and that couldn’t have made me happier. It wasn’t until mile 10 that things started to hurt. I hit a wall, frustration central. That’s when the mind games started.

Finally!! The finish line!!
The games where you know that you can keep going, that your legs aren’t as tired as your mind says they are, but all your mind wants you to do is stop. The ability to overcome your mind is the key to be successful in the long run (get it, haha, “long run”). I battled my mind for 4:50:53 and won.

Never stop moving. It means as long as you are physically able, do it - run, walk, swim, boat, crawl, hike, dance, jump – as long as it makes you happy, keep going. Set a goal and do what you need to do to accomplish it. Finally reaching a goal is the greatest feeling in the world. And it doesn't matter if it takes 1 week, 1 year or 7 years to reach it. Just keep working at it until you do.
A well deserved beverage

So so many tears at the finish
So happy my family was there to support me!!


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