13.1 miles? Really?

At the beginning of last year I worked hard to lose weight. I lost 37lbs, leaving the obese category and feeling quite healthy. Not skinny by any means, but I've never wanted to be skinny. ewww. Curves are great. Hours and hours of aerobics and walking in January and February. Then, life changed in March. My Grandpa died, so we had some extra stress and a long road trip to San Diego. The next week I went with Dave to Idaho to interview for his new job. Then two weeks after that I had my comprehensive test for my Master's degree. Life happened and I let my exercise slack off.

While in Idaho, I saw that they were having a half marathon on June 5th. This seemed like a great way to motivate myself to get back to exercising and I decided I wanted to train so I could walk the 13.1 miles. I had 2 1/2 months--plenty of time, right? Right! That is, if you DO train. For some reason, I found it difficult to train when I was studying for my test. Then Dave moved to start his new job and I got to be an alone mom for 6 weeks. Plus the selling of the old house and buying the new home and packing and moving. And unpacking. It is easy to see why I didn't make the time. So since I didn't train, I shouldn't have done the race. But, I did.

I decided I was just going to walk. No big deal.
I have an exceptional competitive (bordering on stupid) side to me. When all the other people in the walking group were going SO fast, I started my pace too fast. I would have been fine had I wisely stayed with the back of the pack. I'm not wise. I kept up with the middle of the pack and my knees were crying by mile 9. I would walk a bit until my right knee hurt too much then I would do a slow jog until my left knee hurt too much. I hobbled across the finish line and I wasn't last. There were about 2% of the people behind me.

It was foolish, but I did it. I was very sore for a few days, but I did it. Did you know that all along a half marathon or marathon they have people there to cheer for you? It was the greatest thing ever. You feel like you can't go farther then a stranger yells words of encouragement and you know you CAN go farther. It helps your body keep going. I was so glad I had my sunglasses on because I shed more than a tear or two on that course. Who would've thought that 13.1 miles would be such an emotional experience for me? While it was foolish to do a half marathon without training I am exceptionally glad I did it.

Then I let my knees rest a few weeks. My sister and I got it into our brains that we should try for another half marathon. This time we would train and we would do it with 27,000 of our new best friends down at Walt Disney World. We even roped some suckers, I mean friends, into doing it with us. I realized that the most difficult part of a half marathon isn't the race itself, it's all the miles and miles and miles and miles of training. It took a lot of time to prepare but it made the race quite different. No excessive pain or soreness. No wondering if I could do it. It was actually kinda fun, in an insane kinda way.

Why I want to remember:
Reason #1--If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. If ye are not prepared, be afraid. Be very afraid. Events in life are much easier and enjoyable if you are properly prepared but preparation isn't always easy.
Reason #2--I wish I could truly express how much having the strangers cheer for me helped. I would not have finished without them. How much could my cheering help others in life? My husband, my children, my friends, strangers even? I believe cheering others on, offering kind words whenever possible, can make a huge difference. It may not matter to those who are prepared for the event they are enduring, but for those enduring an event beyond preparation it can make a world of difference.