I really can’t say I rocked it, even though my shirt does. But I finished. And even though I had this hierarchy of goals and only met the first one, it was by far the most important.
Not giving up was a big deal.
Because it hurt. A lot. I know it wasn’t the wisest thing to run on an injury—it’s maybe one of the more foolish things I’ve done—but I was reasonably sure that it was something I could fully recover from, and I had a lot invested in seeing this through. And I admit it, I completely stink at knowing when to stop and when to power through.
More on that another day.
It wasn’t that long ago that I wouldn’t have even believed I could run a half marathon.
Even now, there is something in me that is not quite sure I’ve earned the right to wear that shirt in the picture.
* * *
The friend I ran with—the one I’d hoped to keep up with but couldn’t—came back onto the course after she finished and ran the last mile with me. Seeing her coming back for me was exactly what I needed at that point. It gave me strength.
My kids and my mom were waiting to cheer me on about half a mile from the finish line. Seeing their faces was amazing. They grinned and waved and took pictures of me with their hand-held game systems while I limped past. Oldest called out, “Miss ________ finished way ahead of you!” (That would be his math teacher, who is young and smart and beautiful. From what I hear, she knows everything there is to know about math, plus, this is, like, her 13th half marathon. She is a godsend—I couldn’t have hand-picked a better teacher for his hardest subject.)
My kids are awesome.
My mom is also awesome. She drove to Kansas City from Minneapolis the night before the race, then drove home the next afternoon through horrible storms. She reminds me on occasion that she’s getting older, but she makes it easy to forget that fact every time I turn around.
I felt like I had so much support from family and friends—it was better than a birthday, I think.
And yes, it was worth it, and yes I want to do it again.
Subscribe to Dreamer by Email
