Victorious

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."


In the past two weeks, three friends of mine have all put on race bibs and crossed the finish line in their first-ever races at their respective distances. GI Jane and MMV ran the Tufts 10K on Columbus Day in downtown Boston. I went down to the finish line with GI Jane's manfriend, Cash Money. It was truly a moving experience. I don't know what it was, but as I was standing along the final stretch along Charles Street, watching the women (and a few men) run by, I started to tear up. I was getting emotionally overwhelmed watching these women pushing themselves towards the finish line. I feverishly snapped pictures as Cash finally caught site of Jane coming towards us. We ran triumphantly with her the final couple hundred feet to grab shots of her running under the official time clock. It was such an awesome feeling to watch her accomplish this goal that she never thought possible. Life had gotten in the way and her training had fallen to the wayside...but her grit and determination (and a cute pair of Saucony running shoes) carried her the 6.2 miles to victory. As we walked through the Boston Common, seeing all of the women, smiling, munching bagels and bananas, it made me appreciate the fact that I WILL be there next year. I will be a part of this group of 8000 women, 16000 running shoes. (Although, I give major props to this one lady I saw, with one leg, finishing this race with her crutches. Simply amazing.)

My first official race is coming up in less than 2 weeks. I am very excited to take this first step into "competitive" running. Granted, I will never actually WIN one of these races...but that is not the point. Anyone who runs knows this. You run against your self, your demons, your failures. You do something that you perhaps never thought possible. I will be running for all of those years I wasted. I will run to show myself that this journey has brought me to a new place. I will run to show everyone that this IS possible. You CAN make a change. I am going to do my best to NOT cry at the finish line...but I can't guarantee that. I may become so overwhelmed that you'll see a puffy-eyed Mighty Mouse wandering around on Halloween morning.

I am not the only one who has taken the step to create a better life for herself. The third friend that I spoke of at the top of this post is EOB. EOB did something that very few people will EVER do in their lifetimes. She ran a marathon. 26.2 miles. She ran through the streets of Chicago, in unseasonable heat as well. I never had any doubt in my mind that she would finish. She struggled a bit during her training period as well, couldn't find the motivation to complete her long runs. But she pushed through and completed her very first marathon. I put it that way because she has already expressed the desire to do it again. She claims that as soon as she started, she knew she'd want to do it again. (I don't know if I believe her, buuuut....I mean, COME ON...you WANT to run a marathon??) It has taken many little steps over a number of years to get her to this point. She did it. She made it.

I don't know if I will ever choose to run a marathon. I enjoy running, but I just don't know if it's something that I'd be interested in doing. I could probably be persuaded to try a half-marathon though. But that is a bit down the road. I will run my 5K, and hopefully a few more 5Ks and a 4 miler in November and December. I will try to find a 10K after that. I want to continue to push myself where my running is concerned. I caught a cold last week, and haven't run in 8 days now. I'm hoping that this little cough I have will disappear in the next day or so. I am feeling running-deprived. I need to go. I need to do it. I miss it.

I will lace up my shoes. I will continue to put one foot in front of the other. I will continue this race...this race...for my life.