Last September I got this very
odd email. I was looking at it, wondering why the OKC Memorial Marathon
people had sent me an email confirming that I had signed up for the Half
Marathon in only a few months. That was nuts. I certainly hadn't
signed myself up for half marathon. The furthest I had run at one
time at that point was 4.5 miles. I certainly wasn't going to be running
13.1 miles.
And then I saw the same on it. It was paid for by Tara Sanders. No, this was no typo, this was, in fact, the devious work of my twin sister. She signed us both up to run the half.
Fast forward to yesterday.
And then I saw the same on it. It was paid for by Tara Sanders. No, this was no typo, this was, in fact, the devious work of my twin sister. She signed us both up to run the half.
Fast forward to yesterday.
It was April 28th, 5:00 am. My alarm went off at the same
time that my 15 month-old woke up. Such is life. I fed her, put her
back to bed and threw on my clothes. I managed to get my shoes
on just as Tara pulled in the driveway to pick me up. I kissed my husband goodbye and left him with
a to-do list to get the kids to church by himself, and we were off.
It was still dark, but we managed to get a decent parking space and then we lined up with 25,000 other people who were running the half or full marathon and we waited. It was cold. We waited about half an hour before the national anthem and a moment of silence. And then they started the race. It took us 15 minutes to get to the starting line. We ran the first mile and managed to do fairly well the other 12.1. I’m not in the best shape of my life after having 3 babies in 5 years, but I knew what I was capable of, and how to push myself, even when I didn’t feel like I could go much further. I knew I could finish. Even at mile 8 when I started to feel a bad feeling in my shoe and mile 9 when my hips started feeling awful, we pressed on. Walking, running, walking, running.
3 hours and 18 minutes later I had run a half marathon. At one point (when my hip was killing me) I told Tara that I thought it was worse than childbirth. The pain was worse, but really, it wasn’t bad at all. My time wasn’t that impressive, unless you’re me.
The goal, from the beginning was to finish what we’d started, and we did. On the way we talked and joked and I had my first GU (https://guenergy.com/) and It was pretty fun.
Afterward, we were pretty worn out. I’m still pretty sore the day after, but I still managed to go to the grocery store with 3 kids and do three loads of laundry. Part of me wants to say that it’s just part of being a mom. You just do what you have to do. And while that’s true, it’s also no why I managed to run 13 miles, when I had clearly not trained enough over the last 6 weeks.
I did it because I knew I could. The last few years have shown me just how capable I am of going much further than I first think I can. That has some to do with being a Mom, but a lot more to do with who I have become over the last 13 years. I really resisted it at first. I wanted to believe I was wronged or broken or fragile, but I know that I am not. I have known it for much longer than I have been willing to admit it. I am very strong, and I am very determined, and I can go much further than anyone might think.
It was still dark, but we managed to get a decent parking space and then we lined up with 25,000 other people who were running the half or full marathon and we waited. It was cold. We waited about half an hour before the national anthem and a moment of silence. And then they started the race. It took us 15 minutes to get to the starting line. We ran the first mile and managed to do fairly well the other 12.1. I’m not in the best shape of my life after having 3 babies in 5 years, but I knew what I was capable of, and how to push myself, even when I didn’t feel like I could go much further. I knew I could finish. Even at mile 8 when I started to feel a bad feeling in my shoe and mile 9 when my hips started feeling awful, we pressed on. Walking, running, walking, running.
3 hours and 18 minutes later I had run a half marathon. At one point (when my hip was killing me) I told Tara that I thought it was worse than childbirth. The pain was worse, but really, it wasn’t bad at all. My time wasn’t that impressive, unless you’re me.
The goal, from the beginning was to finish what we’d started, and we did. On the way we talked and joked and I had my first GU (https://guenergy.com/) and It was pretty fun.
Afterward, we were pretty worn out. I’m still pretty sore the day after, but I still managed to go to the grocery store with 3 kids and do three loads of laundry. Part of me wants to say that it’s just part of being a mom. You just do what you have to do. And while that’s true, it’s also no why I managed to run 13 miles, when I had clearly not trained enough over the last 6 weeks.
I did it because I knew I could. The last few years have shown me just how capable I am of going much further than I first think I can. That has some to do with being a Mom, but a lot more to do with who I have become over the last 13 years. I really resisted it at first. I wanted to believe I was wronged or broken or fragile, but I know that I am not. I have known it for much longer than I have been willing to admit it. I am very strong, and I am very determined, and I can go much further than anyone might think.
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