Houston Marathon 2009

I ran the Houston Marathon January 18, 2009. And Ira ran with me. 26.2 miles. A journey of pain. A journey of laughter. A journey of sorrow. A journey of wonderment (ie. why and how much longer). And a great symbol of my life now. When I see the words of scripture about running the race, when I hear about others who have completed their races, when I learn of friends with the desire to start the training, I grow joyful.

It was interesting to me how much emotion I felt after my final long training run before the marathon, yet did not become emotional at the end of my race. It was as if the training, the discipline, the effort, the struggles of training and completing the training were more important than actually crossing the finish line. Wow. Amazing isn't it?

How did it feel? Well, I wore 2 knees braces, as you can see in this picture, which allows my knees to feel no pain. I did not cramp up at all during the 5hour 50min and 5sec run. I slowed down quite a bit in the last 2/3rds of the race, even walking more than I should. But I never had the thought in my head "I am going to stop". I kept moving forward. My brother, who ran in front of me the entire time, until the last second (ha), continued to push me, motivate me, encourage me. And for that I am grateful. With him in front, I had something to run after... even if it was to hit him and make him shut his mouth hahaha. There is an excitement in seeing those you love on the sidelines rooting for you, holding up signs and banners, cheering and offering you oranges and nurturing care. We had a few moments of rest during those moments, then we picked ourselves up and continued on. I think the memory that stands out the most for me is seeing my middle son Jackson running with his yellow sign, cheering for me, smiling so huge, and loving to see his daddy run this race. His desire was that I beat Brad, but in those moments on the course, I could tell he was just happy to see his daddy out running the race. That made me run on. And that makes me RUNSTRONG.

Brad came up with that slogan a few months back, and we got some wristbands made that said RUNSTRONG. (The black on you see in the picture). And now here it is over 2 weeks after the race, and I have not run. There's almost a depression about it, finishing this goal, but there is also this need to express to everyone I see that "I RAN AND COMPLETED A MARATHON". There's a quote in the movie, Spirit of the Marathon, that really moves me. "No matter how fast or slow, once you cross that finish line, it will change your life forever. Because you now know there is nothing you can't overcome".

And some thoughts during my race that keep me going:
So push it. Don't stop keep running. I can; I will. Think light, not fast. One step at a time. I need a break. I need to stay hydrated. Wow, look at him, if he can do it so can I. Only a few miles til we see the kids. Come on, let's go, almost there. I see Downtown. This is the last turn. There's the finish line. Look... there's Jen and the kids "WAHOOO". Wow, the last tenth of a mile. I throw my hands up, asking the crowd to cheer me on as I strive towards the finish line. I hear the cheers. I see the smiles. I am enjoying the moment with my brother. He reaches over just as we step towards the line and grabs my arm and pulls it up..... WE FINISHED!!!!!