On Sunday, my body went farther, faster, stronger and longer than it ever has before. I finished my third half marathon almost 20 minutes faster than the others. I ran the whole race. And at about a 10-minute mile (the fastest I have gone over such a distance. Ever. Period.). I have never hurt so good.
Post-race euphoria.
Life is so funny—for Halloween 3 years ago, I thought I had come up with the most brilliant costume ever. My parents had just moved to Southern California (I was not at all happy about this at the time) and I had gone down to see their new house and do a load of laundry. I was lamenting having no costume for the Halloween party I was going to that night, when my mom offered me her marathon shirt from her marathon in Alaska. Throw on a pair of workout pants and your tennis shoes, she said, and go as a marathon runner! Brilliant, I thought. What a great costume. I will NEVER in my life run a marathon.
3 years ago, with my friend Wednesday
who was Red Riding Hood.
Oh, life, how funny you really are. I am writing this blog from my parents’ house, where I am currently living, absolutely thrilled that they are so close to LA (where I am looking for a job…) and not back in Iowa. (They also happen to live in a very hilly part of the world, making Sunday’s race on a mostly flat course fast and furious.) And in 2 weeks, I begin marathon training for my first marathon in March. I really am not who I was.
Being unemployed is not for the faint of heart. I have been back in the States for almost 3 months now, and not so much as a nibble. And it’s certainly not for lack of trying. But these last 3 months have most certainly not been without some amazing opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.
I have had the time necessary to dedicate to training. Running every day takes time, planning, and commitment. I have never been so committed to anything physical like this before in my life. Even after completely losing 2 toenails, ripping brand new pants while beautifully skinning my knee after falling on a run (turns out I bounce and make a few “Grape Lady Falls” noises…), and enduring just plain old muscle fatigue and soreness, I held my nose to that grindstone.
As Paul writes in Romans, suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope (5:3-4). If you run, you know there is suffering. Not all runs are amazing. I don’t always hit my stride. Sometimes, every step hurts. My favorite spectator sign on Sunday read, “Running is a mental sport. You are all insane.” Running is mental. Sometimes I can’t get out of my brain enough to just go. It does take perseverance to finish the run, to finish the race, to give it my all. The last 2 miles of the race were brutal. My toes hurt more than anything; I have a smattering of little water blisters all along the edges of toes to show for the pain. But that really didn’t seem to matter when I crossed the finish line completely overwhelmed with emotion at my finishing time. My dedication paid off in ways I couldn’t have begun to imagine when I started training. (And if you haven’t experienced runner’s high for yourself, I am telling you, you are missing out!!!)
I am no longer the girl in the marathon shirt pretending to be a runner. I am a runner. Obsessed? Maybe. Insane? Definitely. :)
la rubia en españa 