my personal story

I am not a runner.  Never have been, and probably never will be.  As I thought about my resolutions for 2010, I wanted to do something for myself.  I wanted to spend just a tiny bit more time on making myself look & feel better.  For the past three years, it's been about the two children under my wing.  Which I absolutely love, but sometimes it made me sad to look in the mirror.  Not because of the way God made me, but the way I didn't take care of myself.  Anyhoo, I decided to sign up for the Ocean City Half Marathon.  What a joke,  or so I thought!  I followed a plan (or two) and kept myself motivated to train for the 13.1 miles.  The hardest part was just that...keeping myself motivated since I was doing this alone.  My good buddy, Gregg, decided that  his family would travel up here from Georgia so he could do the race, too!  (more to come on our fabulous weekend!). 

I trained...I cussed....I fell.....I felt good....I cried....I wanted to give up, but didn't. 

The day before the race I could hardly talk about it.  I was nervous.  Didn't get a whole lot of sleep the night before and got up with the sun on April 24th.  Gregg & I hit the boardwalk to wait at the starting line.  I was a little mad at him because he promised me there would be all types of people there...he lied....i saw 90% athletes.  Ha ha.  We started at 7:00 am and he was sweet to stay with me the first mile.  He then hit the pavement and I kept my same pace that made me feel comfortable.  At mile 6, I had to go potty.  There was a line at the restroom and wanted so badly to keep going.  But, I couldn't.  So after I waited, I jumped back on the road and took off.  This time I was in the very back of the pack.  That was ok.  I met a great guy, Jeff, at this point.  He was awesome.  In his late 40s- had just lost 75 lbs and had a precious daughter that has Down Syndrome.  We talked until mile 10.  See?  Told you I wasn't doing too bad!  We really paced ourselves and he was such an encouragement.   At this point, I started to crash.  I wasn't sweating anymore.  My hands were numb and my hip was really hating me.  Jeff went on because he promised his wife he wouldn't stop.  I did a run/ walk pace until mile 12.  And then ran to the finish line.  Two Hours and Fifty Four minutes.  Going into this race I was hoping for 2:30.  Well, didn't make that...but finished.  And crossed the finish line before they turned off the clocks and before our fans went back to their cars.  The Stahls and my family were waiting on me...and they were so happy.  I have tears now just thinking about it.  I. DID. IT.  

For me, it wasn't about the time on the clock.  I just wanted to complete this race without needing medical assistance.  I wanted the medal and to feel good about wearing the tshirt.  I wanted to do something just for me.  And, I did.  I did lots of praying over this three hour race.  I thanked God for my strong legs and for all the good things in my life right now.  

This process started as a way for me to lose some baby weight.  And, the funny thing is that I don't have babies anymore and have only lost a few lbs.  The race was more than weight loss.  (ya know, since I didn't lose any) It was about setting a goal & reaching it.

On the way home, Davis wore my medal.  Shane told him that I got the medal because I won.  Davis said, "No daddy... she didn't win.  She came in last place."  Shane couldn't help but to chuckle and told him NEVER to say that to mama.  In his defense, he saw his buddy Gregg cross the finish line at 2:12 and then 45 minutes he saw his mama...and then we left.  Ha ha ha!  Oh well, he didn't get to see the 30 people behind me.  Gregg did win first place in my eyes too because he was there...way ahead of me...but, he was there.  What a special day.  So glad it's over, but so glad it happened.

Here we are!