Today is a milestone for runners everywhere--The Boston Marathon.
I'm not running in it. I've never run a marathon, and I don't plan on it, unless I lose another 20 lbs, and since I love thin-crust pizza, that may not happen for awhile.
I wrote that on the morning of the Boston Marathon, before the running world was rocked to its core. But let me back up and explain the events of the last two weeks that have led me to my first marathon registration (I still can't believe I typed that!).
So on the day of the Boston Marathon, my students and I tracked two local runners on iPods, and the excitement was incredible. And then on their iPods, the news about the bombing hit, and for the rest of the day kids weren't just sneaking on their iPods to play an app--they were looking for updates. At that point we learned that "our" runners were safe, but we were horrified that someone would do this. I was struggling myself--how could I explain this to 11 and 12 year olds?
The next day I wore a running shirt to school, as runners across the nation vowed to do as a Facebook movement spread like wildfire. My heart hurt. I knew the closest I'd ever get to those runners would be watching the Boston Marathon, but still, I knew how hard I had trained and worked to get to where I am. These are amazing runners, who train and train to run this elite event. I read it once as this: Imagine your favorite sport...then imagine you get to play in a professional event of that sport with professional players! That's Boston.
So what could I do? The night before Boston I had run 9 miles...definitely rebounding from my knee injury and almost ready for another half marathon, if I wanted to. That Tuesday, April 16th, I did my "Boston Run", 4 miles in 38.30, which for me, 9.45 pace is great! It has been fun to see my pace drop under 10 min miles. I felt strong. I felt great!
And Wednesday morning, April 17th, I woke up with a chest cold that my 5 year old son so nicely shared with me. I started my typical regimen...zinc, airborne, Vitamin C, water...nothing worked. In fact, I got so bad that 4 days later I went to the ER due to the pain of breathing, where they told me I had a virus and it would "run it's course"--sort of fitting, don't you think? Oh it ran it's course alright...as I coughed up blood on many occassions. Nine days later and whole lot worse, I went to my regular doctor. Not only was my blood pressure up, he diagnosed me with Bronchitis and gave me an inhaler and a prednisone pack. "Ummm...excuse me...I'm a runner...my BP is fine, I don't use an inhaler, my lungs are fine!" I wanted to say! Instead I coughed and coughed...defeated.
I felt some instant relief with the inhaler, but also felt like my body had let me down. What started as a simple chest cold had morphed into this cough from hell. Before this, I was on my way to my 10K in under an hour goal...I could feel it!
And you guessed it...there was another local race, and I would not be running it. This was the race was this past Saturday. I could have stayed home and pouted about it, but instead, I did the 2 mile walk with some friends--one post surgery, one with a sprained ankle, and one with back pain. I learned something that day--we do what we can. We do what our body allows on that day. I have only run 3 half marathons (two road, one trail), and I know that my toes hurt, my knees hurt, and I just couldn't imagine running 26.2 miles. But after the Boston Marathon, I found myself asking, "Why can't I? What is stopping me?"
And last night, I got my answer. The only things stopping me is ME. I am stopping me from running a full marathon. Should I be afraid of "failing" at a marathon? What if I walk parts of it? Then I walk parts of it. Will I train the best I can? You know I will.
My husband has told me since my first half marathon, "You'll run a full marathon," and I always adamantly said, "No I won't! Those people are crazy." But today, I watched many of my running friends finish half marathons, one finished an ultra, one did her first 10K since she was very sick over the winter, and one did her first ever 5K. Inspiration!
I had been looking at races this morning, but none were really catching my eye. Then I saw a marathon, and I remembered seeing the Seattle Marathon on the news last year. So I went to the page, and I saw the marathon. It's not flat, but it looks fun. So I pulled up the registration, and checked the marathon box, and I typed in all the information....and it was filled out. I grabbed my husband and said, "See this? What do you think?" He said, "Half?" I said, "No, Full." He said, "Yep." And 2 minutes later, I had registered for my first marathon. I said to him, "Do you know why I did that?" and he nailed it--he replied, "Because you can." There are people who were injured in Boston. They can't run.
But I can. It may not be pretty...but I remember how scared I was to run my first half marathon. Petrified. The ups and downs of training...wondering if I could really do it. I have a lot of those same feelings right now. My goal is CROSS THE FINISH LINE.
So, are you ready for the ride over the next 7 months? I know I am!
So here is training, Day 1: I ran/walk/jogged 3.2 miles in 36 minutes. Bronchitis is still there. But let's call today the beginning of something new.
And I just ate my last piece of pizza for a LONG time.
