Wednesday, March 26

That one time I ran a Half-Marathon

First I want to say Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who encouraged me (and Phillip) this weekend on Facebook and Instagram. It definitely encouraged me to go through with the race. If I am honest, I had fears. I wanted to bail and pretend that I did it. But I also REALLY wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. So... I did it. And it was perfect. Painful, but perfect.

We decided since the race was on a Sunday, that we would make a fun little family getaway out of it. I mean why not? We were traveling all the way to Dallas to run the race. 
I love to travel. It energizes me. I love going to places with high energy, good food and different cultures. While we were in Dallas this time, we stopped at a park on our way to meet up with some friends. I forgot the name of this park but it was everything I LOVE about the city.

Open grass area, food trucks, live music, playground, bistro tables scattered about, families having picnics, big buildings in the back ground, children running and playing. It was the perfect afternoon. And a perfect pre-race chill day.

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The next day was race day. I am thankful for my friend who ran the race with me. Jessica, her mom and I had trained hard for the last 3 months for this day.  I learned so much about myself during that run. 13.1 miles if a long way y'all! Especially for someone who just started running in January. I learned that our bodies can do just about anything we tell it to do. I learned that with the right amount of determination and dedication we can achieve big things. When you set goals and work diligently to meet them you reap a reward that you didn't even know was coming when that goal is met.

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It felt good to do something for myself. It felt good to test my limits, to see how far I could push myself.  It felt good to cross that finish line knowing I did it. I finished it.

I am not the fastest runner. I am not the best runner. But I am a runner. I ran my race and I put all that I had into it. I finished under the time I wanted to finish it in and though I cried through the last 2 miles and I thought I would never make it, I did and I have never been more proud. (and I actually want to do it again) I ran alongside 10,000 other runners. Both professional and not. Their energy, their excitement, it pushed me and encouraged me. Together we were running. From all different places in life. Some of us moms, dads, grandparents, students and real life athletes. We were all out there running doing the best we could, working towards that finish line.

As I ran through the course I thought how similar this is to life. We are all running a race. We are all working towards goals and finish lines. Through some of the "miles" in our races we coast, feeling great. And then through some of the "miles" in our race we feel tired, worn down, busted and broken, but we have to keep going. You have to keep pressing because what's on the other side of those hard miles is victory!

I once said "I could never be a runner" and I once said "I could never run a half-marathon".  Friends, we have to push through those "I can't's" and "I could never's".  When you press through those, you begin to tap into a whole new world. You being to see your dreams come to life. Whatever your "run" may look like, you can do it. You can press through the junk and find victory. You can succeed at your dreams. Press in and press hard. You can overcome those obstacles because you ARE and overcomer. I will be right here cheering you along!

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So here's to that one time I ran a half marathon and it changed my life.



2 comments:

  1. There's not much better than crossing the finish line! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  2. the park is Klyde Warren park, awesome addition to downtown Dallas. congrats on your run!

    ReplyDelete

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