The Aftermath

It’s been almost two weeks now since the Aramco half marathon, and I have had some time to think. I have been a little hard on myself about the finish at the Aramco, and I understand that some might think that just crossing the finish is a great accomplishment, I heard “I could never run 13.1 miles” or like my husband has said “13 miles means you get in a car and drive”. The truth is that I finished last year’s race about 10 minutes faster than I did this year. The more I thought about what happen the more upset I was about the whole ordeal.

Then last night I was getting after my son for not passing his Astronomy test, I was upset because he has the tendency of doing well in a class and getting so confident that he doesn’t study for the test or doesn’t use all his resources at hand...

That’s when it sank in, I was so sure that the half marathon would get done, I just ran the La Port Half only a month and a half before and somewhere along the way I stopped training as well as I should have. I was a little disappointed in myself to say the least, but it’s time to – let’s just say “Let it go”.

The whole year leading up to this race, although a not so great race for me, was a thing of beauty for all of us. The experiences that we shared throughout the year have been great. The experiences that we are going to face this year will be epic :)

 

All in all we ran, in the sun, under cloudy skies, in the middle of thunderstorms, in the heat, humidity and cold- we ran- tall, short, skinny, not so skinny, dark haired, red, single, moms, hardworking, wives, juggling home, kids and work – we ran – to keep our self’s sane, when we were stressed, overwhelmed, heartbroken, insecure, happy, sad, elated, mad and unsure – we still ran. We ran together while miles apart, in races at different paces, hundreds of miles logged, and while a hard run felt horrible on the bad days we felt stronger because of them, not just because of the run but because we were still doing something we never thought we could do. The strong we are physically makes us realize that we are stronger in everyday things that require no physical strength at all. We all have been empowered not only by our runs but by each other, I draw closer to my faith not just in me but in God and not only in running but in every other corner in my life. This year was awesome and the girls and I are beautiful, a different kind of beauty not measured by looks alone, or pounds gained or lost, not by pace or miles but by the inner determination to do what we do despite our circumstances and the ability to encourage and help each other lace up once again.

 

The aftermath of all of this? Is more. I have plans to do more with “Running in Faith” from monthly group runs to a 2^nd annual 5K. Ultimately I have long term goals, fitness, health and running. I am signing up for the Chevron Marathon next year and that means a different kind of training and clean(ish) eating – the struggle is real my friends because the comfort zone is real!! So the slate is cleaned off and it’s time to lace up and of course I hope you’ll catch a few miles with us :)