It's been 4 days since The Flying Pig Half Marathon and I believe my legs have finally thawed out. Walking around this week has been challenging. Going down steps? Yeah, it was more like tumbling down. Imagine elephant legs. Nothing bent or moved. It was just two big pieces of "something" trying to carry a buck and some change around the city of Dallas. Not pretty. But it was proof that I earned this past Sunday's medal.
I was hooting and hollering after the San Francisco Half Marathon, but this one.....Jajaja. Everyone warned me there were hills. "Be careful. Lots of hills. Take it slow." Their caution wouldn't hit me until mile six when I could see the first incline and heard other runners say, "See you at the top. Good luck. Okay, you are on your own now." Hugs were offered. I looked at Patrick (who was kind enough to run with me) and said, I think this is where it starts. 3 miles of hills. And so it was. Each man for himself....from mile 6 - 9. The top. 900 ft above sea level.
And as I walked, jogged the hills my sister, Sonia, a mother of four, and with almost no Race Day training, would climb the hill like Rocky. One foot in front of the other. No time for fear. No time for second guessing.
She would simply JUST DO IT!
It was hard to take at face value the cheerleader's words, "You are almost there. No more hills." Because every time they said it, a few minutes later, I would prove them wrong. I wasn't almost there. What was there, was another hill. But finally, at mile 9.5, everything felt easy. Everything was down hill and running went back to the version of truth that I know. Sonia would finish at an impressive 2:06:51. HOLLA! And Patrick plus me would finish just south of 30 minutes later. Definitely not a personal record, but a personal best considering I got out of the Dallas flat land and not only tackled, but survived, the hills of Cincinnati. Hands down a tough course. And hands down, a beautiful life lesson.
You see, what I realized about this course was that we all face life obstacles, challenges, hills. Some, like San Francisco, go up and come back down just as quickly. No material pain. Others, like Cincinnati, last a long time. But when you have someone next to you, or when you know that you have to give it all your fight, like Rocky, the pain becomes easier. It becomes a little more manageable knowing that at the finish line, we did out best. We gave the race, and life, everything that we had. WE DID NOT QUIT! And that, my friends, makes us a winner.
And for the crew this past weekend, we were so blessed to have the amazing brother, Robbie, and Tabatha's father, Cruz, not only along the course, but at the finish line to celebrate our efforts.
As some of you have heard, I don't need a repeat of this course. But should life throw me a hill, I'll be happy to take it on in the same fashion that I did this past weekend. With someone right next to me, with someone ahead of me to model strength, and with someone at the finish line to know that no matter what happens, they will be always be there for me! The Flying Pig Half Marathon - The Hero Lies In All Of Us!
And a special shout out to Patrick, Sonia, Tabitha, and Robbie for playing Paparazzi all weekend. I forgot my camera so the above is a hodge-podge of everyone's pictures from Race Weekend. Just another example that life is better when we live it together! Holla!