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...again...I was a really fast sprinter as
a kid, could even outrun most of the boys, but no long distance
for me due to childhood asthma...but now I was 44 and hadn't
run a step in nearly 25 yrs...after a year I could only run
one mile non stop as I was plagued by multiple knee problems,
a stress fracture(twice) in my femur, and hyperventilation
I decided maybe my running days were going to stay in my childhood,
so I became a walker....with an occasional sprint...4 miles
5 times week rain, shine, sweltering heat, sleet storms...6
months ago my daughter told me she was going to train to run
the Motorola Marathon and why didn't I do it with her?...yeah,
right...well, maybe I COULD at least train...maybe I at least
run my 4 miles...so, that became my goal...Kris and I joined,
came home and pulled up the schedules on the net...we looked
ahead incredulously at the months to come...8 miles...12 miles...18...21
freakin miles!!...whatever!...but as the months passed I continued
to be amazed at how the body could be trained for endurance...my
knees were a constant problem, as was my IT band...but even
they seemed to gain endurance...by the time we did the 21...my
kness held out until mile 15, and I walked the rest...I knew
I could finish the marathon...the next Sat my knees were not
too bad...week before the big event I walked my Sat miles,
wore only running shoes all week, rested from training the
last 4 days...wanted to really baby those knees...fast forward
race day...you all know the feeling, so pumped I knew I'd
run the whole race, and beat my projected time...here we go,
this is SO easy, I'm SO pumped...less than one freakin mile
into the race my left knee started shooting pain..NO WAY!!!...this
is NOT happening to me...by mile 5 the pain was persistent...I
choked back tears, this is so unfair!!...I switched to a walk/run
mode...by mile 9 there was no way I can even walk this to
the finish...but I'm not ready to quit yet...I call my son
(hey, there is a good reason to pack the cell phone, I'm no
dummy) to meet me at mile 11 with an additional knee brace...I
spent 20+ minutes screwing around with knee braces, on, off,
removing shoes each time...finally decided to wear 2 braces
on the bad knee...by mile 15 the pain was intense and non
relenting...the only way I could tolerate it was to walk with
my knee in a locked position...I never wavered from my 14
min pace clear up until the end...by mile 20 I was practically
delerious with pain, I wanted to quit with every step...no
way in hell...by mile 23, I had to keep reminding myself to
not stop... at 24 I was so focused everything around me was
a blur...the last mile all I could think of was where is the
freakin finish line, and my medal...I picked up the pace,
ran in the last meters...before I crossed the finish line
I got down in my belly and kissed it! ha!...6 freaking hours
and 50 minutes!...childbirth didn't take that long!...I stood
up and someone handed me a piece of paper...I looked at it
in disbelief...'we ran out of medals, blah, blah'...I was
in more pain then I thought, I'm hallucinating that they ran
out of medals...endorphins are amazing...did 17 miles in excruciating
pain, and the second I crossed the finish line I couldn't
walk another step...of course the first words out of my mouth
(other than 'whadda you mean YOU RAN OUT OF MEDALS) were ''I
will NEVER do this again"...and of course by the next
day I was already talking about training for next year...after
all, I still had to RUN a marathon...but you know, a funny
thing happened on the way to the finish line...I was, in truth,
given a bonus that day, I already knew I was capable of not
only running the race that day, but actually finishing faster
than I had anticipated...but a twist of fate showed me what
I was really made of...they say a marathon is not really a
race, but a test of endurance...so I figure my personal best
on Feb 17, 2002 put me in the real winners circle...not too
shabby for a 51 year old grandmother of four...of course I
jumped out of an airplane on my 50th birthday...thinking about
the triathlon for 52...
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