13.1 used to be just a number

13.1 - there is a sticker on my car now.  Before Saturday, December 3rd, it was just a number.  It had no meaning.  Today, it does.  It means I can do things I never dreamed I would do.  It means I am stronger than I ever thought I was.  It means that we really can do anything we put our minds to doing.  Before last week the most I had run EVER was about 6.5 miles.  That was my goal, to run 6.5 and then walk the remaining miles and run when I could.  I just wanted to cross the finish line.

Suzanna Turner Flotta, Jennifer Guillot Goudeau and Monica Lejeune Mitchell talked me into running the St. Jude 1/2 Marathon, but the truth of the idea that I would actually run the whole thing was non-existent.  I didn't know I could.  It's living out the cliche "You don't know until you try."  I did much better than trying.  I won.  Ok, I didn't really win the race, I think I placed 3000 or something, maybe it was 30,000, it wasn't important.  What mattered was that I finished this race.  I ran across the finish line.  The adrenaline that was flowing in my body is indescribable.  The goal that I once thought was almost unattainable was reached.

Not only did I set a standard for myself, but I found a will and a strength inside of me that I just didn't think could be found.  I learned that running  is completely mental.  My feet started to hurt at mile 4 which was due to my shoes.  I pushed through all 9.1 that followed.  When I reached mile 11, I had the energy but my hips and quad muscles were hurting.  I kept telling myself that I could do it.  I kept saying over and over again that I could finish this.  I was not going to give up.  Once I finally passed mile 11 it was hard to determine what hurt more, walking or running, well at this point "jogging."  So I pushed through and "finished the race, I fought the good fight."  I think I made a lot of people proud, at least I made myself proud.

I'm also proud to announce that most of my pants are too big.  Financially it's a bit of a burden but a nice one to have.
I just can't describe the feeling, it was truly the most amazing feeling.  It is an accomplishment that no one can take away from me.  I'll forever have it in my head and my heart.  And come March, I'll have one more I hope. So when you see me running in a light green shirt, let me know if it "makes my butt look FAST!"   I have a feeling that it does.