So yesterday was finally the day i ran the Dallas Marathon. Major anticipation built for Months as i trained and prepared for this. Now i just want to give you a little insight on what the day looked like.
First of all, the environment was off the charts. People were cheering, holding up signs, and live music was all over the place. Our bibs had our names on them and people would cheer us on by name! I sorta felt like a celebrity! there were thousands of people running either the half, full, or relay. And like anyone who has ever run a race, you know your adrenaline is pumping 90 to nothin! It’s so hard not to go fast at the start like EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING. Thank the lord for the Apple Watch that kept my pace the whole time. I knew What splits i wanted to stay around and religiously followed it. So this race offered a pretty cool feature in a tracker app. It tracked where i was at certain points in the race. Friends and family were following me on the app so i knew i couldn’t suck!! Corral C takes off and we head right down downtown Dallas toward the beautiful jail (kidding) and make our way across town into Highland Park. At this point we are only about 5 miles in or so (i can’t remember exactly) and i was feeling great. Legs were moving, wasn’t out of breath, people were cheering, houses were beautiful; everything to keep someone’s focus off the race. I pass my parents and husband, Chris, as i was coming down a steep hill at mile 10 where i was still feeling awesome! I smiled and waved and gave a thumbs up because i was feeling beyond great! I remember thinking to myself “man this isn’t as bad as what people say”! Now i knew it would get harder because my 20 mile training run was very painful, but anything could happen right? At about this point we start our journey around white rock lake...... this was hands down the HARDEST part of the race. I’ll tell you why. Because we came up to the lake and all i could think was “ok once we get around the lake we will be almost done with the race. It’ll go by so fast” ok no one told me White Rock Lake was the largest lake in the world!! (Not really but dang it felt like it) this part of the course was completely unshaded so the sun was just beaming down on us (by the time i got there it had warmed up a lot). Runners were walking, cramping up, stretching, throwing up, etc. it was very difficult to keep going when my body was hurting too! But i knew if i walked for even just a few seconds, i would’ve screwed myself for the rest of the race. So i kept going. Step by step.
There were little hills all along the course which wasn’t terrible. I had run many hills in my lifetime so i was used to it. i stared at the ground the whole way up, but around mile 21 there was a HUGE hill. I mean mountainous. I had just passed my family again at mile 20 and tried to smile and wave but really didn’t feel like it (thankfully they understood so i didn’t look like a complete b word). Right when i turned the corner where they were standing, i looked up and saw this hill. THE HILL. The hill that can make or break a runner. Every. Single. Person. In front of me was WALKING up this hill. I’m not exaggerating here. Every single one. So i put my head down, looked at my feet, and kept trucking along. I dared not walk. I made it up the hill after a few “shoot this isn’t the top yet?”s crossed my mind. This was now the final 5 miles of the race. And i felt every bit of it. My joints hurt. My legs hurt. My muscles hurt. My camelbak was out of water. I was riding the struggle bus big time. I just kept telling myself i could do it. I knew i could. I believed i could. By this time i couldn’t tell you where we were or what buildings we past. I could tell you though what the asphalt in front of me looked like? Mile 23 came up fairly quickly. “Only three miles left. This is the easy part!” So maybe that wasn’t 100% true. Those were the longest three miles of my life. They felt like eternity! I fought back tears from welling up in my eyes as the pain worsened. I wasn’t injured or anything.. just the pain of running for 25 miles. It hurts every inch of you. Even your mind! It’s a battle. Not only physically but mentally. Your mind is telling you to stop and take a break. Just for a second. But you can’t. I couldn’t.
Then there it was. The most beautiful sign i had ever seen... the sign read “26”. And i knew i had done it. I conjured up all the energy i had left in me and ran as fast as i could across the finish line!! Gosh was it hard to not break down and cry that last home stretch. From pain. From happiness. From relief. From a huge sense of accomplishment. I had done it! I couldn’t believe it! It was finally all over.
Now i did NOT immediately think “i can’t wait to do this again”. Just like when you have a baby. You don’t come out of labor thinking “wow that was fun. I can’t wait to do that again”. But a year later you don’t necessarily forget the pain, but it’s definitely masked by the joy your child brings you! Same thing. Yes i just compared a marathon to child birth. It seemed pretty similar to me. I must say though, I COULD NOT have done this without my family. My husband who was so supportive and had so much faith in me the whole time. My mom who graciously followed me on her bike during my long runs when she definitely didn't have to! My dad, who once was a GREAT runner back in the day, who gave me awesome advice and tips to make it through. And my amazing in laws who told me I was crazy but definitely had so much faith in me from the start and who have always taken care of us no matter what. The biggest moral to my story here isn’t go run a marathon.. no. It is though, to chase your dreams no matter how crazy they seem to you or other people. Don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t capable, you’re wasting your time, or that you’re crazy. Because you aren’t! In fact, if people tell you it’s impossible or crazy then you know you should do it. Big dreams give big rewards. And if you ain’t dreaming big then you ain’t dreaming at all!
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