Lewis Carrol said, Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop." This has always been one of my favorite quotes. It is very powerful in such a simple way. You might remember that last August I started running. I followed the Couch to 5K program, and was running 2 miles when I finished instead of 3. I was proud as hell for just that.. and have worked up to 3 miles since. It's hard to run around here for any distance, and not do a bunch of hills. On my 3 mile route, I run up 3 hills and that's already 3 too many. I try and run 3x a week, which is easier in the summer, although I enjoy running a lot more when it's cooler. I have a busy schedule and daylight working against me.
In September, the band boosters sponsored a post-half marathon cookout that I worked at. Several people I know ran in the race, and one of my co-workers who is also a runner worked at it with me. She mentioned that in October there was a race for a local teacher who is a runner who has come down with lung cancer and asked if I'd consider running. She told me it was 4 miles, part of the half marathon they were running that day, and considerably flat. It was a month away and I thought, sure why not.
I haven't really told anyone about it.. because secretly... I'm scared. I found out it's really 4.4 miles, which is further than I've run since I was 18. I'm told once you get past 2, the rest are a piece of cake.. but it's still scary to think of. I don't care about speed, but what if I can't finish? I thought if I didn't tell anyone, I could still back out. In fact, I haven't even turned in my registration yet. I plan to do that the day of the race.
Today, I told our class for my sharing. I told them about the race, and how far it was and how I got asked to do it and why... and then I told them I was scared. I told them that on Monday (we have school) I would come back and report how I did. I told them.. so that I would have someone to hold me accountable. Someone who would be disappointed if I didn't follow through. Someone who would cheer me on and not care if I didn't finish.. but just be proud that I tried. Nothing beats a class full of children for that. There's no turning back now. I don't want to disappoint them.
2 comments:
if you have to walk for a few steps to catch your breath, and then run again, that's OK! I know you can do it!
Good for you! Remember, if you can run 2 miles, you can run 3. And if you can run 3, you can run 4. And if you can run 4, you can definitely run 4.4! The spirit & atmosphere of the race will make it seem much shorter, too!
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