I am thankful for that process. Tonight I arrived at my last Tuesday practice before my race. My pace group was running farther tonight than I had scheduled on the final week taper. Jamie one of my coaches made sure I found a group that would be running my pace. Her words stick with me on almost every run. " Don't push the pace", " Trust the training program", "you can do this". She really doesn't know how much that has empowered me. I would remember a former coach- Steve Everhart- coaching much the same way. He never let us down. And neither has Jamie.
I got into my group and ran with these two wonderful ladies. I shared with them how nervous I was. Joan, our pace leader said, "I learned a long time ago, that when I just didn't worry about it, I was a whole lot less nervous". Those were the words I needed to hear tonight. Because the self doubts were still running through my head. And by the time our 60 minutes was over, I felt a whole lot more confident.
It's funny how our thoughts can get the best of us sometimes. I am so grateful to have had a mother that would encourage every athletic endeavor I ever entered. She was a true role model for women young and old. Tackling every athletic opportunity, or for that matter every opportunity that she could, mom taught us commitment, perseverance, and tenacity. Which is the perfect segway into Part 2.
Part 2 of The Twenty-Six Things I Learned Running a Marathon. By Joyce Wyrostek
Preparation
Running for me became a
positive addiction, I call it positive because as I began running about six
miles a day I began to change; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. During the hour it took me to run each day I
had time to contemplate life and all the things that come with it…it was truly
a time to clear my head and get a good perspective on what it was all
about. I was stronger and didn’t have
any of the health issues that many of my peers had and I used the time to
memorize scripture by writing verses on 3X5 cards and carrying them with me.
Over the course of the next few years I participated in several races that gave me goals to work toward. Most of them were 10K’s, nine were marathons and I set a goal to one day qualify for Boston. That goal was more than I bargained for and rather out of my reach, because at the time the qualifying time for women was too beyond my pace range.
Twenty five years after my
last attempt in 1985 my forty year old daughter called me with the news that
she would be running in the Boston Marathon and I could watch her progress in
the run by logging on to the site with her number. I was in awe that she had even qualified, and
envious that she was actually going to run it.
She did well and I was so proud of her and just a bit jealous at the
same time. She called me and said, “You know mom, you could probably make it
now because they have increased the qualifying time for women your age.” Her
excitement was contagious and I knew somewhere I had a list with a goal that
had never been scratched off.
Perhaps I should have gone to
a therapist at that time to get advice on how to accept unfinished goals, move
on and make new ones. Hind sight is
always 20/20 so they say.
Seasoned runners and experts
in the field recommend sixteen weeks of preparation before going the distance
of the 26.2 mile run. I had plenty of time so I printed out a schedule, began
training, and paid the outlandish entry fee for Grandma’s Marathon to be held
in Duluth, Minnesota. My commitment was
made. Another quality about me that
might suggest therapy (once a commitment is made there is no backing out).
The training went very well
for me, I went to Texas and ran in the Race for the Cure with my oldest
daughter and her family, I ran the 5K in 27 minutes, and placed first in my age
group with second place trailing me by four minutes. I ran a half marathon in under two hours and
was feeling very confident about making the qualifying time for the
Boston.
There are some things in life
that are impossible to explain and just when you think everything is going your
way, the unexpected happens. Six weeks
prior to the marathon I was enjoying a training run when my right hamstring
seized up causing enough searing pain to stop me dead just a quarter mile into
it. My mind was flooded with a number of
possibilities and probabilities; first and foremost was, “what have I done?”
that was followed by, “will it heal?”, and, “will it heal in time?”
The healing process was slow,
I stopped running for three full weeks and concentrated my training on other
exercises that I could do without pain to my right leg. I knew I wasn’t fully recovered when I hit
the road running again, but I donned a brace and was able to put in some short
runs without too much discomfort. I had
three weeks to get ready and did not want to do serious damage to the leg so I
made the decision that all prior serious training would have to suffice. In reality it was better than I had ever
trained for any of my previous marathons.
The question was, “would it be enough?”
I made the trip from Arkansas
to Minnesota a week prior to the day of Grandma’s and went out with my daughter
and a friend on Monday morning…one quarter mile into the run my hamstring
threatened to tear apart so as not to cause injury I walked back to the house
telling the others to go along without me.
For 5 days I doctored the leg
and stayed off running all together. An
internal battle was going on; I didn’t want to forfeit my entry fee…which by
the way was a whole lot more than it had been 25 years previously. Several people in my inner circle were
excited with me to finally reach my shelved goal and I was determined. Plus I had spent all those hours training.
Just before the start of the
run I walked across the parking lot and felt pain in my leg and considered the
possibility of not starting. It just
wasn’t in me to quit before I started so I did what I could to warm up and
prepare my mind for the challenge ahead.
I knew I would not be able to finish the run but since I was here and my
daughter was also there to make the run and support me I would do my best and
forget the rest.
That’s the back story to my
topic the 26 lessons I learned running a marathon. The lessons are not simply lessons of one
run, they are life lessons on endurance, fortitude, stamina, and working
through the mental challenges we face every day when life takes us on
unexpected journeys.
Lesson numbers 1 – Decisions are never made in a
vacuum. Only one person needs to know
of an outlandish decision such as this and the word spreads like wild
fire. Several people had come along side
to offer me support; people who loved and cared about me. Then there were others watching out of
curiosity, they were probably certain I had lost my mind in rekindling such a
vision at my age. I wasn’t sure if they
were wishing me success or failure. I
Guess it depends on their age, if I failed it would be a good excuse for them
to stay on the couch. If I succeeded
many would still stay in the comfort of their reclined position. However, a few
would declare, “If she can do it so can I.” And there would be a dash to the
store for running shoes. Maybe I could
get a number and capitalize with a commission.
I work with a fitness coach
who had encouraged me through the training and the healing process, his last
words to me were, “You’ve got this. All
you have to do is finish.” I tried to explain that my purpose for running this
race was to qualify for Boston but he seemed unconcerned about whether I would
make a qualifying time, finishing to him would be quite okay. I knew he would be watching my progress on
the internet and cheering me on. All
these people tuned into my life at the moment added pressure to my resolve.
Sometimes I think it would be better if I just quietly met my crazy challenges
and waited until they were over before I let anyone know.
We may think when we make a
decisions it has no effect on anyone other than ourselves; I don’t think that is
true. I’ve heard that at any given
season in our life there are at least forty people watching how we face
different challenges. Our response is often the determining factor to the
action they will follow.
John Donne wrote in his poem For Whom the Bell Tolls, “No man is an
island”. In the poem he iterates how we
are intricately connected to a far reaching band of people. What we say and do will have an effect on
someone else which in turn spreads out like a pebble thrown into a calm lake,
the ripples circle outwardly in endless procession. It’s possibly for this
reason we are instructed in the greatest book ever written to laugh with those
who laugh and weep with those who weep. With this in mind, as you read through
the rest of these lessons, feel my pain and enjoy my victories because they are
equally yours.
Lesson number 2 – Races, like life are filled with
difficult choices. The first three
miles were almost over and I was doing fairly well, I had paced myself so I
would have enough energy to complete the entire 26.2 miles. But, right after I crossed the three mile marker
my leg sent me a sharp reminder it was not healed. I fully understood why the paramedic van was
so close to the start of the race, and then I wondered if this would be a
proper time to abort in case I had done some serious damage to the area causing
me the pain.
I had anticipated this
obstacle but until that moment I had not pondered the choice I would have to
make so soon in the run. I vacillated between going for it and quitting over
and over in my mind. Finally I chose to
at least finish the first half of the race.
I would simply have to run through the pain, surely I wasn’t going to
die and eventually my leg would heal!
At least that’s what I told
myself as I saw a runner much younger than I hobbling over to the paramedic
station. He was holding his right
hamstring and fighting tears. He
obviously wasn’t going to finish the race, what in the world made it so
important to me. Call it what you will, I just knew I needed to work harder before I gave up (my give up point would
be half way).
Most face life with optimism
until they’re confronted with difficulty.
It is important not to let anything stand in the way of accomplishing
the purpose for which you engage you passion.
When difficulties cause pain, the tendency is to focus on the pain
instead of what set you on this journey.
Pain or even the fear of pain, regardless of the source may halt the
progress toward life’s highest potential.
In my favorite book it says
that before our life was being fashioned by the creator our days were already
written with a clearly designed destiny.
It’s found in Psalms 139 if you care to read it for yourself. With this in mind, there is no guarantee that
we will not experience troubles but the creator is also the healer and he fixes
all of our messes when we turn our life over to him.
I intend one day to stand
before my creator and hear him say the words, “Well done my good and faithful
servant, you have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of
many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
That accomplishment does not
happen for anyone that hasn’t pressed through the challenges set before them.
Not all challenges that produce halting pain are physical, for that matter some
emotional pain can be more difficult to endure.
Regardless of the cause, to rise up from the bed of pain is a
choice.
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