Marathon Weekend

Well, here we are!  I'm sitting on the 162 train to NYC.  We are expected to arrive around 9:30am.  I've wanted to sit down and write about my weeks of training, but found I was too emotional, too tired, too whatever....  The past few months have been a whirlwind.  Short runs, long runs, endorphin heightened bliss and emotional falls.  Too many things to write about; Obscure injuries, aches, pains, lots of advil, KT tape, new shoes, long showers, 4am alarms, energy chews and goo.  The training was NOTHING of what I had originally expected and more than anything I could have asked for.

There were 6 of us sitting at that table when we decided we would run this thing.  I had a plan, I had a track, I knew what I was getting into.  I felt balanced.  I was prepared to take on the challenge and commit myself fully to the training that was needed.  My team was strong and we were all excited and ready to hit this goal!  Then life happened and I had to learn to make adjustments.  I lost my pace partner (she had to make the call that this was not her race), an emotional fall to say the least, but I learned a lot about myself and my own strengths through the trials that transpired.   I found myself with a heavy workload and a lot of unexpected stress.  The marathon was no longer the center of my focus, but instead had become something that I was trying to "fit in" to a very busy life.  For many weeks, I felt "locked", like I couldn't break open and enjoy the training.  I was frustrated with myself and I felt very isolated and alone in those feelings.  However, I was starting to notice that I wasn't the only one making adjustments.  The truth is, when you sign up to run a marathon, life doesn't pause.  Stress doesn't go on hold just because you think the marathon should be your focus.  Life just keeps moving and as I looked to my teammates, I realized that we were all learning our strengths and we were all pushing through and it wasn't just miles on the road where we were trying to just put one foot in front of the other.  

At times, it felt it was all too much.  It was in those times, I looked to my team.  I'd cry, or they'd cry, we'd talk, sometimes I'd just listen.  Sometimes we would laugh ourselves silly and I won't even try to explain why we chose to talk about certain topics.  I took out my feelings on hills.  I looked deep in my thoughts for peace during a long steady stretch.  I appreciated quiet mornings and the ability to tune it all out and just run.  Sometimes, life was so much that I couldn't run, but many times I laced up anyway and tried.  They weren't always good runs, but I didn't give up.  Even though I wanted to.  

Friendships stregthened, perhaps because when our strength was waning, we looked to each other for support.  Even those that aren't running the marathon offered support and became extensions of our team.  The relationships deepened as the miles increased and I found that even in my silent moments, my heart was heard..  

So here we are...sitting on the train headed to NY.  There are too many feelings to express and I find myself full.  My heart, my head, my bladder (lots of coffee this morning!)  Thank you Team Sole Society for everything.  Let's do this!