SO....I ran my 18 mile, long run on Saturday morning. I was so relieved that, like Ms Sarah Bradford told me, easier than my 17 mile run. I thought I was going to die when I did 17 miles! It made me question if I could really do it-a whole marathon, if I could barely do 17. It was awful, not to mention the most painful run I have ever done. When it was over I left sick to my stomach, almost like the flu had hit me.
With that being said, Friday night I was restless anticipating how I was going to complete 18 miles. I was up about 4-5 times that night and when I did fall asleep I was having anxious dreams of running, then my alarm went off before I felt I even fell asleep, 5:15am. Off I went.... surprisingly enough, I felt good and strong throughout almost the whole run. Lesson learned...you don't fail until you stop trying...marathon here I come!
I heard something in church once. Fear is one of Satan's tools in keeping you from reaching your full potential. He wants you to stop, he wants you to give up. When I was in high school, struggling through my teenage years, my mom handed me a book; "Feel the Fear And Do It Anyway". I can't remember what the book was about, but I have always remembered the title and whenever I feel afraid of something; I try remember to take it in, recognize the emotion for what it is, fear....then do it Anyways!
That is awesome Lea. I was thinking about you yesterday as I was doing my six miles. I try to overcome that little voice too, like when I'm going up a hill and my body says, "Just stop and walk to the top," but I know if I do it this time, it'll be okay to do it next time and I'll never grow from that struggle. Funny how many life lessons there are to be learned from running, huh? I look forward to reading more about your training, and of course the BIG DAY, even if I get morning sickness and drop off along the way! You're a total inspiration to me. Keep going!
ReplyDeleteGlad you've got a blog, Lea! I'll add you to my reader. Great job on your training, too. That's so crazy!
ReplyDeleteThanks B! It's amazing what you can train your body to do.
ReplyDeleteLisa~ There's so many of life's lessons in running. Another one is when you run long distances (you prob know) you go through waves of feeling like you can run forever to feeling like you can barely keep going to feeling like you can run forever again. Just like life's highs and lows. I'm not a meditator, but running is the one thing I can do to clear my head and be stress-free. It's also a time when I can workout solutions to my problems. I love it!
Awesome Lea! And so true what you've said about running. And fear too. I think I need to read that book. On the tough days (like hill-day-with-a-jogging-stroller, my personal favorite), I tell myself that I'm only making myself stronger, and that it will pay off when things REALLY get tough. And so it is with life I think. You are going to do awesome because you've DONE the training. In fact, I think you are going to be stoked the entire race because you're FINALLY DOING IT!!!!
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