Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 11:15 am I completed
my 9th half marathon. I stood at the start line in Brooklyn, NY
along with 17,499 other people and ran 13.1 miles through the streets of
Brooklyn in the Inaugural Rock n Roll Half Marathon. I completed the course in 3:17 (two minutes
slower than I wanted) but I did it, despite fighting a cold the five days
leading up to the race. It was the perfect running day, not too cold and not
too hot, sunny with a nice breeze. As my friend Moira and I would always
describe these days when we ran cross country in high school, “perfect apple
picking weather”! I ran the first 8 miles and kept a nice pace. Mile 9 -11 I
did a run walk and started to slow down a bit. The last two miles were tough.
My plantar fasciitis was acting up and I couldn’t wait for the race to end. At
that point in the race you see everyone who finished ahead of you with their
medals on walking to their cars or the subway and it makes you want to finish
even more.
My friend Lynne was waiting for me at the finish.
She was a trooper; she got out of bed at 4:30 am and headed to the start line
with me. We took the subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn, the Q train, with so
many other runners who had the same crazy idea as I did. When we sat on the
train the nerves started to take over. I didn’t know anyone else running this
race, what made me decide to pick this race? (Well I know why I picked this
race but that is another story for another time). I was nervous that the head
cold that I had would really affect me during the race. Did I train enough for
this race? I had doubts and fears running through my head as the train moved
its way to Brooklyn. What was I doing?
We arrived in Brooklyn, walked towards Prospect
Park, stood in the porta potty lines and then said good bye to Lynne. I headed
to the security lines where every runner had to pass through a metal detector.
I miss the good old days where we used to feel safe on a race course and
trusted the people around us. After I
made it through security I headed to the corals where we stood and waited. Due
to so many people running the race, there were delays in the security lines and
also clearing the course. I finally started at 7:57 am.
Team In Training (TNT), the endurance fundraising
program of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, had teams of runners and
walkers there. I worked for TNT for five years and of course I had to talk to
as many participants as possible. I met runners from Savannah, GA and Portland
Oregon as well as many from New York and New Jersey. It brought me back to a
place when I was first introduced to the endurance running world. It brought me back to a time when I loved
running as many races as possible. And I couldn’t wait to cheer on anyone who
had a goal and a dream!
When I got home on Monday, October 12th I
hung my medal with my other half marathon medals and realized it had been 2
years and 8 months since my last half marathon. I couldn’t believe it had been
that long. I had not planned that long of a hiatus from running but it
happened. It felt good to be out there again. I don’t want to lose that feeling
or desire again. Although my wallet and schedule don’t let me run as many races
as I want, I would like to run as many as I can. As of today my next half will
be on April 3rd. And as I train I want to get stronger, physically
and mentally. I can’t just talk a big game; I have to live it every day. My
health is so important to my goals of wanting to continue running and
completing more triathlons. It is not just about the miles on the road but
about how I treat myself.
While I was running this past weekend, I saw a woman
running for Team In Training. She and I would pass each other. At this moment I
cannot remember what chapter she was from but I do remember one thing as clear
as day. Written across the back of her jersey was the word “Survivor”. This
woman had survived a blood cancer. She was out on the course completing 13.1
miles because she was alive. She looked cancer in the eyes and said you aren’t
going to win. I became a bit emotional at that moment not for her but for me. I
realized how often I ignored my disease, there were so many days I won’t look
it in the eye because I don’t want to face it. Why didn’t I look at my disease
the same way this woman looked at her cancer and tell it you aren’t going to
win today? Why do I let the diabetes get the best of me? I am not the type of
person who likes to let others win … so why am I letting the diabetes win? When
will I wake up and begin to fight for my life?
