Today was my 6 mile run.
Six miles. A 10K.
As I ran with my husband at my side, I
thought of when my daughter's dance coach was training for a
half-marathon and was running 6 miles. At the time I thought she was
quite an athlete. Six miles is quite a run. Oh, to be young again, I
had thought at the time.
As I ran, I thought of the kindergarten
teacher I subbed for a couple of years ago so she could go run her
half-marathon. Amazing, I had thought. Who does such things?
As I ran, I thought of my daughter
running her 10K when I ran my first official 5K. Of course I always
think she's amazing, and that day was no exception. I thought of my
daughter's half-marathon, the one I signed her up for because it
touted amazing scenery, not thinking about the hills involved, the
one where the heavens opened up and dumped on them at the start, and
she came out of it smiling.
Today I ran 6 miles.
It's not a huge deal. I've run two 10Ks
now, so I've done it before. The difference is that at that time it was the end of my
training. Now it's a benchmark toward something greater - my own
half-marathon.
Running has taught me a lot about
self-limiting thoughts. I look back on all the things I didn't think
I could do that I am now doing. I reminded my husband (at around mile
5) how this all began. My son, then a 5th grader, signed
up for our local 5k. I saw his friend's mom sitting on the sidelines
and asked her if she was running next year. She laughed and shook her
head no. Some switch in my head flipped and I thought, why not? Not
for her, but for me? Why not? Why couldn't I run this race also?
There was no reason. (Well, except for the fact that the race is run
on a parade course in front of everyone from my town.) I started
running the next week. If you want to read about that, you'll have to
go back to my first post.
The important thing is that now I'm
doing what I once thought was impossible.
Today I ran 6 miles. Two years ago, I
never would have believed I'd be doing this.
“It always seems impossible until its done.”
Nelson Mandela
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