Marathoning

"Marathoning - The triumph of desire over reason" I saw this quote on the back of a girl's shirt right before the first gun shot went off to sound the start of my first marathon.

I think it was Christ's way of giving me focus right before I took on the hardest physical goal of my life so far. The plan was to meet up with my family at mile 18 and ever step I took that brought me closer to them, the more I wanted/needed to see their faces.

Truth be told when I saw Charlie running towards me with the 18 mile marker in sight I wanted to burst into tears. My mind was racing..."Why did I do this to myself?", "What was I thinking?!" And as I fell into his arms and felt him catch me I knew I could press on. This was a test of desire over reason. I wanted to finish more than I wanted to quit. After I made up my mind the rest of the race was, at the risk of being cliché , a breeze. I knew I was strong enough. Not just for the marathon but for all of the challenges I know are ahead.
There were all kinds of people running two Sundays ago and all of them had their own goals to achieve. Many of the people who ran with our team were sick or going through treatment. Their determination and strength will forever be an inspiration for me. I do not have to worry about chemo treatments keeping me from my next run; my only a
affliction is laziness. But that does not mean I will be healthy forever and I would want someone to run for me if the time came.

Through training with TNT and on my own I have run over 200 miles these past few months and made just as many, if not more, memories. The people and the purpose of this run has blessed me beyond my wildest expectations. The early Friday nights followed by even earlier Saturday mornings were all worth it when I crossed that finish line.