As I read thru each post one by one, I remembered how scared I was with each new venture I came to, but I made it thru each one and move on to the next venture and the next and the next. I feel running is like life, you start the race feeling excited, nervous and may even have to pee a little.
The national anthem is sung and you feel a since of encouragement and reminded why you set out for this journey. As you make you way to the start with the mobs of people you zone in on yourself and move forward, unsure but somewhat aware of how tough it could be, but you move forward one foot in front of the other slowly and steadily, as you think to yourself,
"Breath in...breath out...left foot....right foot...head up...loose arms and look forward"
The first few steps you tell yourself, this is no problem, I have trained for this, I can do this. You want to shout:
"HEY!!! HEY YOU!!...look at me! Look at what I am doing! I am running this race and I am doing it all on my own, no one can stop me now"
Along the side lines family, friends and strangers are cheering you on! You feel so proud of yourself, you feel belief and in that moment no one can tell you different.
You get half way thru the race and the rush of endorphins are starting to wear off. The reality of what you are doing has come to full light. You may start to doubt yourself, wonder why you are doing this, wonder if you can do this, you may even think about taking the easy way out. Some how some where deep inside you, the strength finds you and keeps you moving forward, slow and steady one foot inform of the other and concentrating on yousrself. Family, friends and strangers are still on the sidelines cheering you on encouraging you to stay focused and keep moving, but no matter what they say or show there is no way they could know how or what you are feeling so you tune them out and keep going, focusing only on getting to the one thing you set out for....to finish what you started.
Just before you reach the end of the race, another wave of endorphins hits you. Suddenly it's like the clouds have lifted and you can picture the finish line. You know that sign is just minutes away and you think about how far you have come and how little there is left to go. You push forward with a new found strength.
Just as you have use every ounce of strength that you have the finish sign comes into view. With each step your feet feel like it has a brick attached to it. In your mind you feel like your foot it 6" off the ground but in reality it's only a shuffle, but you keep going, the family, friend ans strangers that have been cheering you on are louder and stronger than ever. They can see you are beat up, tired and have not strength left so they cheer you on louder and louder hopping that their strength will carry you to the finish line.
As you cross the finish line a wave of emotions come over you. You feel so happy and relieved that you made it this far and you did it all the hard work on your own. Some may cry, some may fall to the ground out of shear and utter exertion, some may have family, friends or strangers rush to your side and hug you congratulating you on your journey.
The medal is placed around your neck and you feel so proud. It is a symbol of how hard you worked to get to where you are. You make sacrifices, you put things on hold and you have changed as a person along the way.
Running is like life, you may have hard times, you may fall down, but you get up and you may doubt yourself; but if you keep pushing forward one foot in front of the other slow and steady, keeping your sights on the horizon you will finish what you set out to do.
"I run in the snow, rain, wind and heat. I run until I cannot run anymore then I run some more. I run thru the blur of tears, the aches and pains and then I keep going. I have more running clothes than some running stores, I know Fartklet does not mean like it sounds. I go to bed at 9pm; I get up early just to do it all over again. Why do I do this? Because I am a runner and that's who I am"
