Pushing Through the Pain

Thousands of people were crowded around me as I stepped up to the starting line. Music was blaring as I looked on either side of me to see a couple of my best friends jogging in place, attempting to keep warm. The National Anthem played over the loud speakers but I was too distracted to even realize it until "and the home of the brave" followed by a lot of cheering chimed throughout the park. It was finally time to conquer something that I never thought I would be able to do.

The announcer yelled, "GO" and we were off. A few hundred yards down the road, a crowd member held a sign that said "Only 12.9 more to go!" I appreciated her humorous gesture, but I had to take some deep breaths as I realized that I had a long road ahead of me--literally.

Running a half marathon/marathon is one of those things that a lot of people aspire to do at some point in their lifetime. As I was looking over my bucket list this summer, I saw that running a half marathon found itself on the top of my list and I realized that the time was now to challenge myself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. So I started training.

After 12 weeks of running, I decided to set aside my nerves about finishing the race and signed up for the half; now I was locked in. Picking up my race packet and shirt didn't even seem real, because I had been anticipating the Gobbler Grind for so long.

I can without a doubt say that the half marathon was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. I literally felt every emotion as I pushed my body further than I ever thought possible. I hit a wall around mile 8 and I felt like I wouldn't be able to keep going. Through the encouragement from friends, Missy Elliot's music and some prayer, I kept running through the pain. At mile 10 I stopped for the first time and felt like collapsing; my legs were so tight and my knees were throbbing. But as I looked behind me, I saw one of my friends Tami running up and she said, "We are finishing this together". We slowly but surely made our way to the finish and tears were welling up in my eyes as we crossed the line.

I didn't get the time I hoped for and I stopped to walk a few times during those last three miles, but I have never been so proud of myself in my entire life. I challenged myself to a goal that I almost didn't think was possible, but I did it. My experience goes to prove that you can do anything that you set your mind to.

Push yourself. Challenge yourself. Chase after your dreams, because you never know how much you can do until you try.