Are You Hitting Your Personal Record?
Last year, after my mother’s cancer reoccurred, I began thinking about the finiteness of life. I started thinking about personal dreams and goals that I had yet to complete. One of those dreams is to run a full marathon. I had allowed a corrective foot surgery in 2017 to stop me from pursuing this dream. Although I continued to exercise regularly, walk and hike, I was living in a comfort zone as it pertained to running. After Mom passed on May 28, 2021, I decided to go back and pick up my dream to run a full marathon.
I’ve tried to talk myself out of it with thoughts like, you’re too old, you’re not ready, it will be painful, and what if you don’t make it. Then one day I let it out of my mouth, I started telling family and friends, “I’m going to run a full marathon.” I told a friend who runs marathons and she said, “You can do it.” I connected with another friend whose goal is to run a half-marathon in each of the 50 United States (for which she is well on her way), and she said, “You can do it.” I decided, “I can do it.”
In preparation for the full marathon, I set a new goal to run 5K’s, 10K’s and half marathons to build endurance and strength. I began in January by running the MLK Drum Run 5K, the Atlanta Hot Chocolate 5K in February, and the Shamrock 5K/10K Run on March 12th. While the Shamrock Run offered participants a 10K, most of the participants ran the 5K, only a few of us ran the 10K. Because it was so cold that morning, I asked my husband, do you think I should go to which he replied, yes. He said, you are training for something bigger so you can’t let a little cold weather stop you.
When the run began all the participants started out together. Whether we were running the 5K or the 10K, we all started together. As per usual, while running the crowd thins out and everyone is running at their own pace. At mile 3, I noticed the crowd got unusually thinner. I discovered that most participants were running the 5K. As they crossed the line they were greeted with cheers as the 10K runners were told to keep running.
As I ran the last 3 miles, I noticed only a few of us were running. By the time I got to mile 4, I was running completely alone. It was an unfamiliar course with many uphill climbs. It was cold and windy, but I kept pacing myself. When I crossed the finished line, I was the last of 2 runners on the course. The women who greeted me shouted for joy and said, “You are amazing!” I did it in 1:29:33. That’s about 15 minutes a mile.
Yesterday I ran the Publix Women’s Half Marathon in Savannah, Georgia. The first half marathon in 5 years! My calf began cramping at mile 8, by the time I made it to mile 10, I was power walking. When I crossed the finish line I was barely running because my calves were cramping but I made it. I finished the course in 3:14:20. After gathering myself, I was led to a picture booth with a sign that read, Hit Your Personal Record? Ring the Bell. Suddenly the lessons of the Shamrock 10K race came rushing back to my mind:
Run your race.
Don’t worry about who is running with you.
Don’t be distracted by others who finish their course before you.
This is your race so run at your pace.
I’m writing to encourage you to set personal goals. Do not be afraid to return to dreams and goals, you’ve set in the past. Whatever record you are setting is your personal record. Yesterday, I hit a personal record, so I rang the bell!
Dr. Toni