Boston Bound

A little off the beaten path today, bear with me.

The Road to Boston
Walking home in blinding tears and melodramatic sobs...I reflected...

Sometimes God sends a gentle reminder that even though we may think we have control of our lives...we are in someone else's hands. Someone else has greater plan for us then we can even comprehend. Someone else provides us with moments of joy and moments of frustrations.

We can try to PLAN PLAN PLAN and CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL all we want but what happens when it doesn't go our way...a storm rolls in, they're late, it falls through. How do we embrace it...do we cry, do we laugh, do we grab a tub of Ben and Jerry's? And most importantly...do we learn the lesson God wants us to learn?

4 months ago I looked at my Boston Marathon training plan, I was reminded of how awesome it was to finish my first marathon in Chicago of 08. I was also reminded that as I celebrated qualifying for Boston in Chicago I was thinking..."great, I have to run another one of these things."

For some reason training this time was harder to get into...maybe it was the freezing cold runs, so cold my water bottles would freeze shut or maybe because training went sooo smoothly the first time around I was taking things for granted and not following the PLAN to a tee.

While training for Chicago I had loved my long runs and embraced the freedom I felt to just cruise for miles because I could.

Whatever it was... I was finally getting into my groove after getting all the way to my 18 miler and about a month and a half till the race. Then things came to a startling halt.

I knew what it was as soon as it happened....my IT BAND!

After a week of rest and PT I thought for sure I had combated it. I headed out for a test run. 10meters, good, 400meters, good, 1/2 mile...yikes better stretch, 1 mile..DID SOMEONE PUT A KNIFE THROUGH MY KNEE! I saw it then...Boston's 26 miles stretched out in front of me and I couldn't take a step further.

The tears came on real quick as a kid in Converse ran by me with ease.

I had always heard the saying "getting to the start line of a race is 90% of the battle" but never put much thought to it....until that walk home.

I was SO mad.

So mad, but didn't know who or what to be mad at....myself, my shoes, that darn puddle I just step in? Why did I hurt and why could I not run Boston!? You realize how much you want something during those moments when its slipping away and you wish you could have done SOMETHING. I worried about the expectations I had put on myself and others held for me. I realized that it was just ME who had to except my incapability to run it. J, my parents, my sister, everyone was very comforting...THANK YOU!

That night as I sulked to myself I saw a man on TV riding a bike with 1 arm and no legs. Wow, reality check. There are far greater challenges that life deals out than a bummed knee. Why was I sitting here feeling sorry for myself?

At that point my mindset changed...

God doesn't throw anything at you he knows you can't handle. That guy is one tough cookie and has embraced the adversity. PLANS change, can we? Did we learn the lesson we were suppose to learn? I needed to figure it out.

Today, I look forward to my Boston Marathon experience...the excitement, the crowd, and of course the swag (free t-shirt). My goal: start it and run what I can...2 miles, 5? Whatever it is I plan to take in every step of it! It may not be the race I PLANNED out, but it's still going to be a wonderful adventure.

I just received a great card in the mail from my parents...Challenges: a bump in the road is either an obstacle to be fought or an opportunity to be enjoyed...it is all up to you.

Perhaps in my next 25 years I will be blessed with the opportunity to qualify again....and finish. Is it in my PLAN? I hope so!

see you in a week!

Until next time...

look good, feel good, do good

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