75 + 3 - 30ish x gusto = 13.1

"I hate running!" Anyone who is anyone is my life has heard this phrase escape my mouth once or twice...a day. I'm famous for making fun of cross country shirts that read, "My sport is your sport's punishment." EXACTLY! I'm no glutton for punishment. However, when the stars align, your time has come. After a two-week vacation touring around the East coast with some Kiwi friends (and EATING EVERYTHING as seen in surrounding pictures), my expanded belly and post-collegiate athlete mindset got the best of me.

I felt a need to do something, but what? Little did I know that fate awaited in a small business in Bristol, Tennessee in the form of an 8x10 marathon training schedule. My friend Bethany gave me the schedule as if I was actually going to do it. I stuffed it in my truck, but it haunted me in the days to come. The next thing I knew, I had two friends on board, and we were training - actually training - for a half-marathon! Over two months of training for one day seems ludicrous, but I like being crazy! Before training, 3.3 miles was the furthest I had ever ran. We kept each other accountable through our training - running further, eating better, trying to sleep. There were days where I would have rather hung upside down by my toes and had a vacuum cleaner attack my face than train, but train I did. Being diabetic created a different challenge for me throughout my training. I had to learn how to control my blood sugar much differently and consistently for each different type of training day. Saying it was easy would be a lie. Many days, I either wanted to quit training or quit being diabetic. However, since neither of those were really an option, onward.

As the day approached, our excitement grew exponentially. FINALLY! We planned the weekend out and familiarized ourself with the race happenings. We set our goals for finishing. We could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. All of our training, stretching, eating, sleeping - it was time to perform.

Race day - Game day

 So many people! Here we go! Cassie, Katie, and I stayed together for about five miles. I realized during mile 1 that I lost all of my sugar tablets and just prayed my blood sugar was as determined as I was. The first eight miles felt pretty good. Checked my blood sugar between mile 6/7. Perfect! My legs began to protest during mile

nine. Walking seemed like such a better option than running. Cassie and Katie were nowhere in sight, and I felt like I was all by myself with no motivation. Then I saw the goofy smiles of Michael, David, and Corey and couldn't help but smile myself. I made it to the gel station at mile 10 and decided to walk briefly, take some gel and Powerade, and give the blood sugar a minute to get fired up for the end of the race. I'm pretty sure mile 11 was entirely a hill. This was the lowest point of the race for me. "WHY AM I STILL RUNNING? WHY AM I ON A HILL!!!!" Then I saw it. The mile 12 shining in its orange glory was just ahead. Suddenly, I felt fine. More than fine. I only had one more mile in this race! Really? Just one more? The finish line was a beautiful sight, even if it was in the worst football stadium in the country.





Katie and Cassie had finished just before me. Reuniting was a celebration! We did it!






We also had four friends run the marathon relay portion of the race. They were representing Rachel Bruce, a wonderful woman who is courageously battling cancer. What a joy it was to share this day with them and support Rachel through them! So many reasons to run, so many goals, so many people. What a blessing!
Friends, boyfriends, husbands, parents - we had such an awesome support crew! These people supported us throughout the whole training process, and I am convinced we would not have made it without them.

75 training days
+
3 wonderful women
-
30 days, give or take, that training was terrible
x
a large dose of gusto
=
Half-marathon completion

Throughout the whole process, one quote kept surfacing in my thoughts.
"Every step you take has to be more unbelievable than the step before." Esther Kahn
It HAS to be. If it's not, you're wasting your time. If you don't train harder, you're wasting your time. If you aren't striving to be better, you're wasting your time. In running and in life. "Thy life is a miracle!" King Lear reads. Shakespeare tries time and again to communicate that our life is a miracle. Miracles are unbelievable. Be unbelievable in whatever race you're running.




It might be painful.
It might be hard.
You won't always feel like smiling.

But you'll smile eventually.

Here's to smiling. And miracles.