Saturday, September 4, 2010

Emotional Running

It is very clear that I cannot read a blog entry about someone running a marathon (especially a first marathon!) without breaking into tears. Well, I need to admit that before I ever started running seriously I think reading peoples accounts of running a marathon always made me feel emotional, but never like this.

There was a Question of the Day on Dailymile.com that asked you to "Describe your first Marathon.... How did it go?" And Dailymile being the community that it is, was extremely responsive to the question, and I must have read a dozen different accounts of peoples first marathons. Then a friend of mine posted a link to his very first marathon, NYC 2007 (can be read @ http://beyonddefeat.com ) and I could not get through the darn thing without my vision getting all blurry.

When I ran my first half marathon in 2009 I did it for a very clear reason: I simply did not think I could do it. I had practically every close friend telling me Yes! You can do it! and even then I was still kind of leary. But I signed up, I trained, and I ran it. It gave me an amazing boost of confidence that has changed me to this very day. For me that half marathon was very much a "life changing" event.

That being said, I have no idea what I am hoping to "gain" by running the marathon. I trust myself and the process of training enough to know that if I follow my plan I believe 100%, with no shred of doubt in my mind, that I will cross the finish line on November 21st. Why does crossing the finish line invoke such a strong emotion within me?


"There is only one big thing—desire. And before it, when it is big, all is little."

3 comments:

  1. aw sam thanks for liking my marathon story! i sometimes get choked up re-reading the account as it was my first running race as well. see you at sharons!

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  2. I just found your blog and it's so refreshing. It takes me back to my first marathon that was in 2008. It was NYC and I carried my camera the whole way. Here is a slideshow I made of it that I just ran across again a few weeks ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0EaC40GcKY

    By the way, I'm running Philly this year too! You are way ahead of me in mileage though!!!

    And finishing a marathon is like a gateway drug. A year and a half after I crossed that finish line I was crossing the finish line of an Ironman. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!! Keep up the good work

    Courtney
    www.speedycb.com

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  3. Aw, thank you Courtney, that means a lot to me! I was thinking about carrying a tiny camera with me as well! Sometimes it's a nice distraction when you're struggling ;)

    See you in Philly!!

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