The Heart of An Athlete

Right before the Wine and Dine half marathon, when I was supposed to be "resting" I discovered some news that at the time I thought was Earth shattering, but has luckily been handled.  I found out that I had been wait listed for vacation time on the Sunday of the marathon.  They adjusted the rest of the week, but not the ONE day I needed.  My parents said I was over reacting, but at the time, all I saw was all my hard work going down the drain...

I knew my friends, family, and coworkers all knew how much this run meant to me.  Of course it's the 20th anniversary so that was a big deal, but it was also my very first full marathon.  That's something I never thought I would even consider doing and here I am actually getting excited about it!  So of course it was a huge disappointment that I wouldn't be able run.  I have literally put blood, sweat, and tears into my training and I could see it just evaporating into thin air. As weird as it was, it was like getting a broken heart and instead of it being over some boy (because men know better), it was over the race.  That's the heart of the athlete... Some call it dedication, others call it obsession, I call it love.

Now that I've calmed down and talked to my managers, I've been assured that one way or another, I will be getting that Sunday off.  Whether I trade the shift or get an authorized day off, I will be running in 2 months from today.  To say my stress level has fallen in the last few days is an understatement.

And yes, the marathon is in 2 months... 61 days... that's it!  I have 2 long runs left, a 23 miler and a 26 miler, but considering I've gotten my 20 miles in, I've relaxed in that sense too.  I do want to get at least 1 to 3 more 20+ miles in before the race, but we'll see how that goes.  I did read that since I did get to 20 miles I should be fine as long as I can keep my base up.

I really can't believe I ran 20 miles last week, but I did it and I'm extremely proud of myself.  It's interesting seeing just what I'm capable of, especially the things that I didn't think I would ever be able to do... like a marathon.