This Sunday, the Columbus Marathon is finally here and my wife and I will be participating in the half. We are both excited.
Although, with me, nothing can just be. Everything has to have meaning above and beyond just itself. It may be an awfully annoying trait to many of you, nevertheless, it is what it is.
For me, this half-marathon takes on more meaning than just a race. In fact, it is even more than running farther than I ever have in my life. It represents more than just accomplishing a goal that took steady, committed work to achieve.
About two years ago, I was at a crossroads personally. I made a commitment to myself to improve in three areas. These three areas included my spirituality, my mental/emotional well being and physically.
In the two years since this decision I have executed a three pronged plan with some success and some set backs. Fortunately, this is a life long commitment so failure isn't anything I cannot fix or have not been able to fix.
If I am able to complete this race without stopping, it will represent a major step forward in one of these components I have been working on.
When I started, I could barely run 1 mile without wanting to rip my lungs out through my nose. It was a parallel to the other challenges I found myself facing internally.
The fact that I have progressed to where I am now is pretty impressive in my opinion and I have gained a tremendous amount of pride and confidence as a result. Finally, I have set a goal and stuck to it.
There is a noticeable difference in where I am now and where I was when I started.
This is the thing about the physical element of my improvement plan. The changes are easier to see and feel and measure. The mental and emotional aspects, though, are much less obvious. In that case, you wake up one morning and suddenly realize, "Whoa. I have changed." But along the way there is little to see and feel. Changes happen without knowing it like watching grass grow or water boil.
In my case, the mental and emotional change is much more difficult to improve as well. I have spent all my life thinking one way, therefore, I can't expect wholesale changes overnight. So it can be frustrating, especially when I slip into old habits which I do often.
I have needed these observable successes with my running to help motivate me mentally.
This is why the upcoming half-marathon represents more to me than just a race or something to share with my wife in a time where we feel split in two different directions parenting and earning a living and having numerous separate interests.
Making it through the whole race without stopping regardless of time after devoting numerous evenings, dialogue and positive mental work to the preparation, will prove to me with a tangible accomplishment that the goals I set for myself two years ago after a trip back home to gather myself with my family have not gone to waste and there is legitimate reason to believe I can keep working past the set backs and maintain this growth I have worked for since fall of 2012.
For me, this race means I am winning at life.....even if I finish last.
