Life to do List
Life to do List
By Nicole Raymond
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.2 to go!”
Deep Breath
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.1 to go!”
“You can do this!” Repeats over and over as my feet beat relentlessly on the pavement.
Deep Breath
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.0 to go!”
At this point it’s hard to even fathom why I would have ever wanted to start this to begin with.
__________________________________________________________________________________
It was months earlier, we must have all been drinking, when one of my closest friends said, “Hey! We should run a Marathon!!” In my mind I thought, “Yeah it is on my life to do list but that means I have a lifetime to get it done!” However, for some reason my mouth did not seem in agreement as it let out, “YEAH! That sounds like a GREAT idea!!” Man I must have had a lot to drink that night.
It seem like even before the evening was through our training had begun. Fitting as many 5-10 mile runs in during my never not filled allotment of weekday time and managing to squeeze in at least one “Long Run” on the weekends. Wondering all along whether I would ever be “Ready”.
Well Ready or Not I found myself on a brisk fall morning trotting to the start line of my first marathon, I was surrounded by 40,000 others about to attempt the same life list making event. We had all made it this far, farther than most, and we wait only now to hear the sound of the cavalry which will release us.
I let my mind go clear and take one last anxious breath, as I release I hear the shot and my 26.2 mile journey has begun. I start off strong weaving in and out of a wave of moving bodies for the first 5-7 mile. I start to feel like a gazelle as I find my rhythm and begin bounding through miles 8-13.
“Half-way!!” a spectator screams from the sideline.
“Half-way.” I think to myself. “I could do this forever.”
I continue running, mile 14, mile 15, mile 16, still feeling good! Mile 17, mile 18, mile 19, mile 19, mile 19…. MILE 19!!! It was at mile 19 that I hit what marathon runners call “The Wall”. My body and mind both turned on me at the same time, how nice of them right!?! My “can do” attitude seemed to be taken over by a “What the heck do you think your doing?” one. And my feet, well lets not talk about them. But instead of sitting on the curb and crying I remembered “relentless forward motion” and I started to walk.
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.2 to go!”
Deep Breath
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.1 to go!”
The next 5miles went on this way. Run a little, feel like crying, walk a lot. It wasn’t until around mile 24 when I realized I had to get done. So I looked as deep as I could inside myself and picked up my aching legs and started to run. I ran for my family, I ran for my friends who couldn’t, I ran for all those who had left this earth before they could and ran for me.
As I turned the last corner to the finish my eyes grew wide and a wave of emotions pushed through my pain stricken body. It’s right there. I felt my legs begin to move faster, something I thought would never happen. And as I came running across the line I raised my hands, as if I were a prized fighter, emotionally overwhelmed by my most recent achievement, I burst into tears of joy! I attempt to sluggishly shuffle through the sea of other runners until I reach a women. In her hands she is holding my prize. She reaches out and places the glimmering metal around my neck and with tears streaming down my cheek I think to myself.
“Run a Marathon (Check)”
By Nicole Raymond
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.2 to go!”
Deep Breath
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.1 to go!”
“You can do this!” Repeats over and over as my feet beat relentlessly on the pavement.
Deep Breath
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.0 to go!”
At this point it’s hard to even fathom why I would have ever wanted to start this to begin with.
__________________________________________________________________________________
It was months earlier, we must have all been drinking, when one of my closest friends said, “Hey! We should run a Marathon!!” In my mind I thought, “Yeah it is on my life to do list but that means I have a lifetime to get it done!” However, for some reason my mouth did not seem in agreement as it let out, “YEAH! That sounds like a GREAT idea!!” Man I must have had a lot to drink that night.
It seem like even before the evening was through our training had begun. Fitting as many 5-10 mile runs in during my never not filled allotment of weekday time and managing to squeeze in at least one “Long Run” on the weekends. Wondering all along whether I would ever be “Ready”.
Well Ready or Not I found myself on a brisk fall morning trotting to the start line of my first marathon, I was surrounded by 40,000 others about to attempt the same life list making event. We had all made it this far, farther than most, and we wait only now to hear the sound of the cavalry which will release us.
I let my mind go clear and take one last anxious breath, as I release I hear the shot and my 26.2 mile journey has begun. I start off strong weaving in and out of a wave of moving bodies for the first 5-7 mile. I start to feel like a gazelle as I find my rhythm and begin bounding through miles 8-13.
“Half-way!!” a spectator screams from the sideline.
“Half-way.” I think to myself. “I could do this forever.”
I continue running, mile 14, mile 15, mile 16, still feeling good! Mile 17, mile 18, mile 19, mile 19, mile 19…. MILE 19!!! It was at mile 19 that I hit what marathon runners call “The Wall”. My body and mind both turned on me at the same time, how nice of them right!?! My “can do” attitude seemed to be taken over by a “What the heck do you think your doing?” one. And my feet, well lets not talk about them. But instead of sitting on the curb and crying I remembered “relentless forward motion” and I started to walk.
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.2 to go!”
Deep Breath
In/ Out, Left/ Right
“Only 7.1 to go!”
The next 5miles went on this way. Run a little, feel like crying, walk a lot. It wasn’t until around mile 24 when I realized I had to get done. So I looked as deep as I could inside myself and picked up my aching legs and started to run. I ran for my family, I ran for my friends who couldn’t, I ran for all those who had left this earth before they could and ran for me.
As I turned the last corner to the finish my eyes grew wide and a wave of emotions pushed through my pain stricken body. It’s right there. I felt my legs begin to move faster, something I thought would never happen. And as I came running across the line I raised my hands, as if I were a prized fighter, emotionally overwhelmed by my most recent achievement, I burst into tears of joy! I attempt to sluggishly shuffle through the sea of other runners until I reach a women. In her hands she is holding my prize. She reaches out and places the glimmering metal around my neck and with tears streaming down my cheek I think to myself.
“Run a Marathon (Check)”