2.18.2008

countdown to cowtown

The Cowtown Half/Full Marathon is this Saturday, and this girl is running the half. This girl (I don't feel too old to use that word) hated P.E. K-12, put off her P.E. credit in high school until her senior year, never did sports or anything remotely athletic (unless you count marching band) in her life, and she is running a half marathon on Saturday. Sounds a bit dotty, doesn't it? Well, I'll know exactly how dotty when I scrape myself over the finish line in 5 days.

I started running with some friends back in April, purely for social reasons. One might say I'm doing this race for the same reasons, since I've acquired pains in places I've never felt pain before - I couldn't be doing it because I enjoy it, could I? Well...there is something to be said for being outside, hot or cold, sunny or foggy (no, we're not the kind that run in the rain), having some "mommy" time. It's a good feeling when you're out there and you pass another runner who gives you a "good morning" or a "hi" as you lope by, and even if you're only on mile 4 of an 8-mile run and you've just begun the ascent of that confounded hill you hit on your loop every dang Saturday, that little greeting can give you enough of a feeling of belonging to a group - the group that gets up early to run - to push through the rest of your run. Or at least the next half-mile, until another one "good-morning"s you.

So we'll see how it goes! Five days to go!

4 comments:

tom said...

Good luck!!! You're going to do great!

tom said...

Good luck!!! You will do great! In every race there comes a point when you think to yourself, "I just don't know if I can do this." That is the wall. It is the mental hurdle that must be crossed in order to finish. When you get to the wall, remember, try not to make a goofy face when you cross the finish line! They're going to take your picture so do something cool!

beckmarsh said...

Wow Janette, I am so impressed! once upon a time I was sort of a runner, but my longest distance was a measly 5K. You have my utmost admiration.

Larissa said...

A half marathon?!!! That is amazing. My mom has recently become addicted to running and has done several marathons now. But I definitely did not get the running genes. I'm lucky if I can run to my mailbox and back without getting winded (and it doesn't matter if I'm pregnant or not). Congratulations. I'm excited for you and very impressed!