Yesterday we reached the peak of
our training…. the 20 miler. Certainly
not something we were looking forward to but boy does it feel good when it’s
done! We are 3 short weeks away from
crossing the Los Angeles Marathon finish line!
After a tough 14 in heat last weekend, it was a tough week heading into
the 20 miler. We caravanned down to the
beach for this run; we would need the water fountains and restrooms and the
atmosphere sure beats the LA River bike trail.
A few injuries and missed practices
have put us at 17 students and they are an incredible bunch. One of the things we really emphasize is for
the students to take care of each other out there. It is beautiful to see them do just that, motivating
and pushing one other through the distance.
Unlikely friendships have been forged as we all step out of our comfort
zones. That has always been one of my
favorite things about running club.
People whose lives would never have crossed paths are cheering one
another on and sharing in a common struggle and goal that will forever bind
them. Not everyone can do this; but
together we can and do.
I usually… on good days finish in the middle of the
pack. As I came running in yesterday, the
cheers of those who finished before me greeted me. Those last 50 yards were my favorite part of
the run. Of course, because I was
finished but, it was the cheers are what made my heart smile. We are a team and continued to do the same
for the rest of the finishers. As we lay
on the grass eating everything in sight, we chatted about the days run, when we hurt, where we hurt, who and what we saw, how we
motivated each other and how good it felt to be done. Another on of my favorite things (I have a lot of them) about
running club; sharing in something incredible with amazing young people. I like to remind them that back in October,
this was all a hazy dream and a fear. Here
we are running all over that fear doing something we never thought we
could. After our tough run last week, I
sent the kids this quote as a little motivation:
"If I could do the seemingly impossible –
run a marathon – what else could I do? There is something profoundly liberating
about this quintessential running achievement. It's as if in accomplishing it,
we not only surpass a performance threshold that now redefines us as an
athlete, but we also have exceeded our own threshold of personal limitation. A
marathon, and most other benchmark athletic accomplishments, become watershed
moments for many of us, perhaps because our bodies take us to a place our minds
thought they couldn't go. And our mind, unconfined, throws open the door to
enormous personal potential."
-Mina Samuels, Run Like a Girl
Nothing is impossible.
-Mina Samuels, Run Like a Girl
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