Yesterday
I attempted to break 3 hours at the Philadelphia Marathon. I started the race, but dropped out around
mile 14 due to some bad GI issues. It
was the first time in my 20+ years of racing (swimming and running) that I have
never finished a race I started. I was
upset and mad yesterday. Months and
weeks of training and race day comes and goes without achieving your goal. Yes, I did have my own pity party.
As
the day went on (and even today), I had to remind myself to stop feeling sorry
for myself. There is nothing that can be
done or changed. And there’s always
another race. I also realized that this
is not the end of the world and our life (Chris’ and I) is pretty good compared
to others.
We were watching the broadcast of the 2013
Hawaii Ironman and they highlight different age group athletes. The stories vary from a father/daughter team
trying to finish together, amputee athletes, Hines Ward finishing, and
others. There was one story this year
that made me realize to suck up yesterday’s race and move on. It was about a father and his family, which
lost their little girl to the Sandy Hook Shootings. He wanted to finish the Hawaii Ironman to
show his family that life does go on and they have to try and move on too.
I’ve
put in too much training to just end my quest.
We found that the Northern Central Trail
Marathon in Maryland is on
November 30th and heading there in 2 weeks. Hopefully I’ll have better luck.
Allyson
