First Run

November 1 I was involved in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident.  I fractured my left elbow, chipped the bone in my right wrist and received a large 3rd degree burn on my left knee.  As a result, I was unable to run for a while, as well as type.  Three weeks later, I finally braved the treadmill.  While I was pleased with the run overall, the jarring on my elbow was quite painful.  I did not run for a while, and while I would not admit it out loud, I questioned whether running the marathon was still something I would be able to do.  Amanda and I set several times to run, but in the mornings I would be too sore, or too cold, or too tired to run.  In truth, while all of these were the case, at least at times, the real problem was that I was depressed and scared of running.  I found excuse after excuse, and my main one was that it would hurt my arm.  Yet, I was willing and able to do other things that hurt my arm, such as boxing on the X-Box Kinect, deer hunting, and replacing the radiator on my car.  I needed to decide whether I was going to let the accident knock me out of the race.

Yesterday I looked at the weather and saw that it was going to be 27 degrees in the morning, too cold to run.  But as I looked at my calendar, I realized that I had free time in the middle of the day.  With finals starting this week, my Club is not open, which makes the middle of the day more flexible, one of the advantages of working for the Boys & Girls Club.  I contacted Amanda, and she was free in the afternoon, as well.  So we decided to run together.  Let me say that Amanda ran a 5K yesterday and finished in 26 minutes.  She was very motivated as a result, and that helped motivate me.  We met up at the bridge, stretched in the cold, and began our run.  I was very winded very early on, and found myself having to stop after the first mile.  I was struggling to catch my breath and wishing I had my inhaler with me.  After a very brief walk, Amanda informed me that I was rested enough and that it was time to run.  The second mile was worse then the first, and I wondered how she would react when I told her that we would be walking the last 2.5.  I tried to tell myself that I was actually doing well after not running for 6 weeks, but I was not very convincing.

We stopped at the 2 mile marker, stretched a little, got some water, then started a walk up and across the bridge.  We then started running again.  I was feeling discomfort in my arm, but breathing was easier, and my legs were not at all fatigued.  About a mile into that leg of the run I said that I wanted to walk, but I really did not feel that I had to.  Amanda said that was good, because we were not walking.  Once we were into the last stretch I actually felt pretty good!  We finished up 4.5 miles in about 50 minutes, meaning that while our distance was not where we had been, our pace was a little quicker.  I felt good about the run, and was convinced that I would do the marathon, after all.  I may end up walking more then I wanted to, and it may take me an eternity to complete, but I am going to compete, I am going to cross the finish line, and I am going to get that medal!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement since the accident.  Thanks, too, for all the words of encouragement I know I will continue to hear.  And during this holiday season, take time to give thanks to God for all you have in this life, and all that you will have in the life to come!