Posts Tagged ‘reflection’

A reflection on my journey

It’s been a weeks since I wrote my marathon Racing Recap.
And now I’m looking forward to the Disney World ½ Marathon coming up in January. I promised the doctor that I’ll take it easy, so I’ll stick with the ½ for now. It seems so short after doing Portland, but I think that the best part of doing a marathon is not the marathon itself, but the training.

After all…

  • It takes dedication to find the time to train.
  • It take determination not to over-train, and get injured.
  • It takes endurance to go the distance.
  • And, it takes stamina to go through the whole process.

With all the months involved and the journey to get to the point of doing a marathon, the marathon is really just a milestone like all the others (my first 30 minute run, my first 5k, then the first 5 miler, 10k, 10 miler…).

And now? Well…
I really enjoy the days when I get out in the morning for a great run or a long easy recovery walk.

So to reflect back on what I’ve accomplished, it’s really hard to believe that, less than a year ago, I was a non-runner with a crazy idea in his head to do his first marathon.

Some said I couldn’t do it. Some said I was crazy. Others where worried that I’d drop over and die. But most of my life-long friends and family saw a spark of youth inside me that is always there. Not the one that comes out when my wife keeps telling me to grow up… but the one, where I do things that make me feel alive.

Thinking back on how I got to this point? Well… it’s the people around me. My friends, family, twitterlings, and bloggerlites. Each of them (you) have helped me to get this far. So thank you to each of you!

But before I finish, I want to say a bit about my friend Rose.
She’s always been in the back of my mind (of course Facebook helps!).

She asked me a loooooong time ago if I’d like to join her in Kobe’s 1st marathon (and her first as well). Though I couldn’t make it to Japan, I thought about her during my training and during the marathon. So when I look back at everything that’s happened, I think… knowing someone else personally that was in the same boat as me, instilled more confidence in my getting to Portland.

As a matter of fact, just a few days ago (Nov 20) she did hers.
And she did good!

Who knows, may be I’ll join her next year – ‘cuz that finisher medal looks a mightly nice!

 

Well… I’m off to start my next training schedule for the Disney ½.
We will see where another full marathon fits in for 2012.
For now, I’m off north for US Thanksgiving around Monterey Bay & to run a few Turkey Trots.