Why I WILL Run Another Marathon

When I was in school, I never settled for mediocrity.  I had to have the highest grades, be the most involved, etc. I just needed to be in charge.  I never did anything halfway.  I never settled for average.   

I wanted to be a star.

I would only do things if I could be the star; or be the best there was.

A lot of that still rings true for me today. However, in life, career, and relationships, its not always so easy.  You don’t get a letter grade, or a gold star,  or a check mark next to each thing you need to do. You can try to rise above mediocrity by comparing yourself to others. But no matter what, there will always be people that have it better than you and those who have it worse than you.  There will always be people that have more than you and those who have less than you.

I am truly learning to be happy with myself, my life, my achievements, and my belongings – instead of comparing myself to those of others.

However, if I do want to be the best, and I still need to get those “gold stars,” why not compare myself….to myself?

This is why I will run another marathon.

Yes, it’s a huge accomplishment to TRY to run a marathon and to FINISH a marathon.  But for someone who is always looking for that A+ grade and that 4.0 GPA, and that pat on the back for a job well done, simply finishing a marathon (in seven hours) is not exactly the most pride-inducing feat.

I’ve convinced myself that I am proud of it. And I do proudly say that I did or completed the New York City marathon – but I never say that I ran it. I always include a caveat that I “hobbled” it because I truly hobbled through the last ten miles. Besides, I wouldn’t change the experience of it for anything, because it’s something I did with my sister.  

But seven hours…I have to do better and I can do better.  I’ve learned a lot from my first marathon experience.  SO I am putting it out there right now.:

I will run another marathon.

And this time, I will run it.  If I walk part of the way, so be it.  But I will run the majority of it.

NYC Marathon: Seven Lessons Learned

I learned a lot from my experience in the 2011 NYC Marathon.  From the training, to the fundraising, and, of course, from the actual race itself, there were lessons at every turn.  The marathon truly tested my mental, physical, and emotional well-being and it's safe to say that I am a stronger person because of it.

Here are the top seven things I learned from finishing my first marathon:

Generosity:  I can't say thank you enough to all the people that supported me:  financially and emotionally.  Family, friends, and strangers were overly generous with their donations, kind words, and inspiration.

Just Ask:  When I first signed up to be part of the Arthritis Foundation's marathon team, I had just wrapped up participating in the NYC Arthritis Walk with the Sick Chick Club.  I had raised over 1k for that event, and felt guilty going around to the same friends and family members for more donations.  I developed a plan to reach out to businesses and organizations that I truly loved and supported and asked them for donations in creative ways.  I was amazed at how generous some of these companies were!  Monetary donations, shout outs, articles, free goods - I am still humbled by the outpouring.

You Can't Train Enough:  Somewhere at the end of the summer, I stopped taking my training seriously.  This was a big mistake.  You cannot train enough.  I should have been running more, running longer, stretching, cross and strength training.  But I was tired.  And had other things to do.  And a million excuses.  There are no excuses.  You need to train.  26.2 miles is a lot longer when you don't train enough.  Trust me, I know.

Inspiration:  I can't tell you how much it meant to me to read the comments left here on this blog by individuals who said I've inspired them.  It's hard for me to believe that I could be an inspiration, and this was a role that I did not take lightly.  I thought about every comment I read during the course of the marathon, and also the kind words of encouragement from family and friends.  I hope I can continue to inspire you all.

You Can't Train Enough (Part 2):  Ignore what I wrote earlier, you literally cannot train enough.  Nothing can prepare you for  26.2 miles.  Nothing.  At some point, it becomes less about the physical test and more about the mental games you play with yourself.  Just keep one foot after another and cry if you want to cry, or laugh if you want to laugh - just keep going.  (I both cried and laughed numerous times on the course.)

It's a Mind Battle:  Whether you want to admit it or not, when you are training for a marathon, it is on your brain - constantly.  I can't say that a day passed from the time I signed up until, well, today, that I have not thought about the marathon.  Some days it weighed heavily on my mind, other days it was just in the back of my head somewhere.  But it was always there.  Always.  This giant, looming monster of the unknown.

No Regrets:  When I first finished the marathon, and for a few days after, I felt ashamed by my finish time.  I had expected to do much, much better than I did.  However, my toes ceased being toes and became blisters.  The pain was unbearable.  My sister struggled with runner's knee, which she was in physical therapy for prior to the marathon.  But we stuck with each other and we finished.  I am growing more and more proud of that accomplishment as the days and weeks pass - after all, not many people attempt this, and even less attempt it when they live with an autoimmune disease like RA.  

I have no regrets about the marathon.  I am grateful to have learned these lessons.  Why?  Because I am ready to apply them to marathon #2... (in a few years).

xoxo

Kat

NYC Marathon: Highlights

It's been a little over a week since the NYC Marathon.  The aches and pains have gone away, the blisters have faded, and all that's left are the memories.  What follows is a short recap of what I consider to be the highlights of the race:

My Fellow Runners
What a critical mass!  It's amazing to see the sheer number of people undertaking this great challenge.  It felt good to be part of such a group.

The Crowd
Hands down, the best part of the marathon started the moment our feet left the Verrazzano Bridge, and someone shouted, "Welcome to Brooklyn!"  It didn't stop there - Brooklyn was amazing.  The crowd was vibrant and rowdy, shouting out the names of runners as they went by.  (Many of us had our names printed or ironed onto our shirts - I felt like a celebrity every time shouted "Kat!")  There was live music along the route, along with DJs, and even just locals blasting music from their apartment or car.  What's even better, many spectators had runner's essentials:  tissues, water, chocolate!

The Views
Some of the views of the city were breathtaking!  Crossing over the Pulaski Bridge from Brooklyn to Queens was a very cool moment for me.  Partly because we were entering MY old neighborhood of Long Island City and partly because that afforded us the most amazing view of the NYC skyline.

Support & Energy
Just when we would get tired and think we could go no further, we'd see someone or something on the side of the course to give us the courage to go forward.  My father met up with us at multiple points along the course; we saw friends, family members, celebrities - we stopped to take a picture with Carolina for the Elvis Duran radio show!  Thank you to everyone for being there - especially to fellow Sick Chick Jodi, who was there cheering me on in BK!

The Finish
It took me a LONG TIME to finish.  I will get into that in a later post.  There were times that I was sure I would not be able to finish.  But I did.  And what means the most to me is that I finished right alongside my sister, Adrienne.  Throughout the race, we supported each other when the road ahead seemed impossible.  In the end, we crossed that finish line together, holding hands...and that is something I will never forget.

No RA Pain
'Nuff said...

xoxo
Kat 

NYC Marathon - To Run or Not To Run?

Before I was diagnosed with RA, I was a novice, recreational runner. My father was a runner and he somehow got the whole family into running/walking. We participated in many races together, including the Shelter Island 10k and the Long Island State Parks Summer Run series. As I was increasing my running chops (I somehow got down to a 9 minute mile - a major coup for a total non-athlete like me!), a crazy thought entered my little brain...

...maybe I will run a marathon...

Once RA took over my body, though, that thought quickly vanished, along with a lot of the other things I enjoyed (dancing, yoga, exercising, going out for a few drinks with friends). It took time to adjust to my new life, my medication, and my prednisone 20 (oh what a joy!).

It's three and a half years later, and I've truly learned to live and thrive with RA. My medication is working great and I am on a very low dose to boot. I generally feel pretty good and I have a good understanding of what my body can handle. This winter I started to get back into running and I am loving it yet again.

Last weekend, while I was with my family on Long Island, my sister mentioned that a bunch of her friends are running the NYC Marathon this year, and she was thinking about doing it. I encouraged her to do so - it's an accomplishment of a lifetime, and one that is even better if you can do it with a support system.

Then she asked me the question: Do you want to do it too?

So, now I am considering running a marathon - something I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do BEFORE I was diagnosed with RA. But now that I have it, I want to prove to the disease that the disease doesn't control my body: I control my body.

What do you think, Sick Chicks (and dudes): To run or not to run the NYC Marathon?

xoxo,

Kat