This Race is My Reward

A friend of mine told me to view a race as the reward, a reward for all the hard work and time you put into training to run it. If that is true, I've got a reward that is a long time coming. After a year of training, tomorrow I will run my first marathon.

This race is my reward.

I have to admit, the last two months have been a killer for me. Not only did my mileage ramp up to 17 - 20 mile long runs, my travel for work ramped up, as did the snow. And let me tell you, those three things, loooong runs, travel, and snow, do not go together.

Still I pushed through and got my last long run in two weeks ago... 20 whole miles... and it only took me four hours. Yikes. However, in that last three miles, when I thought my knee was going to finally protest enough to make me stop and when I almost starting crying because I had at least 30 minutes of running to go, I thought of this reward. I needed to earn it. And so I pressed on.

As I look back over the last year, I realize I've learned a lot. First off, I have a new appreciation for runners. They get up at the crack of dawn to log their long runs, they carefully schedule their lives so they can fit work, family, and their running commitments, and they are always open to sharing advice with others.

I have a new appreciation for my friends and family. Over the past year, my friends have run countless races with me (a few of those races - they literally ran with me), listened to my constant thoughts, concerns, achievements, set backs, and cheered me on the entire time. And the ultimate gift: they came with me to Orlando and tomorrow we will run the Disney Marathon together.

Finally, I have a new appreciation for myself. Somewhere along the way, on the road to my first marathon, I realized that I am physically capable of much more than I ever imagined. For the last 33 years of my life, I took this body for granted. Never again. But most importantly, I realized that if you put your mind to something, set your goals, and go for it, you can achieve it. Something that I think, in the years since I graduated from law school, I'd forgotten.

This race is my reward.

A reward that I never would have ever dreamt possible if not for Amy Ellis Oliver. I would never have had the courage to do this for myself. I would never have found the commitment and inspiration to train for a year to run a marathon without her. In fact, every time I thought I had hit a wall, I'd think of Amy. She kept me going, she was running right along with me.

Less than I year ago, I read a passage from from II Timothy at Amy's memorial service; a passage Amy had shared with us as one of her favorites. "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith."

Amy's passage sums up the way I feel about this past year. It has been a fight. Tomorrow I will finish the race. For Amy.

This race is my reward.

Yes, this race is my reward, what a reward it is. And Amy, I share it with you.