disbelief at 39

In the 5th grade, we had a sports competition day called ‘the Olympics’ where we competed with five other schools in running, jumping, javelin, wrestling, and the discus throw. I remember that competition well – I won the long run, and at that moment vowed never to run long distance again, as it was awful. I have done alright at maintaining that vow until recently.A group of us went to Athens, Greece on November 13th to run the Athens marathon.

We all succeeded and finished the race, and it was awesome.

The Athens marathon is the original marathon; it was first run by a soldier 2,500 years ago. He was either bringing news of victory or a coming danger; in either case, he died as soon as he finished. Also, the race was changed from 26 miles to 26.2 at some point miles so that the finish line could be in the Royal Palace during the Olympic Games in London, at some point.

None of us died during the race, however soldiers in 500 BC didn’t have PowerAid/Gu gel stations along the way.

Despite my vow from 13 years ago, running a marathon has always been something that I wanted to do. It’s also always been something I’ve been afraid that I couldn’t do.

Even at kilometer 39 (out of 42.2 – everything’s posted in km over here), I was in disbelief that I was actually going to finish a marathon. One of my quads felt like it was close to cramping up during those last km, glad it pulled through. After finishing, running into someone that I’d traveled to Athens with, and wobbling around trying to get our free t-shirts and bananas, I was still in disbelief.

I consider this a large victory, even beyond the free t-shirts and bananas. I’ve always been a sprinter. Run fast, but not far. I’ve been a crammer, study a lot, but not methodically. However life isn’t a sprint, life is a marathon. Whenever you try something too hard, too fast, you get burnt out – this is not the way to succeed. To endure, to have patience, and to have long term vision are the keys to lasting success.

Finishing a marathon is something I’ve always been afraid of, partly because I’ve always wanted to stick to that 5th grade vow, but also because of the long term planning and methodical hard work that it requires.

That’s why this is such a victory – it’s a big f**k you to fear, cramming for tests (the principle of non-methodical studying), and all those things we’re not sure if we can do.