Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever

I did it. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't pretty, but I did it. I ran the Canyonland's (Moab) Half Marathon on Saturday. I may not have finished strong, I may not have finished fast, but I finished - and I ran the whole thing. (It wasn't a pretty run, but it was a run nonetheless).

The canyon I ran through was beautiful. The weather and temperature were perfect.
I felt great through the first half of the race. Hip was bothering me a bit by about mile 3, but not too bad. Definitely tolerable. By mile 8 my knees were starting to bother me a tiny bit, but again, tolerable. By mile 9 I got cell phone reception and my phone started vibrating like crazy. It was very encouraging to get voicemails and text messages from loved ones cheering me on. At mile 10 I reached the tribal drums. I could hear them from about mile 9 through mile 11. They were amazing and inspiring. Also by mile 10 my knees and hip were REALLY hurting. By mile 11 I was choking back the tears - unsuccessfully. And by mile 12 - I just let it go. There were several people along the route, aid station workers, race route volunteers, spectators, racers who had already finished - cheering everyone on, encouraging us by telling us we were almost finished and many of which asked me if I was ok or needed help. (God bless them.) I must have looked pretty bad.

Justin and Hiro were waiting for me near the finish line to snap a photo. I put on a brave face for the photo op. (It looks like I'm walking, but I promise I'm not - not exactly).


Once I passed the finish line I had to walk and the pain of walking was excruciating. My knees felt better walking, but my hip hurt so much worse. Justin snapped a few photos and I finally had to ask him to please stop taking photos of me crying and in pain.



I had a medic with me pretty quickly after finishing and she was so sweet and so concerned. She wasn't going to leave me until she knew I was taken care of. She walked with me, told me where the doctor's tent was, and encouraged me to go. Then when we reached Justin she turned me over to him.


Justin took a few photos of me in the doctor's tent. So the good news - it's not a joint issue. The doctor is pretty sure it's a nerve issue...sciatica (just as I suspected). I didn't talk to him about my knees because at that time - I hadn't yet realized the severity of the damage done there.


Easing myself - gingerly - into the cot.


Despite the pain, I am so happy that I did it. I'm not giving up on running....I'm just going to make sure I get in to see a doctor before I continue.

As I have mentioned before in the Butterfly Girls blog - running has always been tough for me. I've never been able to run far - never ran further than a mile and a half before last summer. So to run 13.1 miles was a big deal for me. I've also always admired endurance runners. Saw their ability to endure as a sign of strength. For me to have accomplished this myself is exciting to me. It was an incredible and emotional experience.

(There were photographers along the route taking photos and I'll post those as soon as I get them so please check back!)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Way to go! That is seriously awesome. I suck at running and always think its great when someone who hates it as much as I do makes a goal like this and sticks to it no matter what. You have inspired me. (I won't be running any races any time soon, but you have inspired me)

Lyndee W. said...

You are amazing! So very proud of you. I'm glad you did something that you've been wanting to do for so long and that you saw it through! You're amazing! Oh wait, did I already say that?!

Anonymous said...

I love you so much! You are truly amazing and you have been a wonderful example to me as I go through my own little transformation. I love being around you and seeing you accomplish all of these goals that have set out for yourself.
Love you tons babe! Keep it up!

Cameron and Nonie said...

Here's a big WOW for you. Totally impressed and hope your knees and everything else get feeling better too soon. wow, that's huge and I really don't know what else to say.

Jeremy and Amy said...

Good job Maria! I am so impressed. I've always been impressed by you though. You really are an amazing person. Miss ya!
~Amy