The good news - I'll be running in Paris! Better, I have an excuse to get back to Paris after 3.5 years away. As far as backup plans go, this one is none too shabby! I'd have rather run in London, because I want people to there to cheer me on (and carry me home after!). But Paris, I have friends there. And it's close enough that maybe I can lure a couple Londoners into coming too.
Maybe it's silly to want people there. I know, I'm supposed to be doing this for me. And I am, but I also remember when I ran cross country races in high school and I'd be struggling up a hill and from the top I'd hear my name being shouted and see the "gold, maroon and navy" (yellow, maroon and blue) shirts, and I just found I could dig that little bit deeper.
I think my old coaches would just about fall over from shock if he heard that I intend to run a marathon. I was never any good. In fact, I was downright awful. Like "I'm not sure she'll get through the warmup run without needing a rest" awful. And yet, of that entire team, I'm the only one who stayed on all 5 years. I was never good. When our team qualified for the Ontario championships, I was on the sidelines cheering the team on. I wasn't good enough to run. But a few years ago, my mom ran into the head coach, and she introduced herself as my mom. According to her, he remembered my "spirit and enthusiasm". That's a compliment, and I'll take it.
I think there are a couple lessons in there somewhere.
1 - Keep plugging. I know I've said it before, but it's true. "The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running."
2 - The less obvious lesson, I think, is also one I've heard before. There is more than one way to be a _____ (fill in whatever you want to be here). I remember in high school I wanted more than anything else in the world to be selected as a leader for our school's leadership conference. The application progress was rigorous and the odds of getting accepted were significantly lower than the London Marathon's. I didn't get chosen and my heart just about broke. I wanted to be a leader at school! I wanted to help younger students! A guy I knew said to me that I didn't need that position to do those things.
He was right. I made myself available to younger students at my school anyway. I started a women's hockey team. I was accepted to lead at other leadership conferences. And that rejection, as it turns out, I think it kept me humble. Since I had no title to back me up, all I had every day was the sum of my actions.
And here, now. There is no right way to be a runner. I won't be the swiftest or the strongest runner. I won't be the person who was born to run a marathon. I'll be the one sweating and gritting my teeth and doing it anyway.
A third lesson, if I'd been forced to choose one, would have been not to use my best Paris Marathon picture earlier. So, um, have an Eiffel Tower
No comments:
Post a Comment