Marathons | Thoughts of a Nervous Runner

Friends, please indulge me for a moment. I’m usually preoccupied with laundry, schedules and all aspects of my kids and motherhood. For the next day or so I’m going to be selfish … and I don’t even feel badly about it.

I’m going to run my first marathon on Saturday.

And it’s a mixed bag of emotions.

I have been asked by many friends if I am ready. I usually respond with “I haven’t packed up yet … I bought a cool shirt … I have my Gu ready …” and many other responses that have nothing to do with training.

So let’s talk about training. I went into this whole ordeal not particularly excited about running. I’d say it’s “not my thing” and would opt for a Body Combat class any day of the week. But, I wanted a new challenge. Any why not a marathon, right? Go big or go home.

I had two reasons for showing up Saturday after Saturday in the snow, rain and heat. My two running partners, Jen and Katie. Jen and I have been friends for about 6 years, and I met Katie the day before I cheered her and Jen on at the New York Marathon last November.

It was that marathon in which I first thought that it may just be possible for me to finish one. The mental image of seeing a double amputee finish is one that I will always have. And my friends came in just seconds before the Chilean miner, so I saw him, too. And then there was the superwoman recently who finished a marathon then had a baby just hours after.

How in the world can little ‘ol me wimp out?

Katie loves marathons. She doesn’t just love marathons. She LOVES marathons. Jen enjoys a good marathon, too, but I know that they are doing this one just for me. This is MY marathon. (And frankly, I don’t know why all of the official merchandise said “Baltimore Marathon” when it should say “Lori’s Marathon.”) And I may be driving my friends nuts with the talk about it, so I’m glad they love me and are supportive of my efforts. (Friends, I promise that I’ll stop talking about it within a week!)

This week I’ve been emotional about it. When I think of starting, I start to tear up. When I think of finishing, I start to tear up. I’ve been really excited, and I’ve also had a nervous stomach. I’m a worrier, so I’ve had my moments that I’ve worried about getting injured.

Then I think to myself: “I’m about to do something only 3 percent of the population has done.” That seems big to me. Running a marathon may seem like a dream to some, and a nightmare to others. Some couldn’t fathom it, and others have no interest in giving it another thought.

But for me, in my life right now, it’s a monumental feat. It is something huge that is possible. It is the culmination of an amazing effort, mounds of determination … and came at the expense of many lost hours of sleep, at least three pairs of shoes and a bottle of Biofreeze.

Tomorrow I’m running a marathon, and although life will go back to “normal” after that, in a way it never will be. I’ll have a new “normal” – one that will include the title “marathon runner” in the description. That’s kinda cool.

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Tags: goals, Lori Rypka, marathons, running

Category: Fitness/Exercise