The Other Half

If you wait for conditions to be perfect, you will never get anything done.

So I started just trying to make conditions good enough.

I did enough for 22 weeks.

Hills that were steep enough...speed intervals that were fast enough...distances that were long enough...tempos that were uncomfortable enough...a diet that was good enough...a schedule that was flexible enough...a running partner who was patient enough...a husband and kids who were supportive enough...a circle of friends and extended family who were helpful enough...weather that was cooperative enough...I trained enough...I trusted enough...I showed up enough.

None of it met my previous standards for perfect, but all of the collective enough-ness turned out to be its own special kind of perfection.

And I did get something done...something that was important to me. I finally got 26.2.

And that would have been enough...but I got more.

I have an expanded definition of what is POSSIBLE...for myself and in general.

I have a broader understanding of rhythm...it doesn't have to stay the same to keep moving me forward.

I own the experience of falling (literally and figuratively) and getting back up...sometimes alone and sometimes with the help of others. I have value as both the faller and the picker-upper.

I know what it is to simultaneously feel both pain and joy. To feel achy and deeply happy. To smile at the unforgiving sun, to chuckle at the driving headwind, to dance up the hill at Mile 24.

I have found my people on the road. Some had names -- like Alyssa who appeared out of nowhere on a bicycle with sunscreen at the exact moment I asked for it and disappeared just as quickly. Some were nameless -- like the firefighter who ran the whole damn thing in full gear including the oxygen tank on his back.

I have proven that the thing I feared most wasn't so bad afterall.

I have hit the wall and made it through to the other side.

I have discovered that the first few steps on the road less traveled are far less scary than the moments leading up to the split. In fact, the freedom of a clear foot path and more elbow room is so stunningly beautiful that, for a moment, the fear of uncertainty is replaced with excitement for all of the newness that is yet to be.

I've seen how the other half runs...and I like it.

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. ~Emil Zatopek

Hell yeah, Emil. Hell. Yeah.