So I have this friend, her name is Shelah. She's pretty much superwoman, just so you know. She has four kids and has run like 3 or 4 marathons in the past year (and managed to still train while her kid was in a body cast). She's a superb cook, avid reader (I think her goal is 100 books this year, and they're not all like 10 pages or anything, we're talking real books), and a writer on the side. Anyway, I've already told her she's my hero, but here's my newest reason she has that title.
She offered to go together for my longest run before our marathon. That might not sound like a big deal to any of you, but it was huge. I haven't run with anyone in about 10 months besides Josh, and those are pretty much short runs anyway. I dreaded this run for weeks, esp because there was a 10 miler the Wed right before. I'm not what I'd consider a natural runner either, so I dread a lot of my runs. When Shelah offered to go with me I almost declined because she doesn't just run a lot, she runs guys into the ground, she almost qualified for Boston--in the men's category. But she insisted that the pace didn't matter and I could set it.
I took her up on it, and we ran, and I am SOO grateful to her! We started at a pace much faster than I would have gone on alone and I thought, well, I'll just slow down when I need to. But having the company and feeling the pressure to not totally ruin one of her long runs, I went much faster than I would have normally gone and having company made me stay sane on such a long run. Who knew running 21.35 miles could actually be enjoyable? Now I'm actually excited for our marathon because I'm confident I can get my goal time. Or mostly confident...
There are a few things I think of when I think of this run. To her, it was probably no big deal since she's done it so often, but I really didn't know if I'd make it; at least in a working piece since I had to cripple over two weeks ago on my 18 miler for a minute (in which my pace was a whole 2 minutes slower per mile).
So two things:
1. You probably often don't know the influence you have over someone else who is at a weaker place than you.
2. You might not know that you can do as much as you're capable of until you're pushed. For that reason trials sometimes help because we're pushed in ways we'd rather not be, but other things are just up to us to push ourselves into better places we'd like to be. Does that make any sense?
Q: Do you think you underestimate yourself a lot or a little?
Q: When have you done something you really didn't know you could do until you had done it?
Q: Was it because of someone else or yourself?
5 comments:
Afton you AND your friend both sound amazing. That's so awesome of her to do that with you!!! Yes, truly a great friend. That also shows humility on your part to be willing to receive "help" from someone you feel is "better" from you in something. I think you both are great for that. Also I love your insights that you noted afterwards. Awesome points!
Love ya
Jill
Way to go girl!! What a fantastic friend to have. The thing is, that totally makes me think of something you would do for someone, too, so maybe it's just karma. =)
Hey, can you e-mail me your new e-mail address that you use (I keep using your yahoo one) because I keep sending you things and you don't get them!
Thanks! Love ya!
Leesh
It is fun to run with Shelah, isn't it? I know my running partners have helped me.
I had the same sort of experience when I started training for my half-marathon with Team In Training.. the first long run I had ever done in my life (I think it was only 8 miles..) was on a day when the lady I usually ran with wasn't there.. I almost turned around after mile 1 to go home, but out of nowhere this lady I had never seen before started running next to me.. she talked to me and stayed with me the entire time, even though I was sooo much slower than her. I never saw her again after that day, but she served as the turning point in my training.. I would have given up if it wouldn't have been for her.
Go Afton! Yay for you.. I think that you are just as inspirational as Shelah... running a marathon, being a wife and mother.. you are amazing.
Thanks for all the comments. I miss running with you Alicia, even if we didn't do it that often, it was so fun that one run in central park. I miss you!
Jill, if you remember any of the times we've gone together, I'm always struggling to keep up with you, why aren't you doing this with us??
Lyn, do you always run with someone else? I never really have, just random times and I always end up feeling pressure to keep up and the talking makes me even more tired, so I just don't really run with others usually--but you're right, running with Shelah is fun and it made all the difference! Good luck in the Turkey Trot!
Jamie, good story, I think I'd have to agree that that was a turning point in my training too even though I'm at the end of it. What a cool story, I'm glad she was there for you! How did the race itself go? Have you done any since?
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