A month before we moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia, my friend, Tera Gibb, asked me if I wanted to do a 10K beat the bus run with her. Since I absolutely love to run with Tera, I agreed. Unfortunately, it happened to be the last Saturday before we left. Leading up the race we got runs in when we could and I continued packing our house. Most of it was loaded into storage with help from my husband and oldest daughter, Celia. I didn't stress the 10k because "I have done half-marathons before, a 10k is no problem" right? Oh silly, silly me.
The last few weeks before we moved we were trying to get rid of food. There were few to no home cooked meals and we kept our house supplied with treats. So now you are beginning to see that I did not really train or prepare myself physically for this 10k. Still I was excited to do this beat the bus run and see if we could indeed beat the bus or if we were going to be too slow and need to be picked up.
The morning of the race, I got my girls in the car and we headed out. It was a cool and mildly foggy Autumn day in September. Since we love hanging out with the Gibb family, we were all excited. Reese was able to do her first fun run with her friend Josie and earned her first medal (which ended up being bigger than ours). Josie's older brother Tanner had been training for his run and easily took first place even though one girl was initially faster.
Then it was me and Tera's turn. There was also a 5k going on that day and most of the runners were there for that one. We got to the starting line and I could tell that our crowd was mostly seasoned runners. Still it was discouraging when the race began and we were at the back of this pack of runners. I brushed it off and instead just focused on not being the absolute last ones to the finish line.
Tera and I were enjoying the splendid views of the lake and the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside during the not too difficult and flatter first half. Even though these views were spectacular, I was sad that there were not many spectators along the course. Some of my favorite memories from half marathons are the people who are on the sidelines either ringing their cowbells or cheering us on. Even better are the silly signs that they hold up like: "Smile if you peed a little," "Why do all the cute ones run away," "Run fast, I just farted," "This is a lot of work for a free banana," or "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon." These signs make me laugh and I just love them.
Not one sign was on this course though. Then to make matters worse, as we got closer to the halfway point, I was struggling. My hips and right ankle hurt and I could feel all that horrible food I had been eating like a lead weight in my stomach. I don't think I had enough water in my system and I was just plain exhausted from the mental and physical stresses of a move.
That was when the first 10k runners passed the turning point and started going the opposite direction; toward us and eventually the finish line. I am not sure who started it, but I think it was Tera. We started to shout words of encouragement to those runners and I would do a thumbs up or two. With each thumbs up or "Way to go" I started to forget the pains I was experiencing and my struggles. Instead I would make eye contact with runners and offer them support, often receiving support back. After passing the halfway point, we started to come across the 5K runners and Tera and I continued to offer encouragement to them. There was a large hill where I could no longer breath enough air to offer words, but I tried to offer thumbs up still.
Then as we started to get within a couple miles of the 10k finish line, there were no longer any other runners to offer encouragement to. So Tera and I started to tell each other we got this and we could do it. It was a definite sigh of relief when we passed the point where the bus would no longer pick us up. Though honestly, I never doubted for a second that Tera wouldn't make it past that point and finish the race. Those last few miles were definitely the hardest part of the run. Then with just a few hundred yards to go uphill to the finish line Tera started to go faster and even passed another lady to finish strong. I came up after Tera and the other lady, struggling to catch my breath. Still I finished.
This run was a hard one for me and I am so glad I did it. Especially because I learned a valuable lesson that day. Those experiences during the run have stayed with me and sunk deep inside. I felt better when I was cheering other people on. Now I am not a cheerleader by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I need to become more of one now. When we really try to help others out and support them, our trials lesson because our mind is no longer wrapped solely around our own struggles. Instead our minds have so many other things to think about. When we look for ways to encourage and lift others up, we become elevated as well. It is not always easy. Sometimes we are struggling to breath and all we can muster is a small thumbs up or nod hello. It doesn't matter how big or how little it is. What matters is that we do it. So if you are having a hard time right now, look for ways to help encourage and cheer others on during their struggle. I promise it will change your life.
