I Ran & I Survived!

Today was the day--my goal race for the Cancer to 5K!

I joined this group after finding out I had gained a significant amount of weight in the last year while undergoing several reconstruction surgeries in 2010.  I have always been "running" around after little ones, very active & even had a personal trainer in between the 2 times I was diagnosed with cancer.  But RUNNING is something I have never done formally & this was a whole new world for me.  The beginning of the training season was rough as I was dealing with allergy & exercise induced asthma during one of the highest pollen seasons in history & working out OUTSIDE 4x's a week.  After I got some medications to control that & Coach Bob gave me some great breathing tips at an early May group workout, things really started to fall into place.  

My first week workouts consisted of 1 min jog/2 min walk for 20 minutes--and that was pushing me!  Before the race today, Coach pulled us all together to go over a few last minute things.  One thing he said was to think back to 12 weeks ago--then he looked, pointed & said "Jennifer, think back to 12 weeks ago & how far you've come."  Today--12 weeks later--I ran the whole race & while not the fastest runner in town, I took one of the volunteer's advice and made this day only about ME and my journey.  I'll admit there were tears from nerves last night.  This morning I was C-R-A-B-B-Y.   I had to get up at 5am AND drag 5 children from age 3-8 up & dressed out the door by 5:30.  Then my husband was so kindly trying to talk encouraging words to me as it started to sprinkle on the beltway, but all I could do was bark back that he needed to stop talking.  I hadn't prepared myself for rain--all I could think about last night was preparing Joel for standing alone with 5 children for the 90 minutes I was SURE it would take me to get done. (that's a joke about the 90 minutes...kind of)  When it started pouring the moment we hit downtown Bethesda I was (I-I) this close to telling Joel to turn around and take me back to my warm bed.  Since I hadn't worked out with the group very many times I didn't know many faces, but pulling into the parking lot I saw NO yellow shirts & I got all icky in my belly.  As we were backing into a spot, Coach Bob appeared (I have a feeling he was watching to make sure I didn't bail).  I knew at that point there was no turning back.

Me, Coach Bob & my personal cheering section!

So, we did it.  We got started in the back with the 12+ min milers & did our thing.  And even though I laughed at Coach in the final mile saying "You're not breathing very hard, I should've pushed you harder," I really just wanted to trip him.  I'll admit--if I'd been alone, I might've walked a couple of times.  That bridge was not my friend.  My legs got really heavy after we made the first crossing of the street on the way back.  When I grabbed that water, I could've walked for 2 minutes to give myself a chance to cherish every last drop.  But....I ran.  And Coach Bob, I thank you for the encouragement & the laughs--some of them were even genuine.   

Survivors

This Wednesday I have hopefully my final reconstructive surgery.  It's gonna throw me out of the training/running routine for a bit.  But I won't lie...I have already been looking at other races to sign up & train for in the fall.........

 Behind the scenes over the last 12 weeks there were many emotional tears shed, but today was worth it.  Jackie told me as she was going to bed tonight, again, how proud she was of me.  My kids have watched me through 2 rounds of cancer, including 9 surgeries so far.  They've also watched me fight through this training this last 12 weeks, doing whatever I had to do to fit in my workouts even when Joel was out of town for the month of April.  What a wonderful gift to give them--the gift of knowing that it's always worth the fight.