Running a marathon saved me!
It took me 6 hours and 34 minutes to run 26.2 miles in the Chicago Marathon in October of 2021.
You read that right, in one day I ran for more than 6 hours! And it was AMAZING! and LIBERATING and so much more!
I didn’t realize when I signed up to be a SoleMate with Girls on the Run St. Louis in December of 2019 what I was embarking on. My friend Claudia said “…let’s do it!” and not one to back down (plus it had always been a bucket list item), I said “YES!” A few months later we were in a pandemic and the marathon in Chicago was canceled so I committed to running it anyway and started training with my friend Mireya.
Part of the training included losing weight because my right knee was hurting so much. So I detoured a little bit - stopped running and started to focus on my health. I was drinking water by the gallons and the weight started to come off and I started to run again. Then my son passed away in July and running helped me cope with the loss and the pain. Because the physical exertion was better than the ache I carried with me every day. Around that time, I met another runner and got to training more intentionally. If you ever meet Mireya you’ll understand how I ran my first marathon with her without meaning to. She is a spitfire and so much fun so late in November when she invited me to run with her a 48k to celebrate her birthday, I thought I would run until I got tired and call it a day. We reached the 13 mile mark and celebrated with a beer and a banana - she didn’t want me to get cramps she said 😆. I felt good and kept going. It started to get cold and dark and suddenly she says “you did it - a full marathon!” I couldn’t believe it and now that she had said it out loud, neither could my body and I suddenly felt the exhaustion of 26 miles behind me!!
But my marathon streak did not end there and we recommitted to Chicago in October. The new year came and went and I wasn’t getting out there for long runs. It was March when I finally reached out to Mireya’s running coach for help. I knew I needed professional help and an external push to keep me on track. The coach helped and I was on a roll when suddenly a month before the marathon my life came to a screeching halt and my world fell apart. I received he call that every parent dreads. My daughter passed away and we were devastated. It was hard to be strong. It was hard to be emotional. It was hard to get up every day. The pain, the loss, the grief and weight on my heart was overwhelming. The only constant was that every day I put my running clothes and shoes on and I went outside to cry it out. No one cared or knew if my tears were because I was running or because I was falling apart. When I screamed and cussed the world as I ran outside, no one noticed or cared. Every day I ran - regardless of where I was or how the weather was - I ran. I left my grief behind me, if only for a little while when my feet hit the pavement and I put in the miles.
A few days before the marathon weekend my crew and I drove to Chicago. The morning of the run I started having second thoughts - could I really run the race, what if I fell apart halfway through? I was so sad and overwhelmed with questions- why me? why her? WHY GOD WHY? But the morning of the race I laced up my shoes, got my gear ready and headed out to the starting line but when I got there I was ready to be done. Adriana was with me that morning - I guess she sensed my unease because she turned and said “Mom remember when Marcela would run track and you would run with her to keep her motivated and running - now she is running with you. When you start to overthink, look for her - she is running with you.” And she did. More than once I looked into the crowd and thought I saw her, which of course would bring tears to my eyes and a knot in my heart that made running harder and I would calm myself down and keep running. AND my crew - They were amazing- in the heat and humidity they walked along the route with me, they brought me an extra pair of shoes, replacement airpods, they held up signs and cheered me on. They brought me ice and even a beer! AND I finished.
“I had to choose every day run or hide under the blankets - so I ran.”
