At the time, exactly four years ago, I was right in the middle of running a marathon. Yeah....26.2 miles. Every last tenth of a mile. Right about now I think I was nearing mile 20 and the word "run" was really being stretched to meet it's definition. I was in motion, yes, but "running" would not accurately describe that motion. It was more like walking (limping), but in my mind, I was running.
This was the Walt Disney World Marathon, which naturally (as it's name would imply) took place in Disney World. At first, it was so exciting. Each mile we would see different Disney characters. Our first encounter was Chip and Dale. I was so excited to see them I nearly knocked people over to get a hug. Funny how things change, because by mile 15 I was threatening to punch any character that got near me. At mile 18 I hit my wall. The adrenaline had pretty much worn off and the idea of running 26.2 miles was so ludicrous, I couldn't figure out why I had agreed to do the race in the first place.
JoElla and I crossing the finish line
Showing off our medals after the race. It may not look like it here, but I wanted to die.
At mile 20 I wanted to quit. I was done. Jo kept encouraging me and all I wanted to do was punch her (sorry Jo). But, we pushed through and we made it to the finish! Although I probably was not the ideal running partner by the end of the race, I am forever thankful to JoElla for pushing me through the experience. It is an accomplishment I will always be proud to say I completed. And one that lead me to an even bigger accomplishment.......
Quitting Smoking. I know, gross, right? I was a smoker. And towards the end, I was a fairly heavy smoker. I smoked over a pack a day. For nearly 10 years. I tried several times to quit. There were two major factors to me quitting.....
1. I had met a man (Brandon) I really liked and he was not interested in dating a smoker. (He never complained, but I could tell he didn't find smoking sexy..big surprise, huh?)
2. If I could run a freaking marathon, there was absolutely NO reason why I couldn't quit smoking.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't just run a marathon then say BYE to cigarettes cold turkey the next day. I had cut back on my smoking quite a bit, as I had met Brandon in October of 2006. I had also cut back because I was busy training for the marathon. These two factors made it possible for me to finally kiss cigarettes good bye. In fact, the day after I returned home from FL (the day after the marathon) I had my final cigarette. And I haven't looked back.
I know there are people who will make up 1,000 excuses why they can't quit (I was one of those people), but you can. Just do it. Just tell yourself you have had enough. And take it one hour at a time. If you can make it through one regularly scheduled "smoke break" without a cigarette, then pat yourself on the back and look towards making it through one more. Be strong and be proud of yourself. That pride will take you a lot farther than a cigarette. Trust me!
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