This is one of a couple of posts I plan on writing about my experience running the chicago marathon... the experience is so huge I can't really condense it into one post...
So first and foremost... I finished the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
It was a phenomenal experience, and I am beyond proud of myself that I was able to commit to the six months of training and accomplish my goal.
At mile 10 I started to feel some pretty intense pain in my knee. But at mile 12 my teammate generously gave me some ibuprofen and it made a huge difference. But at mile 17 the ibuprofen wore off and I'm pretty sure thats where I actually tore the muscle in my knee. By mile 23 I was literally limping with pain, hopping as I jogged. But all I could think was.... "I will not fail another thing this week... I don't care what happens to me after this race... I am crossing that damn finish line"...
I decided that I was going to accomplish my goal... and I did...
It was another important lesson that I learned during this process...
It was at mile 17 that I understood what my mentor meant when he says that success and failure are both impostors...
Success doesn't mean "winning" or finishing when you planned to... it means sticking it out... no matter what and accomplishing your goal no matter how many obstacles you can face...
Success and failure are impostors because they don't actually exist... they are fabricated titles that cover up the value and meaning of the struggle, and create a false hierarchy based on artifice...
Ultimately... what matters most is what you learn during the process and the strength of character that is built during adversity... everything else just misses the point of the journey...
So here I am, a God/Spirit loving, daughter, sister, friend, activist, black woman, graduate student and marathon runner :-)...
More thoughts and pictures to come soon..
peace.
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