Not everyone close to me has been so fortunate. Robyn has gone through many ups and downs in her training; she is relentless and patient. My younger brother, too, has had a hard few years. Without going into too many details, David missed most of his junior soccer season this fall due to some serious health problems. He's healthy now and back to playing soccer, but his hiatus from the sport he loves offered a lot of perspective for me about my running.
With my cross country girls every fall, we encourage each of them to dedicate their races to someone--to find a person whose memory or story motivates the runner when the race gets hard. It could be a parent or best friend, a relative, the student at our school that passed away this fall, or anyone else. We don't ask for explanations. Each runner has her own reason for choosing someone to motivate them. They write the names on their hands and arms and then toe the line.
A few weeks ago, I ran the Westfield Half Marathon as a tuneup race, 5 weeks prior to my first marathon. The race was hilly (actually a lot hillier than I expected), so I went into the race with a relaxed mindset. This doesn't mean, however, that I wasn't motivated. I'm a competitive person and I accept nothing but the best from myself, and this race was no different. I knew as soon as I woke up that Sunday morning, that my brother's strength and resilience would push me to run hard that day. The course of the race alternated between fast, flat miles and long, hilly climbs. I ignored my watch and focused on effort and reeling people in. Around mile 8, I got pissed that I was approaching another hill and thought about stopping but having David in the back of my mind kept me going.
For me, this race was not about a PR or the time; it wasn't even a goal race. I'm happiest with how I finished, because it proved my speed endurance and validated the training I've been doing. And because I'm proud of my effort, I feel like I honored my brother in the best way I could.
