Nature MadeSAM-e Complete™**

• SAM-e basics
• good mood blog
• explore SAM-e
• try SAM-e

Most Recent Posts

• What is Your Heart’s Song?
• Overcome a Crisis by Being Still
• The Power of Belief
• All Posts
  • Nature Made Lisa
  • Brigitte
  • Tina

How Thinking Positively Helped me Run a Marathon

After a recent conversation with my friend Christian, I asked her to recount her experience of running a marathon. Here is the story of how thinking positively helped her make it through. -Lisa

Every time someone asks me about the 2009 Columbus marathon I recently completed, they always ask one question: “How did you do it?”

Eighteen weeks of training boiled down to just one day—October 18th—and I was pushed to find mental and emotional strength in order to cross that finish line running. It took eating right, lots of sleep, motivation, determination, a great support system and most importantly, maintaining a positive attitude throughout the process.

From Chore to Chance

Before training, I looked at running like a chore. I HATED it. So why, if I hated it so much, did I choose to run a marathon? First of all, a friend of mine – a seasoned marathon runner - roped me in to partner up and make it our New Year’s resolution. I could have easily broken the resolution, but shortly after the first few weeks of training (when it was still easy), Father’s Day rolled around and I told my dad his gift would be that I’d follow through and finish for him. Fast forward a few more weeks and my overly healthy father suffered a heart attack. At that point, finishing became even more important to me. With all that was going on, running was no longer a chore. Instead, every mile ran was a new accomplishment— a step closer to my goal.

When training, any time I felt like stopping, I’d remind myself of how accomplished I’d feel once I completed that day’s run. The end of every run was an amazing feat. I also realized the faster I finished, the sooner I could get to the couch and icepack. My knees took a beating, but I digress.

From Cold to Calm

After eighteen weeks of arduous training, I found myself standing outside in 35° weather, short running shorts and thin running shirts, wondering why I didn’t pack my long running tights. I figured I’d warm up after a few miles, right? WRONG!

Then the race began—the adrenaline started pumping and a big grin crossed my face. I thought: “I’m really going to do this. After today, I will no longer be just a runner, but instead can call myself a marathon runner.” In the beginning of the race, I simply focused on passing time- hey, there’s a photographer (now push through the crowd, get in front of him and try to look good running) and there’s another one (repeat process). Then around mile ten, I really started to feel the pain in my knees that I’d battled throughout training. OK, eat a handful of energy jellybeans and keep digging. At mile fifteen I decided to leave my running partner and go ahead to finish the race faster (yet another way to make the pain in my knees go away quicker).

With my head down, I dug through the next 11.2 miles alone. A lot went through my mind during these last miles: my dad, my husband, early Saturday morning runs with the most motivational running partner in the world and the finish line— all of it kept me going that day.

Then it happened…

From Pain to Pride

Around mile 21 I felt sharp pains shoot from the back of both knees all the way down to my Achilles heels. I almost hit the ground. I could no longer point my toes and could only run by keeping them flexed and I thought at the moment, “this is it! I’m so close to finishing and I’m not going to make it.” But I refused to accept that. I’d crawl to the finish line if I had to. Luckily, it didn’t come to that. With tears in my eyes, I pushed through. With each painful step I reminded myself to take it one mile at a time, one step at a time. Five miles later, I turned the corner and there it was—the finish line! I’d never been so happy to see anything in my entire life. As much as I wanted to sprint, I couldn’t— but I relished every moment. With the crowd cheering, I pushed to the finish line.

Those tears of pain instantly turned into tears of joy. I’d done it— I’d finished. Words can’t explain the pride I felt at that moment. With a lot of tears and hugs we posed for our finishers photos and walked away with a memory that would last a lifetime.