One Week Ago Today!

Hello All,
Life post-marathon for me look really interesting. I wore my medal most of the week, and then again today to church so people who haven't seen me yet could see it. I impressed small children by telling them I came in 2nd (because it's silver) and felt pretty cool. My body feels pretty normal again, I know that it's not normal, but ya, know, for the most part, I'm pretty mobile.
I had a pretty good, laid back weekend. I got a lot done, feel ready for the week, but I miss my trail. I miss leaving my foot prints for miles and miles, I miss the sweat and intensity at wanting my house to be just a little bit closer...It's weird this post-race-thing.
Since the race I haven't wanted to become a really good fan for the people in my life. I also learned during the race that I'm made to do huge life things with people. I desperately needed people to turn to during the race at mile 3, 5, 10, 13.1, 17, 18, 22, 24, 26, and 26.2! I needed someone who knew me, who could encourage me, who I could encourage too, ya know? The fans, have I told ya'll about the fans in Chicago on race day? Oh man, they were incredible! They really MADE the race for me! I didn't feel like I was alone on the course because I wrote my name on my shirt and people cheered for me like we had known each other for years! They challenged me to stay strong, keep a strong pace, keep my head up, shoulders back, and just keep pushing. So I did. Without people who could cheer my name I would have felt so alone I might not have finished. It really caught me off-guard how intensely I would feel my emotions of lonliness and pain, and at the same time elation, and appreciation. Holding those 2 things in balance and with passionate feeling behind them is really challenging. It makes answering the, "How was the marathon?" question really difficult! It was so painful, I wasn't expecting to feel like I was merely surviving for 23.2 miles!

Currently, I'm recovering and stretching and resting my body so that I'll be able to still consider myself a runner and at the end of October, try out a run or two...

I hope this makes sense, thanks for reading:)

Have a great week!
Shelb