Tomorrow I am running the BCA marathon in College Station, TX. This is the second marathon that I have run in honor of Adam. Before he died, I promised Adam that I would run one race a year to promote awareness of mental health, and I want to keep that promise. I expect it will be a bitter-sweet day. The back of my shirt has a photograph of Adam. Whenever anyone asks me about him, I always choke up. But at the same time, I am happy to talk about him. Not talking about him makes him feel even further away. The engineer in me thinks that doesn't make sense, yet that is how I feel.
I love running! It frees my mind and soothes my soul. It's kind of funny because I didn't start running until my kids were older. My two older children both ran cross country in junior high and high school and I couldn't imagine running 5 miles! Now here I am running 26.2. Who would have thought that?? My oldest, best friend still asks me who I am!
Ironically, it was Adam who got me started running long distances. When he was 13, he had just finished his first year of cross country and decided he wanted to run a half-marathon that summer. I thought he was crazy! I said no way was I going to do that! You want me to run my first half-marathon at 45? But then I started thinking about it, and thought, maybe this would keep him moving all summer, instead of just sitting and playing video games all day while I was at work. So I agreed to run with him and started training.
In August, my oldest son Nasser ran the race with us, quickly leaving us in the dust. It was a very hot day, but we kept plugging along. Adam and I stayed together until about mile 12, when Adam also left me. I finished, but oh boy, was I sore! I couldn't walk down stairs without pain for more than 2 weeks! I As for Adam, well, after that experience, he was still a chubby kid who now really didn't want to run any more!
Two years later I ran my first marathon and the rest is history. I was hooked! There are so many reasons I love to run, but I think my number one reason is that it eases my mind and soothes my soul. When Adam died, running helped me tremendously to deal with my grief. What do you do that helps you cope with the stress in your life?
For anyone out there who is interested in giving running a try, but don't know where to start, here's a few ideas.
- Still I Run I found this group that's all about running and mental health! Pretty cool!
- Runners World This is a great source of information about all things running! This link brings you to training plans.
- Running addiction This group is Boston based. I'm not from Boston, but I love the ideas of using running (which can be very addictive!) to help with other types of addiction. The group is for those with addictions and anyone else affected by addiction.
