We all know the moral of the Tortoise and the Hare right? Say it with me: Slow and steady wins the race. I said that a lot this weekend as the bulk of the race was ahead of me...thinking back to another time when I was at the back of the pack...
I loved school, but there was one day every year I wanted so desperately to be absent: the day of the mile run.
I can still see it in my mind. Everyone else literally on the opposite side of the track, waiting for me to finish. I remember feeling so incapable and low. I couldn't really run. I wasn't even a fast walker. As a result of my prenatal stroke, my left foot dragged, leaving my right side to carry my body. As much as I'm not a quitter, running was never a chosen activity.
I could run in bursts. I played tennis for a number of years, and I would run and tackle my grandparents (once in the parking lot and once that wasn't my Grandpa!) My motto became "I only run at people." The closest I came to a race was manning a water station at Mile 11 of a half marathon in San Diego. I made an AWESOME cheerleader!
The painful memories came flooding back and the tears manifested when I watched Season 8 of The Biggest Loser on their first challenge. Straight off the bus on the first day, these 16 people that brought me so much inspiration and motivation had to do a mile on the beach. A lot of things about that season made me tear up, and that challenge was no different. It was one of those moments that took me back to that miserable childhood experience. The sand was the pavement. The struggle to run was my struggle. Then there was Tracey Yukich. She was taken away by Medic and couldn't finish. I wasn't passed out or taken away, but that mile run test sure made me avoid running like the plague.
By Tracey's big reveal, she was running, fit and unstoppable. That motivated me. I needed to overcome this fear of running.
Some friends helped me do just that. In 2011, my friend Gleva told me about a 5K for Autism. Talk about pulling at your heartstrings! A group of us signed up, I, though filled with anxiety, trained a little, and with my SpunkyFriend Sara by my side, I did that 5K!
What I wasn't expecting was the challenge of navigating the crowd. I found it hard to keep a steady pace that was fast enough to be considered running. I did it though, springing to the end and Sara concluding I had a lot more run in me. I could not have done that run without my SpunkyFriend by my side!
I always love to add my celeb-giddy. I wrote about this victory on Danny Cahill;s Fan Page. HE RESPONDED and told me Great job! I was over the moon! Oh the path God was preparing for me!
Years later I found another friend with a passion for running, my Carla! It so happened in a God-incidence sort of way that I was visiting her the same weekend as the Anniston Lions Club 8K for Sight! How could I say no to that?! Full disclosure, I thought I would be walking the whole thing and letting Carla run ahead. The doll she is, she said she would stay with me, along with her beautiful 11 year old granddaughter...and that we would in fact be running some! Oh dear!
As we started jogging, we had a lot more space than the first race. The distance between the fast and slow was much greater. I turned on some music, which helped. Carla running with me was awesome. Our sweet young running mate started to lose her endurance, and I'll be honest, part of me saw that as an easy out. I as a momentum shift. I continued to press on, even when I wasn't giving it 100%. I find that pacing is really hard for me. If I'm going to run, I want to RUN!. I know this would change if I trained though.
There's that pace car behind us. But my mentality was 180 degrees from when I was a kid. We may have been at the back, but we were doing it. I was running more than I have in an endurance manner in my life. I was still doing better than the Alison who wasn't trying or the Alison that could only walk so much without tripping and falling.
Grateful this moment was captured...May 21, 2016
As we ran, Carla and I had great conversations. Another source of gratitude: actually being able to talk and not just huff and puff! We talked about God blessing us with the ability to move.
Do I love running? No. I would take a ropes course any day. But I'm not AFRAID to run.
We knew we were going to run into the Finish Line, no matter what. We hit the stretch to run. Carla tells me to go. I bolt. Somewhere before the finish, I am overcome with tears of awe and joy. This crowd is cheering me on. Cheering I didn't get running as a kid. I'm running for SIGHT. Not only that, I told 5 or 10 people on the course what a big deal this was for me. As all of this is hitting me, the tears start to fall. Then I think of my Danny and his partner Liz...
Danny and Liz were the last pairing standing in the Final Four. They got to run a MARATHON together. They had their struggles and their pains, but they finished...and they went through that Finish Line TOGETHER.
As the tears fell and I was so overcome, Carla saw me stop and thought I thought I'd crossed the Finish line! Understandably...humorous headline "Blind Girl Misses Finishes Line at a Run for Sight." No. Just as Danny and Liz crossed their finish line together, I came with Carla, Carla stayed with me, I was finishing that race with Carla. And I did!
I'm Alison and I inspire those struggling with limits to endure and overcome through the expression ofmy story.
