This Is What Victory Looks Like
This year was the 10th anniversary of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Half Marathon, and once again, I had plans to run it with my friends. After a few years of not participating (COVID and conflicts), I was really looking forward to running this year.
I had written a 14–week training plan for me and my friends to follow, and we were good about getting in both our training runs during the week and our long runs on the weekends (mostly). I felt ready and excited for the race.
The week before the race, though, the weather forecast looked horrible—rainy, windy, and low temperatures. A few days before the race, the forecast had gotten even worse, with the rain percentage going up to 90, winds at 15–25 mph, and record-low temperatures.
We had to decide if we still wanted to run the race, despite the bad weather. From the comfort of our warm homes the night before, we agreed to do it.
And so, we met downtown in the cold, dark morning and ran the race.
It was, indeed, everything we thought it would be—rainy, windy, freezing, miserable, and…
Wonderful.
Like all of the other half marathons I have run, this one sucked, but it also rocked.
It reminded me that the most important days are the ones you don’t feel like doing something, but you do it anyway.
Sometimes the goal is just to get it done.
Sometimes defeating negative emotions and thoughts is a victory, and you take it.
This was that sort of race for me. I really did not want to be cold and freezing and miserable, but I had agreed to run this race, so I did it.
It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t pretty. But still, bands were playing along the route, freezing cold volunteers were handing out water and goo packets, and spectators were cheering us on every step of the way.
This was a victory. Thanks, Adam, Katie, and Lori for sticking with me and getting it done.
