Perseverance and Preservation, Memories and Mementos

Living gratefully today, I am enjoying the writing of others and cherished memories that warm my heart. 

Two years ago this morning I ran my 17th and final marathon. At least I have no plans to run another one, and neither do my hips. Maybe a half-marathon, but for now my long runs are a pleasant 60-75 minutes. I want to be one of those old ladies in her seventies who is still putting in a couple miles a couple times a week and has some muscle tone. Preservation is now as important as perseverance. 

I hadn't come to this full realization yet on September 8, 2019, but even if I had my smile would still be as wide. When it comes to my life's highlight reel, each of the 17 marathon finish lines I crossed, three of them next to my husband Darcy, would be on there. The whole marathon experience from first training runs to crossing that line on race day are memories I savor, tough miles and all.

The medals are nice, but the most important mementos I am wearing in this photo are the pink ribbon hat on my head and the 2011 Sioux Falls Marathon shirt. 

The hat was a gift from my sister Mary Jo back in 2008, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was two years after her own BC diagnosis and four since our sister Zita had been diagnosed. The hat was worn out and sweat-stained, but there wasn't any other hat I was going to wear that day, nearly three months since Mary Jo had died of metastatic breast cancer at age 61 on June 16, 2019.  I used it on my training runs that season too.

The shirt was earned on September 11, 2011. It marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and that first Sioux Falls Marathon was one of the three that Darcy and I finished together. It was our goal as soon as we signed up to run it. We got married in Sioux Falls and spent the first two years of our married life there. Here's a picture from early in the 2011 marathon. Speaking of early, according to our race bibs we signed up earlier than others that year, our goal set months prior. 

Two years ago today, properly trained and motivationally attired, I made it through the first rainy miles and the last grueling and grieving miles. Like I had made it sixteen times before. To the finish line after covering 26.2 miles physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Guided by the goal of preservation and uplifted by many treasured memories, I keep running.