Tina Graham | Photographer

I did it! Pure elation!

I ran (and finished) the BMO Vancouver Marathon today!  What an AMAZING feeling that is to accomplish something so masochistic! I mean really…  4 months of daily training, long runs on Sundays in the driving rain, thick snowfall, hail!, blowing wind and sub-zero temperatures JUST so one can run 42 gruelling kilometres?  For what?!

The reason lies deep within one’s core - it’s a true testament of life in general and how you approach it.  How much is one willing to sacrifice to accomplish something that only a small percentage of the population has achieved?  But it’s even more than that.  It’s about perserverence, setting goals, stamina, patience, trusting one’s self (big one) and knowing one can do ANYTHING when one puts one’s mind to it.  All of these can be placed neatly in front of ALL of life’s situations: work, relationships, you name it.  If you want something badly enough, and are willing to work extra hard, there will come a time when all that’s left is keeping an easy, steady pace and knowing that all the training has prepared you for this ‘big event’.

It definitely has given me more strength, fortitude and the desire to achieve more, not only in my personal and professional life, but to offer that strength and fortitude to others.  Also worth mentioning is how much this process has given me a greater trust in myself.  Knowing I have what it takes to get through anything is so liberating!

As elated as I am, however, my quads and glutes aren’t so happy.  They’re wondering ‘what the hell just happened?!’  But they did a great job and carried me the last 5km at a much faster pace than I normally run.  As soon as the finish line was in site, they picked it up even more and had me SPRINTING to the finish line!  It was incredible!

I have to say though…  I started the day out kinda shaky.  First of all, I slept through my alarm!  I woke up with a start and when I saw bright light shining through my window.  I panicked!  It was almost 6:45am (race started at 7:30) and I had to drive all the way from Richmond into town.  I threw on my clothes, quickly made a hot, steaming bowl of oatmeal, grabbed all my gear and ran out the door!  I ate my oatmeal (from the bowl) as I raced down Granville.  It was a comedy of errors. But it all ended well…

WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

These were taken by a friend at the 36km mark:

You’d be making faces at this point too…