The Halloween HAlf

I'd like to restate this previous entry I wrote on October 3rd, 2009:

I want to brag about my accomplishment in running for a brief moment. After starting a year ago: I have ran over 100 miles, burned over 11000 calories, lost eight pounds and have done the six miles today that I wanted to obtain before the 10k Turkey Trot in November. A year ago (for those who witnessed) I didn't even want to hit the pavement and I suffocated with major side aches when I did a short distance. If you set your heart to something and work hard enough for it, you can accomplish it.

This time I don't really want to brag but rather share with you about my experience.

The Halloween Half was, AMAZING, to say the least. The first four miles were straight down Sundance and the Alpine loop, then we hopped on to the Freeway for the Provo-Park City highway where we were engulfed by large mountains, police cars stopping freeway traffic, and a long river with fishermen sitting in it. This route lead us to the Provo canyon, and after going under a few tunnels, we finished at Riverwoods Mall.

I personally love this picture my sister-in-law took because it really captures that special feeling. 13.1 miles is an emotional journey. I almost cried at miles 2, 7, and 10. I laughed and smiled for miles 3-6, 8-9, 11-13. And I had some incredible epiphanies and spiritual moments as well. I almost blacked out once. I prayed twice that my legs wouldn't quit. Annnd I found how this run could relate to life a whole lot.
First of all, I almost cried for the following reasons: 1. How much work I had put into this to get to this point, 2. How I was doing something incredibly hard 3. Channeling my feelings from the past struggles these last few months into this run, 4. How I have overcome many roadblocks and obstacles, not only physically but also, and how this shows I could overcome any obstacle.

I laughed because of the following:

1. Beating the Grim Reaper at the last mile
2. The Goofy Troop that kept almost passing me
3. The Costumes
4. Listening to Destiny's Child at one point, you can guess which song

But finally, I want to tell you all why it was worth every single step. I would like to call myself a goal oriented person. I get a sick twisted thrill out of trying really hard things, even if they cause major pain to myself at times. But my sister convinced me to go for this one, she went off about her experience and how if I did it, it would bring a great sense of accomplishment and esteem.

The feeling of actually doing this thing is like no other. I really felt that if I could do this, I could do any hard thing in my life. I think this is why I love doing really big hard things sometimes (ie, sticking to the violin for over a decade, learning (and working on memorizing) eight pages of Rachmoninoff, getting up and learning to become a public speaker by joining Speech and Debate, etc...), it gives me this confidence that I can do anything if I turn to the right help and recognize what I need to accomplish it. I also realized doing huge things like this Half-Marathon kind of proves to myself that not only can I give my heart completely into something, but I have a incredible passion for life and a passion for what I set my mind to, and that I can stick it out to the end. Sometimes I feel like I really forget this.
It was worth it because I felt so incredibly happy. Especially with myself.

And as you can see from this last picture my sister-in-law took, I would totally recommend it to anybody who is considering it, or just wants to prove the world how special and powerful you really are. :)