True Friendship

Tiffany….. Is the real deal of true friendship. The first half marathon, I did 2 years ago was the wounded warrior and I was the one wounded. Three weeks before the race my knees were going out and my toenails were falling off.

I was a true mess of doubt as to why I would put myself through this pain and torture. This first experience of a race was delayed for over an hour due to rain. I guess with all the negative vibes I was putting in my head didn’t help either. Danny ran that race and as always, did great----blah blah blah. Tiffany had just got done doing a PR(personal record) in the Nike half and was at  the top of her game. In races you start off with a fellow runner or group and each person runs their own race. Your PR is against the last race YOU did. I know Tiffany’s pace is a lot faster than mine, but she stayed with me through that first race. True Friendship! She encouraged me and told me I could do it. Mile 10 we came around a corner only to have water up to our calves.

 I was done and walking more than ran that last 3 miles. What had I gotten myself into? I was a  crazy person. When we got to mile 12.5 and was almost done Danny came to run with us. He knew I was struggling and I love him for being my rock. Crossing that finish line I was crying like a baby. I wanted to collapse from all the emotions. The hard work of training had paid off. I had my family and friends to see me achieve something I never dreamed I could. That was the first race my Dad came to watch and he tries hard not to miss a race even now 2 years later. I’m still running races and Tiffany is always there with me. It never fails that I get a text from her or she is calling/texting during the race with Danny. Tiffany is encouraging me from afar. There are friends that I’ve lost touch with over the years because I’ve changed my lifestyle to better myself. I want to be around for my family, friends and Danny. Tiffany was making the changes in her own life and going in the same directions that I was so the friendship only grew stronger. This year we decided to sign up for another half together. I wanted to prove myself all the training was going to pay off. Tiffany has a demanding job and life has been a bit crazy that has kept her from training like she may have wanted with this upcoming race. We did the Michelob Ultra half marathon two weeks ago and like all my races they are 3 hours of raw emotion. One thing about running you have time to think back on your life,family,friends, good, bad and the ugly. I’m easily a crier. Tiffany came to the house bright and early so we could ride together. Danny & the kid was going to drop us off and meet up with us later own. The race weather was a perfect and the course was going to be flat with one hill at the end. This was going to be a great race compared to the previous race the week before. Tiffany pushes me to be a better runner and even with the crazy schedule and life Tiffany has she still challenges me. I train more with using a form of interval training and Tiffany just runs the whole thing. I did find myself not wanting to let her down and ran the first half of the race only stopping for water breaks. I surprise myself that I could run longer than I thought I could.  Danny & the kid showed up every 2-3 miles. It’s great to see these happy faces and hear the giggles cheering us on. A few miles went through a neighborhood and was neat to see people outside cheering the runners along the race. Community involvement made this race, so enjoyable. Tiffany & I paced really good and I was looking ahead to getting a PR for my half marathon time. Mile 10, Tiffany started having trouble pain in her hip. Now it was my turn to drag her to the finish line. I wasn’t going to leave her. We had a mission and DQ(didn’t qualified) was not going to happen. I keep pretty quiet, which is hard for me. We walked and talked and about cried at the last mile that was one big ass hill. Props to us, we did it and got a great looking medal to prove it. I still got a PR and only see more to come. Tiffany is badass powerwalker even with the pain. Friends stick together and I’m glad I was able to return the favor. What is the next year race? No clue but I'm hoping for someplace

💕 Pamela

posted from Bloggeroid