Goal Accomplished
A couple months ago I decided to do another Half Marathon. In 2005, I finished my first half marathon and swore I would never do one again. I am not sure what changed my mind but I felt as though I needed a personal goal in my life and decided this was the route to go. Being a physical therapist, I am constantly writing goals and pushing my patients to work toward them. I remind them day in and day out the sense of accomplishment they will feel. I guess I decided to take some of my own advice and go for it! I chose to do the Chicago Half Marathon. I enjoyed the early part of the weekend with my mom and woke up early Sunday morning and headed to the starting point. Goal = run the whole race, no walking, and finish under 2 hours. As I found my spot in the crowd, I met a number of other therapists along with runners from all over the country. The gun fired and off I went. I felt pretty good until about mile 8. I thought to myself, "Why did I decide to do this?" Then I remembered all my patients who I worked with daily to accomplish their big goal of walking 100 feet or managing a flight of stairs without assistance. I never let them give up so neither could I. I regained my pace and was headed towards a successful race. Mile 12 hit and seemed never ending. The thoughts of my patients families watching as they finally walked independently or returned home to the only house they knew flooded my mind. I ran even harder knowing one of my biggest cheerleaders was waiting at the finish line for me, my mom. I finished the race in 1 hour, 55 minutes and 53 seconds. The feeling of crossing that finish line and knowing I met my goal was unbelievable and having someone there to celebrate with made it even better. It reminded me why I became a physical therapist and what an important factor family and friends are in patients' success.
