Sometimes people ask me if I'm disappointed that I'm walking the marathon instead of running it. Admittedly, running it was my plan and I ran as much as I could when I started training. Then my creaky joints let me know that there'd be none of that. Even when I run for short distances now the pain can be pretty intense. On Saturday, Gretchen wanted to run a bit to catch up to Linda and Carol, but I knew I could not do it. I've accepted that running this marathon just isn't meant to be.
Not running the marathon doesn't bother me. Monday was the first anniversary of losing my uncle to multiple myeloma cancer. I didn't want to run a marathon. I wanted to honor the person that we'd lost and raise money to fight the disease that took him. So walk or run isn't a big deal.
Plus, I feel lucky to have met so many wonderful people as part of training. I wouldn't have had as many fabulous, funny conversations if we'd been running. The walkers are unmistakably cool.
There will be other events for me to run. I'm sure I could do a 5K or a 10K. Maybe in the Spring.
