So many lessons...

My cousin and I ran the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon this past Saturday! Now, I tried to pick one lesson that I learned after this weekend but I couldn't.

1. Myrtle Beach got snow... and by snow I mean a couple inches of powder that melted by noon. The race board was unanimous in still doing the race but the city of Myrtle Beach cancelled the race. The roads were COMPLETELY clear so we now affectionately call Myrtle, "Dump Water, USA". So, Friday night we could have just called it quits and gone home the next day. But, runners are resilient.... and stubborn. Everyone decided to go out and run the course anyway! There were runners everywhere. We were all cheering each other on, wearing our bibs, and even had medals given out at the finish line. Life doesn't always turn out like you plan, but my cousin, Caroline and I decided to push past the barrier and finish our goal of running the 13.1 miles.

2. Caroline is friggin fast! We both wanted to finish the race in under 2 hours. Ok, by "we" I mean Caroline because I just wanted to survive. I kept up with her to about 7.5 miles but then I had to fall back. I just found my "happy pace" but never lost sight of her. It was only because I was following my sister that I finished under 2 hours. I definitely would have stopped more often but I had my eye on Caroline in front of me. Sometimes we need to focus on the sisters that have paved the way for us to inspire us to persevere.

3. The biggest lesson I learned is that it really is all mental. At mile 9, I wanted to quit. I thought to myself, "Self, this is the dumbest thing you have ever done." My butt muscle was cramping up, I was throwing up in my mouth, I didn't have any water, and the wind was coming at me so fast and strong that I literally started running sideways. But somehow, I knew that there would be a finish line even though I believed in it as much as I believed that sugar free candy tastes the same as regular candy. Mentally, you can convince yourself to do anything you want. Test yourself.

Here is proof:

Check out a video another runner made: http://www.thesunnews.com/1224/story/1314406.html