One month ago, I successfully finished my first half marathon. When I crossed the finish line, I almost cried with joy, because I meant it and finally made it.
Some of my friends don't understand that why I want to run marathon. To be honest, I don't know the reason, either. I just know that life is short, and I want to try different things which I never experienced before. At that time, it happened that I read a story about marathon, so I began to wonder, em...how about setting a small goal-running a half marathon? That's it. The reason that why I want to run half marathon was an new idea came into my mind, I set a goal and tried my best to achieve it. It seemed quite simple and easy, but the preparing process was full of challenges. When I looked back the whole process, I really learnt a lot.
When I was in high school, running was my nightmare. Running 800m was the last thing I want to do in PE class. So can you imagine a girl who only run 800m wants to finish her first half marathon without any training and within just one year? It seemed a little bit ridiculous, but anyway, I decided to have a try.
So last year, on July 19th, I struggled to get up early and ran with determination. On that day, I finished 3 km. That was a huge process for me.I would rather call it a milestone. Then July 30th, first 5 km. September 3rd, first 8 km. October 15th, first 10 km. And during the process, I was always breaking my own record. Thanks to running, I used to be a girl who only cheer for others, and now I can cheer for myself, because I have infinite potential. And I believe that everyone has infinite potential. You can do many things beyond your imagination as long as you have a try. You never know where your next step is and how huge your potential is if you never step your first pace forward. If you want to try something, no matter you are ready or not, just do it.
Since I have no professional coach to teach me how to run, I read a lot of running books and listened to some lectures. I also downloaded a running app and made a plan for my half marathon. In order to finish my half marathon within two hours and half, I have to run three times a week, each time more than 7 km. I was so afraid I would fail, so I strictly followed the plan. As you know that, changes always go beyond plans. I remember one time, I had already worked overtime for several days, I was tired but I still forced myself to get up early and run. Although I completed my running goal, I was extremely exhausted and then got sick. So I had to suspend running and rested for a whole week.
Later, I realized that my body knows the answer. She knows when you have to take a rest and when you can get started. At that time, she was out of condition, but I still forced her to run. As a result, she protested and got sick to remind me that she needs to take a rest. Besides, she also taught me a important lesson, health is the most important thing, far more important than achieving your goal. Health is not everything, but without health, you can do nothing.
I want ask all of you a question: how many of you have ever experienced ups and downs in life? (reply) I also experienced ups and downs when preparing for marathon.Sometimes, I was frustrated. The goal was too high for me. Whenever I opened running app and saw my daily goals. What?! Today I have to run 12 km. Oh, tomorrow I have to run 20 km. I want to "die". When will it be over? To make things even worse, I failed to speed up. My knees hurt. I almost gave up. However, sometimes, I gain a sense of happiness and accomplishment when I am running. And I also feel that running is such a beautiful thing, how I wish I could keep running to the end of this world. I experienced ups and downd when preparing for marathon, after rested for sometime, and I started to run again.
Life itself is full of ups and downs, without the downs, the ups would mean nothing. Patience is the key. You may not achieve what you what immediately. You may not know everything that you need to know to achieve that goal. You may in the darkness and couldn't see the road ahead. But you just can't give up so easily.
Some people say, life is like a marathon. I agree. But for me, life is much more like preparing for a marathon. When preparing for it, you will know, you have infinite potential. You will know health is the most important thing. And you will also know life itself is full of ups and downs. Be patient and never give up. There is no failure in running or in life as long as you keep moving.
I will run my second, third, fourth,fifth half marathon next year, or even marathon in the furture. Because I run therefore I am.