In May 2006, I graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio. After graduation, I joined City Year, an AmeriCorps program. I never played sports in high school or college, except for intramurals, and I ran just for fun. When I was 22, on October 2006, I participated in my first big athletic event: the MS150, a bike ride from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. After finishing that, I couldn’t wait to set another goal and reach it, so I could have that feeling of accomplishment again. So I decided that I would train for and participate in my first marathon, the 2007 Austin Marathon. Since I’d never done it before, and I was incredibly nervous and had no idea what to do, I did a lot of research on the internet for training programs then asked other runners I know for advice. I did almost all of my training runs by myself.

On race day, I was lucky enough to have the support of my parents plus two of my best friends with me in Austin. They saw me at mile 12, 17, 20, and at the finish line. Seeing them was defiantly the best morale booster ever: I would look forward to seeing them for at least 2 or 3 miles, then see them and drink their Propel and get hugs and cheers, then be high off the encouragement for at least 2 more miles. Having friends and family on the sidelines is something I recommend for anyone running a marathon!

It didn’t hit me that I would actually finish the race until around mile 6, when for some reason I just knew that I could make it the rest of the way. Being fairly confident in this, it made all the phases of pain I went through more bearable… everything from my left baby toe to my left hip and knee. Pain is temporary, but glory is forever, right? I’ve heard people say that distance running is almost all mental, and I now know that’s true. Also, having crowd support and bands playing on the sidelines as well as being around so many other runners going through the same things helped a ton.

My goal was to finish, and I am incredibly proud to say that I accomplished it... plus I’m pretty proud that I made it in less than 5 hours. Crossing that finish line was so exhilarating, and I could not stop smiling… I couldn’t believe that I had actually done it! The feeling of pride was unlike anything else I had ever experienced, and my parents and friends helped me celebrate my accomplishment. I still get a smile on my face when I think about it, and I could talk about it for hours to anyone who will listen. I wasn’t sure that running 26.2 miles would change my life… but it has, by increasing my self-confidence and convincing me that anything is possible, if you want it enough and work hard to get it. I’m already looking forward to my next one.