Go the Distance: 26.2

This picture was taken at the last Heart Run that I participated in, in Anchorage, Alaska.

It was only 3 miles.

Now, I am aiming a little higher (just a little) . . . 26.2 to be exact.

May 14, 2011

I am terrified. I am not ready. I am scared. Horrified. Nervous.

And yet, I BELIEVE I can do it! (On a good day!)

I sure HOPE I can do it! (On a bad day, and I have those bad days!)

I am TRAINING to do it.

(Faith without works is dead, after all!)

http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon

So, I was lying in bed last night -- thinking over my life -- and reasons why . . .

I am a strong, beautiful woman . . . capable of accomplishing hard things.

(Did I just say that about myself?)

Wow! That is an accomplishment in itself!

Anyhow, I started to form a list of some things I have been through that have made me "strong", and also other things where I have used strength, even physical/mental strength. (The list is below.) But first, another explanation, just so you can get to know me even better. . . :-)

You see, I have ALWAYS been known as "The Strong Girl". Some of my nicknames included, "Her Buff-ness" and "Super-woman".

Age 12

I have even been called, a "Thug". (Used as a term of endearment, by friends I would "protect".)

Here I am offering my protection to my friend, Emily.

Now . . . that is all glorious and everything (being big and strong), but when you are a "thug" dreaming of being a lovely little ballerina -- it presents a problem! It did not help that growing up my best-friend WAS actually a ballerina! (Emily, the girl I protected.)

Yes, it is true. I have always wondered what it must feel like to be a wisp of a thing, prancing around effortlessly, gracefully -- like a ballerina-princess. I have always wondered what it might be like to glide, to float, to flit. Rather than strength-strutting, trudging, with bullish effort. (I do try to contain myself so it may not appear quite so overly-aggressive!)

I am like a lion who wants to be a gazelle, an eagle who would like to be a dove. You get the idea . . . something big and strong that would like to be something . . . small and graceful.

Well, rather than dreaming of something I will NEVER be . . .

(Which is as ridiculous as an eagle dreaming of being a dove!)

I am trying to come to terms with being the strong woman that I am.

I want to CLAIM it.

I want to feel a sense of joy when I think of being who I REALLY am . . .

I am STRONG. I am a LION. Hear me ROAR!

Are not the lion and the gazelle, the eagle and the dove, all beautiful?? You're right, they are! Just like people.

Being strong is in my blood, you see. Kind of like Harry Potter being a great "seeker" . . . because it is part of who he is, part of his "family history", as it were. Well, in my blood runs: strength. I dare say, if you lined up both sides of my family (The Lindquists and the Posts), we would win ANY tug of war competition!! ;-)

My Grandpa Post loved to box and was pretty darn good at it, too

My Grandpa Lindquist was an extraordinarily big and strong man

And because of my ancestors I have become ME. There are no ballerinas amongst my family members. Just a bunch of big, strong people.

I am full of inner (and outer) strength because of who I come from. My people helped settle Zion; they were farmers, and builders, and people of faith. I am strong because of them. I should be happy about that! Right? RIGHT!

My body sometimes feels like it could burst with power.

Not speed, but strength.

My people are strong.

I am strong. I am strong. I am strong.

(I will be chanting that as I run!)

So, though I may never be "graceful" I can be GRATEFUL for my gift of strength. It is a gift I may find comes in handy in the near future.

You need a handcart pulled . . . I am your woman!

So what does this have to do with running a marathon?? EVERYTHING! When I think of "runners" I think of small, agile, beings that carry less than an ounce of "extra" on their bodies. As for me (a Lion) I have plenty of "extra". Lions are really more known for their quick bursts of speed to get their food, and then they sleep all day! So, somehow, this Lion has got to pace herself to endure to the end! I have to use my inner and outer strength to carry me 26.2 miles.

I can do it.

So here are 26.2 reasons why I AM strong enough to "go the distance":

I will be thinking of them each time I pass a mile marker.

(I was considering 26.2 swear words . . . but I am trying to be positive! ) ;-) Wink!

1. I have done 50 push-ups, on my knuckles, on a gym floor

2. I have broken a board with my hand

3. I have broken a board with my foot

4. I have won side-kick balancing competitions in Tae-Kwon-Do

5. I have put numerous boys in head-locks (and they could not get out, until I let go!)

6. I won numerous arm-wrestling competitions -- against boys

7. I spent months on crutches after breaking my growth plate (hence the strength in my arms)

8. I had to learn to walk again (Ouch!)

9. I had a mouth expander, in junior high, that had to be cranked with a key everyday (PAIN!)

10. I have run 13.5 miles pushing the double jogger stroller

11. I have run 7 months pregnant, pushing the double stroller

12. I have run in snow and ice

13. I have run in thunder and lightning

14. I have run in bitter cold

15. I have run in burning heat

16. I have performed solos in front of hundreds of people (Yes, that takes strength, too!)

17. I endured law school with Charles (talk about needing to be strong!)

18. I have given birth three times (induced every time)

19. I have given birth, being induced, without an epidural (Talk about FIRE!)

20. I have managed an apartment building full of druggies/scary people -- evicted them ALL. (Moved in the Mormons and created the "Mormon Mansion"!)

21. I have bumped a volleyball in the air (consecutively) 100+ times to make varsity

22. I have "tied" arm-wrestling with my sis-in-law, Mindy. (A champion basketball player.) She claimed she was not at top-game, but nor was I! ;-) wink!

23. I have had surgery, including pins put in my growth plate (on my ankle).

24. I lived through a violent car-crash (when I was 4). I walked away from it, the only one unharmed (Everyone else had glass stuck in their bodies/broken bones).

25. Sprained my ankle when a large Samoan guy named "Chief" landed on top of me, during a Volleyball game

26. I am a woman (Cramps, people! That takes strength!)

.2. I am a MOTHER (Nothing requires more strength than that!)

26.2 . . . a piece of cake. This lioness is all over that wimpy number.

Because I am a STRONG woman!!! Strength flows through my veins: Not weakness.

My name is Maridyth van Ormer. I am a strong and beautiful woman.

I can accomplish hard things.

26.2 hard things . . . to be exact.