OxygenD's Editor Blog with Diane Hart

Monday, May 16, 2011

I did it!

I'm sitting here this morning admittedly a little sore from the half-marathon yesterday and yet also euphoric. At the time, I have to admit I felt a little nervous ... After all, I had only done a modicum of the training and I wondered how I would do during the race - hopefully I'd finish! Standing with my colleagues Wendy and Gabby at the start, I was, I have to admit, filled with trepidation. (thanks, btw, to those of you who commented on my blog prior to the race!)



Despite the nerves, I set out to enjoy every minute of it - and I did! There is such a tremendous feeling of self-accomplishment in not only finishing the race in a decent time but enjoying it so much. Why did I ever think it was going to be a slog? In fact, there were LOL moments from the enthusiastic crowd who showed up along the race, despite the inclement weather; I was smiling at some of their antics...signs like "Chafe today; boast tomorrow!" brought a big smile to my face.

And I loved the runners - an older gentlemman wearing a "80-year-old grandad runner!" T-shirt as he chugged along or the guy who wore an "Older than Boston" T-shirt; and then the spectators: a jazz trio taking refuge in a lakefront gazebo; a little girl holding a rain-spattered "I love you Mom" sign; an older woman politely saying "Good Morning" to all the runners from her lawn chair and all the volunteers handing out Gatorade and water throughout the race.....

Later on, as my guy and I stood in line at the grocery store, a proud father was telling the clerk about how his son had actually raced that morning in the marathon and my fella said the same: she did it too, he said, pride evident in his voice.

How fantastic and how gratifying! Sore muscles, who cares?????

Question: What recently gave you a sense of self-accomplishment?


7 comments:

  1. congratulations!!

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  2. The moment and sense of accomplishment is the most gratifying feeling that cannot be expressed in words...Congratulations Diane!

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  3. Awesome!!! What an accomplishment Diane! You were focused, stay consistent with your training, and went for it!! Ahhh, what a GREAT feeling that is!!
    I'll never forget the moment I stepped back on stage after having my third child, ACL reconstructive surgery and repair of my meniscus.... I wasn't able to jump off of two feet for over 2 years! To have the strength and courage to compete again was truly a gratifying and memorable day.

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  4. Thanks guys! The more we support each other, the more inspiration we derive - thanks for taking the time to chat to me....talk soon!

    -Diane

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  5. I lost 97 pounds and today I can proudly say that I love to workout. It is part of my new lifestyle and and priority in my daily routines. After completing the goal of losing the pounds I wanted more and today I set small goals every 3 months. Goals such as more sprint faster, complete x amount of push up's, improve my form while performing any specific weight training movement, etc. I feed from the compliments that I receive from peers at the gym, we have friendly competitions amongst ourselves and to hear them say that I am a form of inspiration to them it's beyond rewarding to me. This type of encouragement and support it's what makes me push myself more and more every day, not to mention seeing the little rewards like seeing those sexy abs on me.

    I love oxygen magazine as a whole, the articles are very informative and inspiring.

    Thank you!!

    Warm regards from sunny Miami, FL
    Yady

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  6. Congratulations on the half-marathon! My boyfriend is trying to convince me to do one.

    My big accomplishment this year was doing my first Olympic Weightlifting competition. I use to be so sendentary, my back fused up from sitting all the time and I could not bend anymore.

    For this week, I tried running for the first time in a while. It always hurts my back, but this time it didn't. I also tried spinning, and took a back to back BodyPump and Yoga class. My hip flexors are so tight, I'm shuffling instead of walking, but it feels good to try new things!

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