Bittersweet race...

I thought that today would be the first time I would write a race report. I was wrong. I will just say this. This race was particularly important to me because it is the first race I registered for consciously knowing that I would run through it. I actually registered for the 5k of this event in January. I ended up doing the 10k today and I have ran four 5k's this summer. Today was a celebration of all that I have accomplished since December. I have lost 70 lbs, I am running...a lot, I am swimming...often, I have changed my life in more ways than one and I have conquered a lot of fears. I ran the 10k in 1 hour and 20 minutes which is not too bad considering that it was an accomplishment to just run one minute back in January. So today was about celebrating life with my family.

Today, I was also reminded of how fragile life can be. After I was done with my race and I was going back home walking next to the people who were doing marathons and half-marathons, a guy fell right in front of me and his head hit the ground. He was not breathing...People tried to ressucitate him and the ambulance was called. I later learned on the news that a 32 year old man died at the marathon. It could be him, but it could also be a number of other people because as I was making my way home after that I saw a at least 3 other men who were lying on the sidewalks getting help. I pray that the guy we saw is alright, but even if he is, there is still another young man who died today. This guy died doing something that has given me my life back. This guy pushed his limits and I admire that. This guy also reminds me to make sure that when I go out running or doing any other thing that makes me push my limits, I need to take calculated risks. This guy mostly reminds me that life is fragile and that I need to cherish every minute of it, that I need to keep conquering my fears because that's what life is all about and that I need to keep telling the people I care about that they are important to me because I never know when I won't be able to.

My thoughts are with his family tonight...