Some might ask what is the difference? To me a moment is a very clear, defined point in time. When I have a "moment" I feel I can scoop up that exact point in my life..it is perfectly carved out. I remember every detail - positive or negative. A milestone is an event...something that I've usually worked hard to attain. In most cases it has taken some form of effort or change on my part. When I have a "milestone" I recall feeling proud because in most cases it wasn't easy to get there.
Runners talk about miles A LOT...
"How many miles did you run this morning/evening?"
"How many miles are we running this weekend?"
"How many miles did you run this week/month/year?"
We also get the crazy questions about miles from our non-running friends...
"How many miles is a marathon?"
"You ran HOW many miles this weekend?"
"Why would you do that...I don't even drive that far?"
And to be honest, three years ago that was me and I absolutely love it when someone asks me those questions because it gives me a chance to tell my story and how I began my journey...it allows me to tell them about my MILEstones...and how running (in a way) changed my life! While at the same time encouraging them to start a journey of their own!
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| Dallas - Houston-Austin Marathons of Texas | 2012-2013 |
This weekend was a MILEstone for me...it completed the Marathons of Texas races - Dallas, Houston and Austin! I find it interesting that if you add up the mileage from Dallas to Houston to Austin and back to Dallas it is approximately 598 miles. I began training for these races in June 2012 and I use a Garmin to track most of my runs. I don't track runs I do on a treadmill and occasionally the Garmin dies during a run or I forget it, but when I ran a report to see my training miles from mid June to end of January it showed 459.3 miles. I then did a calculation of what I thought my mileage should be during this time and it came to approximately 640 miles. Here's my POINT...my training for Dallas full, Houston full and Austin half...pretty much equaled the distance to travel to those races...I thought it was pretty ironic ; )
Austin half also marked my 12th half marathon and it was where I ran my VERY FIRST half marathon 3 years ago! Take a look at this blog post from 2010. MILEstone!
What made Austin even more special is that I was with two dear friends...Jessica and Kalee. It was a quick trip but boy we had some laughs especially on the course...and some tears...and every single hill was worth it. I love these ladies and I loved running next to them!
We had some special visitors on the course...right after the split where the marathoners go to the left and the half stay to the right there was a water stop that was supported by Superhero Kids. I was quite thankful we were on the half course this time around : ) Georgia, our friend and honored hero from Austin...her family volunteers for the organization and they were working the water stop. As we rounded the corner I saw a huge GFORCE sign...and then I saw Ivy (Georgia's sister) passing out water...and then I saw Georgia with a sign for me and her Dad with a sign for Jessica. I simply can't describe the feeling...it was AWESOME! It was just what we needed for the final two miles and the big ole, steep hill that was hiding around the next corner.
Side note for the signs: GFORCE is for Kalee's son (Grayson) who is currently battling leukemia - its their team name and the shirts we wear when we run for Grayson; Jessica's sign said "Go for Grant" as he is adjusting to life with epilepsy and for Houston we fundraised for the Epilepsy Foundation; and my sign said Just Keep Swimming because it is a motto Georgia's used during treatment (from Finding Nemo) and I used it back when I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2011.
Georgia is 9 months OFF TREATMENT and continues to do well. She is having some issues with her left ankle and some bone loss that they are keeping a close eye on so please send prayers her way that they determine the right course of treatment for that. Until then she gets to wear that fancy boot but as you can tell it doesn't slow her down!
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