On May 5, I completed my first half marathon. I had been training to run my first one on 5/26, but then I found out about Trail to a Cure. It was a race to raise money for AIDS/HIV. When I found out about it, I knew this had to be my first. There was no awesome medal to be won, but something even more special. This was a chance for me to raise money to help find a cure for AIDS. My friend, Kevin, died 17 years ago from this horrible disease. I watched him go from a fun-loving, vibrant young man to a old, decrepit shell of himself in a matter of months. Watching someone die from this disease is just unimaginable unless you've seen it firsthand.
I had a special shirt made in honor of Kevin. When I woke up yesterday morning and put that shirt on, it brought a tear to my eye. It was such an honor for me to run for this cause and it made me think about Kevin and how soon he was taken from us all. I was super excited about the race and my adrenaline was pumping. The race didn't start until 10:30 and it was suppose to be 90 degrees and humid. I didn't realize how much the heat would really affect my running.
I started off really strong on the Katy Trail and felt like I could run forever. When I reached the half-way point, I realized two things. First, I had ran it in 1:20 and the only way to finish under my goal of 2:45 was to run the same pace back. The heat was really slowing me down and I knew that wasn't going to happen. I'm just going to do my best, I told myself. The next thing was that Kevin's song was playing that he loved and was played at his funeral, "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John. I had put my workout playlist on shuffle when I started and this just happened to be playing at the halfway point. I knew Kevin was with me. I started to cry, but knew I couldn't be running and crying, so I hurried and thought about all the happy times I had with him. The run back was tough and I know at times I wasn't doing much more than a shuffle, but I crossed the finish line at 2:58. The next song that came on after I finished was Kevin's song again. I knew he was flying beside me the whole way.
Justin and Keelee were there to greet me at the finish line and that was all I needed. Keelee gave me many hugs and kisses and although she didn't understand the extent of what I had just accomplished, I knew she was proud of me.
