Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Pittsburgh Half Marathon 2014








March 2014  10 Months Post Stroke

"Rich, isn't the Pittsburgh Half
Marathon coming up soon?"
asked Rabbi Rosenblum.

"Oy, your right. First Sunday
in May."

"That's about six weeks away.
Have you been training?
This is a very symbolic
race for you."

" I can't believe it slipped my
mind. I've been so busy with
other things."

"Well, I guess someone has to
come in last," he said.

We both laughed.

"That's one reason you're such a
great leader, Rabbi Rosenblum.
You know how to say
just the right things to motivate
people."

I better get myself motivated and
schedule some long runs.
I watched some "Rocky" movies
on YouTube, and set some times
in my calendar to do some long
runs. I have done a lot of these
events. I'm counting on my
experience . I don't have a lot
of time to train.

The longest run I got in was
eight miles, three weeks prior
to the race.
That's it. I always do my longest
run three weeks prior to the race,
and then taper down. The week before
I do as little exercise as possible.
I still have to do some exercise because
of my profession.

Race packet pickup on Friday. I'm always
in a hurry to get back to work. Next year
I'm going to clear my schedule so I can
look around at all the cool booths.

Race Day

Buzz, it's four thirty in the morning. I'm glad
I slept on the couch with all my running gear
on. Now, I just have to go through my
checklist and I'll be out the door by five
thirty a.m. I hope I miss the traffic jam.
There's over thirty thousand runners.
I hope I can find a parking space.
Good, I found a parking space.
Now I have to figure out how to get
to my starting corral. There are about
five thousand runners in each corral.

Race is starting soon. I see her singing the
National Anthem on that huge big screen
T.V. Everything looks surrealistic. Pastel
colors of thousands of runners.
Most of the runners started cheering
and jumping. I always cry at the start.
This time is no different. There is something
about thousands of people with positive
energy and enthusiasm that gets to me.

I feel like I'm on vacation,running
through quaint neighborhoods and
across bridges.  I love looking at
the magnificent contrast of  water,
sky and a collage of architecture.

I'm nearing the finish line.
Nurses are sitting on the wall
of the Rehab Center I was in.

I pointed up, and yelled, "I was in there a
year ago, I had a stroke!"

The nurses stood up on the wall
and started clapping.

I did it! I crossed the finish line
one year post stroke.

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