From Bipolar to Half Marathon

 

As I reflect on this past month, I am proud of a few things.  I may have run a half marathon at a race yesterday, but that wasn’t my first half marathon in technicality.

As some of you may have seen on my stories on Instagram a few weeks ago, I ran my first half marathon during my last long run with my friend, Barb.  The goal for that long run was to run 20k.  We decided to take our time and go at an easy pace. It was a good run. We pretty much did a loop of the north and south side of the city. During the run, we had some good conversations, and it was a run I didn’t listen to music at all.

As we neared the end of the route, we looked at each other and said, “I bet we could go a bit further, and complete 21.1k.  At the 20k distance, I probably could have finished there as my hip was giving me issues, but I wanted to see us finish 21.1k together.  Sometimes you need those moments to push yourself and do something hard.

Finishing the last long run with my friend was an amazing feeling.  Afterward, I said to myself, “And now we are going to do this again in three weeks.”

I may not have finished the Calgary Marathon half marathon at a very fast pace, but I did finish and that is what matters. But another important thing I need to remember is that in May, I ran the equivalent of a marathon with the two half marathons I ran 3 weeks apart. That is crazy when I put that into perspective.  This is something I never saw myself doing years back.   I never saw myself as a runner, but in a few weeks, I’ll have been running for 3 years.

As I also reflect on all of this, I must also remember what I have been through with my mental health since my Bipolar diagnosis three years ago.  Running has really helped me to become a better mom, wife, and person.  I’m not sure where I would be today if it wasn't for running.  Running has helped me live better with my Bipolar. It has also helped me with my stability too.

I remember years back when I was younger, I always wanted to have that thing that I felt I was good at.  I remember wishing I was good at piano, as I would see my sister excelling at piano wishing I was just as good as her. I remember she would share her accomplishments with my grandparents, and I wish there was something I could share with them. I was also a crafty person, but I didn’t feel it was much of anything to share with them. As I look back now, I know I was still figuring out myself back then. I know if my grandparents were still around they would be proud of all my accomplishments and the things all my siblings have achieved. 

When I discovered running, I felt like I had finally found something I could do and be good at. I also discovered this amazing community of other runners. I started connecting with some when I started my TikTok account originally.  Then when I started doing ParkRun I met some there too. Then through my Marathon Club training and other running activities, I began to meet more. I feel like through running I am part of something big. I think the amazing thing is that you can call yourself a runner no matter how slow or fast you are.   In a lot of the training runs and other group runs I have been part of there was usually someone at the end cheering you on or congratulating you when you finished. It didn’t matter if I was last or first, as we were all training for the same reason.

I am thankful for the community that I found and look forward to seeing what else I will accomplish in the future, as I continue on my running journey.