Okay. I’m getting my head together.
Thanks for the support, guys. I’m getting my head together here about this. I just had a frying pan on the head moment, as I harped on my students all day about the PURPOSE for running therapeutic recreation programs. They’d say, “Is this the right way to …(ie. run an exercise group? lead this mental stim activity?)” and I felt like a broken record, saying, “What’s the goal of the program? Does that activity meet the goal? If it does, then it’s “right”.”
I’m not really explaining this well, but hang in.
So I got to thinking, what is my goal for this race anyways?
The race is about suicide prevention, but truth be told, my main goal was not to raise money for the cause. I feel completely awful for people who have lost love ones to mental illness and suicide, and if that’s you, I am truly sorry for your loss. But I do not have a personal story to tell, or someone to run for, that relates to this cause.
My goal, truly is to run across the finish line. If I need a couple of walk breaks in the race, well, that’s between me and the race. I’ve always wanted to run across a finish line. That to me is a symbol of sticking with the goal of training for this, of sticking with the clinic. To finishing what I started, I suppose. My goal is also just to experience it, all of the ins and outs of a race. I LOVE reading about other people’s race experiences, and I want to experience that for myself.
So if those are my goals, then my activity: (running at a manageable pace so I can run hard at the finish line, having fun throughout, taking it all in) has to match the goal.
And I know I’ll be thinking of Jack, and all of his hard work in marathon training. That will have to put it all into perspective for me.
Okay, thanks for listening to me talking sense to myself. I’m sure it was as painful for you as it was for me… lol … 
