As a final wrap-up of this magnificent adventure, I'd like to thank (again) all of the donors that helped Team #JoelleStrong make it to Miami. It's been an HONOR, and as I mentioned before, I am humbled by your call to action, and I don't have enough words of gratitude for you all:
My dear parents, my friends, and my Husband, as well as the donors: Francisco Vigil, Keila Viñas, Elvia M. Frias, Judy Gobbell, Atenogenes Villarreal, Celeste Suris, Michael Stoia, Laura C. Marrero, Maria de los Angeles Villarejo, Candice Cintron, Thamineh Hamdallah, Lilliam Camacho, Laura Lebron, Nancy Joyner, Edmee Mattei, Karla M. Villanueva, Emilio Colon-Zavala, Joanna Blanco, Irma Mendez, Irma Colon-Alonso, Carl & Macu Sugarman, Ariana Somoza, Soraya Saltiel-Alen, Beatriz Fernandez, Gabriel R Frontera, Familia Burgos-Fernandez, Patricia Marroquin, Jennice Hernandez, Zaida Acosta, Zirah Acosta, Joseph Joyner, Carlyn Epstein, Sarah San Miguel, Pablo Tirado, Lloyd Leifer, Gabriel Quixano (Joelle's Husband), Joelle's Family, Cynthia Morales, Elizabeth Gomez, Joan Lopez, Ana Munoz-Matta, Janice Rios, Zynthia Ramirez, Natalia Montilla, Maria Giraldez, Nathalia Edmonds, and every Anonymous donor who also joined efforts in this journey (you know who you are. No, really, you do), and everyone who took a diet break and bought baked goods from me.
To the Puerto Rico chapter of LLS' Team in Training (Ligia Santos), my super mentor (Carmiña de Leon), and every team member I met in the process: You've been AMAZING, and I can't wait for the next challenge!
To my husband: I am honored that you've been on my side on this journey from day one and beyond.
Thanks to you we made it to the finish line. Thanks to you we're closer to finding a CURE for cancer. Thanks to your support other folks will get a chance to live cancer-free.
With that said, I have to say that the marathon experience was quite fun! The day before we went to pick up my things at the Expo and I felt like a kid in Toys-R-Us. The other thing that hit me was the large amount of people there. From my understanding the Miami Marathon had about 25,000 participants. 25K! That's CRAZY!
The night before I prepped everything, I did a last dress rehearsal and set things neatly so my Early Morning Self could find them easily. That Sunday felt like my wedding day: all the waiting had come to an end, the Big Event. (I think I was more nervous that Sunday than on my wedding day!)My husband was an angel that morning. He helped me out with breakfast and my prep, and accompanied me to the meeting point where the rest of the TNT-PR group members were by the AA Arena. The area was SO packed, and the metro rail car we rode to the arena was fuller than a can of sardines! I tagged along with other mentors and we walked to our corral, waited for the official start and waited for our turn. I am impressed by the marathon's coordination, we were out quickly and off to run!
I must say that I spent time with the most random and interesting folks during those 13.1 miles. From crazier outfits, to groups of cheering folks, it was a blast! I did however, enjoy the side effects of a long run which killed my running mojo:- First, the attack of the Evil Spleen. The pain was SO bad that I began questioning the actual location of my appendix and feared the need to find EMS peeps out there.
- Second, my toes. I now know what "Runner's Toes" is all about. The pain has gone away little by little, but apparently my toes were inspired by the TNT cause and decided to remain purple.
Since I wasn't counting on either one of those to be so badly, I was ashamed during last week about my overall performance. I had planned to finish at 2:20 and instead made it at 2:54. I sound like a whiner, but I had high expectations about this event. Looking back, it's amazing how much I've improved. I went from zero to amazing! After whining about my time, I've decided to get the heck over it and accept the fact that I at least finished.Running gives you a unique sensation of freedom which is incredibly delightful, so I have taken the challenge to keep running, and improve my time [eventually]. I rewarded myself with a new pair of running shoes (that are friendlier to ladies like myself, of short height and ballerina feet) and I'll be joining my new TNT-PR friends to motivate the new teams that are training this season.
It's been quite an adventurous journey, and I can't say I didn't have moments of weakness, times when I was about to quit, or feared that I wouldn't raise enough funds, along with days where I didn't even feel like it at all, but it's been rewarding. As an ADD-er, finishing a goal is quite an achievement!Overall, I am excited, I am inspired, and as mentioned before, I am grateful. I hope you enjoyed this journey's chapter...
See y'all around!
The
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