Revelations

Yesterday Chip and I ran our first half marathon. It was awesome!

 

Chip came in 12th for his age group, and I beat my personal time goal.

Here are pictures from our race!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This was RIGHT after I finished haha

 Here is us with our 2014 to-do list and our very first accomplished task!!

The whole experience was really great. I'm not sure if I will ever do one again, running isn't my "thing" per say, but I think it was an important thing for me to experience. I learned a lot from this.

 

During the race, around mile 4 or 5, I had a sort of self realization or revelation that really struck me.

 

I was running a half marathon. Me. Of my own free will, and with my very own body. No one made me do this, and no one was doing this for me. This was all Emilee. And it felt good. I felt accomplished. I had been fearful of this experience for months. I was certain that I would physically, mentally or emotionally NOT be able to accomplish this goal.

 

And then mile 4-5 happened. I was proud of my body. Not only in that I was running this 13.1 mile race, but proud of the body that I have right now. It's not perfect, and many would maybe think negatively about it, but its mine. I own it. I own it in that I am proud of it. It gets me from point A to point B, it allows my husband the ability to hug and kiss his wife, to hold her hand, to love her, this body is healthy and able, it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, it allows me to hold my nieces and nephews, hold my beloved pets, embrace family and friends, play, and run, among a million other things. This isn't all to say that my body is 100% perfect or that I always will feel this confident, but this is an important step to loving myself. This body has changed over time, not always in ways I love, but the fact that bodies can morph, and adapt, change, & change back is amazing, astonishing, and admirable. We are so resilient in our physical forms. During that mile 4-5 I came to love something that I have hated, shamed, hidden and loathed for so long. That was perhaps the most amazing experience during this half marathon adventure. Today I am at peace and I am no longer AFRAID of what others may perceive this body to be.

It's mine, and I love it.

 

This brings me to another fun thing.

My friend Marquette has a theme for the year and wrote about it on Pinstrosity. I too picked a theme for the year, but I hadn't thought to talk about it, but I think it pertains to this post.

Fearless.

 

Last year wasn't laced in fear for me by any means, but having this as my go to thought in life this last month has been remarkable. I make no apologies for being myself, and I'm not worried about what people think about me or what I'm doing. It is most certainly not up to them to decide.

 

2014 is a year of firsts for the Goutcher's and I am beyond excited. This theme was just a natural progression of all that we have in store for us this year.

-Em