In case you don't this is Brandy Chastain in 1999 when she kicked a game winning penalty goal against China to win the world cup. She of course was celebrating her win. I was 18 at the time and this inspired me. It inspired be because she worked hard to get where she was through many hours and days of hard work and dedication.
Now I'm not planning on ripping my shirt off out in my yard when I kick a goal against my 6 year old in celebration of my victory.
Let me take you back to the summer of '06. Spencer was 4 months old and I felt like a piece of crap. I hated my body and I was sick of it. I remember walking on the treadmill one day and I had Spenc in the stroller and little 2 year old Parker was pushing him around and I looked down at them and decided I wanted to change myself for the better FOR my kids. So I told my family that we should do the Race For The Cure in May of '07 and that it would be a good family thing and we could get in better shape.
As the months passed I wasn't so sure I wanted to participate. In January '07 my sister Melissa said, "So are we doing that race or what?" I'm thinking, "Oh crap! I was hoping everyone would forget!" But I decided to go for it so it ended up being me, Melissa and a friend of ours that ran it with 16,000 other people! We never stopped and ran the whole way and I gotta tell you that was a BIG moment for me. I never thought in a million years that I would run that far and actually WANT to run that far.
The rest of the day I felt like I was on top of the world. I've been chasing that feeling ever since. I'm on week 6 of training for my first half-marathon. Crazy, I know! People tell me I'm crazy all the time. My mom said once, "Do you actually like running?"...LOL! I only started liking it about 3 months ago so it took me a while. It is hard, but it's also very rewarding.
So here's to hoping that I can have my "Brandy Chastain" moment on July 3rd when I attempt to run 13.1....with a shirt on that is!
