an Army 10 Miler flashback

Today I am already out at the starting line with hmb, Mrs. B, and Pink Champagne, Gatorade and MREs. We're running the Army 10 Miler and I'm excited [and terrified from my lack of preparation!] about the race. 

Last year I wrote about my experience running the Army 10 Miler on my old blog. I pulled the entry to post here.

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Day 273: laughter, tears and lots of running 

Running the Army 10-Miler was incredible for so many reasons. Simply put, it was challenging and overwhelming on just about every front - physically, mentally, and emotionally.

ens, her friend C, and I decided to run together. We pushed ourselves but wanted to enjoy the time we were going to spend running. We were able to talk and gossip and laugh while I played tour guide with the landmarks along the way.

Despite the fun, there were points where I was having some physical and mental moments, but I was so grateful to have these two girls with me. We were determined to finish together and we weren't going to let anything get in the way.

Emotionally, I went from a nervous wreck before the race to giddy as we were walking and then running towards the starting line to pride to sadness to excitement and anything and everything in between.

There were two moments that hit me the hardest. One was about two miles into the race when the three of us were running behind a group of women running for TAPS -- the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. They each had shirts with faces of the fallen that they were running in honor of. 

The second moment came when we passed a wounded veteran. He was running on prosthetics and with the assistance of canes. Seeing him trudging through and hearing him and his partner/motivator both calling out "one... two.. one.. two..." with each step made me cry. Running and crying isn't easy, but it doesn't compare to what he has had to overcome.

As the three of us neared mile nine, I made the comment to ens about how this race was feeling like a metaphor for this deployment -- "holy crap, we're almost done, has it really been nine months nine miles already?"

Crossing the finish line was such a sweet relief. Our posted time was 1:50, but most importantly, we made it across together. As the saying goes -- it's not the end that matters, but how you get there. After 10 miles of laughter, tears and lots of running, I'm proud to say that I not only finished the Army 10-Miler, but also forged two friendships along the way.

all of us together with our finisher coins -- T, me, C, jlc and ens