These are my legs. They each have a tattoo. They’re not the shapeliest and I sure don’t have a thigh gap. But, in 2011 I ran my first 10k, half marathon, and full marathon. Monday they took me 15 miles in a 10 min/mile pace. Yesterday they pressed 320 lbs, and felt like they could have done more. Today they ran 7 miles at a ~9 min/mile pace, and though I felt like I wanted to die, I’m ready to go to the gym after work.
I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging about my accomplishments (I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!), but for me this is a huge, enormous deal. When I was born, I had mild cerebral palsy. The neural connections between my brain and my legs were miswired, and it was assumed I would never walk. Through the perseverance of my parents with physical therapy when I was very, very young, you wouldn’t ever guess that. I suppose I have terrible balance now, but that seems to be the only vestige. I didn’t even know about it until my mother told me when I was a teenager, blabbing about a neuroscience book I thought was cool. Knowing that I have come so far pushed me through the last 2 miles of my marathon, when I truly felt like my legs were made of stone.
This is a really personal thing that I don’t ever share, and very few people know this lil’ fact; notably my nuclear family, my boyfriend (and two past exes). I wanted to share this with you (my tumblr family) because there is never an excuse to stop. You all motivate me, so I want to motivate you.
Happy hump day everybody :)
i had to share this, what an amazing & beautiful story.
