I finished last at a charity walk. Dead last! My husband was right at my side so
he finished next to last. It wasn’t a big walk, maybe 2,000 walkers or so but I
was THE LAST person to cross the
finish line. Women pushing strollers changed diapers, stopped and breast fed their
babies and still beat me to the finish line.
Cub Scouts and their parents were at intersections to help
in facilitating crossing streets. They had walkie-talkies to communicate to the
finish line area when the race was done so the police would know when to resume
normal traffic. There were also treats waiting for everyone at the finish line,
so everyone was anxious to get the race completed! Can you picture the faces of
these 8 year old boys watching me slowly proceed hoping there still would be
cookies and donuts left for them? :(
The week before the race I had knee surgery. It went well
and I felt good enough to walk the race. I went with every intention to turn
around if I felt pain. I ended up in a
kind of no man’s land, too far from my car or local transportation to stop or
turn around so I kept on going, slowly taking rest stops.
After the race we were invited to participate in a breakfast.
I declined saying I needed to go home and ice and rest my knee! Here are the
replies “Don’t put limits on yourself’”, “It’s never too early to train for next year”. Arrrr!!
We all have heard the expressions before; “it is never too
late” or the contrary “that ship has sailed”. What about, “everyday is a fresh
start”? Clichés can be found and used for almost every endeavor or situation.
Why do they irritate me so much? I think it is the sanctimonious way they are
often used! Did these other racers have knee surgery the week before? I doubt it! My Husband gripped my elbow and guided me away so I didn’t blurt out
“Limit This” with gesticulations unfitting to a morning charity event!
I was rather proud of myself for finishing this 5K walk given
my circumstances. I now have insight to those who struggle dearly to complete any
walk for whatever reasons. I feel honored to know what it is like to be the last person to cross a finish
line. In hindsight I should never have even
attempted the walk, never mind finish it, but as the expressions go, “no pain
no gain”, “hindsight is 20/20”, “life is short” "etcetera, etcetera, etcetera"!
Are you a cliché speaker? Have you ever finished last in a
race?
2 comments:
you did it! one week after knee surgery! that is so awesome, so proud :) who cares if you came in last, you finished! woot!!
Thanks Karen, that is how I felt until I heard the comments! I felt an enormous amount of satisfaction until my Dr. on a followup visit told me I was crazy to do the race. Then I felt an enormous amount of dumbness!
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