Part VI: In the footsteps of winners

The following is the sixth in a series of articles by heart-attack survivor Bob Owen. Click here to read last week’s blog entry.

Not very long after walking around White Rock Lake a friend from church told me about a Thanksgiving 5K in Rowlett and that I should enter it. I had no idea what to expect. Running — for 3.1 miles! Would my heart just explode or would I have to be driven back to the finish line?

 After much debate, I decided to enter. We all lined up, and to not get in anyone’s way, I went to the back of the pack. The shotgun sounded, and I thought, “OK, here I go.”

Since that day, in just about every race I’ve been in, two thoughts always come to mind. The first is how thankful I am to be there. From where I started in the ER, I had come a long way. The second is that I don’t deserve to be there. There are so many “real” runners, and I know I will never have the body of a competitive runner.

My goals have changed over the years for races. Starting out I wanted to see how close I could finish behind the winners. Then after taking anywhere from 2 to 3 times as long as they did, I figured I should concentrate on doing the best I could with the things I could change, while making adjustments in my pace and energy consumption because of the things I couldn’t.

I learned that the hard way one half marathon (13.1 miles) on a warm day.

I got very dehydrated and had to spend a long time in the medical tent after crossing the finish line. I’ve now finished 5K, 10K, 15K, half marathon, 20 mile and full marathon races. I recently finished the first-ever indoor marathon on the Finley Ewing track at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas. For those interested, it only takes 352 laps.

Each time I have those same nagging thoughts but each time as the start time nears, I look over in the crowd and find my wife, Sharon. With a tear in my eye I mouth that I love her, that I’ll be praying for her (I know she will be for me) and that sooner or later I’ll see her.

Yes, over the years I’ve had to tamp down my competitive brain to be more in line with my body and abilities, but even so there is something cool about being surrounded by thousands of athletes. Knowing that you are all about to go through the same test and even if it takes a long time, I’ve still run in the footsteps of the winners.