It was March 11^th. I was in week 4 of my Brooklyn Half Marathon training and I remember sitting at my desk and my left leg was completely numb from the knee down. You know, the tingling feeling you get when your foot goes to sleep only this time, it was painful…really painful. I had to make an emergency appointment with a physical therapist. After several tests, it was determined that I had a bulging disk in my lower back that hit a nerve that was connected to my leg.  I could barely walk at the time but I had high hopes that I would be able to overcome my injury and be able to complete the half in May.  

Then April came and I still wasn't cleared to run long distances. I was devastated.  This is something that I really wanted to do for myself. I wanted to run these miles to prove that I could accomplish a really lofty goal. But I wasn't willing to run the risk of further injury so I told myself that I would sign up for another race next year.

After several months of physical therapy and 3 months of intensive working out Tapout XT style, I finally felt ready to really get back to running again.  My sister Leslie was training for a 15K that she was running to celebrate her 33^rd birthday so we created a 50 mile challenge on Facebook for the month of September.  This seemed like a really big goal to me since I hadn't really run that many miles ever…but I did it! And for the month of October we upped the ante to 55 miles!  I was ready!

I happened to be scrolling through the Black Girls RUN! NYC page and saw that there was a national meet up race happening in Trenton, New Jersey in November. I said to myself, I can do that and not only make my goal but support my sister by running a race for her birthday virtually. She lives in Chicago and I’m in New York and couldn't make her race because one of my friends was running the ING NYC Marathon.  So I signed up!

When the race day came, I felt prepared. I had done my last long run the Saturday before…11 miles! It was hard but I got them done and knew I could conquer 13.1 miles. 

I am blessed to be part of the NYC Chapter of Black Girls RUN! because we have some awesome individuals who will motivate you til the end! One of the BGR! ambassadors paced me through the entire race to make sure I made my goal.  The first 8 miles were pretty good but after that it was all downhill (really uphill because there were so many HILLS!!!) I thought I was not going to make it. The mile markers were off, I was tired of climbing those rolling hills and my calf started hurting but I didn't give up.  My God-sent ambassador, Nykia, was there for me every single step of the way.  I am so thankful for her and another one of my BGR! sole sistas Tsitsi because if it were not for them, I wouldn't have made it.

Nykia and I when we first started!

After 13.1 miles, a lot of sweat and a few really bad 4-letter words, I made it! I crossed the finish line!!! It was an exhilarating feeling!!!! I truly believe this was supposed to be my first half marathon and not Brooklyn. I was surrounded by 700+ other beautiful women of Black Girls RUN! and not only did we receive one medal, but we got two!!!

This isn't even half of the BGR! women who were at the race!

We did it!

What’s the moral of this story? Never give up! Keep striving towards your goals.  Even if you hit a major speed bump like I did, don’t give up! Your blessing is right around the corner if you keep going after it!

 Lauren D.

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