Story submitted by Graciela M. Monroy
Graciela M. Monroy, lovely called “Gra” by friends and family, a resident of Weston was a member of the team “Weston Warriors” which took part in the 13.1 Miles ING Marathon to support the “Fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma” , that took place in Miami last January. Gra reached the goal of the 13.1 miles after a long and streneous training. The fund raising reached $138,000. Gra gave her best performance in order to get the medal which changed her life. Here we will share her essay of her experience for the community to know to enjoy.
Up to Mile 6 Everything was Perfect
After waking up at 3:00am, and had breakfast the Monroy family got ready to travel to Downtown Miami. “The excitement made my heart beat at 1,000 minutes per hour. My feelings were all contradictory. When we arrived at the American Airlines Arena the excitement of the place amazed me. Thousands of people, like ants, moved from one place to another trying to find their location. We were lucky to count with a reliable team (TNT) Team in Training, because it was like having a big family supporting you. There were more than 200 runners por TNT, who would have thought that Gra was going to be one among them… Then, in spite of the fact that the race started at 6:15am they had to wait until 6:30am to participate. Carol, my coach from TNT was always at my side. Going up the bridge on I-395 it was impressive to see with the first sun rays of the day, how 21,000 people was marching in silence toward Miami Beach. Images that I will never forget. The time was perfect, the weather was perfect. I walked and I ran with the planned pace up to Mile 6th. 15 mpm (1 hour 29 minutes). Happy, enjoying the experience”, says Graciela.
Mile 7th: Overcoming Obstacule
“Something is happening to my shoe…something is not right…but I will go on. Mile 7.5: I came across with Claudia and Andres Vicentini. Cool! They passed by me and continued on. Mile 8th: I started limping with a blister at the bottom of my foot…16.5 mpm. Panic!!
Then the Venetian Causeway shows up and I see it getting lost in the horizon, I thought my heart was going to stop. Aw my God! Time to concentrate. My mind was focused in the blister in my right foot…17mpm. The alarm in my fabulous Garmin 305 GPS watch starting to warn me of my reduce speed. It was impossible to run with my pain. Another Aw my God!… Carol, my coach, reminded me of Hebe, the friend of my daughter Claudia, for whom I enrolled to run and whose name was engraved in my back. “Think about of the people you are doing this for” I repeated myself. “Think about the 16 year old boy who spoke to us last night during the dinner; he would want to exchange places with you…” At Mile 9th I felt like throwing the alarm down the bridge. Beep, beep, beep!
I took me one minute to stretch the muscles not accustomed to compensate thanks to the foot with the problem. I get some air and continued. Mile 10th: The extreme. I could see from far a sign that said Go, Gra, Go. There they were giving me support and encouragement to continue. My cheerful crowd: Nelson, Grachi, Kyle and the rest. They really made the difference. A “second win” overpowered me…We passed Mile 11th, not a great view but a great jazz music gave me a lot of courage. Mile 12th, another band was playing the Beatles…Suddenly, there it was. The CIFO (Cisneros-Fontanal’s Art Foundation) with its beautiful mosaic façade which distracted me for a minute while I was telling my coach the history of its construction.
Mile 13th, Almost there!
Almost there was the only thing people was shouting…Yes, I was almost there, but this mile seems to be endless. The liquid inside my blister burst under my toes. Oops, that was a relief, I felt pain but not so much anymore…and almost at the last curve, Samantha, our coach from TNT Weston, was waiting anxiously there: Hey, how are you feeling? You are almost there. You have done it incredibly.” When I entered the final path and the saw the final point I brought myself to strength and run and run strongly. People around were cheering and cheering giving me strength…and then again my wonderful fans, my yellow sign through the crowd: Go, Gra, Go…Finally, remembering the words of Coach Samantha during training: Smile when you go through the banner, because they are taking your picture”. Therefore after 3 hours and 41 minutes, I raised my arms and smiled…
One hour later, with my medal around my neck, I hugged my daughter Claudia who also finished the marathon in 4 hours and 28 minutes, improving her records from Chicago in 4 minutes and winning to Oprah W. for about a minute. We both accomplished what we promised.
This experience with TNT (www.Teamintraining.org) has strengthened my will, making me feel more confident when trying to reach my goals and at the same time trying to contribute in my community. It has been a growing up process where one understand that we ourselves can create our own destinies and can be able to utilize our will creatively and rewardingly. It is impressive how after that moment you start seeing the obstacles (miles) as situations that you can overcome and from what you can learn. The smile is making its way through sweat and fatigue, happiness conquer pain, and confidence reigns where there was fear before. The hard part is not to reach the final point but to make the decision to do it. Thanks TNT!” To contact Graciela M. Monroy write to gralafee@aol.com
