Warning: some of the information contained in this post will be considered TMI by some readers. But, this is me… what else would you expect?
Today was my 5th running of the mile Crim in Flint. It is I really where, why and how my running life began at the age of 41. I think I am far more tortoise than hare, to begin with, but today’s finish was by far my slowest. It was also the best damn Crim I’ve run.
I waited at the start line with my running posse. Susan and I stuck together until about mile 4. I told her I needed to do the earbuds- and “focus”, instead of talking because this was going to be my year to not come in LAST place in my age group. I had big dreams of a personal record.
At mile 4.5, I had the mortifying sensation that I was going to pee my cute little running skirt. I carefully “pulled over” and sat on someone’s lawn, as if taking a little break and just peed. What are you going to do? It’s one of the many things that happens in your 40’s that NO ONE warns you about. (You can thank me later).
At about mile six- heck yes, I kept going- the sensation hit again. I was right by a frat house and straight up told the guy, who looked like the life of the party, about my imminent crisis. He brought me inside and let me have at least a shred of dignity in their facilities.
At this point, I knew I was probably out of contention for the top three finishers in my age group- I was actually never in contention for that, but I built up my expectations. After two full marathons and nearly a dozen half’s, I had to bang out a big finish at some point, right? The most likely result of most of our expectations is disappointment. There are some things we just can’t predict or plan for.
Suddenly, at mile 7, I stopped sweating and was covered in goosebumps. I felt really dizzy. There were some paramedics. They invited me to sit down and they checked out my vitals. They were calling over an EKG cart. All I could think was, “oh, hell no. I am finishing this thing. Just about then, my friend, a nurse, named Debbie, appeared out of nowhere. We walked the rest of the race. According to my Garmin, I finished in 2:24. I haven’t looked up my official Crim time because, who cares, really?
At the end of the race, all that mattered was all that ever has truly mattered I finished. Things did not go the way I wanted them to. I did not break a personal record. I did not finish with a dry running skirt. I did finish.
I think the biggest mistake I make in life is building up expectations. I don’t want to bum out the Dale Carnegie crowd- setting goals and achieving dreams are important to our growth. But, I’ve come to find that it’s often the things that don’t quite go as planned or hoped bring about the greatest rewards. Sometimes, you are going to pee your pants and plans change, but that will only ruin the experience if you let it.
My spirit expands every time I accept that I really don’t have control over the universe, life- and sometimes now, not even my bladder.

Thanks to all of the 11,000 plus participants in the Crim today. Each of you inspire me, every single year.