Four Shepherd’s Door residents and five volunteers ran in the Vancouver Half Marathon. Residents: Tiffany (1st from left), Amanda (4th from left), Barb (4th from right), and Heather (2nd from right).
Similar to our men’s program running the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon a month ago, several women from Shepherd’s Door, our women’s addiction recovery program, successfully completed the Vancouver Half Marathon a couple weeks ago!
“It was a commitment,” Amanda said. “The training process was long and a lot of work, but it was cool to know that I can do it – to see and feel my body and my mind strengthening. I learned that your body can do it, but your mind tries to shut you down.”
The women trained for months to achieve an accomplishment many never even imagined possible.
“When we first started running, I couldn’t even run a quarter mile without stopping and thinking I was going to die,” Tiffany said with a laugh. “I’d never even thought about running, honestly. I didn’t realize it would give me the feeling that I can accomplish something that I set my mind to. Even through a few injuries, I haven’t been kept down. No matter what, I’m going to keep on going.”
The women trained for months, fighting through injuries and fatigue to reach their goal. Along the way, the women began to realize that what they were learning about training to reach a goal went far beyond running. They saw that if they could train to run a half marathon, they could do just about anything.
“Early on in the training period I had an injury to my knee,” said Barbara. “To still follow through with this commitment was huge for me. I had a personal goal and I reached it. Crossing the finish line was exciting. Everyone was cheering us on and I just gave it my all. They called my name at the finish and it was just amazing. It was such an accomplishment and I can’t wait to do another one!”
The women running the race are at different points of their recovery process, and each one is using the experience to inspire them to victory not just physically, but in all aspects of their lives.
“The experience was just a little example of what the rest of my life can be like,” Heather said. “I haven’t really completed anything lately or felt proud or accomplished about it. The way this feels inside and out…it’s a huge achievement for me. Plus, I’ll carry the relationships that grew from this experience for the rest of my life.”