Becoming a Marathoner

On Sunday I'm hosting the bridal shower of one of my nearest and dearest.  As I prepare for the party I am thinking about rites of passages.  There are many rites of passages in life.  Some are experienced by all, while others are unique to gender, nationality and religion, to name a few.  A rite of passage is a milestone transformation in which a person leaves one group to join another.  Sometimes the threshold crossed is physical, other times it is symbolic, but in all cases an individual leaves an old identity behind in order to embrace a new one that is yet to be created.  Weddings and bridal showers are rituals that draw attention to and celebrate the magnitude of the rite of passage of marriage.  The shower is a beautiful coming together of women to celebrate the bride-to-be, and help usher her into her new life.A huge rite of passage for runners is running running one's first marathon.  Running my first marathon was an experience that absolutely changed me, but until I crossed that finish line I had no idea in how many ways it would.  Finishing a marathon helps me tap into a confidence that I did not know existed.  It has offered me the gift of sometimes being able to see myself with a bird's eye view because to me, a "marathoner" is someone who is tough, patient, hard working, steadfast, consistent, tenacious and determined.  I am not sure if I would have described myself as such before running a marathon but, if I hold these qualities to be true about marathoners, than they must now also be true about me.  I am honored and humbled to be able to call myself a marathoner.  The photo above is of the moment I officially became a marathoner at the TCS New York City Marathon, 2015.