Bix-7 in Davenport, my last road race!

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On February 25th, 2010 my dad, Dan Noonan, suffered a stroke due to a carotid artery dissection. He was left unable to speak and the right side of his body was essentially paralyzed. However, by the grace of God, the amazing support of family and friends, many motivating therapists, and with an unbelievable determination to overcome his disabilities I'm so happy to say that dad has made an incredible recovery. I have always been proud of my dad for a lot of reasons, but never more than I am now after watching him battle back from his stroke. I can't imagine how hard it was for him, surely it was just as big of a mental challenge as it was a physical one. I think watching my dad's physical abilities get taken away overnight really made it hit home how much I take my health for granted. Over the past several years, I feel I had been getting lazy and out of shape. I would set fitness goals only to let them slip away as soon as the slightest thing got in the way. I would frequently ask dad if he was doing his rehab exercises and prod him if he hadn't, but at the same time I was being a couch potato. I was fully aware how hypocritical I was being but couldn't seem to get myself to do anything about it. Then earlier this year dad said something that really got to me. While walking with Kelly and I, he said out of the blue "I just wish I could run again." Now he was never a distance runner (are any farmers?), but he was and is a great athlete and he was definitely fast. I really believe his athleticism played a big part in his recovery. I felt so sad that he was unable to run anymore, and after he said that, I thought to myself "I can run and here I am squandering that gift." It had been 4 years since I had last run the Bix-7 in Davenport, and I had always wanted to run a longer race but for various reasons (excuses) I never had. It was shortly thereafter that I decided I was going to go big and run a marathon. I was going to run in honor of dad and to show him that he has inspired me to try and be the best I can be. I was going to run because other people couldn't. And perhaps most of all I was going to run because I could. I've been training for this marathon for about 3 months now. While running I envision the race and running through the crowded streets of New York and it gives me goosebumps. And when my legs are getting tired and I'm feeling sorry for myself, wanting to quit, I just go back to thinking about how hard dad had to work throughout his recovery and I just say to myself over and over again: "This isn't hard".