An unforgettable experience of mind over matter

An unforgettable experience of mind over matter.

About a month ago, Maria Rivera contacted radio station WOSO and asked that one of my daily capsules be sent to her. That is easier said that done and when the station gave them my number to see if I could send it to her, I told her that I tape 20 capsules in one recording session and that I have over 500 so I wouldn’t know where to start looking in order to find it.

I felt so bad not being able to help her that I invited her for coffee at Borders in Plaza Las Americas.

While she was talking to me about her life and her work, she casually mentioned that she belongs to a running club named Borinquen Runners. She told me that they were going to be celebrating their 25th anniversary on Sunday May 24th and that for 14 days before that, a few of them were going to walk all around Puerto Rico, a total of 273 miles. They would do ten miles in the morning, go and rest and then do ten miles in the afternoon, for fourteen straight days.
That is a lot of walking to be sure.

She mentioned that they didn’t have a sponsor to donate their T-shirts and after telling me all about it, I decided to help out and offered to sponsor them. The T-shirts would have the Borinquen Logo on the front and Don’t Eat the Marshmallow Yet with my website on the back. Later I also agreed to sponsor their big sign that would await them at the finish line on Sunday May 24th.

The idea was for me to wait at the finish line that Sunday but I was told that if I wanted to walk the last segment of 13 miles, they would love to have me.

I thought that sponsoring them and then getting involved would be something they would appreciate.

That Saturday the 23rd of May, coming from Orlando stopping in Miami and on to Puerto Rico, my plans were to arrive at 8.30pm. Well, sometimes plans are thrown out of whack by events that you have no control over. Weather is one of them and to make a long story short, I arrived at midnight. Finally got home at around 1 am and went to bed as quickly as I could so that I could at least get a couple of hours of sleep.

With only an hour and a half of sleep, I woke up at 3 in the morning, to be at Central Park at 4am to drop my car, catch the bus that would take all of the runners to Carolina to begin the 13 miles walk at 5.30 am. There were about one hundred of us, but only five had started fourteen days earlier and only 3 had walked every single segment.

I made a terrible mistake. I thought that if I was a tennis player who plays at least twice a week goes to the gym three times a week, walking thirteen miles would be a cinch. It sure wasn’t. Yes, I was able to do it but I thought I would die somewhere in between. My thirty nine year old girl friend whom I convinced to walk with me had to stop and hop into the escort car at mile 5. She rode the rest of the way while I walked my heart out.

We started in Carolina, 65th infantry avenue, on to Baldorioty de Castro, bordering the airport, on to the street where Burger King is where we made a right. Then took a left at Isla Verde Avenue, went on for a while and we took the left fork on to Loiza Street, a right in De Diego, a left in Ashford Avenue all the way to the Dos Hermanos bridge, across it to the road that leads into Central Park.

I must tell you that it is beautiful to walk through a city; you see things that you simply don’t notice when you are in a car. You see the sun come up, the breeze, the different businesses closed on parts of the walk and the opening up early in the morning. People in their cars hunk at you and wave good bye. You talk with the other walkers, laugh, joke, have a good time.

It was for me an unforgettable experience but because I had absolutely no training, a rather difficult one. Don’t ever do it without the proper training.

I would recommend everyone to walk or run on a regular basis. It is good for you, for your heart, it controls your weight and it allows you to meet very nice people. These folks at Borinquen Runners were a great bunch of people. They go everyday to Central Park at 4pm and they walk and walk or run and run until they leave at 8pm. There are about 900 members in this club and they walk not only in Puerto Rico but in many other countries. Their leader, a very nice guy named Mike, who doesn’t have a meniscus in his left knee, has run or walked over 100 marathons having done so in every continent. How he can do that, is beyond me. He knows that if he is operated, there is a possibility he will not even be able to walk again so he decides to face pain, grueling pain, in order to do what he loves to do. His lovely wife is also a runner and she follows him all over the world. They are going to Africa next month to run or walk one of those marathons.

Couples that do projects together, that share experiences of this sort are happier than couples who lead separate lives.

Mike is a leader. He has headed this club for 25 years and he serves as an example to all its members. In a way, he enriches peoples lives, helps them be healthier and what is most important, gives them a reason to work hard, to reach a goal, to have the discipline to never give up.

Maria, my friend, finished the walk and on Tuesday went right back to work at her law office in Hato Rey.

No, I would never ever try this again without the proper training. From the moment I finished the walk, every single inch of my body hurt and hurt bad. Next day I got up and walked with great difficulty and pain. I did however experience a great feeling, a feeling that comes when you have accomplished something and when even though you wanted to give up, you simply didn’t. Great feeling to have.