Celebrating the Milestones: 20th State, 25th Marathon, 35th Marathon (Or Marathon-Plus) Distance

I wrote an entry about a year and a half ago about an article from our local running club's newsletter.  In the July/August 2010 issue, Harold Tinsley wrote an article called "What Will Your Memories Be When You No Longer Run."  Here is the excerpt I liked:
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"Take time to enjoy your accomplishments. They will have a lot more meaning later in life if you do. You ran a PR, or won a race, or won your age group and you had that feeling of accomplishment that you trained so hard for. Did you give it the importance of something you may never do again? Probably not. Everyone expects the next race, or one soon to follow, will be a new and better accomplishment. And early in your running that may very well happen, even frequently, but one day you will have run your ultimate race. Not until later will you realize that." (emphasis added) 
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I am quoting this again because I really feel like we should take the time to enjoy our own accomplishments in running, whatever they may be.  While I was having my kids, I though my running days were over.  That's right.  It seemed like I would never be able to get back to running again.  Not "fast" running, just running.  I remember lots of runs where Rick and I would go out for a 4-miler at our local greenway, and I would have to walk.  I remember running a small hill and feeling like I just could not do it.  Rick probably remembers most of these runs, since he was usually with me.  We took the kids out once a week for Family Run Nights, and he pushed the double stroller while I huffed and puffed next to him.  He took me out for long run "dates" when we had sitters, and he walked next to me when I could not run those hills.  Rick was very patient with me and urged me to keep trying.  We found a way to make this running-with-kids thing possible.  We are now one of the only couples I know that run marathons with a young family.  We made it work.  And now I have many accomplishments in running that are post-babies.  I have many, many small victories.  I even have faster times than before having kids!  And, hopefully on Saturday, I will have a few new accomplishments to celebrate.
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Saturday's marathon will be our 20th state.  I already mentioned this once here.  It's very exciting to reach this milestone, since it involved so much planning and preparation in order to travel to each of these states.  
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But I realized something that will be another accomplishment of mine on Saturday too...this marathon will be my 25th marathon.  It will also be my 35th distance of a marathon or more (10 of these are 50Ks).  I turn 35 this year, so I will have a marathon (or marathon-plus) distance for every year of my life!  I think these are things to celebrate, milestones to be proud of.
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I included Harold's quote since I want it to be clear that I am not writing this to brag on myself.  I know that these accomplishments may not seem like much to some people.  But, if you are trying to get joy in doing more than someone else, you will never feel happy.  There is always someone who has done more than you.  You don't have to look far to find someone who has run many more races than me (I remember being blown away by Rob Apple's 573 ultramarathons in this entry).  
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I am writing this to take the time to enjoy what I have accomplished (or will accomplish on Saturday, God willing!).  So that one day, when these days are behind me, I will be able to recall them.  Harold writes with the wisdom of his years that none of us knows when that "ultimate race" will be.  So, as he says, give it the importance of something you may never do again!   
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If I motivate/inspire you to take pride in what you have been able to do, all the better.  I hope you find a milestone to celebrate.  Maybe you want to run a marathon for each year of your life, or maybe you want to run one in every state.  We all have to take that first step, and, once we have, I simply think we should all find reasons to celebrate the milestones we accomplish.