While I was getting ready for a friend’s birthday party last year, a podcast came on about how almost anyone could run a marathon. There are few things I enjoy more than pestering my friends to do absurd things with me, so I spent the night trying to convince them that a 26.2-mile race could be fun.
I was probably the worst person to be making the case that running a marathon is an achievable goal for most people. In early 2019, I developed an autonomic nervous system disorder called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). The condition is so debilitating that I can’t stand up to brush my teeth some days, let alone go for a long run. The only similarity I saw between myself and someone who actually ran marathons was that I couldn’t shut up about it at this party.
The whole marathon thing started off as a joke, but I quickly became serious about it. I was used to how my body behaved with POTS, but I wasn’t happy about it. Everything in my life—what I ate, what I wore, how I moved—revolved around coping with my symptoms. The boredom of managing my chronic illness made me miserable. So, even though…
, I wondered what was possible for my body){kind=link}