My uber clever two year old nephew Marcus like to clap his hands and exclaim, “I did it!” whenever he accomplishes something, like building a tower with blocks. It is adorable. I had my own “I did it!” moment today, although it was not nearly as adorable.

A few months ago, my friend and I agreed to run a half marathon set on June 5. To prepare, I’ve been training since late February. Every week I do three shorter runs (generally 2 miles, 3-4 miles, 2 miles) and one run that grows by a mile every week. The schedule is set by a trainer at my friend’s YMCA. Every week, I’ve eagerly anticipated the long run, at the same time fearing I could not do it. So far, I’ve been very proud of my ability to keep up.

Today was the ten mile run. I’ve never run double digits before so I was terrified. On the other hand, until a few weeks ago, I’d never run more than 6.5 miles. Not only have I done longer runs, but my speed and recovery time has also increased. I kept that in mind when I work up this morning, although things did not start well.

I began with some runs in the bathroom. Now, if I canceled plans every time I had a digestive mishap, I’d never go anywhere, so I figured I would give it a try even though I had an unfortunate mental image of me shitting my pants around the northwest corner of the park and needing to go another 3 miles like that before I could get home and change. When I arrived at the park, I discovered that there was a 10k race taking place and half of the outer loop (which is shared by pedestrians, bikers, and horse-drawn carriages) was roped off. Plus the racers were going clockwise as opposed to the normal running pattern of counterclockwise. And they didn’t like to stay in the cordoned off area.

I set out, attempting not crash into runners (fortunately, the bikers were not out for some reason). A mile into the run, my GPS watch beeped. The battery was running low. If it died, I’d have no way to track my progress or know exactly when I hit the ten mile mark. I ran forward and hoped for the best.

Somehow, it all worked. I finished my first ten mile run in 96 minutes. The exhilaration was amazing. I could not believe that little asthmatic me could run such a long run. Then, being me, I began worrying about (and being excited for) next week’s run, which is 11 miles. So it goes…

Theodore Geisel’s (aka Dr. Seuss) biography is very interesting. Initially, Mr. Geisel made his living in advertising. He also drew political cartoons during World War II that expressed solidarity with persecuted people both abroad and in America. He turned to writing children’s books the same year that his (first) wife Helen learned that she could not have children.

Dr. Seuss’s stories were not only fanciful, funny, and good starts for literacy. Many of them had powerful messages about social justice. He defended creatures who suffered from discrimination and celebrated the power of the littlest ones when they stood up for what was right. It’s hard not to read this passage from “Yertle the Turtle” and not think about what is happening all across the Middle East today:

That plain little turtle below in the stack,
That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack
Decided he’d taken enough. And he had.
And that plain little lad got a little bit mad
And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing.
He burped!
And his burp shook the throne of the king!

When I was a wee lass, I loved hearing the silly words and looking at the pictures of strange critters in weird landscapes and the chaos that sometimes ensued, whether environmental destruction, home wrecking by a cat in a hat, or a plate of green eggs and ham served with a fox in a box. His efforts fostered a love of books in me, and perhaps also planted a small seed of righteous indignation that has blossomed into a full-time commitment to working for equality and fairness for all. Here or there, I’m so glad that Dr. Seuss is available almost everywhere.

Thanks, Dr. Seuss. I owe you.