6. It was cool to see people I knew along the course. A high school pal was manning a water station with a Boy Scout troop. My nieces showed up in their PJs, one riding her bike a couple of blocks with me, sporting PJ pants, flip flops and a helmet. I saw friends of my sister's, sisters of my friends, shoppers from my Sentry days ... all perfectly lovely.
7. I didn't train to run 13.1. I really only "ran" about 8 and even those miles were S.L.O.W. If truth be told, I didn't "train" at all. I have been active, but I haven't been putting in activity with a goal. That was the biggest difference between this one and the last one. On the one hand, I love the fact that I can wake up and go put in 13.1 miles just because I want to ... walking, running, whatever. Obviously, there was a time in my life where that wasn't possible. On the other hand, I can't believe how sore I am today because I didn't train properly. I am a hurting unit. My back and shoulders hurt. My quads are screaming. It hurts to sit, to stand, to climb stairs. I have a baseball size lump on the back of my injection knee ... think I might have aggravated the ever-present Baker's cyst. But if you'd told me on Friday that I'd run 8 miles on Saturday, I'd have told you you were full of shit. I haven't run more than 2-ish miles in months. Which brings me to the next point:
8. Your body is capable of so much more than you give it credit for. Think you can't do a 5K or a 10K? That's a load of crap. You can. You might not run it. You might not win it. But you can finish it. And doing so will make you want to do it again. And do it better. Challenge yourself.
9. I heard this at some point in the last couple of days. I'm not even sure where. But it was resonating in my head as I trudged along. "The race is the victory lap." Meaning that the "work" is in the training. When you train right, there is no point in worrying about race day. Sit back, relax, run your race and enjoy it because you have earned it. Did you know most marathon training plans don't have you run 26.2 miles before the actual race? On some plans, the longest training run you do is 20 miles. Why? Because if you can run 20, your body is absolutely capable of running 26. Nice, huh? I can't tell you how cool it feels to just "know" you can do it.
10. While my 2h 37m finish was a dismal and below middle of the pack 342nd overall, 182nd out of 214 women, and 17th out of 22 in my age group, I am still proud of it. Lots and lots of people finished ahead of me. A small handful finished behind me. But I wasn't sure I'd ever do this again. Wasn't sure that I COULD do this again. So that's my victory. And it's a big one. I proved to myself that I can do it, injury and all. My head needed that confirmation more than you'll ever know.
So, here's the deal. I'm officially looking for racing partners for next year's race, especially my Fort friends. We'll start training early enough and our goal is to finish. Walk, run, whatever. We can do this.
Anyone in? You get hardware. I'm not a big fan of even numbers, so I need one more medal to join this group:
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| 2012 LaCrosse Half, 2013 Fort Half |
4 comments:
I am definitely not able to run...but, I might do the walk, run with you...maybe run 10 mins, then walk 20? I would like to do this...for me...for my community. I would need lots of help and encouragement...but might be 'in'.
That would be sooooo great, MarthaMac! My sister and one niece have also tentatively signed on, planning to walk. There's a certain someone out there that is on the fence, but we just might talk her into it, too! I love this! We'll do it together! I'll find a 12 or 16 week training plan ... which means we'll start officially hitting it in mid/late February or early March. Unless, of course, you guys are all ready for 4 miles or so before then! Yay!!!!!
Here is a great run/walk plan. We used this for our half....and we made it. http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html
Tina
Thank you, Tina!!!
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