Amazing Race

Pre-race with Matt

Today marks one year since my first half marathon, so what better way to celebrate than with a race? After the Joplin Memorial Run Debacle of 2012, my Anything for 10 Sister advised me to take some time off, and sign up for a 10k this fall. I did just that when I found out that I was moving to Pennsylvania and lived close enough to do the Runner's World Festival 10k. I posted a 10k 6 week training program on my blog, but due to life getting in the way, I ended up just running about 2 5k's a week for three weeks and calling it even.


I was pumped when we got to the starting line because the 5k was finishing, and Bart Yasso was up on stage with Dean Karnazes, and I was just a few feet away! I was too excited at the time to realize that I should be taking pictures, but no fear; I saw Bart again. It seemed as if the sight of them had sucked my energy because I felt like I was dragging when I started running. Matt, my fiance, quickly pulled ahead of me even though I didn't let him get too far out of sight. The fact that he had only run two times total to prepare for this race also weighed heavy on my runner's psyche. At the end of mile two, I was then passed by the overall winner who was finishing mile four. It seemed that was the last straw.

Immediately after the blow of a steep hill combined with getting passed by the winner, I decided to let myself walk part-way up the even steeper hill I suddenly found myself climbing. I looked over and there was Matt! We spoke briefly through our huffing and puffing, and then I realized I needed to get ahead of him right then, and find away to push myself to still accomplish at least beating him. It's not that I didn't want him to do well, but at the time, it seemed like all I had to hold on to, so I clenched on to that thought with all my strength. I focused on the things I'd written earlier this week to help dismantle that mental wall.

Scenery: Oldest continually operating bookstore

At the 5k mark, I looked down at my watch to find that I was at 35 minutes! Holy crap! There was still a chance that I might be able to finish in a decent time! This was also the point where I started wondering how they had managed to make a route that had only uphills. It just didn't seem topographically possible, yet I also knew that I had only had one slight downhill that was nothing in comparison to the uphill I had to trek to get it. That's when I heard someone say, "What goes up, must come down." And I knew that person was right. I kept pushing even though I wanted to walk.

Finisher's Medal

In the end, I may not have met my original goal, but I didn't let it get me down or ruin my race. I am the type runner, who in the past, I let little bumps in the road completely destroy my confidence. I consider this race a major victory for me based solely off the mental obstacles I overcame. After my 1:10:45 finish, I am ready to start preparing for the Delaware Half Marathon even though I have till May. I have never claimed to be fast, but an 11:23 average pace is something that I personally am proud of, and that's what's so great about running; each challenge is your own, and nobody, not even the first place finisher, can take that away if you don't let them.

When in doubt, bling it out!

Ok, so I will admit that ever since my fiance, Matt, and I moved in together, I have been telling him repeatedly that this is not a college dorm room. He of course doesn't see the need to decorate or any of that jazz, but I have broken my own decorating rule. I taped some things up on my closet door, and he doesn't know it yet, but I taped something up on his closet door too. I know that he will say something about the college dorm feel when he sees it, but I needed some motivation because I have signed up for my next race!

For those of you who don't already know, my last race was a disaster to say the least. You can read about that gem of an experience here if you haven't already. My sister wisely suggested that I take some time off from running, and I agreed that I should most definitely not run a fall half this year. I recently had a debate with Matt about whether or not I could run a 10k within a few months, and he thought it was crazy that I wasn't sure if I could do it. That got the wheels a-turning in my head. Then I got the final push when that same crazy, Anything for 10 and take a break sister, called and asked if there were any 5k's in the area during the weekend she is planning to come visit me in October. Well, I did her one better, and now she, Matt, and I are running the Runner's World Festival 10k. I am pretty pumped because I have never done a 10k in terms of an organized race, but I am also nervous since I have taken so much time off from regular running.

The nervousness is what spurred the college-like decorating spree in my room today. I had actually just written out a training schedule and inspiring quote I saw today before I talked to her about the race, and then once we made solid plans, I went super motivational on my closet so that I will hopefully be on top of my running to ensure a much better experience at my 10k than I had at my last Half. Here's what my closet doors look like right now.

I am one of those people who needs constant reminders and motivational tools to keep working toward a goal that I might not always feel like working toward or that I might have times when I doubt by ability to reach the goal. So right where I will see it every single day, I have hung my two half marathon bibs (top), a training schedule that I made myself and a quote that I need to commit to memory (top middle), three bibs from 5ks that were important to me (bottom middle), and my two half marathon finisher's medals (bottom). The quote just happens to be from one of the best experts at Runner's World. Bart Yasso, RW Chief Running Officer, once said said in an interview, "Don't ever doubt that you are a runner just because you are slow. I hear people all the time say, 'I'm not a real runner.' We are all real runners, some are just slower than others. I've never met a fake runner." I super love this quote because I am super slow! I have never been fast, and I most likely never will be, but I have made it to the finish every time, and that's what counts. And in  two months from today, I hope to be making it across the finish line of my first 10k, thanks to my motivation and determination.