Sunday was my 15th half marathon. It was a tough course with a few hills (I hate hills), especially the one at mile ten. See, when you've already run 9+ miles, a hill is your total enemy. You wonder how you'll ever get to the top. Somehow I did. Painfully, but I did. I stuck to my plan which was to run a mile then walk a minute. You'd think that, overall, this would really ruin your pace time, but, in fact, it is the opposite. Many people (me included) start out too fast and hard in a race and then run out of gas towards the end. When you allow your body that one minute of recovery, it keeps you stronger longer. It lets you run hard even in the last mile or two. Yesterday was proof of that for me. When I crossed the finish line, I looked at my watch and it said I had finished in 2:22:00. To a non-runner, that's two hours, twenty two minutes and no seconds. My PR (personal record) up to that race was 2:29:30, a time that took me 3.5 years to achieve! I couldn't believe my eyes!! Had I really shaved 7.5 minutes off my time?!?! I didn't truly believe it until the official times were posted on the OC Half Marathon website. Yes, it was true! I was on cloud nine all afternoon just thinking about it!
To some people, races, records, times, etc are totally overrated and unimportant. For me, it is the challenge I set for myself and the desire to achieve. I am not famous. I am not rich. I am not a world class runner. I am an older woman who finally found something that sparks her interest, pushes her to do more, silently asks her if she can do better and let's her try again and again.
Toss in a cool medal to hang on the wall, and you got me!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment