8 months of anticipation leading up to the events of Sunday. When I first began working towards this idea of a Half Marathon it was daunting. truthfully even hundreds of hours of training and miles later it still feels daunting. It felt so unattainable, which is definitely not the case anymore. This half marathon does not feel unattainable, finishing it is within my grasp, I’m almost there!
They say Races, especially distance races are all in the mind. I would agree and add that the training for them is as well. I have spent countless miles running, walking, jogging, trying to keep a steady pace. I am still fairly sure I can not run a consecutive mile. With that said, I can however walk for 20 feet and start running again. Since my longest run I have been struggling with my IT band, I have to ice after just about every physical anything and do a heck of a lot of yoga and stretching to make sure I don’t injure myself. I think I would also add that the week leading up to the race is a mind game. This week I finished my Taper. Last Night I finished my last big workout, and tonight I will run 2 miles with my race buddy, and that’s it. I still feel a lot of emotions, and this week my nutrition has been wonky, but I am still doing things. Still relentlessly moving forward.
All in all, I am looking forward to Sunday, I am going to complete my first half marathon, I am running with with Friends, people who have seen me persist through this journey, and reach for the next big thing. I have Friends and Family cheering me on, on the sidelines as well as running with me. I have trained for this. My goal is sub 2:30, and if I’m a few minutes over so be it, I still ran a half marathon. I’m excited because this race is on my Birthday, and afterwards I get to celebrate with a lot of the people I love. I am allowing myself to eat whatever food after the race my stomach thinks it can handle and hoping that food is Pizza. I am looking forward to saying “I am a Half Marathoner” and training for another race.
Little secret, I don’t enjoy running all that much, and am excited to take a couple weeks off before I do a 5k on Thanksgiving with my Fit Fam. However. I do enjoy my runner friends, I enjoy the Runners High, that feeling of momentary invincibility because I just ran X amount of miles, and yes my body aches, but I feel great! I enjoy being able to just think while running, and finding ways to keep myself going. Running helps me find my internal motivation, without a trainer telling me to keep going. Running is more so me vs. me.
I am thankful for my running friends, and my running community. I’m thankful for people who text me telling me to keep moving my feet when I am running my long runs. I am thankful for the training, time, and energy my trainer has put into me to help me get ready for this race. And I am ridiculously thankful for everyone who has been cheering me on along the way, who has challenged me to lift heavier, be stronger, go harder, run faster, run. I don’t HAVE to run on Sunday. I GET to run on Sunday, and for that I am richly blessed!
So if you’re new to my journey, thank you. If you have been with me since I started, and long before I decided to even write about it, Thank you.
Cheers to 13.1, Ready or Not Here I come!!
-ebs
I know I said that “Preparing for the Plateau ” would be my next topic. However, It is Race week for me!
#StrongerEveryday 