After making the decision to run a half marathon as one of my New Years Intentions, after tweaking my thinking as far as what to eat and how to train; and after 12 plus weeks of training; the day had finally arrived. I ate clean all week, I only ran once (Thursday - 3.75 miles) and the night before I maybe got 3 hours of sleep. I felt ready.
We had a 7 am start time; the full marathon started at 6 - so we got down to City Park around 6. I was worried that we would not be able to find a decent place to park but we got lucky and found a spot about a block away. As soon as we got to the park, my nervous bladder and the butterflies in my stomach started up. The hour went by so fast - before I knew it, our corral was at the start line and heading out...
My goal was to stay at or around a 10 min/mile - I wanted to finish at or before 2:15. That is quite a difference from my original goal of 2:45, but it felt feasible. My friend Suzanne started with me, and she kept us on pace. I'm pretty good about not starting too fast (I usually can't anyway - my body doesn't warm up until somewhere between 3-5 miles!) The first mile went through the zoo, I guess some people didn't like it but I thought it was pretty cool. I saw a lot of animals and didn't smell any poo so I enjoyed it. We ran kind of slow through there but I was okay with it! It was actually my favorite part of the run. (I loved the pink flamingos!!)
Me and Suzanne coming out of the zoo!
After the zoo we headed east on a flat, tree lined street. We kept a good pace, we didn't really talk; and I waited for my body to settle into a rhythm. Another goal I had was to hit 6 miles in under an hour, and we did!! Around mile 5 I suddenly felt itchy to go a little faster. I had finally hit my 'sweet spot'. We made it to the halfway point in 1:02:40, at that point Suzanne told me to go ahead if I wanted to, and have a great race; so I cranked it up a bit!
The course was pretty level with just a few gradual inclines; so I never felt too exerted. Another part I enjoyed was when we ran through the open bay doors of the Aurora fire station, that was pretty cool. The spectators along the way cheering for us was awesome!! Around mile 11, I started feeling like I was ready to be done. I managed to maintain my pace but those last two miles were really hard. As we were about to come around the corner back into the park, my iPod started playing my favorite song (Bloc Party - Day Four) and that was just the shot I needed. I cranked it up and finished strong!! I felt like barfing and passing out when I was done - but I finished!!
Suzanne, Kellie, Vince and me!!
All and all, it was an amazing experience! I am very proud of myself - this is something that I never could have imagined doing.
It's amazing how much skating and running have shaped how I think. Before I got serious about either sport, I was inclined to give up on things if they became too difficult. But the struggle to get through that middle part is what really makes a challenge worthwhile. It teaches you what you are made of. It's easy to say "I'm going to do this" - but it's the commitment, and the invested hours, and the sore muscles, and the 'what the fuck am I doing??' moments, and the skipped treats in favor of vegetables, and the 'I can't, I need to train today', and then there is the moment of truth when you put all of those things into play and achieve victory. The moment of going from "I'm going to do it" to "I'm doing it" to "I did it!!!". The confidence you gain is priceless. My entire life has changed because of this. I feel like I can do just about anything I set my mind to, because I have learned how to work through that difficult middle part - the part between "I'm going to" to "I did". I've also learned that this middle part is actually the best part.
Next up for me is a couple of days of rest (I can hardly walk today!!!) - then I need to drop head first into skate training. My first race is in Wisconsin on June 15th (The Apostle Islands Inline Marathon - it's a good one!!) I will keep running, my plan is to continue to do the run/weights 2x per week with a long run on Saturday: running 3-4 miles on weight days and 6-8 on my long run days. I'll skate 3x per week as well: 2 short skates (12-15 miles) and 1 long skate (20+ miles). I should be ready for Apostle by June 15th. I don't have any races in July so I may do some smaller running events. August 3rd is my duathlon in St Paul (skate a half marathon, then run a 5k), September is the Northshore Inline Marathon (that's the big one) - then I have my sights set on running the Rock n Roll half in October. There is no reason why I cannot do both.
The P90X mantra is 'Decide. Commit. Succeed.' - I agree 100%.
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