3M Nostalgia

Yesterday was the 3M Half Marathon here in Austin.  The 3M has a special place in my heart. In 2008, it was the first half marathon I had ever done and BFF ran it with me. I remember it like it was yesterday. The morning was very cold so I overdressed in layers. Then in true Texas fashion, the temperature rose and I got hot during the race and eventually I took off my fleece and shirt and tied them around my waist. I took off my gloves and hat (those ended up on the road somewhere).

Until this race, my longest run had been 9 miles with some killer hills (I later found out that people training for the Boston Marathon often used the Rain Creek Parkway/Floral Park Drive route I did weekly to prepare for that race. I was in good company). And call me masochistic, but I loved hills. BFF dreaded the training runs when she saw me turning onto one of these streets.  She would grumble and grunt as we ran the hills but she stuck with me like a trooper. I felt like we were well prepared for the race. The only thing we weren't prepared for was the weather. Until that weekend, our training had been done in cool weather. BFF and I took full advantage of water stops along the way and paced ourselves well.

The final three miles were the most challenging. BFF's bad knee was screaming violently at her so we slowed our pace to accommodate it. She wanted me to go ahead but I didn't. We made the commitment to do the race together and I was gonna stick to it. I started cracking jokes, singing "Eye of the Tiger" and quoting cheesy lines from movies to get her mind off of the pain. One of our favorites was from the movie "The Replacements":

Shane Falco: I wish I could say something classy and inspirational, but that just wouldn't be our style.

[pause while everybody is in the huddle]

Shane Falco: Pain heals. Chicks (we said GUYS) dig scars. Glory... lasts forever.

We laughed our way through the last miles of the race. Two hours, ten minutes and twenty-four seconds after we started the race, we crossed the finish line together. BFF apologized for our finish time (we trained to finish in 1:45) but I poo-pooed that. We got through it and it was even better because we did it together. I could have gone ahead of her and finished in under two hours as planned but it wouldn't have meant as much.  

The lesson I learned was that no matter how prepared we think we are for the big race, anything can happen along the route. But the best way to get through it is with laughter, fun and being surrounded by the people that matter most to us.  Those things make any victory that much sweeter.

Happy Trails!

Valeka

Patience

Have patience with all things but first of all, with yourself - Saint Francis de Sales

Have patience.  All things are difficult before they become easy - Saadi 

Now that reality has set in and I realize I have signed up for a race, my fun REALLY begins.  I can get very single-minded when it comes to training.  I focus so much on running that I forget that I need to wash dishes, do laundry, put gas in my car and, every once in a while, eat.  I do enjoy the months before a race and everything that is involved like forming a training plan, mapping new routes so that I can include some challenges (especially hills), tracking mileage and creating running schedules.  For lots of people, that part is pretty tedious but I relish it.  I view it as a good opportunity to learn what works for me and what doesn't when it comes to training.  Sure, I could get a training plan from a book or pay someone to do it for me but part of me feels like the victories and failures become more meaningful if I do all of the preparation from inception to completion.  It's kinda like building a garden - you plan it out, enrich the soil, plant the seeds, care for them and enjoy the wonderful things the garden yields for you.  It's very gratifying but requires patience.

The wogging I've been doing is giving me a good foundation to start my training work outs.  I love how running 3 miles seems strenuous at the beginning of the program and by the time race day arrives, those same 3 miles feel more like a warm up.  Our bodies are pretty amazing when you really stop and think about it.  A person can go from being a couch potato to marathoner in a year!  No, really, it can be done with patience, persistence and consistency.  Patience really is key.  I think back on how many times I have given up on things or tossed them aside because I didn't have the patience to see them through to fruition.  There were times that I stopped running because it was taking me too long to get under the 10-minute mile mark and I just didn't want to wait any longer.  How silly was THAT?  In hindsight, I should have toughed it out and kept on working at it instead of giving up.  Who knows what the outcome could have been!  So this time around, I have made a commitment to myself to be patient and to not put that sort of pressure on myself.  My body will let me know when it is ready to do what it needs to do and I will be wise enough to listen.  Anything worth gaining is worth waiting for and gaining a healthy, fit body is worth the wait.  My hope is that my new found patience will trickle over into other aspects of my life as well (hey, it CAN happen!). 

Think about the things in your life that you lose patience with because they are/were taking too long to achieve.  Let your passion for whatever it is you love or want to achieve breed patience.  Take a deep breath and keep moving in the direction your heart tells you is best for you.  The results will be worth it.

Happy Trails,
Valeka