If anything could go wrong it did the week following and the day of my 5k. I tried my best not to whine about all my aches and fatigue I was feeling. Not to mention the painful migraines - 4 in one week - that zap the life out of you, like the pain isn’t enough.
My time goals were a verbal 00:35.30 and a verbal whisper goal of 00:34.30 and a secret goal of 00:34.00 flat. I’m not sure I was perpared for everything that took place.
One hour before the start of the race, literally on my way out the door, my migraine hit, instantly. I was devastated and feeling like any chances of this race being great were hopeless. My bargaining with God began as I fought back the tears. All I wanted to do was race this race, that’s it! Okay, so I really wanted that whisper goal of 00:34.00.
Temps. read 92 when we arrived, 30 min. before starting gun. At this point I had bargained with God, if he could raise the temp to 100 and no breeze, but take the migraine - PLEASE!
I really didn’t mentally gear up for this race just to quit. I told myself 1 of 3 things will happen. 1.) I will get better as I run. 2.) Things will stay the same and I will run my best and endure the pain for 35 min. or 3.) It will get worse and I’ll have to stop at one of the stations for assistance back to the finish. There’s no reason to quit yet.
Gun starts, temps remain and no breeze. My migraine eases up and I’m thankful but surprised.
I passed the water stop because there was a line waiting for a cup. I didn’t want to mess up any chance of having that goal over a tiny cup of water that was going to go over my head and not in my mouth. I powered up the only real hill in the race which seemed to never end. I kept knocking out negative comments as I ran, telling myself the finish was soooo close! Plus, I get a nice long downhill when I hit the top.
As the top of the hill approached I let gravity take over and sped down the hill. I caught up to my husband and stole his water. Most went on my head some in my mouth. I passed under the bridges and that’s when I realized what the real meaning of NO BREEZE was. I pushed down the negative thoughts once again.
With about 1 mile left I got a stitch in my side. I brought James’ (my PT) words of wisdom into play, "we can handle cramps", as he smiles for me to work through them.
I finished HARD! I felt wonderful, I felt great! I felt like I was racing again. All the pain and discomfort subsided as I kept speeding up for the finish line. I had the perfect rhythm with my hands pumping, back straight, chest out - running TALL! It felt GREAT!
I thought I would throw up and pass out at the finish. Water was good, on my head, then as a beverage. Then came this wonderful breeze sent straight from God, as if to say "well done".
TIME 00:31.00 - are you freakin’ kidding me!?!?!? I wanna cry.
In April of 2007 I started running again since I was a teen. I ran my first 5k race at the Memorial. I remember at the time 00:51.00 was a great time for my 5k - that’s all I’d been able to pull off up to then. I got a time of 00:46.20. I was proud of that time. I weighed over 230 lbs. Every race I have done I have improved. And tonight I reminded myself, even when the scale is not moving I am always making progress. There is always room for more growth, always.
Tonight was a weird night, maybe just because I’m emotional and tired. On a night where everything went wrong and I should have had a horrible race report for you, I have just the opposite. I’m happy and feel like I might shed some tears of joy. Look at where I’ve come, I keep reminding myself. I can’t believe it at times. I just don’t feel like this is ME. I’ve become someone I never was but always wanted to be, and I grow daily. This me is someone I can be proud of and not hide. No more hiding. That feels real good to say.
I walked away with a new promise to myself tonight as well. I’m becoming more aware of the reality of how my “small” changes are impacting the way I live the rest of my life. At the beginning of the night they announced the winners from last year. The one that really stood out the most was the 70 yr. old woman who had a time of 29:14 for the 5k. Then I remembered my mom saying she was too old to ride those go-carts at my daughter’s birthday. I told her I would NEVER be too old to do anything. That statement I made to her became a promise to myself last night.
Now it’s back to my 1/2 marathon training - Lord help me!
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