USR half marathon finisher! It was such a beautiful morning for a race. The only slight problem with that was... "WHAT DO I WEAR?" It really is the most difficult decision I make the morning of a race. Especially when we have a temperature of minus 20 one day and plus 20 the next! I may have exaggerated a little there but most understand where I'm coming from. I had a few options ready the night before and made the final decision that morning. Knowing Gina would be at the 4K mark helped a lot as I was planning to leave my sleeves with her. Thanks again Gina!
One of my favorite parts of a race is seeing everyone at the start line and wishing each other good luck before the gun goes off. The USR start is very nice and well organized. While at the start line I always wonder how the run will go. I had never ran this course before which was why I signed up for the half. I had done the relay two years ago and the 10K last year so I figured I would give it a try. I knew going up the trail towards Mount Pearl was going to be a little tough but I also reminded myself that I would eventually get to turn around and run back to the park. Let me tell you, by the time I got to turn around I was very grateful! LOL
The cool thing I liked about the USR half was once I passed through the park going towards Mount Pearl, I saw other runners heading back to the park to finish. For one split second I was probably shoulder to shoulder with the winner! It doesn't matter that we were going in different directions right? LOL All of the encouragement from other runners while passing each other in that section of the race was pretty great. You kind of need that sometimes and for me it helped a lot. All in all, it could have been a lot worse. I kept reminding myself about the Hypo Half race I ran this year and how I thought I would freeze to death and then this run didn't seem so hard.
I try not to put too much pressure on myself to get a specific time in a race. I do give it all I got and try my very best but I never want to cross a finish line and feel disappointed in myself. I never want running to be all about the clock because I'm afraid that if I start to feel like I didn't perform good enough, I won't enjoy it anymore. I know my PB's and quite proud of them but not every race I run will be faster than the last and that's OK with me. I just love to run. I love how much progress I've made and how much stronger I am. I run because I want to, not because I feel like I have to.
Congratulations to everyone who ran this past Sunday! The beautiful medal at the finish made the race totally worth it! The reception after was also very nice and there was CAKE! I love cake and there is no better time to eat it than after running a half marathon. Hmmm... maybe I just love to run so I can eat cake! ;)
Tonia Kennedy
No comments:
Post a Comment