Anyways....The River Run I have wanted to do this race since I was 15 years old but I've never been able to because of conflicts with High School Track or College Track. This year was my year! .....or so I thought.
Side Note
Little did I know that I would endure one of the most challenging, stressful, and sleepless weeks of my newly formed career. Our annual convention took place in Philadelphia the week before the race. I averaged 3 hours of sleep a night, ate unhealthy food at irregular times, was not properly hydrated all week, and was under a ton of stress. To top it all off, I hadn't run at all that week, let alone had much base training in the weeks leading up.
End Side Note
I woke up at 5:00 am as I had been doing all week to eat a banana (which was not enough!!) and head down to the race. Once I arrived, I was instantly nervous. I was not sure how to warm up anymore since it had been several years since I had run a race. My legs felt like cement blocks on the warm-up run and I was feeling pretty tired and sick in the hour leading up to the race. I pulled it together and pumped myself up.
I jumped in the front group at the starting line ( that way less people are touching me) and the cannon went off. I was so nervous, luckily I had Matt there to run by my side every step of the way.
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| Girl in pink tank top, Right Back = Me |
The first mile went really well. I felt great, I ran a really easy 7:50 mile. Mile two wasn't bad either, I had slowed to 8:10 pace just to make sure not to wear myself out since my goal time was 9:00 minute mile pace throughout the race . I completed mile three and everything started to fall apart.
I was exhausted. I was not getting enough oxygen to my body. It was hard to keep my legs going. I was losing my mental edge second by second. Matt kept encouraging me to keep on keeping on but I wanted so badly to stop. My body was so tired. My blood sugar starting dropping as well ( stupid banana did not energize me enough). It got harder to breathe. My muscles started cramping up....I could no longer breathe....I was hyperventilating and I stopped. Thats when the tears came. I was so disappointed that I was not going to hit my goal time of 60 minutes. It was hard accepting that I may not even be able to finish the race. My body just couldn't do it.
BUT after a bucket of water was dumped on my head and a granola bar was eaten, I hit the ground running. Literally. I was determined to make up some of the ground I had lost with the previous 15 minute mile. I hit 8:15 pace for the last two miles of the race allowing me to pass quite a few of the people I had been running with before my episode. With a mentality to win, I finished strong battling to still meet my goal time.
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| Matt is still by my side! So glad I didn't have to do this one alone! |
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| I passed him just in the knic of time! |
I learned a lot about myself from this race. It was not about placing, hitting a certain time, or even just finishing. It was about pushing myself and finding out where I really stand with my running. All my questions were answered that day. I had dug deep and found "that something special".
