Sunday, March 2, 2014

Goal Achieved

When I began this journey several months ago, I set my eyes on the Hyannis Half Marathon. On Sunday, I achieved that goal. Although I crossed the finish line, I didn't have the best run. I started out too fast, letting the adrenalin get the best of me, and found myself fatigued and in need of a bathroom early on. I was envious of the men who were jumping off the course and into the woods to relieve themselves. I was able to make it 6.5 miles with a full bladder until I really had to stop. I had to wait in line for 5 minutes to use a dirty porta-potty. YUCK! Stopping for that amount of time really messed with my focus and my body. When I started to run again my legs felt heavy, tired and stiff. I had lost my rhythm and I had to walk.

Although I didn't run my best time, I learned a lot! The most important takeaway: I need to run my own race. The second take away was: try to pee, no matter how long the pre-race line is.

I am thrilled that I achieved my original goal to run a half marathon, but looking ahead to the next several weeks has me feeling anxious. This weekend I am scheduled to run 15 miles, then 16, 18, 12 and finally 21 before tapering my miles and heading into the home stretch of the Boston Marathon and April 21st. The next several weeks are going to be taxing, my physical fitness is there, but now I'm in need of exercising and challenging my mind. The human brain is a powerful thing, and my mental toughness needs to be stronger!




No comments:

Post a Comment