I did it!

(me smiling with my fancy new 10-mile finisher medal)

Ya’ll. When I signed up for that 10-miler, I thought it’d be (relatively) easy. Plan out a training schedule, stick to it, and waaahlaaa! I wasn’t counting on Life herself interrupting my training schedule and toying with me like our cat used to torture small animals in my kitchen before I rescued them and brought them outside in a cardboard box. Ask me about the TWO baby possums sometime….

Prior to the race a few days ago, the most I’d ran was 6 miles eight days before the race and 7 miles five days before. But. I. Did. It.

I’m sore, yes, but I think it’s mostly because I didn’t get an ice bath afterwards like I did with the two long runs the previous week. If you’ve never had one after a workout, it’s rough for the first few seconds, but it levels out and is life changing.

My original goal for this race was to finish under two hours. I quickly adjusted that goal based on my training time to under 2:30. I figured I’d need to walk quite a bit and my joints certainly weren’t primed for such a long run….and I’m getting older (birthday post pending in a few weeks!). But much to my surprise, and absolute determined delight, I finished at 1:57.

I adopted a mantra I started when I was training for a half marathon 13(?) years ago. When I feel like I want to quit, I start thinking: “I can. I will. I am.” Because I AM running. I am training. I am being that badass who laced up her sneakers and made the admittedly crazy decision to participate in this race. It reminds me that I’m capable of a LOT of things that I may not initially think I am. I went to grad school while working full time as a single mom. I moved across the country without a support group, bought a house sight-unseen, and I’ve started more than one new terrifying job. My guess is you, too have done some pretty incredible things.