My weekend was busy and at the same time blissfully relaxing. Saturday morning I had a 10K race in Fall City, it was HOT and the majority of the course was in direct sunshine. YUCK! The rest of the day was spent relaxing with my hubby, doing nothing really and it was lovely!
Yesterday was Father's Day and we spent the whole day celebrating the Fathers in our lives. We took my father in law out for brunch and cooked dinner for my step-dad. It was such a nice day spent with family that it all went too quickly, of course.
Which now brings us to Monday and the week before my next half marathon, Rock and Roll Seattle. It is my taper week but I feel like I haven't done enough to prepare myself for this race, so now I'm feeling nervous. I ran a 10K race this past weekend and felt pretty decent about it, but knew when I was half way through the course and starting to struggle that I was going to be doing more than TWICE this distance this coming weekend. And I began to panic. Oh the head games!!!
This morning I was at a loss for what to talk about for Momentum Monday, when I saw this quote I'd picked up a few weeks ago.
This quote couldn't be more appropriate to my dilemma and how I'm feeling about the race this weekend. The one thing above all else I have learned in my training is that SO MUCH about running is mental. The ratio is different for everyone, but the majority of everyone's pie chart when measuring physical ability to mental ability to run, the slice for mental is much larger than the physical slice. Our bodies can adapt and do things that we don't think are possible, but that is because we limit our possibilities by narrowing that scope. That is our own doing...and I'm doing that to myself.
I had a moment at the end of my race on Saturday where the finish line was probably 100 yards away. I was tired and hot and I wanted it to just be over. I was ahead of a lady that I had been leapfrogging positions with for the last two miles of the race, and I heard her coming up from behind me. As I saw her passing me I thought to myself, "oh no you don't!" I all of a sudden was able to pick up my pace and speed up to catch up to her and pass her just before the finish line. I try not to be a competitive person when running because everyone's journey is different. But for some reason, there was just this fire that sparked that pushed me over my threshold and towards that finish line.
I had never done that before. I had never been able to pick up the pace like that especially right at the end to pass or keep myself from being passed by someone else. As small as it may seem to others, this is something big for me and was a huge boost in confidence. Maybe I am ready for this coming race afterall. I mean, I may not have trained for as long as I hoped I would be able to, but maybe my training that I've needed to really work on is my mental training. Allowing myself the ability to believe that I can do something, not because I've done it already but because I'll be overcoming something I never thought I could.
You are going to be so energized by the crowd and runners around you at Rock and Roll you won't even notice the miles fly by ;)...can't wait to hang out after at the blogger partay!
ReplyDeleteI truly do hope that the energy of the race helps to carry me through much of the race! Can't wait to hang out at the partay either!
DeleteYou are so right, it's a head game...and one that you will BEAT on Saturday! I cannot wait to hear all about it! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen! The closer the race day gets the more excited I get. I just have to keep that positive energy going!
DeleteI totally do the same thing...sometimes I secretly "race" someone who is maintaining my pace during a race, and trying to "win" at the end can usually be enough to kick my booty into high gear! Like you said, it just shows you just how much of this really is mental, and that even when you think your body just doesn't have anything left, that sometimes your mind can totally take over! You're going to ROCK the half next weekend, don't sweat it! Sounds like it'll be a great time, no matter what. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennifer! It will be a good time and I've heard from so many people that the energy of the race carries you through most of the race too. So we'll see how it goes, I just need to remember to not go out too fast! I have problems with that!
DeleteI totally did the same thing in my last 10k...I heard footsteps and I was not about to let her pass me! I can't wait to hear about the RnR :)
ReplyDeleteHahahah! Awesome! Did you beat her to the finish? Thanks!
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