Thick Skin and an Elastic Heart

SOO this weekend something pretty cool happened, but in order to appreciate it I feel like you have to know where I came from. Last year, in March, I had a blog post titled "The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done." That whole post ONE SHORT YEAR AGO was about The Heart Mini 15K. A 15K is a little over 9 miles. On Saturday, as part of training for the full marathon, I ran The Heart Mini half marathon. Last year I talked about the course being hard and this year that still held true. The course had many rolling hills, and included Torrence again which literally makes you feel like you are trudging uphill in fudge. In my last post I encouraged my readers to Google Earth the hill. I still recommend that. It's gnarly.

I knew I wanted to PR this race. I've run two half marathons and gotten progressively faster. My last half marathon was in Indianapolis, a completely flat course and I pumped it out 2:26. I really wanted to hit 2:20 or less, but I wasn't able to make it happen. This race was weird in that I wasn't really nervous. I think that had to do with it not being the end goal. The end goal is 26.2 miles, and this is just a way to get there. I made a goal that I wanted to complete the race in 2 hours and 15 minutes so I'd be shaving off 11 minutes, which I thought would be doable but challenging with this hilly of a course. My trainer challenged me to get 2:12, which I thought was impossible. I started off running with the 2:15 pacers. They were great motivators and it was nice to have them giving me the little reminders about shaking out my shoulders, etc. I stayed with them for the first 3 miles and I was feeling pretty good. At some point I got in front of them and decided to keep rolling. When I was in the middle of Torrence (AKA hill from hell) I got a text from my trainer, Megan. I looked down at my watch and saw the word "Fly!!!!!!!" This almost brought tears to my eyes because I was flipping struggling. Liz passed me on the way down and said "Just keep going girl." At this point I was heaving, but I kept my head up. On the ride down, which was a beautiful thing, I made it a point to continually cheer. Every person was fighting so hard to get up the hill and they deserved me saying "You got this," and "You look awesome!"

I started feeling slightly rough around this time and my husband text me saying that my mom and dad were in front of Brio. It was then I felt bad because it was cold outside. In order to get there in a timely manner, I couldn't slow down, I had to keep going. I finally made it to the Taylor Southgate Bridge-another hill, imagine that. I knew my parents were waiting on the other side. I saw them from afar with Liz's parents and I was able to yell "Aren't you even going to cheer me on?" I was happy because at the Pig they saw me feet from the starting line and I know I looked like I was on death's door. This time, I felt happy and still in good shape so I high fived everyone while saying, "I'm going to PR this bitch." Typical me. This left me with only about 3 more miles. This is where I had to kick it up a notch.

I crossed over the Purple People Bridge Back into Cincinnati (mile 11) and I saw the 2:10 pacer. I couldn't believe my eyes so immediately I knew I had to catch up with him. Then I passed him. I knew I had to be close to the finish line but I couldn't see it. I finally rounded the corner (after a hill, duh!) and I saw the sweet finish line. I didn't speed up until I saw T.J. yelling for me. I straight up sprinted across that finish line and saw the numbers 2:10 on the race clock. I knew that I had started after the initial time by about 2 minutes so I was immediately emotional. I hugged T.J. with tears in my eyes. I flew. Maybe not for my age group, maybe not for "race standards" but for me, I flew.

The biggest testament to all of this is that one year ago, I ran 9.3 and said it was the hardest day of my life. However, I said in that blog post that "Fat Lauren" became the girl of the past. How true that is. 9.3 miles was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life 365 days ago. Fast forward and I'm running 13.1 with an average pace under 10 minutes and feeling strong. I'm so thankful that one year ago I said goodbye to my old self.

Dedication

So I meant to post about the happenings this weekend quite sooner, but the weekend somehow took a very busy turn. I had a great time, maybe a little too much of a great time, but I'm back in action.

Saturday brought Bockfest. When I woke up it was snowing. I can't say I was quite thrilled about this. We had an 11 mile training run to the start of Bockfest where we would complete the 5k. I haven't really run in snow like this before. Although I didn't want to get out of bed and face the cold, I actually found myself having a really good time running in the snow. I will admit to loving snow and there was something very childlike about being outside playing in all the white stuff. Good thing I got in my enjoyment because it was gone by 11:00 and replaced with sunshine and high 50's later that afternoon. Mother Nature is a strange beast in Cincinnati. 

I cut out on my own because I was worried about not getting to Bockfest, but I made it with some time to meet up with my friends who were running it. I was so excited for Abby and Sarah to make their 5K debut. They were nervous when we were approaching the starting line. Abby was shaking and Sarah seemed a little more calm, but they both admitted to having some jitters. Abby had a bad stomach bug on Thursday and Friday but still made it to the race because she had worked so hard. I was proud of her for making this choice.

They both made it through the race like champs. We have been training around our school, which is nowhere near as hilly as the course in Cincinnati. When we got to mile 1, they both said it had felt a lot longer, but they kept going. I know that the finish line seemed far away for them both, but they pushed themselves to make it all the way. They had made a promise to themselves and showed a lot of dedication to cross the finish line.

My husband, T.J. found out he would be running the 5K two nights before the race because someone had dropped out. When I crossed the finish line he was thrilled to tell me that he also was able to run the whole way without stopping. T.J. could have used not training as an excuse, but he kept his pace steady and told himself he could do it. He has been doing small things to improve his overall health and it's really made a big difference. When we did Bockfest last year he had to stop and walk several times.

Be it snow, a stomach bug, under preparedness, or nerves, all of these people showed some serious dedication on Saturday. I hope they all felt some self love when they crossed that finish line, because they achieved something for themselves that not everyone has the will to do.

Also I highly recommend Bockfest because who doesn't love beer?