Wanting It To Be Over Before It Started

I know I'm a bit late on this, but Saturday I had what is called the 20/12 "race." It's a gathering of all the running groups in the Cincinnati area and marked as the last long run before tapering starts for the Pig. Thursday I got back from Florida at around 7 p.m. By the way, I did continue my training in Florida. What a beautiful 6 miler and 4 miler I had. Anyways, coming back to Cincinnati and the extreme temperature change, I woke up with killer sinus problems on Friday. I managed to play volleyball in the evening and have some drinks with friends (I only drank water) but I was still feeling exhausted. Naturally Saturday morning at 6:30 I was not thrilled to get up. I had a sinus headache and it was so early after having that late volleyball game. I got up anyways and set out to pick up Liz, who was also participating. As I stepped outside, I realized it was cold....really cold.

Once we got there at about 7:30, we had to stand around and wait for the race to start at 8:00. The wind was whipping and the breeze was freezing. It was in the 30s, which is a lot colder than the 30s in January for some reason. I was trying so hard to warm up, but nothing worked. This really really really really sucked. Finally, we began running. My calves started hurting terribly. I don't know if it was from sitting in a car for 13 hours or what, but it definitely didn't feel good. Then it started snowing... All of the groups were sharing a sidewalk and it felt crammed starting out, with a lot of stopping, going, and trying to dodge around people.

It was mile 1 and I wanted it to end. Only 11 more to go.

As we approached mile 3, our coach told us if we were having aches and pains and felt like we needed to stop that this would be a good time to turn around. I seriously considered it. Then I realized that being sore is not the same thing as being injured and I was just trying to get out of doing it. So I kept going.

As we continued running I felt slightly guilty for having a sour attitude and mentioned it to one of my teammates. He suggested I give myself a half a mile to complain about everything I wanted and then not do it for the rest of the run. This was around mile 6. So in my head I let everything out. I griped about my runny nose, how cold I was, how much the course sucked, how tired I was, how my calves hurt, etc. After that I actually did feel better. Maybe it was because I was past the halfway point, but I became more excited to finish.

And finish I did, quite strong actually. The end had several hills and I just kept trudging up each one that was in front of me, pushing myself to finish the race with my head up. There were goodies waiting at us for the finish line. Thanks to all who sponsored the race and to the Flying Pig for their "random oinks of kindness" along the route.

I came home and took a 2 hour nap and I actually felt good enough to brave the cold once again to watch FCC take the field at Nippert Stadium. I ended up with around 33,000 steps. Then I slept in on Sunday until 11 a.m. I'm finally feeling like myself again. The 12 miler actually gave me more confidence about taking on the pig in such extreme conditions with my mind not being in the right place. I've said it before, but sometimes the mental barriers are the hardest to overcome. I was thankful that I was able to overcome these barriers and show myself I was capable. 

Will I call myself a runner yet?