The Finish Line: 14 miles of trials and tribulations

Saturday, Jan. 30, I woke up at 6:55am to find out it was 6 degrees and I was going to run 14 miles. Any other time in my life, I would have turned off the alarm and go back to sleep. Without doubting and questioning whether I should conquer the run, I got up and searched for my sneakers. My shin splint injuries were hiding in the shadows and I wondered when they would show up on my run. I got up to run, but not for myself, but for the students that are counting on me. I am running for them.

That morning we had a guest speaker, Dr. Grayson Kimball, a sport psychologist and experienced marathoner. What I gained from his talk were about the power of positive thinking. Dr. Kimball mentioned that 80% of the 60,000 habitual thoughts occur in a day will be negative. That is a significant amount of negativity. That negativity contributes to stimulating areas of the brain that involved depression and anxiety. Why is this important to running? For many reasons, but I'll just mention what I got out of it. Negative thinking clouds my confidence and can psych myself out, which can be true to running and life. Instead of complaining in my head, "My feet hurt, I'm hungry, it's rainy, etc." All negative, yet passing thoughts, I will just say, "choose joy". Done.

Coach Rick asked the group, "Have you heard the quote, the older you get the faster time goes by?" That never rang so true until I ran 12 miles a couple weeks ago. Pain radiated up and down my legs, each step was excruciating-I thought my bones would split in half. All I could think about was looking forward to finishing the run, couldn't wait to get this over with, and wishing I was somewhere else. The coach caught up to me and said to stay in the present, be in the moment, don't let this moment pass you by. What a great metaphor for life. Doesn't everyone just wish for the weekends? When times are tough at work or home, or that you face the same drudgery, don't you wish you could move on to something else? I don't want to just flash forward through life. It was a significant lesson for me.

I hit the "wall" at mile 10 and couldn't believe I had 4 more miles to go. I was exhausted and my legs were stinging from exposure to the cold. Fatigue was setting in because I was hungry. My camelback pack was steadily dripping and freezing immediately to my coat and spandex, thus leaving me right side wet. A large, tan poodle jumped on me while I ran leaving dirty paws all over my spandex. Instead of complaining in my head, I pushed it out of my mind and focused on my breathing or repeating song lyrics in my head. I did my best to reinforce positive thinking or clearing my mind to go into a meditative state. I did it all without music. I am thankful to the BottomLine water ladies and to run the last bit with Tricia!

I am happy to accomplish the run and look forward to 15 miles!

Pics from the run:

I had my camelback pack and it leaked all over my jacket and froze immediately. Note to self, do not use camelback when it is below 32 degrees outside.