In the last few weeks someone asked if I’d been doing any races since I’m running every day now, and my answer was “no”. In truth, I’d been a little scared to do a race. Most of the races I’ve done in recent memory have been 5k or longer, and I was afraid that only doing a mile every day wasn’t really preparing me for anything that long. Plus, what if I did a longer run and then was so sore that I skipped the next day’s run–I would have to start my streak all over again, or I just wouldn’t and that would be the end of it. But, kind of on a whim, I decided to register for a Turkey Trot 5k that was happening on Thanksgiving Day…which was the following morning. I knew that my fears were probably not rational, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, so I just went for it. But then I arrived at the race site early the next morning, completely anxious about whether or not I would be able to finish. The Bearded One texted me from work to wish me good luck, and I told him I was basically a bag of frayed nerves. He reminded me that I could always just run my mile for the day and walk the rest, since I’ve been doing that a lot of days, anyway–running my mile and then walking the dog a couple of miles. Of course he was right, and I started the race with that in mind…but I was still nervous.
The first mile was kind of hard. I don’t know if it was the frustration of having to weave around walkers who started towards the front, or if it was having to stand outside in the cold waiting to start, or what. But when I heard my phone app tell me that I’d reached a mile, I was about halfway up an incline, and I decided that I could make it the rest of the way up that hill, and if I wanted to stop and walk then I could. So I made it to the top where it leveled off, and felt okay, so I just kept running. Before I knew it, I was nearing the halfway turnaround, and I was feeling pretty good, and some friends (who are faster than I am and were on their way back) cheered me on as we met each other, which made me feel even better (thanks Olivia and Loren!). I decided then that I could, at the very least, run two full miles and if I wanted to stop and walk the last mile I could. But I hit two miles, and was still feeling good–better than I was at the end of the first mile, for sure, so I just kept running. But then, when I was about two and a half miles in, I saw a hill coming. I knew we’d come down a hill fairly soon after the start, but I didn’t know then that it was an out and back race, so I didn’t think much of it. So, as I turned the corner and saw that hill, I started to worry again. I was still feeling good, but the hill was intimidating. So I told myself that I had to at least run up half of it, and then if I wanted to walk up the rest, I could, before running the last stretch to the finish. But when I was halfway up, the rest of it didn’t look so bad, so I ran to the top and then picked up the pace a little because I knew I was close to the end. About a hundred feet from the finish line, someone was cheering (I don’t know if it was for me, but it seemed like it, and I saw the timer and realized I was close to a 5k goal time (under 40 minutes) that I didn’t know if I would ever reach, so I kicked it into the highest gear I had left and finished feeling strong.
I got my bottle of water as I crossed the finish line, and headed inside to get my official chip time. I knew it was faster than most of the 5k races I’ve done, but I was curious what it was. I have a weird memory and can never remember my exact race times, but I was able to find the results from a few 5k races I did two years ago. For those, I didn’t train nearly as much as I should have, but I still trained some, and my times ranged from 40:21 to 42:09. On Thursday, I finished in 38:56–I beat that goal time by more than a minute. I don’t even know the last time I attempted to run more than 1.1-ish miles (that’s my daily norm), but on Thursday I almost tripled that distance, and did it faster than I maybe ever have (I wish I could find the results from a 5k I did in 2012–I was specifically training for that one under the tutelage of my friend Dawn (thanks, Dawn!) and was definitely a few pounds lighter then, so it might have been faster, but still. And don’t get me wrong–I know that 12:32/mile is still painfully slow by many people’s standards, but I’ll take it. I’ll more than take it–I’ll celebrate it!
This run streak is showing me so many things about myself, most recently that I’m much stronger and faster than I used to be. I remember those 5k races from two years ago–I remember them feeling hard. And after the one this Thanksgiving I took the dog for a walk (over a mile). And then I made a gigantic pan of green bean casserole and went to two Thanksgiving gatherings. So, I guess all of this is to say that I’m grateful. I’m grateful for a lot of things, and try to actively practice gratitude, but for today, I’m grateful that I’m stronger and faster than I was before. And as I was typing that sentence, that weird Daft Punk song popped into my head. I don’t really know what it means (I’m not sure if I want to), but here it is if you don’t know what I’m talking about:
Anyway, as I was saying, I’m grateful that I’m better, faster, and stronger that I was before…and I’m grateful to have found a man that I love to share my life with. And I’m grateful to have a wonderful family. And I’m grateful for our sweet puppy, Marty. And I’m grateful that I have a job that I enjoy, and for good health, and for Christmas tree lights, and for sips of mint tea that make my whole body relax, and for gorgeous sunrises (see photo above from the other morning when I was out running). As Zig Ziglar (“…American author, salesman, and motivational speaker” -Wikipedia) once said, “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” So I’m going to continue to practice gratitude, and I’m confident that it will continue to help me grow and find even more things to be grateful for.
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