I have a little half marathon to run on Sunday that, quite frankly, I haven't been talking about too much on here. Last year, I had many posts talking about my goals and the race and what I was doing to prepare. This year, I'm trying to ignore it.
What??
Ignore it??
Yep. Ignore it.
As I was reading through last year's posts, I came upon this post and a conversation with my sweet friend. The following is from my post...
"The Monday after the Girlfriend's 1/2, I so sweetly called my friend
Nicci and ever so lovingly told her she could suck it. Yes. Those were
my words.
Over the weeks leading up to the 1/2, Nicci's FB
status would lead us to believe she was overindulging in chocolate and
ice cream and doing very little training. So, when she pulled a 1:52:58
for her 1st 1/2 EVER, I felt the need to congratulate her like only a
good friend could.
Bite me.
Aren't I a great friend? I
did, however, go on to say how proud I was of her. How amazing I
thought she was. And, begged for her to train me. Okay, I didn't beg,
but I did comment on her training regimen.
You know what she told me?
That I should've done better.
That's a good friend.
She said that based upon my training times and what she runs, I should've done better than she did."
And then, there is that little 13.1 mile training run that I ran in 1:52:21. Yeah. That one. The one that when I finished and called Mandi I was asked, "Are you mental?? Why was your race so much slower??"
So thankful for friends who tell it like it is :)
Here's the deal. I think I build it up too much. I put too much pressure on myself. Anxiety takes over my body and I think that by the time it comes to the race, I have wasted so much energy being anxious that I have nothing left. I don't do what I can do. I do what I think I can do.
I do have a goal for Sunday.
And I do think I can do it.
My goal for this race is to make sure I don't go out too fast for the first mile and then I can let myself go. I'm not going to be wearing a pace band. I'm not going to be holding myself back. I'm not going to rely on my watch to tell me how fast I should be going. I'm just going to run.
As for everything else, I'm trying to ignore it.
Remind myself that there is no pressure. There's no reason to be anxious. My body will know exactly what to do.
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10 comments:
word. Trust yourself.
And Mer, above all else, ~savor the run~ my friend.
You really are ready for this one on Sunday, just sayin'.
It's going to be great! Your body WILL know! Good luck. :)
I have a feeling that you are totally going to rock it on Sunday. :-)
Sounds perfect. Just run. And enjoy the clear, sunny, cool day on the best course ever. :-) With your girlfriends.
I am struggling to let go of my desire to run a fast race (and kill my knees in the process). I ran three taper runs in the last week and tried to slow down a lot. It did not work (9:45 anyone??). So I think I've decided to pace my mother-in-law. She's been running around 14 minute miles, but I know she can do 12. So I'm going to help her run her best race and she's going to help me slow down. Not the goals I wanted to have, but helping someone finish is a good goal anyway. Right???
Are we sisters? ;) I actually was just brainstorming a post to write about how I put too much pressure on myself - not just in running either.
In fact, in my training, I had to force myself to slow down (which hardly worked)... its like "if I know I can do it, I should work at being better".
This is an awesome post, I'm so glad I read it. I am glad to know that there are people JUST like me, going through the same stuff.
Focus on enjoying the run, listen to your body, and you'll rock it on Sunday!! :)
Again, your posts resonate with me and are so nice on the eyes to read...I never skim your posts... I don't even think I could...your words always just suck me right in and then they are done before I'm ready. :) Thanks for writing for us. I was thinking these same feelings last night. Nerves will do us in! Since I've started racing again after kids and college I just have to keep it fun and light and I end up running better that way. I try not to over think it or set myself up with all this pressure. I'm just going to go out there and have fun, enjoy being as fast as my body wants to be and just settle in. I also want to go out slow. I found myself putting limits on myself and making excuses about how i haven't been training very well...blah blah blah and I finally slapped myself and told myself to just go and run and do what I can do. And it will be enough. So, pressure is off, fun is on! And I think it will be great. Hope to see you. I'm pretty sure I'll be there for the lunch/brunch afterwards. :)
You are so smart, and will have a great race. I used to have so much fun running, but lately I've been so wrapped up in not going fast enough or slow enough and my mind an body have taken a beating as a result. I'm feeling a real need to just relax and run again.
Girl, FINALLY you've got it. :) Exactly what I was trying to tell you before Eugene. Stop thinking about it, and do what you CAN DO. for that very reason, you are going to kill it on Sunday. like completely smash it it. can't wait to witness it. :) love you, friend.
Love this post - run free and easy, I bet you see great results! I was going to come spectate, but soccer games (on sunday?!) in the middle of the morning make it not possible. I will be thinking of you and all the racers out there though!
Have a great race!
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