Doing Hard Things: our 5K Race

I love running. My summer running schedule has really changed a lot from what I was planning on earlier this spring, due to a whole host of things including a knee injury in early May and lots of traveling to skating events.

I felt a LOT better after the race!



Either way, I am pleased with my efforts to stay active and healthy, even if that means supplementing my running with swimming, strength training, walking, hiking, and biking (and actually, I highly recommend varying the training you do, so that you can work all your muscles and prevent injury and boredom).

Marshall did awesome, and came in at 20:11 and second place overall!

Saturday was Ft. Wainwright's annual Ice Cream Skedaddle 5K, where they feed you ice cream after you run. Not a bad deal, right? The other awesome thing is that it is free.  I wrote the date on our calendar right when I found out about it and I was really excited because I would actually be in town for it, but then realized that it was just three days after a scheduled surgery on Wednesday. I was still going to do it, anyways!

Everything went well with the procedure; it was no big deal, but I did have to recover from the anesthesia, which really affected by body a lot more than I thought it would.  Needless to say, Thursday and Friday were pretty emotional days, and all I could muster on Friday was an extremely slow 4 mile jog.  Saturday morning rolled around, and my stomach still hurt and I was just exhausted.  Marshall kept encouraging me, especially since I ran the day before without stopping.  I knew I could do it, even if it meant I would walk part of the way.  The hardest part for me was to not try and get my best time.  I had to force myself to "enjoy" the run, and not focus on the race. I didn't want to hurt my body.

It was a beautiful day for the race.  During our warm up jog, I felt like I was going to throw up.  As we lined up at the starting line, I said, "This is the hardest run I've ever done." Marshall then replied,  "Is it harder than the Shamrock Shuffle back in March?"  I then recalled the 5K we ran on March 23rd with ice and snow on the ground and a wind chill of -15 degrees F. "Okay, no, I guess you're right."  Then the gun went off and I was off!

I actually felt pretty good, besides the small ache in my abdomen.  I told Marshall that he had to run his best, and not worry about me. I kept him in my sights. During the entire race, I focused on my own rhythm, and not anyone else.  This was a big deal for me, as I am so competitive! At the half-way point I started to push a little bit harder and even passed a few guys (and had a little party in my head!).  When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 20:52.  Not bad. Not bad at all. No, it wasn't a personal best. But it was a gosh darn awesome job on my part! As I crossed the line I shouted, "Take that surgery!"

The saddest part of the event was that when I finished, I had no appetite for ice cream, my favorite treat.  I let Marshall eat mine for me, haha.

I learned a lot from this experience. First, stop comparing myself with others, dang it! I am awesome. I have wonderful friends and a great husband who loves me because I am me. I am just pleased with myself for doing something hard, despite not feeling up to it.  

Second, I can do hard things! I cried before the start of the race. I just did not feel well. But I stuck through it and won second place.

Third, running is medicine for me. Even if I had walked it, exercise helps me heal emotionally and physically.

Thank you, Marshall and all of my friends, for encouraging me to my best self!