Well, I did it. I did it a week ago. It was the biggest pain and the biggest triumph of my life today (well, maybe not biggest pain, but definitely my biggest triumph).
I ran my first 10K.
Now, I know right now I don’t sound too enthused. I think the newness has finally worn off. Or perhaps this evening I’m just in a pessimistic mood. Probably the latter as it is only 8pm on a Friday night and I’m currently in my PJs drinking a glass of wine. But that’s a discussion for a different day, ha.
Anyway, the race.
I was completely nervous about the race to begin with. I’ve been struggling with a hip flexor injury for a couple of weeks, and Wednesday I finally went to see an orthopedist. Hip flexor injuries are not common, but the do happen. Mine was inflamed and the doc gave me 3 options: not race (NOT HAPPENING), 2–do nothing and be in “excruciating pain”–his words, not mine–after 2 miles or, 3–get a cortisone shot.
Cortisone shot, it was!
He warned me that it might not work, etc, etc, etc. Hindsight, I probably should have listened more closely to what the shot actually DOES. Little did I know, it would basically numb my hip flexor. Not that that’s a big deal, except really in order to do simple things like, I don’t know, climb the stairs to my apartment, you kinda need it to get your leg to work properly and not collapse on you. And you also need it so you can run the bases and not collapse at home plate if you want to play recreational softball.
Lesson learned.
So, nervous.
My good friend and former personal trainer must have recognized I was nervous because she offered to run the whole thing with me. Excellent, right? Except she told me as a caveat “if I hear you say the words, ‘I can’t,’ I will make you do push-ups.” I knew she was serious, and I knew I needed that push.
In my defense, never did I say, “I can’t.” I did beg to stop running at a couple points. And then she reminded me how I’d regret not running the whole 6.2, and she told me about 2 miles in to “SUCK IT UP.”
So I ran the whole freaking thing. I had 3 goals.
1) to finish (check!)
2) to not finish last in my age bracket (I was 10th from the bottom!)
3) to finish under 90min (I ran it in 79min!)
What a cathartic race it was. Psychologically, there was a switch that happened. I realized I CAN do this. Not only can I run 6.2, I can do ANYTHING (ok, maybe I’m not built to program, or run a nuclear reactor, but I can do just about anything I want).
I also realized a few things about my relationships with the opposite sex (or lack thereof at the moment). I don’t need a man to make me happy. And while I recognize that I fully want to be married and have lots of babies some day, Knowing my personality, I know I would not have been anywhere close to being ready to running the 10k on Saturday if I were in a relationship.
This race was important for so many reasons. So many I cannot even explain–the words never come out right.
Next major goal is the Baltimore half marathon in October. Long-term: the OKC Memorial Marathon (to be run around the time of the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Til then, let the miles keep packing on!
Meg
Meg's Motivating Journey 