It is really hard to believe that the half marathon is almost here. Where did the past two months go? I'm super excited for race day and more then a little nervous. I have really enjoyed the training and have kept up with the training schedule. (I'm a little obsessive about that sort of thing.) I think I'm ready!
A week ago Saturday (10/29) felt like the ultimate test for race day. We met for our 12 mile training run in heavy rain, wind and 40 degree weather. I learned a lot that day.
First, do NOT wear cotton blend exercise pants in the rain. Duh! The pants absorbed all the wetness leaving me with at least an extra 3 pounds of water weight around EACH ankle. My legs were so sore from dragging around my heavy pants, but I keep telling myself it was all part of my training plan. :) Surely race day will be easier and I will be wearing dry fit pants!
Second, either I am majorly deficient in rinsing my clothes in the washer OR I use entirely too much detergent. About half way through the run I looked down and noticed soap bubbles coming from my knees. Apparently due to the rubbing of my knees on my pants, it created bubbles from my laundry detergent. By mile 12 the bubbles were sticking out about 2 inches. It was actually a great distraction to look down and laugh at my foaming knees. It's so good to laugh when you are running long distances in the wind, rain and cold.
Lastly, I couldn't have made it without my running buddies. I'm thankful for the new friendships I have made on the training team. Somehow I got grouped together with two really sweet, young women (8 years younger then me). I'm sort of the mother hen of our running trio and I love it. On this particular day it was clear that we have become a team. They stuck by me when I struggled to drag my soapy kneed, weighed down pants the last couple miles. I encouraged them to go on ahead, but they stuck by me encouraging me. I don't expect them to do this on race day, but I was so thankful for their kindness.
So... the countdown is on. My mom and dad are coming to cheer me on from the sidelines and I feel like I'm in high school all over again and they're coming to one of my field hockey games. It makes me happy! I am going to run this race to the best of my ability all for the glory of God! Yahoo!
No comments:
Post a Comment