Changing Feelings

My alarm buzzed at 5:30 a.m. reminding me that this was not the way I should be spending one of my last days of spring break. My first thought was, "I don't want to do this. I'm not excited about this. And, I want to go back to bed." Only two things made me get moving. One, my friend, Erika, and I were riding down together. Two, even if I didn't run the IU Mini-Marathon, I'd eventually have to get up and go get the same amount of miles in a few hours later. (No medal for that.)

The entire ride down, I could do nothing but dread the race. Luckily, we didn't talk about the race much so I could avoid the inevitable for a bit longer. Then, we arrived. After picking up our packets, we sat in the car and watched the 5K runners. Some looked so excited, others nervous, but all ready to go. How my feelings have changed over the years. I felt no nerves, no excitement, and still didn't want to run. I was fairly positive that the hills in front of me were going to make the next few hours of my life some of the worst I had ever experienced.  I thought long and hard about just walking the entire 13.1 miles.

Then, the race started. I decided I didn't care and that I would just go for a few miles before stopping to walk. But, then, what was that? A smile. I enjoyed myself during the run. The views were beautiful. Running through a campus that had so many memories for me was amazing. Passing the outdoor pool where I dove in high school almost made me cry. Running down Greek row where I visited my best friend during college reminded me of fun times. Passing Assembly Hall and the football field reminded me of the team I grew up loving as a child. Even though I didn't attend IU, it posed a lot of great memories for me.

After barely running the last two weeks, I would almost say the first six miles were easy. Well, easy minus the uphills. Then, mile seven came. I actually experienced a runner's high during the early parts of mile seven! How could that be after my lack of running? Up until nine, my body was okay with logging the miles. Don't get my wrong. I did say out loud, "Are you kidding me?" every time I saw a hill. I even struggled through those, but overall, the race wasn't bad.

Somewhere between eight and nine, I saw what race directors called a hill. I, on the other hand, am certain it was a small mountain. I even stopped and laughed at it before going up the peak. I wasn't the only one stopping at Mount Mile 9. I wondered what Heartbreak Hill is compared to this monster! It couldn't possibly be worse. Once I conquered that, I continued through until mile 12 before I was completely exhausted-and HUNGRY. I've never been so hungry during a race! Eventually, I made it to the finish line.

After the race was over, I couldn't believe my time. Definitely not as good as normal, BUT there were hills and I had barely trained the last few weeks. Only about 10 minutes slower than my average race time. Without hills, it probably would have been right on my average. That made me realize that running more days a week and more miles doesn't even help me!

After every emotion I've experienced with running the last few weeks, my conclusion is the same. I don't think I actually like training. However, I really like races...and medals. All races are special for different reasons, but this race proved to be one of the better memories for me. Not only was it a beautiful view, but also it gave me strength and reminded me that I can run 13.1 no matter what.