On Saturday, April 23rd, I brushed away my running fears (What if my ankles aren't ready? How am I supposed to run a race when I've only run once this month? What if this race is a career bust? Blah? Blah? Blah?) and ran the Two Oceans "Most Beautiful Race" Half Marathon.
Because of all of my fears and concerns, I did not commit to running the race until I landed in the Cape. Something about Cape Town(a magical city) and the incredible energy that was almost tangible in the city (or was it my incredible Ethiopian running buddy who kept telling me that I was going to break records) inspired me to head to the race expo, which was held at the Good Hope Centre. What really did the trick, in all honesty (cause we're all friends here, right?), was the grip full of bags peanut M&M's that the nice guy at the goodie bag section gave me. I mean, isn't that all the running inspiration a girl who loves chocolate and her figure equally need? I thought you'd agree with me.
The rest of the day was spend enjoying to city (Table Mountain, V&A Waterfront, amazing company...). Ahhh Cape Town, the "Mother City", how I love thee.
Clearly, the only thing I'd actually planned on Friday (the day before the race) was how to strategically stuff 3 of the 6 bags of M&M's down my throat, no alarm set or wake up call to speak of. It was only because I happened to wake up by chance on race day with minutes to spare before the shot rang out signaling the half marathon "read, set, go"! An ill-planned wake up also resulted in neglecting to bring along my handy Garmin 110...which I thought about during the entire run...agh, shame man!
Between take off and 10km, I was running pretty. In fact, I was going much faster than I usually do and feeling fine as wine. No kankle pain (Thank you Gawd)! There was a whole bunch of ducking and diving through the ginormous crowd. ***This is the time I'd like to pause and apologize to all of the slower runners I accidentally jabbed/cut off/stepped on just to get ahead. Sorry***
At 11km, my month off from running, lack of focus before the race, etc., caught up to me...when the remaining portion of the race seemed to be one never ending hill. Sure, I live in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho...high altitudes...etc., etc...so hills should be a breeze. Yes, that would be true, but that only helps out when you actually practice...which we all know I did so very little of. Boo!
Long story short, I felt good and bad about this race. I went into it saying that I just wanted to finish...that time was not a factor...I just wanted to have fun and give my kankles a run for their money. And finish is exactly what I did. It was awesome to be a part of such a well known and much loved event in South Africa. I saw plenty of my friends from Lesotho, and a bunch I wasn't expecting to see. The weather was perfect. The energy of the crowd was superior. My Ethiopian running partner was the best...telling me that I was going to break records and how I did such an amazing job. So for all of these things, I felt that this was an awesome race, second to my marathon of course. Finishing at 2hr 26 min (a full 10 minutes over my PR, but who's counting, right?), however, was a drag. I mean really, 10 minutes? If this were one of my other races, I would have collected my medal and would be one the way to my car to head home in that extra time. But I digress....
If anything, this race told me that I have absolutely no excuses but to get my but back in shape...put one foot in front of the other...and keep it movin! You know what I mean?
And 'get movin' is exactly what I did upon returning to Lesotho. With my Ethio running buddy by my side, we ran this city...together. What could be better?!
So Dear Reader, no excuses. No choice. Plus, if I want to continue eating the way I do (yummy, homemade banana bread muffins...nom, nom, nom!!!!), I really have no choice!
Until next time...everyone say it with me, "one foot in front of the other...keep it movin'!"
Yours in (on to the next one) training,
Dani
1 comments:
Hahaha. I used that exact excuse this weekend: "if I'm really going to keep baking all these cupcakes, I'd better be running!"
I'm glad you went and ran despite the non-perfect conditions. I think we get as much out of running against the odds as when we set a new PR. So go you!
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