With the goal of doing the International Detroit Half Marathon in 123 days.... No time at all really :/. My dentist, who's done the marathon, was FULL of excitement to share her experiences. She told me that I had to have my oldest cheer me on from the Canadian side. She explained what a welcome rush it is as you're running, but how great it is for him to see me setting a goal and achieving it. Wow! That's an angle I hadn't considered. What a rush it would be to see my own little cheerleading team! I've had Christopher out for runs with me, and he's been amazing. So I'm going to do this for Christopher. It's out there, no going back now.
On a side note: Strava is an app that I've recently discovered. It's really helped me with setting different running goals. One of those goals was to run a 10k, and if I did that I'd get a digital trophy. As someone that used play video games all the time.... Gimme that digital trinket!! I thought that it would be something to shoot for. Well now I have a half marathon goal (I'm looking at you actual in real life, not digital 13.1 sticker!). The 10k was something I NEEDED to do!
The International Detroit Half Marathon is a pretty incredible race. I've driven over the Ambassador Bridge and through the tunnel countless times. One of my personal heroes and role model has done a number of marathons. He told me that "the tunnel is a mean bitch". So I'm very excited to view it all from a whole different perspective!
On ANOTHER crazy tangent, it's how I tell stories I apologize. Back in Junior High, it's a thing in BC, there were mid term exams. This was all new to me, because we didn't have junior high in Ontario. Which is where I had gone to school until the end of grade 7. Needless to say, I was ill prepared for the expectations of mid-terms and the stress that came along with it. My digestive system went all screwy and I got terrible stomach pains/cramps and other TMI level situations. Well in grade 9 a very kind teacher gave me some great advice. Before the exam, don't try to cram in some last minute information. It's now how your brain works. Get comfortable with it in advance, that way the day before the exam you can do something you enjoy to de-stress. Your brain functions best when you're not stressed. So, before an exam, go see a movie, go read a book, play a video game. Today is the first time before an exam, my method of unwinding was to push myself towards my next goal.
So with all that in mind, let's talk about today's run. I set out to run the 10k with the idea of taking it easy. I just beat my personal record for 5k two days ago! If I screwed up my leg and or legs from pushing it too hard on the day of an exam? If whatever mystery ailment didn't get me, Tiffany would murder my face.... :/ Take it easy, if it takes two hours, it takes two hours. My life is too fun to have my wife murder my face over a run! I love my presently un-murdered face! So off I went, nice comfortable pace. Let's set a goal of 1km, keep up this pace for a kilometre. I can do that! The kilometer passed comfortably enough, so let's shoot for three! Three came easy enough, dare I go for 5!? We're taking it easy, so if my body says stop... I'll stop. The only time I did have to stop, was when an old lady almost ran me over... That's right, I comfortably ran 5k only two days after doing it for the first time! And my time was 28:29! I can now comfortably beat my goal for July 1st!!!!
Amazing feeling! I got maybe another half kilometer before I had to walk for a bit. Took a breath and a drink and felt ok shortly after. So, off I went again, took a few breaks, but was feeling good overall. During kilometer seven I lost track of what kilometer I was on, but saw my grandfather drive by and felt a surge of adrenaline. Picked up my pace again, and Samsung was nice enough to let me know I had two kms left. I felt amazing! I can do two kilometers!
Well that lasted about half a kilometre. It's at that point that everyone who has told me, they've gone out and been more active as a result of me... Well that gave me a much needed boost of inspiration, so thank you to everyone that has reached out. It means the world to me! And when Samsung told me there was a kilometre to go!? We're in the home stretch, and I was estimated to finish at just over an hour! Unbelievable!? I would have never dreamed of finishing at just over an hour. When I set out, I told my friend Brandon to give me two hours. I was taking it easy after all, and I was about do it in a little over half. Time to step it up! Can I beat my 5k goal doubled!? 10k in under an hour! Push it!
Full disclosure, the last km was HARD! I wasn't taking it easy anymore. I wanted to slow down, and just as I was about to, Havana shuffled on. Havana is one of my wife's favorite songs, and this was a subtle reminder that I had one cheerleader that has always cheered me on. I was going to keep going until Havana was over. As always, my wife, my best friend, my cheerleader saw me to the end. 10k in 59:25. Doubled and beat my July 1st goal! I felt/feel unstoppable.
What a way to go into an exam! Feeling unstoppable, if I post about my results... I did well. If I don't? Never speak of it again! Regardless, I feel unstoppable! And that's an amazing feeling to have with 123 days to go! Looking forward to eating up a tonne of miles between then and now! In fact my next digital trophy is a race to the moon! In celebration of Apollo 11s 50th anniversary, so hopefully I'll see some of you on the moon as well!
Today is a great day!
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