Everything hurts. I’m not being dramatic, just honest. My calves, my ankles, my thighs and even my arms if I stretch just far enough. I pushed my body harder than ever before and now I’m paying the price. I’m actually not writing this to complain. This is a success story.
I ran my first trail race, raced my first half marathon and found the max of what my body could take, or at least what I thought was the max – several times. All on the same day. In a matter of about two hours. I was 3ish weeks away from my first half marathon road race and 7ish weeks away from my first full marathon. A customer invited me to do it with her and it sounded fun. For the record, it was fun, for a little bit.
I’d never trail ran or raced over a 10k so I figured I’d just run, jog, really, and take it easy from start to finish. That was my plan. I like plans. They keep you on track. If you stick to them.
When they invited runners to the coral I didn’t take my time. I scurried over and jostled around through the mess of runners to get closer to the start. I wanted to be near the front just to know how many women were in front of me throughout the race and know where I stood. I found myself eyeing women’s shoes, watches and race gear. I glanced around to see who might be on my level. I made guesses about their running experience. I just couldn’t help myself.
When the race started I nosed my way into a good position. I decided trail running was fun. And then came the hills. Up. Down. Up. Steep up. Steep down. Up. Back down. Over and over. Slow miles. I decided that if it was going to suck I might as well keep it interesting and push myself to compete. I would try to win. I hit a wall around 5 miles, and then again at 6 and 7. When it got a little flat I would feel okay but up or down were both hell. I didn’t know which I hated worse; the agonizing slow steps up a hill or the uncontrollable descents on rocky slopes.
Running has taught me many things over the years; hard work, discipline, teamwork, perseverance, patience, and the value of investing in what you want to achieve. I’ve ran a lot of miles and found different kinds of success while pushing to go faster or farther. I didn’t run faster or farther on the trail, but what I learned is there are many walls; when your legs hurt, when they need to walk, when they want to give out. I felt I was at my max over and over, more times than in any run before.
On the trail, I learned to say, ‘damn the wall’ and just keep running.