Race Day Bling
“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.”
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder
A friend recently reminded me to take the time to celebrate achievements. It was a great reminder not to treat our goals or achievements as something we check off a list to make room for the next “thing”. If it had not been for this conversation, I probably would have been guilty of that today.
For the last six months, I’ve been training for a half marathon. My running partners have been my husband and another friend of ours who was also training for the same event. Based on our schedules, my weekday runs were generally with my friend and my long runs were with my husband. We have all had our turns at being there for each other and holding each other accountable.
Today was the day that all the training and dedication came together and got us not only to the start line – but the Finish line as well. I had hoped to beat my best half-marathon time (PR) but I didn’t pull it off. I ran according to my Garmin and didn’t realize until after the race how much extra (a tenth of a mile) I spent running around people or trying to find a good spot to position myself in.
The hills cost me time towards the end of the race when I was starting to get tired. I picked up my speed towards the end, but it was 12 seconds shy of what I needed to PR. My Garmin pace was based on the distance and speed run, but my half-marathon time was based on the chip time when I crossed the finish line. In a nut shell, I should have reached a little deeper to make sure there was no margin for error in my calculations.
I could beat myself up over it, but I don’t deserve it, and I won’t. I trained hard, I ran hard, I finished – and I had fun. At forty-five, my health is better than it’s ever been. Thanks to my friend Tony, I remembered to celebrate all of that.
After the race, my husband and I met our friend and her husband and daughter for lunch and to celebrate friendship, good health, and an awesome achievement for all of us. Whether in person or in spirit, a big thank you to our friends and family for cheering us along!
How have you celebrated recently?
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