Half Marathon Final Thoughts

Things that made me go hmmmmm....

• Portas - OMG, they were gross. I am sure the late arrival didn't help. But my friend said the ones at the parking lot to get the shuttle would have less of a line. So, I go in and hold my breath. Not going to get into the details, let me just tell you the porta was disgusting. Ironically, we waited in line and when we got to the race location sure enough no line and portas as far as the eye could see.
• Cheerleaders - Being your own cheerleader is great, but having even one person along the race route sure makes a difference. It gave me something to focus on and it was just neat to see his smiling face.
• Tangents - If you don't "run the tangents" you are going to run farther, because that's how the course is measured. Uh, I realized that I wasn't running them and didn't correct this for a while, so that's why my race ended up being 13.2 instead of 13.1.
• Mind - I think I may have figured out how to work with my mind this race. Which is a big big accomplishment! I just can't let myself "get in my head". Checking in with myself just doesn't work for me. What works is to focus on things outside of myself and repeating a postive mantra (you've got this) throughout the event if I starting leaning towards getting in my head.
• Enjoy the event - I really did take the time to check out all the neat scenery on the route, the spectators' signs, and the bands along the way. While I checked my Garmin now and then early in the race, it was to ensure that my pace wasn't too fast. Favorite signs: "You're made of Tiger Blood! You can do this!"; "Free Ipad 2's at the finish line while supplies last - HURRY!"
• Be fearless - As stupid as this sounds, for me this meant to get over race time. It was to "be fearless" of the clock and the time it displayed. Hmmm, typing that it's triggering similarities to the scale. Giving my power to the scale like giving power to the clock and telling me if my race was "good" or not. My goal for the race was to finish, enjoy it, and be able to return to bootcamp without recovery time. Checked the boxes on all three. And it was also pointed out by multiple people (including the trainers at camp) that not having done a half in almost 20 years that this was a very respectable time.
• Let your inner athlete out - This was what probably reads as my cocky attitude of "you've got this". It really isn't, it was my tool for stopping negative talk. I could have EASILY allowed all of my doubts to overtake me, but I didn't. I told myself to believe, that all my hard work will pay off, and that in my own way I am an athlete and I was letting her out!

Final thought: I believe that everyone has an inner athlete. Yes everyone, including YOU! It doesn't matter what others say or the experts, it's achieving your goals whether that's finishing a 5K in under an hour or a marathon. Be proud of what you set out to do, be fearless, strong, and let that inner athlete out! GO YOU! : )

Tracking for last week:

• 5 bootcamps and 1 half (13.2 miles) - calories: 4520.

.....hmmmmm, so what's next????