Last Saturday I finished my second half-marathon race in southern Utah. It started way too early—6 a.m.—and ended with a challenge. Going in I expected nothing but a long (okay, reallyyy long) morning jog and hopefully a better performance than my first (not that it was bad, but you can only hope to improve right?). By the mile 13, I learned quite a bit about running and the insight it has to offer…

The course was like this: flat for mile one, downhill for the next five, and curvy for the rest. It looks good on paper, but turned out to be quite different than I expected.

At 6 in the morning the only thing you’re running off of is adrenaline. As with any race, it pushes you off the starting line with hundreds of runners around you. Most of the time it means you start out a little too fast, but as long as you can find your pace quickly, you’ll be okay. However, when you’re thrown onto a downhill slope, it makes the process of finding your pace much harder. Do you let gravity do its thing and ignore the urge to slow down? Do you take bigger strides to lessen the impact? Do you stomp down harder to keep your ground, or float down and put on the brakes when it flattens out?

It reminded me of a new job/new year of school/grad school……whatever your “new” adventure might be. You’re suddenly thrown onto this course, not knowing what to expect. If it starts out fast, maybe you should pace yourself, knowing that a challenge could be around the corner, unexpected. If you feel like you’re on a downhill slope, it doesn’t automatically mean you’ve got the “easy path” ahead.

There was one runner in particular who started to get to me. I’ve read about emotions during a race, how it can really affect your performance and outcome. I wasn’t going there. I enjoy running because it’s just me and my thoughts, my pace, and discovering what I’m capable of. She was interrupting all of the above. She’d pass me, and then I’d pass her. At first I was annoyed because I couldn’t tell if it was my pace or hers that was fluctuating. But I had a pretty good guess. She cut corners in front of me, and kept floating between sides of the ride (or at least the lane we were in). It was like she thought she’d save a few yards here and there by always being on the inside. By mile 8 I was ahead, and didn’t see her again…

There will always be a seemingly easier or quicker way of doing things, that doesn’t make it the better way. We’ll be told over and over that cutting the corners won’t get you anywhere. She proved it for me first hand; she wasn’t saving herself any miles. We all had 13.1 ahead of us. She may have always been on the inside, but I came out on top.

Every mile was marked with a sign and a bright orange flag. That’s a surefire way to make 13 miles seem a lot longer. I saw Mile 1, and I thought “Ehh, awesome. I have 12 to go.” For the first seven or eight, it was daunting, for the rest of them it was both exciting and tiring. It reminded me of looking at the syllabi at the beginning of each semester. You see all the assignments you will somehow complete before the four months are over. It seems so daunting at first—how will you fit it all in, and go to football games, and have drinks on Friday, and watch “The Office” on Thursday?! But with each one down, I felt a little more relieved and a little more accomplished.

Soon enough I ran past Mile 12. The sun has climbed on up, raised the temperature by about 15 degrees, and the exhaustion is setting in. I need water, I want to walk, and I really want to be done. The next water station is about half a mile up; I make it there, let myself slow down, and enjoy the refreshing drink. Rejuvenated and ready to finish this deal.

There will be plenty of days that you want to quit. It’s hard, it’s exhausting, it’s all-consuming. This is where the training, studying, hard-work come in. It’s frustrating that sometimes no matter how much you prepare, you aren’t ready for what comes your way. Here’s the opportunity to let your work ethic shine through, defined as “a belief in the importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character.” (www.dictionary.com) The feeling of accomplishment will always overshadow the difficulty it took to get there. Discover what you’re capable of and be proud of yourself for it.

So, how did I do? Well, in spite of starting off a little too fast, and feeling exhausted with only two miles to go, I did great. Much better than I was expecting and that is a good feeling. I finished 31 overall, out of 1000+ runners. I beat my first time by six minutes, coming in at 1:43:19. I had family waiting for me at the finish line with big ol’ smiles and big cold bottles of water. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Posted by Mary Ellen Nunes at 07/28/2008 11:51:10 AM