My Imaginary Running Group

Yes, maybe I'm a little crazy, but this is the truth.  When I realized what I was doing, I immediately knew I had to blog about it.

Started half-marathon training last week and  this past Sunday was supposed to be a 6-mile long run (okay, maybe not so long for you pros out there), but because of the rain yesterday, couldn't get it done.

So I devised a plan.  I was going to get up at 5:30 and get right out early to make up that 6-miler.  But that didn't happen quite as I expected either.  You know, the kind of  morning when you feel like just going back to bed and pulling the sheet up over your head.

Then it started raining again.  Really?  Come On, Mother Nature!  Finally, I had had enough.  Grabbed a wind breaker in case the rain didn't stopped, my phone, my headphones, my fuel belt (water), extra towels, and off I went to the park, determined to get this 6 miles in.

The rain stopped just as I got to the park.  Wonderful.  A little cloudy, cool, felt great as I started out....then the sun came out.  Hot, humid, and to top it all off, my GPS was not working on my app on my phone that I used to track my distance. 

Anyway, I struggled the entire run.  Didn't have the right music on, couldn't see the darned phone to change the music because of the sun.  The only way I could estimate how far I was going was to figure out what pace I might be running and then just multiply that by 6 miles. 

The last mile was SUCH A STRUGGLE.  Seriously, I had gone through all four water bottles on my belt, and I was seriously hot and sweating bullets.  My legs felt like lead pipes.  But I HAVE TO GET THIS LAST BIT IN. 

That's when I started talking to myself, and this is kind of what I said.

Serious, come on, move your butt!  You can do this!  Just keep moving.  Don't you quit!  Then I imagined that I had an imaginary running group, Jillian Michaels (sorry, but she was the one who inspired me to start running), Aimee, Heather, Tricia, Marisa, Jen, David, Amanda, they were all with me.  Come on, guys, you know who you are.  And they were all pushing me, keep going, get that butt moving, come on, you can do this.  Look how far you've come, don't give up now.  Look at Tricia and Heather up there, don't lose sight of them.  Marisa and Jen, Aimee and Amanda were beside me cheering me on and making me laugh at how much I was sweating.  David running like a bullet ahead.  I just kept going, kept imaging that I was in the middle of this awesome group of running friends and they were all giving me the encouragement to finish it.

And I did.  I finally got to the finish line, and then pushed it just a little bit further to make sure I got that 6 miles in. 

Turns out when I got home, I had run 6.49 miles and my pace was 11.06, much better than I felt I was running.  I swear, I felt I was running at like a 15!

The moral of my little story today is that I need to push myself, and when I think I can't go any further, I push myself a little further still.  I can do this and I will!