After 10 months of training, 3 pairs of shoes, many bottles of Advil and at least one tube of Neosporin I am half way into my training and (I think) I'm ready to prove it by running my half marathon tomorrow!
The Boulder Half Marathon is at the Boulder Reservoir and I am really nervous!
Everyone keeps telling me that I will be fine and there is nothing to worry about because I will have all sorts of adrenaline helping me to get through it. But how is everyone so much more confident than I am? The farthest I've run so far is 10 miles and I was not feeling incredibly awesome after wards. Can adrenaline really push me those last 3.1 miles and make me feel like I don't want to die at the end of this?
Since my confidence is clearly lacking at this point, I Googled some running words of encouragement, and decided to share them here:
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement."
- Steve Prefontaine
"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
-Jesse Owens
"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."
-Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner
"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
"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."
-Oprah Winfrey
"Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about."
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian
"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner
"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."
-Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile
"Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'."
-Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner
I will write again tomorrow to let everyone know my time and will hopefully have some pictures!
No comments:
Post a Comment