Hebrews 12:11-12
"11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees."
Hello! It has been a while since I have posted, but I am hoping to have more time now that I am on summer break. My good friend encouraged me to blog more, so hopefully I will be more consistent with my posts! In this post, I mostly want to share more about my return to serious racing since January. I did a few 5k's in the Fall, but I really started to focus on running faster times from January-May. I was able to compete in a few indoor/outdoor track meets and even jumped into a half marathon for the first time since 2014! First of all, the only way I am ever able to accomplish racing/running fast times is because of my amazing God. He provides me with the strength and power I need to keep pushing forward. I talk to Him before, during, and after every run, workout, or race. I strongly encourage you to do the same, even if you are not exercising...just talk to God and just see if you feel empowered! Now on to the PR (personal record) list!My first PR of the year came from racing a 5K at IU's indoor track. I knew I could run around 17:30 (previous PR 17:43) based on my fitness at the time, so I went after it and ended up running 17:24 and placed 1st. I was super excited, but felt like I still had more in me, which tells me I could have run much faster. I hung onto the back of the pack until the last few laps and ended up winning...so lesson learned...if you feel good, go! A few weeks after my 5K I ran a 3K at IU again. My goal here was to break 10:00 (previous PR 10:08). I ended up running 9:59, so barely made my goal, but placed 3rd overall. After having competition to help me PR, my coach encouraged me to try to PR a few times in workouts, which I run by myself. This scared me a little. How was I supposed to reach a personal best time on my own? But then I reminded myself that I always have a running partner. Just because I cannot see God, doesn't mean He's not there! So, I tried a 1500 first. I PR'd by one second, running 4:50. My dad was nice enough to come to the track in 30 degree weather to time me so I wouldn't have to look at my watch too much. Whoo! That one was hard. I struggle with shorter, faster distances, so this is something to continue working on this summer. After improving a short distance time, I went up in distance...to the 10K.
I was able to try out a track 10K for the first time since college at Washington University. I was super nervous because I felt like I "forgot" how to race a 10K. This is a long race for the track, and I knew it would hurt. I ended up cramping up horribly early in the race and could hardly breathe by the end. God's presence and strength is the only way I was able to finish that race. I ended up running over 36:00 (previous PR 37:00), when my goal was around 35:50. Not what I wanted, but I knew I would have another try in a few weeks. Shortly after this race, I tried to gain another "workout PR" in the 800. I was completely by myself this time (except for my spiritual running partner!) and ran a one second PR of 2:27. The Friday after I ran my 800, I raced another 10K. I still didn't feel amazing during my race, but was able to run 35:53. I was so happy to have finally broken 36:00. Then, a week after I ran my best 10K, I ran the Indy Mini Marathon. I didn't really have a huge goal for this race, knowing I was running on tired legs from all the racing I had been doing. Let me just say, this was an awesome race...the crowd, support, accommodations, course, and of course meeting Meb were all great. There were around 35,000 runners competing, and I was able to get into the Elite field, which meant I was in the first wave up front. This helped tremendously with the start of the race. I ended up running 1:21:08, which was exactly the same as my previous PR in better conditions. I was 15th female, and 100th overall. You could say I was pretty happy with this result.
Me and Meb post-race!
