DAY 1606... My Running Reality

After the Teton Dam 5K in the beginning of June,

I immediately started searching for another race.

I really wanted to continue running and pushing myself,

and if I had a goal and a race all lined up,

I thought that would help to push me further and harder.

I searched a ton and landed on the Idaho Falls Mad Marathon 5K.

I liked that everyone got medals,
yes I'm weird like that,

shirts,

and that it was in a familiar area to me.

I also loved that the children's race was free and they got medals as well.

This race was scheduled a little less than 2 months later than my first 5K of the season,

so I figured I had plenty of time to practice my running skills.

I went into the race with the only goal of beating my first time of 32:25.

That's all I wanted.

Leading up to the race I was running longer distances for a longer period of time.
Every Saturday I would run from my house to my parents house (6.30 miles) and then they would drive me home.

I was hoping that this would help build my endurance.

Speed is still something I need to work on, 

but all I wanted was to beat that time,
and I figured building my endurance would help.

Running for me is really really hard.

My body is not meant to run.

I am big chested,

and still carrying a lot of extra weight.

I really have to push myself to run and it can be emotionally and mentally draining.
When I race,
I literally talk to myself the entire time.
I am constantly pushing myself,
trying hard not to be mean,
but reminding myself of my goals and what I am capable of.

We headed out to Idaho Falls the day before to pick up our bibs,

well my bib,

for the race the day before.

Everything seemed like it was going to be great,

but that's not really how it turned out.

The race day was very unorganized.

Races started late,

and that was really tough when it came to the kids race.

Kids don't understand and it was kind of a mess.
My baby and husband didn't understand why it was 30 minutes late.

The route wasn't marked very well and several people cut huge corners and got confused about where they we going.

There weren't people along the trail helping or assisting or answering questions about the route.

It was just a mess.

The biggest issue I had was that they didn't have medals for the 5K runners.

Even though this is what was stated on their website.

People were pretty upset.

Including myself.

But let's talk about the actual race.

I felt really good going into it.

I hadn't had the best running week,

but I felt pretty confident that I would beat my Teton time of 32:35.

I felt awesome the first mile and a half.

Really good.

But then,

just like during the Teton 5K,

I got really dizzy and it was hard to even see straight at about 1.5 miles.

This never happens when I run normally,

but it seems to be a reoccurring theme in my races.

From miles 1.5-2.5 I was tired.

I felt exhausted and the sun was really hot and blinding.

I just kept talking to myself and telling myself that you've got this,

you don't need to walk,

you can push through because it's almost over.

I used to be all about competing with others while I was running,

but I have totally turned and changed into only competing with myself and I love that.

To me that's HUGE growth.

As I turned the corner to the last stretch of the course,

I could see the clock read 29:40.

I was shocked!

I knew I felt better this time around,

but I had never expected to beat 30 minutes.

At that moment 5% of me wanted to just keep my pace and finish when I would,

because that would still be better than my last race.

But 95% of me wanted to run faster than I ever had before and finish under 30 minutes.

Spencer said I looked like a mad woman,

and the pictures kind of show that,

but 

I

DID

IT!

My official finishing time was 29:51.

I wanted to cry.

Spencer looked so surprised and he was so proud of me.

It was such an amazing feeling!

These pictures are so not flattering,

but I know that someday I will want to look back and I will be proud of myself so I don't care.

I am not a photogenic runner

That poor lady...
I'm sure she thought I was trying to beat her,
but really I just wanted to beat 30 minutes.

I felt super sick when I crossed the finish line.

I knew I had pushed myself hard.

But I am so proud of myself!

I had quite a few people tell me it was impossible,

but it wasn't.

It's so encouraging and motivating to destroy your goals!

Aniston's race was fun.

I was able to do it with her this time around.

She was looking back to make sure the storm troopers weren't following her.

They had a fun little Spartan race section set up by the national guard that she loved!

I wish I would've brought my camera with me.

She climbed an inflatable wall with a rope,

did the army crawl under wire,

and ran through tires.

And she didn't walk once during the race.

She was a little nervous about the Storm Troopers,

but it all worked out.

Of course afterwards when we stopped by the gun store,

she needed a picture with this scary face.

Who is my child?

This was not a race that I will ever do again,

or that I would recommend to anyone,

but it was a HUGE PR for me and an experience that will motivate me.

I never thought that I would be a runner.

I never thought it was possible for me.

But it is.

You can truly do anything that you want to do,

but you have to work for it,

you have to push yourself,

and you have to be positive.

You will have rough days,

and you will struggle.

But if you are constantly practicing and working towards your goal,

you will succeed!