It was a freezing cold morning and the temperature was in the 30's. I hadn't run in a while, yet alone exercised in a while. But, I was excited for my first race of the year! I was so excited, that I moved up towards the front of the pack at the starting line.
When the gun blasted and we were off, most of the runners around me were running faster than me and passing me like crazy. The cold air was tightening my lungs and I felt like I was really out of shape. That little voice inside of me was telling me that I should have trained more, that I wasn't ready to run again, that my laziness over the past few months was coming back to bite me!
Almost everyone seemed to be passing me, and I just kept telling myself, "No matter how slowly you go, you're still lapping everyone at home on the couch." I started saying this to myself during my first half marathon, and now I just keep repeating it in my head whenever I start to feel discouraged during a race.
When I race, I don't wear a Garmin and I don't keep track of how quickly I'm running. I just do my best and listen to my body. When I get close to the finish line, I floor it and run as fast as I can. That's my favorite part of a race...I usually run so fast at the end that I feel like I'm flying! Then, I cross the finish line with my heart pounding and adrenaline shooting through my veins. There is absolutely nothing like it, and I can't recreate it on the treadmill or when I'm just running on my own.
By the middle of the race, the crowd started thinning out a bit and I did pass a few people...not many though. So, I would have guessed that my time was horrible. As I rounded the corner and got closer to the finish line, I looked at the big clock and saw that it was at 26 minutes and I can't remember how many seconds. I almost did a double take.
My fastest 5K time was around 27 and a half minutes, and that's back when I was in prime shape, right after the Tough Mudder, the Broad Street Run and my first Half Marathon last year. I saw that 26 and started running faster than I ever had in my life. I wanted to get to that finish line before the clock hit 27, and I did! I checked the results and I was the 4th female finisher in my age group. I was completely shocked!
So, while starting out with the faster runners did shatter my self confidence towards the beginning of the race, maybe it made me run faster. My "slow" running with the elite runners was actually fast for me, yet I didn't know it. In the past, when I started towards the back of the pack, I was passing lots of people, so I felt like I was going really fast. But, I now realize that I probably wasn't doing my very best.
It's true in running and in regular old life: When you surround yourself by awesome people, you can bring out the best in yourself! Also, don't put limits on yourself. You never know how far or fast you can go when you're running with the right crowd!
