It's kind of weird, that I've done all the other traditional (and even non traditional) distances, but it's taken this long to get to a 15K. Because I wasn't sure what a mid-distance would be like, I had no idea how to pace myself. I know that when I'm doing a half, I have to be relatively conservative for the first 10K of it, but, what about this one?
The beginning was awful. The first three miles were rough. I wanted to quit. I was really freaking tired. I had no mojo. And it was cold. Then I started seeing people with Run for Sherry Bibs pass me. It felt like a sign. I knew that today was the virtual Run for Sherry, and had thought of her as I got to the race site. But it wasn't until I was struggling that it clicked.
Sherry can't run today.
Sherry can never run again.
With that realization, I acknowledged that to quit, to even complain, or be a whiner, would be disrespectful to her memory. So I ran.
I ran pretty conservatively, but I was in a big time zone. It felt really good. Interestingly enough, my final 5k split was about 1 1/2 minute faster than my first 5k split!
When we finished, it was great to get back into the warmth of the building. We were instantly treated with hot cocoa and
chocolate fondue! Though, after running 9 miles, it wasn't really very appetizing. I'd much rather had a cold beer and a banana!
Back to training...training...and more training.
Looking forward to the Party Race series that's coming up in just a few more weeks!
