AM: Race day! This course is also hilly. But I liked it a lot better than Idaho. Conditions weren’t great, it was raining and cold. 47 degrees to be exact, that’s a big change from 80-90 degrees in the afternoon haha. I was shivering at the line, the wind made it so much colder
Had trouble getting into race mode. At the beginning I was treating it more as a workout, wasn’t very competitive and was right at the back, my mentality was like ehh. This race doesn’t matter. Then I was like, no, I need to fix that. Started moving up, passed Danielle, Bino and Jacey. Then as I started coming downhill I spotted Mary a little bit farther in front of me, was surprised to see her but got excited. I raced Mary all the time in high school. So I used the downhill and that’s when I got into race mode, it’s been a looong time since I’ve gotten into it like that. It didn’t last too long, probably only a mile. But I passed Mary and was close behind Josie for a while. I struggled for like a half mile, Mary passed me back and I just let her go, a couple more girls passed me. Then at the end I started to pick it up, could hear a girl breathing hard behind me, used the downhill and tried to kick but both the girl and Jacey caught me right at the end.
Overall happy with how it went, considering the conditions and the course it was good. Talked with Mary after, so good to catch up.
Cooled down to 5
PM: 5 miles easy. Ankle twinged a little. Now it’s stiffened up and is hurting. I forgot that I twisted it kinda bad in the race until now. It was so cold this morning that I was numb and that’s probably why I didn’t feel it on the cool down or rest of the race. Haha I was like, why is it hurting? Oh yeah, that’s why. I’ll just ice it a lot this weekend and it’ll be fine
I’m learning to be more grateful for what I can do in the moment, for who I am right now and what I can accomplish. I think the best thing is to be humble, be grateful, and be happy in the moment instead of looking so much to the future and believing that you’ll be happy when ___. It’s good to have dreams, to believe you can accomplish things, but only if it excites you, if it’s something you want to accomplish, and only if you can be grateful for the things you have already accomplished. Choosing to be happy now and to look to the future with hope is what’s going to bring the most success, and I think the greatest part of the journey is helping others along the way.
It’s interesting because my senior year of high school, at Arcadia, I ran a 12 second PR in the 3200, but as soon as I crossed the line and looked at the clock I burst into tears because I ran an 11:03 and didn’t break 11:00 and Mary had. I knew that if I’d just kicked a little harder and stayed with her I could’ve broken 11:00. A few minutes later I was put in my place and realized how ridiculous that was, I PR’d by 12 seconds! There’s always going to be someone faster, something you could’ve done better. But the reason I run isn’t to be the best, it’s to be the best that I can be and enjoy the journey, be happy with the small improvements and enjoy the camaraderie that comes from being a part of a team. Maybe one day I can work my way to the front pack, but if not at least I’ll know that I enjoyed my time as an athlete and made more meaningful connections with teammates, coaches and others along the way.
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