Monday, October 20, 2014

Hitting the wall of AWESOME

Let's discuss the roller coaster that is training for a half marathon. Although I will say that this roller coaster happens with almost every event I've trained for. You start out SUPER excited. You're so jazzed to reach a goal that you get a little overzealous. Maybe the training goes to your head, maybe you get injured or maybe you've committed to something that's just past your limits. And then you go through a time where you're sore all the time, you're tired frequently and you wonder what the heck you got yourself into. BUT then, then you hit the wall of awesome and you are back up on the top of that roller coaster ready for the big drop. I hit that wall last Friday. I had been feeling super worried about my run that day because it was at an unfamiliar time, the trail was one that seriously kicked my butt last year when I ran it training for Irongirl and I was running with a friend which I knew would be new. And yet, I got out there and ran one of my best runs yet. The pace felt easy, my legs felt great, I didn't need compression sleeves and I was totally excited to do abs afterwards. It was a BLAST.
However, the  awesomeness didn't stop there. You see, at the start of this journey my running partner and I had told each other that we wanted our legs in good enough shape that we could wear these tiny running shorts that our trainer wears consistently. A couple weeks into our training we both went and tried some on and immediately said "helllllllll no, I am never wearing those." Fast forward to the LAST week of our training and we both end up texting each other saying that we're going to go try the shorts on again because its the last week we have to give them another shot. Below is me in said shorts! You guys, I felt FANTASTIC in them. I was so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal and feeling good about it! I purchased those babies and tested them out on my last long run yesterday (which also went super well).
I don't want this to sound like a big brag-a-thon by me. I want it to sound inspiring. Training for something and seeing your body and fitness change is something I think everyone should aspire to do. It is so so exciting to reach a goal and know that you can go further. Get out of your comfort zone and do something that you didn't think you could do, because you totally can!