In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first,
in the middle of the pack or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’
There is a lot of satisfaction in that.
-Fred Lebow
More than a half-marathon—this is the distance I am running in less than 2 days. A good 25 kilometers of concrete, unshaded road, and I plan to finish it in 2 hours and 45 minutes. As it is, the mere thought of it makes my palms go sweaty. Am I really ready for the big league? Or will I be consigned to run in 10k races forever?
For years, I have been filling my cabinet with a number of oversized and low quality singlets from 10k runs that I had been unable to give away, much less to wear. It was only last year when I decided that it was high time to let go and gave them all away to various relatives. The only singlets I held on to were the adidas ones; I have two reds and two whites. Even the New Balance, alas, gave away virtually unusable jerseys.
In fairness, though, the NB shirts are unusable only for petite girls like me. Their smallest size comes down to my knees. If they required participants to use their singlets in the race, either I would have to tuck it in my shorts or run with it flapping around my thighs. Not a pretty sight, huh?
This 25k race therefore, is a new milestone in my running career. Would I be able to finish with flying colors—pardon the cliché—or would I slink home, beating myself on the head again for being unprepared for a race? I sincerely hope it’s the former; I like to win (against myself, in this kind of undertaking). Knowing myself, though, and the kind of training I had undergone in the past few weeks (Ha! You run twice a week! Do you call that training?), it would probably be the latter. 🙁
A more realistic attitude to take would be being grateful if I go home on Sunday with a time of less than 3 hours, with no injuries to boot. It is a realistic and achievable and psychologically healthy mindset to take.
Yeah. Hopefully, by then, I would be able to convince myself of that.
In the meantime, I will sleep well and dream of myself running the route, feeling the strong beat of my heart, breathing the cold, fresh air, and hearing the cheers of the runners who finished ahead of me.
For, I, too, am a runner, and I rejoice in their company.
good luck on your attempt at 25k. since it’s your first try at the distance, finishing should be the main concern. if you meet your target time, then fine. if not, that doesn’t make you any less a runner than the faster ones. 🙂
how did it go?<BR/>I also ran the 25k.<BR/>:-)
hi cris. it went fine. i finished in 2:55. 😉 i think i saw you there. you look familiar…
yehey, keli!<BR/><BR/>congratulations on your run. welcome to the world of long distance. <BR/><BR/>btw, are you the keli on pinoyrunners? i noticed kasi pareho kayo ng finishing time. 🙂
hi caloy! yup, i’m the same keli from pinoyrunners. i thought that’s where you learned about my blog. 🙂 ang saya ng long-distance running! will write about the NB race in my next entry. 😉
Hi keli! I hope you write about your 25km race already. I was also there but sadly, I had to give my race bib to a friend. I still can’t run that long due to my injury. I still joined my group (h@ppyFeet) and cheered them on. 🙂