Episode 9 – Monday Running Motivation: #MRM

21.097494 kilometers OR 13.1 miles ran yesterday in 01:46:03 is a validation that I could get good at this! I mean really good! :) By the way, HAPPY Monday everyone! :)

I can’t believe how great I feel today after how much I pushed yesterday (see my splits on Strava ) – no pain, no injury, nothing at all. And on top of that, I finished 18th out of 257 women and 6th out of 43 in my age group, 35.

Remember the story of my first half-marathon how nervous I was that I couldn’t rest the night before the race? Well, I think I just learned how to say bye-bye to race day anxiety.

Going back to yesterday’s story …

Right before the race, at the start line, instead of thinking, “I’m nervous”, I decided to replace it with “I’m SO excited to have this experience”. And to my big surprise, it worked smoothly. That’s my new weapon and if you’d like, you can use it too.

It was so unusually warm and sunny yesterday afternoon when the race started which put a smile on my face. The first 10k felt amazing with my legs rolling fast. Actually, way too fast even for my goal pace. I was focused on maintaining that amazing pace (4.20, 4.30, 4.40) for as long as possible while controlling my breathing. I also realized that not having a time in mind seemed to be my best friend. What can I say?! I was really enjoying myself … until km 17 when I felt the urge to stop and walk for a few seconds.

However, exactly that moment, I heard a friendly voice telling me ‘Come on, Cris!’. It was Christian (see photo – right in front of me, the one wearing an orange t-shirt) that caught up with me and he basically helped me to push myself again and get back on track. From there we kind of helped each other to maintain 5 mins/km till the end of the race. I am not sure I got the chance to say it – Thank you, Christian!

Another THANK YOU goes to Running Team Grafenberg as they welcomed me with open arms into their training runs. You guys rock!

I also met João in person, a passionate runner, and his happy running community. Must admit that I’ve stumbled upon João’s blog only a few weeks ago but I liked his writing style instantaneously. I already know that when his new post about running falls into my Inbox, I’m going to learn something new about speed and running overall (by the way, you should write more often). :) Make sure you check out his blog too.

What an amazing Sunday I had! :)

Until next time, HAPPY running & be happy!
Xoxo, Cris