Ready, Set, Psyche!

As I was jogging a short little warm up and stretch on Friday in preparation for the "big" race Saturday, I realized that almost as important as the physical preparation is the mental preparation. When I run, I often ask God to heal some hurt or the other (because something always hurts at the beginning of runs), but yesterday, I realized that I shouldn't try to run without pain. Part of my preparation for the McKay Hollow was telling myself that it would be painful, unpleasant, and possibly downright nasty at times. I think realizing that something is going to be hard and being okay with that is extremely important for preparation. This prevents discouragement when things get unexpectedly hard and allows room for pleasant surprises if all goes smoothly (yes, I am a pessimist/ realist).

That is why it was such a "psyche" to learn that first the race this morning was postponed and then cancelled. It was sortof strange to realize that I actually really did want to get out there on the trail and put myself through 15.5 miles of rocky, twisted trail- even in the mud! (I did not want to get struck by lightning though, so part of me is glad the race was cancelled). My emotions were so mixed. I was relieved that I wouldn't be in any danger and even a tiny bit that I wouldn't be running 15 miles that day. On the other hand, months of training for this one race went unfulfilled this morning. When I got home, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I am very thankful for Naomi, who invited me to her gym where I experienced my first ever spin cycle class. It was sweat inducing and made my quads burn, but was a nice break from my constant running schedule.

 Of course, I'm already scheming about other half marathon possibilities, and future marathon training, but there's somthing incredibly disappointing about training with a very unique race as the goal and not being able to complete that goal. I think I may just have to go run the whole course when I have time and nice weather.

For those of you who donated to Dance Connection- thank you! Your donation is not in any way affected by this nasty weather! Stay posted for information about my next running adventure!

Gloria
oh and ps- I have apparently earned a trail running name "the black angel." I'm not really sure if this is similar to a "black sheep" or not :)