After 19 years of entering races, here’s the main lesson I’ve learned: I can trust what my body says.
I thought I may have pushed a little too much on Saturday’s 5k. But Sunday morning, all seemed well. I heard, “You may be up for a better run than you thought.”
According to my Garmin, the starting temp for the half marathon was 39F. But it didn’t feel that cold. The 8AM start time probably had something to do with it. I heard, “You’ve layered just fine. Relax.”
When I crossed the 10k time mat just over 58 minutes, I thought, “I’m working, but I can push more and see what’s possible.” I decided to eat my second gel and push from there. I heard, “GO!”
That’s what I did. Around mile 9, a runner passed me that I chose to make a target. I heard, “Match their pace. Return the favor. No regrets.” That motivation led to my final four miles being my fastest and mile 13 the best of the day.
This weekend was a unique effort for many reasons. A tad ambitious. Ran the King Neptune Challenge not to survive but to test my 58 year-old body. I heard, “Thanks for the challenge. Thanks for listening. Let’s keep moving!”
