Crushed it!

The final leg of the series is FINALLY complete… Running with the cows is over and I couldn't be happier! It was a windy, hot and HILLY race, but let’s focus on the important part… I finished!

The last five weeks have been a journey, scratch that, the last year has been a journey! Both personally and on fitness level! I am finally at my wedding weight (ohhhhh yea) and I am finally starting to get a grip on who I am supposed to be! But let’s not get to deep here; let’s focus on what you came to find out… What is our topic of discussion this week? Well, I am feeling wiser so let’s talk about what I learned over the months of training, weekends of racing and my smaller pants!

13.1 things I have learned over 39.3 miles…

1) Support is important!

I am not just talking about your bra, I am talking about the people in your life that encourage you do accomplish big tasks!

This is one of my favorite pictures- grasping the support I had at the finish line-(3) people
They are my husband, sister in law and sister in law (who just finished herself)

My parents, and the duck- and you can see that duck from anywhere! Seriously- miles away! And even cooler, fellow racers remembered the duck and were glad to see the support from someone they didn't even know!

At the end of my final race (in Bucyrus, KS—think WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY out there), I rounded the last corner and saw a very special lady in my life standing there ready to cheer me in—and then she ran into the finish with me!

And endless messages of support from my dearest friends and family!

My sister. I can’t really go any further without tears- but she ran in the finish with me after her race was over and has just been a rock! (I let her beat me on the final leg—she deserved it…
and by letting her beat me, I mean I was very slow and she is just very fast)

Last, but not least…. Your bra is actually pretty stinking important… I recommend a good one.

2) Prepare for the worst- and then achieve the best

Race #1 was 100% humidity, Race #2 it rain/hailed at mile 5 (I am calling it hail because the rain hurt so bad—or maybe I was running so fast….), and Race #3 was hot and windy. You have to simply be ready for it all and know that it won’t last forever. You’ll have blisters, sunburn, more salt on your skin then you think possible and more than likely you will hurt some muscle you didn’t know you had…. Just accept it before you start and it will be that much easier to get over when it happens!

3) Have a goal!

You can’t finish a race that you didn’t sign up to start! What is your goal? I have learned that my monthly calendar mapping out my running schedule and what my end goal was (surviving) was really what I needed! And for these last few days, prior to starting my new adventure, I have felt LOST without one! Have a goal; share your goal and then you will find how much easier it is to achieve it!! I promise!

4) You can do it… But will you?

You have no idea how many people comment like the following:

“I don’t know how you do it, I could never do that!”

“I can’t run”

“How do you run that far? I can’t do a 5k!”

You get the point, right? Here is the thing, you CAN do it, the question I pose back—do you want to? I would say this for any health adventure. Half Marathons are a beast, yes, but it is all about one foot in front of the other! Do you know most races I start with a prayer for safety and strength, yet by mile 10 I am praying that I can simply continue to put my left foot in front of my right? You CAN do it! Choose too and I think you will surprise yourself!

5) Ice it and move on

I have poor knee strength. It’s one of those blessings of pounding the pavement with the extra weight I carry around. It’s one of those catch 22’s—it will go away if I lose the weight, but I run to aid in that endeavor. But instead of making it a crutch, I just ice it and move on. In my final race, it was too much to bear and I ended up walking my last three miles- but that was ok with me! I finished (<- important part) and my knee survived.

6) What goes up… Goes up

The term “Gentle rolling hills” is officially a four letter word in my vocabulary! Check out what they considered gentle rolling hills….

It was a constant up and down and up and down… Never trust the description…. In light of how they described it- I took the liberty of rewriting the last course for your consideration…

 “Enjoy the horrible rolling hills of Kansas. We picked this wonderful location because it was the hilliest we could find! Once you achieve the first hill, don’t worry you can enjoy another (and then another and another)! And just when you finish up and see the home stretch—we made sure you have to run UP it to complete your race! Yay for hills! Now, who wants to sign up?”

7) Look back and see how far you have come!

I found out that in the past few years I have made these comments on social media! And I am remember thinking that way!

I am a HUGE advocate of making sure you remember where you came from so that you know how far you have come! (Awwwww SNAP that should be a bumper sticker!) Nobody came out fast, chiseled and amazingly attractive—but they did work to get there!

8) You are racing yourself

You can’t compare your journey to anyone else’s. This is a tough one for me, and over the last few weeks it really rang true! I had to be so careful to not get bummed out that people I knew were SMOKING me on the trail—and even when the urge to trip them came on strong—I refrained and congratulated them! I was still smoking what I did the last time I ran, and that was what was important! And I looked hotter in my running pants than I did the time before… That is what is really important here!

9) Watch what you do when you are hot and someone gives you water

Sorry for the men reading this- it may be an overshare. For many reasons, I wear a maxi pad when I run. Especially after having children, many things tend to be out of my control and unnecessary wetness is a very bad thing on a 13 mile course. Although wearing the pads is not a new lesson learned for me, what I did realize though is how absorbent they are! At mile 10 I was so hot, I took one of the water cups and dumped it down my back, which in theory was a good idea… until the water got to the back of my pants. All of the sudden there was something growing in my pants. VERY ABSORBENT!

10) You miss it

I know that sounds odd, and who in their right mind would miss killing themselves on a trail just to prepare for an already too long race?? I took a week off and I miss it!! (Maybe I just miss the calorie burning, but either way missing it is missing it!

11) There IS such a thing as toooooo much water!

Drink for thirst- not for convenience. At one point, I felt like a waterbed on legs I was sloshing so much! I was 100% grateful for the abundance of water stops—but you really should only drink when you feel thirsty.

12) Make other people do it with you!

Yes, that means I will go out on a limb and say MAYBE I know why my sister continues to talk me into these things!

Race #1

Race #1

Race #2 

Race #3
CRUSHED IT!

13) It’s a mental thing

Yes, the runners I know, including myself, are mental and the ability to finish a race is mental…. There is an ability you have to fine tune of making sure you don’t talk yourself out of things. Not just negative self-talk, you have to be able to remind yourself that you CAN finish, and that you will! 13.1 miles is a LOOOOONG ways and you will easily find at least 100 reasons as to why you can’t complete the task you are out there to do (I usually find my first 100 by mile 4). Find sayings, prayers or the right songs to remind yourself you CAN, you WILL and then you will see that you DO! (Man, I am telling you—I could write bumper stickers for a living!)

.1) If for no other reason, I know I will always run for beer

39.3 Heartland Series-- NAILED IT! Will I do it again? I say no, but then my sister will somehow convince me it is a good idea! We shall see-- lets leave it at that-- i feel safe with that statement!

 I will be starting a new type of healthy adventure next week- and the results promise to be more than blog worthy!

I cant wait to hear what you think, what you are achieving and if I can help support you!

Lace up and do it!

~ K