I usually don’t post on Mondays but since I have a lot to talk about today, I will. Spontaneous posts are the best! 🙂
My morning began with a really beautiful thought. I remembered something that I thought about while I was on a long busride on Friday. And that’s honestly how I feel:
As I said on my Instagram, despite all the craziness, stress and stuff going on in my life right now, I’m so happy. I wake up in the morning, think about all the stuff I have to do and how I don’t have the time to do everything but I’m still very happy. I think about how I was 4–5 kg lighter and a few centimetres smaller before Christmas but I’m still so much happier now than I was back then. I used to upset with myself, a little too obsessed with food and too critical about myself. I like the version I’m now so much better. Happiness is great! 🙂
In the evening I had a running session in Elva in Tartumaa Tervisespordikeskus. It was the SEB Jooksumaraton official training. You could pick between 10 and 16K distances. I’m running 10K in 2 weeks there but since my coach Maris suggested I should try to run the 16K, I did.
My left leg still hurt, even when walking. I was so hesitant to run the 16K and was very afraid that my leg would just not co-operate with me and what would I do then? Stop? And get back home how? And what about my training plan: how will I continue that with yet another injury? So many thoughts on my mind.
But stubborn and determined as always, I wanted to do it.
The first kilometres were just straight up hard. Obviously my leg gave me a hard time. If it hurt walking, why should it not hurt running? Ofcourse it did. I ignored the pain. For a moment I even regretted not taking in any pain medicine before the training but there’s was nothing I could do at that point. Maybe it was even good that I didn’t take anything because then I couldn’t have spotted any serious warning signs that I should quit or take things easier.
(Oh, and from the first kilometre to pretty much around 13K I kept thinking about how stupid I was not to use the toilet before going running. Never making that mistake again. Too much information, sorry…)
The track itself was not an easy one. No asphalt, mud, soft soil and hills. I nearly strained my ankle a few times. Luckily there were 2 drinking points: on the 6th and 12th kilometre. They helped me a lot. After the first drinking point, the 10 and 16K tracks separated. The extra 5,5K lap that we had to do was difficult. Some pretty serious hills but I managed. Honestly: the hardest was to run downhill because that was the most painful for my leg.
Also, since I was not going at a very fast pace (around 6:45-7 min per km), I was pretty alone most of the time and didn’t see too many people. There was this one very athletic guy who ran with me for a couple of kilometres and in my pace and that was pretty comforting since he was all very fit but still ran in my pace. It’s the little things that keep you going! 😀
After 11,5K was the second drinking point. I grabbed some juice and water again and kept going. The fit guy had passed me and was about 500 metres ahead of me but oh, well. I still had to finish. I realised that the lap will not be 16K but a little less, around 15,5K according to my math skills.
I noticed I started checking my RunKeeper more often from that point. It was very exciting for me to see numbers bigger than 12,6K, my previous furthest distance. With every step I improved my personal record. If that isn’t motivating, what is?
Somehow my leg didn’t even feel so painful anymore. I was in my own bubble. Running in a beautiful forest, thinking half-marathon thoughts and feeling proud. I was deep in my running zone, very concentrated and determined. Just me, my music and running. Perfect!
Soon it was 2K to the finish, then 1K… Almost there, almost done, almost finished!
Around 500 metres before finish, I saw my coach Maris running to me. I was so in my zone that I can’t even exactly remember what we talked about. 😀 But I do remember that she was happy that I still went for the 16K, didn’t give up and looked not that tired and pretty happy. And I was happy! And seeing that my coach was also happy for me made everything a 1000 times better.
When we reached the finish line, I saw 15,5K on my RunKeeper. My math skills had been right. We ran another 500 metres with Maris because as she said: “You’re not a quitter. You’re a fighter.” And that is true.
16K.
16K!
I had done it!
It took me quite a while for this fact to sink in. Walking home from the bus stop, I even got a little emotional and almost wanted to cry. I was so proud and happy. And I had every right to be! I had outdone myself, accomplished another goal and felt pretty invincible.
And when talking more about SEB Tartu Jooksumaraton, there’s a Charity Run (Heategevusjooks) going on the day before the race. The aim is to support South-Estonian rheumatoid children’s therapeutic water gymnastics classes. It takes place on the 10th of May at noon in Tartu Tähtvere Spordipark. You have to walk/jog/run 4,3K and donate 1€. For every participant who has donated 1€, pharmaceutical company TEVA donates extra 5€! Isn’t that great? By doing something good for your health, you can also donate a total of 6€ (or more, if you’d like to) for children.
I am very busy that day (prepping for exams) but I’m still so going because it’s a great cause that needs to be supported. If you could find some time of your Saturday to do something good, that would be great. You don’t have to be fast, just come, donate 1€, complete the track and feel awesome (because you are awesome!).
See more about the event on FaceBook or Klubi Tartu Maraton homepage.
That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’m going to skip BodyPump, go foam rolling and rest (and study…). Who says Mondays suck? I had an awesome day! 🙂
Nourish, Train & Flourish 