head up, heart strong

"keep your head up, keep your heart strong." i read this quote by shalane flanagan on facebook one day and felt like it summed up this season of running for me.

last year marked my first marathon, an experience and memory that will be irreplaceable. after i completed it, i wasn't sure what to do next. so i just kept running and trusted that with each step i would figure it out. i started by increasing my mileage with a monthly goal of at least 100. it was a good first step, or 100,000 steps. but who is counting.

i realized this would be my tenth year of running. ten years since i lost a friend and gained an incredible gift. i had completed 8 marathons since i started so i signed up for two to commemorate this anniversary. one was for fun the other was for a PR. my first half marathon ever took me 2 hours and 24 minutes, my tenth only took one hour and 56.

my ninth half wasn't nearly as fast and when my friend asked what changed for the tenth, i told her i just knew i could do it. i woke up with the faith that i could and would achieve my goal. i had put in the time and training and it was all about to pay off. my head was up, my heart was strong. the weather didn't hurt either.

crossing that line, i knew i had more in me. i could be faster. my next goal became to set new PRs. the local race series gave me lots of opportunities since many races were odd distances. this meant that no matter what time i got, it was an automatic PR.

this weekend was the last race. when the gun went off the panic set in. everyone looked faster than me. i am not the thinnest in the field nor do i have the most muscle. how could i keep up?! and then i told myself to and run my own damn race and not worry about anyone else.

and it worked. it wasn't pretty but it was a PR. i had to amend the "not worrying about anyone else" since another runner came up to me the last half mile and kept me going. without words she told me not to give up. i may have been running my own race, but i was not alone.

it's been incredibly gratifying to have a few wins in an age division i used to fear. not only for the fear of being 30, but those women were fast! it's also helped me realize i don't need to be the thinnest or most built, but i have to have faith in myself. it's been a year of personal ups and downs but through it all running has helped me keep my head up and my heart strong.

next goal...negative splits. and maybe another marathon.