Friday, July 8, 2011

1d11h51m

That is what the countdown clock is saying on the Mad Marathon website. To say that I am nervous would be an understatement.

My neighbor knocked on my door today to let me know that there are 1,200 people running in this race. That might not seem like a lot, but this is the first year of this race! There are professional runners coming from Kenya! Last I heard there were over 44 states representing! This is not a small town, small race anymore, in my mind. However, the more people there are, that means I have less of a chance being the last one to cross the finish line!

Misery loves company and I am very excited to be running this race with my mama friend! I am sure we will do MUCH better than what we are thinking in our minds but I think we are both on the same page with feeling burnt out.

I feel really burnt out from my long distance races I have been doing. I felt this way towards the end of last fall and I was only doing shorter 5k races. I feel like when I sign up for too many races I put too much pressure on myself and worry I am not improving fast enough and not where I should be - where I think I need to be - and I lose the fun part of running. I don't want to lose the fun. I love running, I love the escape and freedom I feel when I run. I love how when I am happy or frustrated or whatever mood I am in, I want to share it with running and I always come back from a run in a better place then when I started.

I think after Sunday I need to take a break from races for a bit. I love to run races but I just need to have some pressure free runs and to not feel like I HAVE to run 10 miles or I HAVE to do hill repeats. I WANT to WANT to do hill repeats or to run 10 miles. The moment anything feels like a chore or a job I lose the passion I once felt and I do not want to have that happen. Not with this! Chicago Runner Girl touched on this on her post the other day.

So as much fun as this and this look like it would be, I think I will pass on them for this year and hold out till next year. Besides, I have been saying I want my first full marathon to be KBCM next May. See you in 2012 Canada!

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