Friday, June 17, 2011

Race day: The icing on the cake

With any luck, two days from now I'll just be completing my "warm-up" marathon in New Glasgow. 

The thought both excites and terrifies me. I'm excited about finally getting a chance to see what I can do, and terrified that I won't succeed in achieving a personal best (PB) time, let alone running the race in less than 4:30.

I know I shouldn't be so focussed on my time goal. It's just that I'm still type A enough to have trouble letting go of it altogether - although, as my friends keep reminding me, the race is really just the icing on the cake. The best thing about running a marathon is all the training leading up to it - not to mention the many friends made along the way and the hours spent pondering life, the universe and everything in beautiful, scenic places. And, as a member of Team in Training, you can add to that list all the money raised to fight cancers. So - yup - the race itself is important but it's not the most important thing.

In any case, I know the keys to doing well on Sunday are to relax, listen to my body, have faith in myself, trust my training and savour the icing. I get to be out there running when so many others can't. And I get to try to run a marathon faster than I ever have. How delicious is that?!

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