First Half, Half Marathon

Just a quick race report. Today was a really fun day. The race was super well organized, the volunteers were awesome, the weather was perfect. I ran a personal best, my official chip time was 1:51:04. I am super proud of this finishing time.

I was very nervous at the start, so much so that I decided to go to the roundhouse/ start line alone. I did my warm up and my pre-race stretching all by myself. Standing in the chute before the gun I was so nervous I was actually shaking. As soon as I got running and settled into my pace I started to relax. The race was mostly mentally hard. There were a couple of times when the negative self talk got to be a bit much and I really had to think about what my coach had said. I had some calf discomfort and arch cramps in the last 3km. Overall though it was good. Hard work pays off. I can't believe I shaved more than 8 minutes off my personal best. I am soo happy! I feel so accomplished! Proud, proud, proud!

Finding The Plot

I'm sitting here, hydrating, thinking about the race tomorrow and getting very anxious, my heart is fluttering. I have set myself a very arbitrary goal time of 1:49:59 which is nearly 10 minutes faster than my current personal best. My current pb is 1:59:20 on the same course a year ago. I'm stressing out cause I'm worried I won't achieve my arbitrarily set goal time. I think I've lost the plot. I need to remeber why I love running in the first place!

• Running is fun 
• Running makes me happy
• Running can make the most foul mood turn around
• Running can be alone time and something I can do just for me
• Running keeps me physically fit and healthy
• Running can be social time, and a great way to interact with my girlfriends
  
• Running is a good way to connect with my dad
• Running allows me to test my boundaries and my push limits
• Running provides me with a huge sense of accomplishment and achievement
• Running allows me to explore nature and go places I wouldn't have otherwise
• Running can be an adventure (running in Langley, at night, on the side of a highway without lights)
• Running allows me to be more outgoing and make new friends
  
• Im good at running 

I'm going to stop worrying, enjoy my evening and stop being a crazy person. I'll wake up in the morning and run a great race no matter what the clock says. I'll have fun and do my very best cause after all, that's why I do this right? :)

QE Park, as seen on a solo long run