A memorable 10k!

Saturday, I finished my first 10k/ (race outside of high school cross country) EVER! and I have to say it was a battle just training for it. I started training for it at the beginning of May when we left for my sister's in Maryland. I was way out of shape because I didn't have the motivation to work out as much after leaving Colorado. So I worked hard to get back into the shape.

For the most part, I was pretty good about running everyday at my sister's....but there were some days that I didn't get to run because of various reasons (too dark, rainy, busy day,etc) Towards the end of our stay at my sisters, I figured I was running about the same amount of time I used to be. I never really checked my time though because I kept forgetting.

Finally, when we had left to go see Jamestown, and Williamsburg VA I ran on a treadmill at the hotel we were staying at and found that I was still REALLY behind on my speed. I used to run a lot faster than that when I trained for "the half marathon I never got to do." And to make things worse...I had developed some horrible "ulcers" on my feet from my shoes, and since we were making the change to Philadelphia things were a bit busy and hectic trying to get everything situated again so I missed a lot of days that next week.

The next week, I doctored my feet like crazy, and tried to decrease my time only to develop a minor shin splint from the hard workouts. So I switched my workouts to biking, and doing the elliptical machine to continue my cardio but also rest my feet and shins. Oh...and about 3 days before the race I found out what "Trail running" is. When I registered for this 10k I saw it was on the Wissahickon Trail. Online it said it was a challenging course, but since I am new to running...I wasn't quite sure what they meant by challenging. I had run the running trails on the Wissahickon many times! It was the same trail I ran training for the half marathon...and that wasn't challenging so I didn't think this would be either.

(Remember, this lovely picture? This was taken right next to my favorite running trail at the Wissahickon!It was only 15 min. away from our last apartment so we enjoyed going on walks there frequently! I'm going to miss it SO much once we leave for good!)


This is what the running trail looks like! Its super long too. Not exactly sure how long, but I know you can ride your bike all the way to downtown Philadelphia or the Rocky Steps/ Philadelphia Museum of Art! I think that will be my next goal actually! The nice thing about it is that they mark every half mile on the trail so you know how far you have ran!)

Well, I found out that when they said trails of Wissahickon, they meant hiking/ mountain biking trails of the Wissahickon. So, I was preparing myself for the worst once Race Day Came.

(I couldn't find any pictures of what the hiking/ mountain bike trails look like, but this is about as accurate as I can get to how steep the first slope was. At least...that is about how steep it looked to me!)

RACE DAY: The day of the race, I doctored my feet up again, and tried to mentally prepare myself for the hardest race of my life. I was nervous all morning, but there wasn't much else I could do now. I talked to some of my other friends doing the race. I knew I was going to be the slowest but I decided that if I could finish the race in 2 hrs....I would be happy with myself.

Once we started running up the trails I started freaking out. A friend told me that a lot of people walk up the trails to save energy for later when things are more flat and you can go down hill, so I started to walk. For the most part, I felt pretty good about walking up the steep trails and then running again. I was starting to like the difference of it all. Around 4 miles I started getting discouraged. I was the only one around running and I knew that once you crossed over the first bridge you had done 4 1/2 miles. "Where was that stinkin' bridge anyway? How am I supposed to do this under 2 hrs if I can't even make it to 4 1/2 miles?" I started thinking about how much I wished I could just do a simple race because then it would prove that I could still do things and still enjoy life even though I can't get pregnant. That's when I started to feel like I was a complete failure. "I can't get pregnant, I can't run this race, I can't do anything because I'm always trying to get pregnant! I just want to live and be happy with my life!" You know...CRAZY thoughts you get when you are exhausted and doing something ridiculously hard. Somehow I managed to push the negative thoughts aside and get more into the run.

Well, I made it past that finish line...and it felt AWESOME! It was a proud feeling, but it was also a great workout! I actually thought about going home and working out some more because I felt so good afterwards. It was a memorable race for me. I don't know my run time but I know I ran it well under 2 hrs... and I am happy that I pushed myself to finish strong.





(The awesome girls that ran the Wissahickon Trail Classic! These are the only pictures I have from the race because Kevin had to work at Clinic that day...and I had just barely crossed the finish line so I look terrible!)

Yesterday, I was SOOOO sore, but as I sat in church and listened to our lesson on adversity, I thought about how that race was really symbolic of my trials. Sometimes the race is so darn hard that it feels like we just can't do much more and you just want to give up so badly and go home. But with a little help, you are able to push yourself past what you thought was undoable and finish the race.

I can do hard things...even when I have ulcers on my feet, shin splints, and other road blocks I still can finish the race. I think this race was just the amount of hope I needed this month. Before, I felt like I had no more hope to cling on. Last Fall, we did our first IUI and it didn't work. Since then, it has been even harder for me to picture myself having kids at all. I just couldn't picture myself holding my own baby in the hospital....but at the same time I just haven't had any confirmation to adopt. I just pictured myself childless. In fact, I was starting to get used to the idea and starting to enjoy the freedom of not having a child. I know its stupid, but I felt like this race gave me the hope that I needed knowing that even though things get really hard, there is always a finish line, a proud feeling and a pat on the back at the end that makes it all worth it. I know in the end I will have kids of my own, I just have to get past the mountain bike hills of discouragement and push forward.

Anyway....sorry about my sappy speach about a simple 10k. but I felt like I had to document this more for myself than anything. So that was my 10k. So glad its over, but SO glad I did it! :)