Shuffling Through It

I ran the Shamrock Shuffle today, and much to my surprise I actually ran it. I first ran the Shuffle two years ago. My roommate at the time, Sara, and I did it as a way to get fit for an upcoming trip to Hawaii. We trained religiously for months (running no less than three times a week) and as the big day came we grew more and more nervous. Our goals were to finish the 8k/5 mile race, not stop running and to finish in under an hour. We met all our goals.

This time around, to say I trained is an overstatement. I ran a few times outdoors, never really consistently and never more than 3 miles at a time. My attitude heading into the race this morning was to finish by any means necessary - that included walking when need be.

Well I surprised myself today. Despite my non-existent training schedule, I mustered up some inner strength and ran the entire race in under an hour. Well I did walk for a 10 second stretch at the end. There is this tiny hill within the last quarter mile of the race that my legs could not handle. But other than that, it was a smooth race, and in some ways easier than the first time I ran it. For me, the nicest thing though was learning that I've got more inner strength than I give myself credit for. Unfortunately, my weak legs are already paying the price for my inner strength.

Kudos to my fellow runners, Sara, Sarah and Jenny. Way to go ladies! I couldn't have done it without you.