Tales of Running: 3 Races; 3 Results

 This past weekend, I completed the Triple Threat race in Rockport, Massachusetts.  The set up was for a 1 mile race, a 5K race, and a half-marathon race.  People could sign up for all three and that's exactly what I did.  Cumulatively, I ran 17.2 miles and it actually felt pretty good.  It felt much better than the first half-marathon I did this season and more in line with the success of second one.  That being said, it didn't go quite as I expected, which was probably a good thing.  My total time for all three races was 3:09:08 and the breakdown went as follows:


The morning goal I set for myself was to do the half marathon between 2:20 and 2:30, which I achieved.  But truth be told, I was a bit doubtful I'd actually come in in that range.  After all, two weeks before I had come in at 2:24 for the half-marathon and that was without the additional 4.1 miles I had to run.  Yet I snuck in under the 2:30 mark.  I'll mark that as another win!

But the big win of the day was the two friends I made on the half-marathon.  I made a handful of friends and acquaintances at these races over the last few years, but usually in idyll conversation before or after the race.  This time however, I made one friend, Rebecca as we were both finishing the 5K around the same time and found ourselves running the same pacing during the half-marathon.  We got to talking and eventually, began conversing with another woman, Judy, (whom I was obnoxiously trying to get the attention of because she was wearing the Vibrams and thus, I *had* to say hi!).  Over the course of the run, we had various conversations and just looked to encourage and nudge each other to get to the finish line, which we all did.

The experience was pretty awesome in that, though the race was hard and tiring, it went by much faster talking with and working with the two runners and made all the difference.  Funny enough, there was another runner who we chatted with a bit during a stretch of the run and who slowed down but found us afterward to thank us for helping to encourage and motivate her during the trek.

That element of community and encouragement is pretty awesome and something I never realized about the running community--particularly when it came to races.  Maybe it's because I'm in the back of the pack, where we're all looking at completing and personal records and are often still running long after the top 100 are declared.  But when I run at these races, I see people cheering one another and helping one another, each of us. Whether passing or being passed, it's not done with malice or judgment, but usually with a smile and a nod.

With such a rewarding race behind me, I'm feeling excited and more determined for the marathon which is only 2.5 months away!




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