There are few races in a runner’s career where everything seems to go according to plan. Up until this past Saturday, I would say I have had two of those so-called “perfect” races in the 20+ years that I have been running. On Saturday, I moved that tally up to three. The 2018 DC Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon will forever be a race where I look back and reflect on as being one of my biggest breakthroughs as a runner. All those hours and hours… and MORE HOURS of running, cross-training, strength-training, rehab, cold/rainy long runs, windy, lung-zapping track workouts helped contribute to one of my biggest lifetime PR’s. When I look back at my splits over the course of that half marathon I am still in semi-disbelief of what my body was able to achieve. I ran the fastest 10k I have ever run in the last 10k of the race! However, as exciting as this race was for me, I am still not close to where I need to be from a fitness perspective to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials, but the goal actually feels achievable. I can feel the dream coming to life deep within my bones. I am so grateful to finally be healthy and able to train the way I know I need to in order to reach my goals.
The week leading up to the race I was my typical, neurotic self. I was worried that I wasn’t tapering enough, worried that my workout at half-marathon pace earlier in the week felt too hard, worried about anything and everything. Thankfully my coach (Donnie Cowart) always knows what to say and he was able to keep me out of my own head. He is another reason why I was able to run the way I ran on Saturday. Donnie’s patience, humility, and compassion, in combination with his knowledge of the sport is a rarity. There were countless hard workouts and long runs in this training block where he would run the whole workout with me! Not once in these running sessions would Donnie ever mention how easy the pace must have felt for him or how many miles he was running that week. He helped me in my workouts in the midst of his own training cycle, where he was running workouts at paces that were so far beyond what I could ever run, it is hard to wrap my mind around it. If his name sounds familiar to you, it may be because you recognize it from the list of runners at the 2012 Olympic Trials where he placed 4th in the Steeplechase. Or perhaps you heard the name from the the 2016 Trials where he placed 8th! Yeah, that’s right, my coach is UNREAL!!!! Donnie is a one-of-a-kind human-being who always finds a way to help motivate and inspire anyone around him. He approaches life with such selflessness and positivity that it radiates outward to all who come in his path. I am so grateful to have found him as a coach and a friend and I look to him daily as a constant source of inspiration.
The race itself went by in the blink of an eye. The 38 degree weather was ideal for a distance race. As they started the countdown to the start, I finally felt the excitement take over the anxiety running through my veins. The first few miles I was a little concerned with the amount of females that were in front of me, but I chose to remain calm, trust myself, and simply run my own race. My splits were all in the low 6’s and I felt comfortable. Everything was going according to plan. As we began to approach mile 6, I knew there was going to be a beast of a hill to conquer so I put my head down and focused on the shoes of the guy in front of me. The hill was definitely a challenge as I felt my quads burning and my lungs yelling out for more air, but I just focused on short, quick strides up the hill. Once I surpassed the hill I made the decision to not look at my splits and just race. When I switched my focus to competing and just passing people, the miles started to go by even faster. As I approached mile 10 I couldn’t believe that all I had left was a 5k. I put my head down and went to work. As I turned the last curve and saw the clock I felt an extra burst of adrenaline. 1:20:15, 1:20:16, …..I crossed the line in 1:20:20. I had just PR’d by almost 4 minutes.
This week has been a down week in my training and I am taking the time to recover, enjoy, and reflect on a pivotal race in my running career. I have worked harder than I ever have these past few months. Seeing the clock as I crossed the finish line gave me a feeling of pride and satisfaction that is indescribable. This race has put in me even more of a drive and desire to keep grinding and see how much further I can go. Nothing in this life is impossible if you work hard enough. Dream on, my friends!
“The only way to define your limits is by going beyond them.”
