As you can see from my upcoming events widget, I’m scheduled to run the Best Damn Race 10K this weekend in Orlando. Barring any major snafus where my volunteer talent is needed, I’m ready to toe the line. Of course, I will be passing out medals after I run. Haha.
With regards to this race, well my running to be exact, not the race itself, I’ve had a lot of emotions. One minute I’m soooo excited to race and the next I’m panicked that I have no clue how to pace for a 10K. And then the next minute I feel ambiguous about the whole “damn” thing. (See what I did there?)
First of all, I haven’t run a stand alone 10K since 2011. That race was brutally hot and I decided I didn’t really love the 10K distance. Second of all, I’m not feeling super confident in my run right now. With the recent hiccups in training, I’m feeling less than prepared. And finally, I’m having some stupid shin pain that I fully believe to be shin splints but annoying none the less.
I’ve expressed the majority of these feelings (poor guy) to Coach Jon and as per usual he gave me a nice, but firm mantra free (thank God) opinion. It basically came down to believing in myself and realizing that at the end of the day none of this matters. I totally get that last part because even though I have an ENTIRE blog based on running races, it really, truly doesn’t matter in the big picture. I race because I heart finish lines and I know that I need to work on believing in myself in many aspects of my life.
That being said, I am trying to focus on this run as a “return to speed” race. I’m not where I want to be, but this race is a benchmark in getting there. A rung on the ladder, if you will.
And just as Mario climbs and falls, I too will see ups and downs. It’s the nature of sport, right? I hope to see some of you at BDR Orlando. It’s the last race of the BDR season and I’m happy to report I’ve volunteered at every single BDR since it’s inception three years ago. How about that for most supportive girlfriend award? Ha!
You're going to do amazing, period.
And yes, you do get DAMN points for volunteering and helping out!
Go out, have fun, push yourself a bit and see what happens. Call it 90% speed effort. That's what I do for a 10k.
Have a great time! I'm the same with the 10K events. Haven't registered for a stand alone 10K since 2010 or 11 (did a time trial this summer but it was part of a 3 day event structure). I have a mental block when it comes to 10k Races.
Good luck this weekend! I haven't run a 10K in ages, and I have one coming up in a couple of weeks too.