Monday, October 27, 2008

One for the Mental Bank.......

When my children aren't going to get their way, I often find myself singing a verse of a Rolling Stone's song that goes: "You can't always get what you want, you can try sometimes but you might find, you get what you need".  I have now applied this to my life. I wanted to PR this last weekend at the Monster Dash half. I got sick on Wednesday. Still ran. Didn't get my PR. BUT, so glad I ran.

My last post was about getting past any mental blocks I might have concerning this race. Having DNF'd my last half, the mental part was more than half the battle. I had the physical part down, but when I became ill, my hopes for a PR were just whittling away. Thanks to many of you for your comments; they made me more relaxed about my decision of whether to do it or not. I made it a game day decision. Also, one comment that stuck out was Jennifer's "Even if you don't PR, you will deposit one in the mental bank." It made me realize that just finishing this half will leave me more mentally prepared for my next half. So, I went for it!

I was second guessing this decision all morning and even part way into the race. I did a slow jog over to the start and thought I was going to pass out. All the snot went to my head and boy, was I worried. I started out the first mile fairly slow and started in the middle of the pack. After the first mile, I decided to speed up a bit and found my groove. I ran about 30 seconds per mile slower than my PR, but still ran a 1:33 and felt so great about finishing.

Thanks again for all of your comments and no, I didn't get what I wanted, but definitely got exactly what I needed!

4 comments:

Steve Stenzel said...

YEAH! That's the attitude to have! And to run a 1:33 when sick - that's pretty damn impressive all by itself!

Charlotte said...

Way to go, Darcy! Kudos on the great attitude and, like Steve said, a fantastic time anyhow!

Kara said...

I love this. It's always so easy for us to dwell on the negative, but you are waving that silver linging and it's so great! From one snotty nose to another--congratulations. And I'll be singing that song for the rest of the night...

Laurie said...

Yo girl... Looked for you out there on Saturday as I lazily made my way down the parkway and around Harriet. While I know you didn't get the time you wanted, you did a great job! Way to get out there and do what you could ON THAT DAY. That's all any of us can ask... Ever!