The Home Stretch of 10K Training

Credit: climbingcrystal

The 10K is less than a week away. On Saturday, I will find out just how ready I am for the race. On Sunday, I will probably find out that I wasn’t as prepared as I possibly could have been when my body is super sore.

I know I could have trained better, harder, faster and definitely longer for the 10K. Some of my runs got interrupted seven minutes and less than a mile in. I had to skip a couple of weeks of training altogether because of some knee pain. I had to roll with the punches and interruptions, I had to deal with a sick family in the middle of it, and just yesterday I started coming down with a cold. Of course.

The good thing about not considering myself a real runner? The low expectations. At first I was planning to own the race with a capital O. But once I got into training, I realized that maybe now isn’t the time to own anything. Maybe now—seven months postpartum, with two small kiddos and a body I’m getting back into shape—is the time to be proud of myself for doing any training at all. To be relaxed about it and carry on anyway.

I ran the 5k mud run recently. I pulled out a four-mile training run on Saturday. I feel good. I don’t have pain. I’m ready to strap on the red running shoes that make me feel fast no matter how slowly I’m running. I’m ready for some time with friends. And I’m ready to run. I think. Ready or not, here I come!

Have you ever had life and kiddos get in the way of training? How did the big race go? —Erin