The mountain goat run

Hurray!! I did it. I ran a 10 mile race. I finished it in little over 90 minutes. I am so glad I finished it. Running it was more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. 6 miles into the race, I ran into a hill, a familiar foe. I stopped, walked for 5 minutes, then ran again. But for me the hardest portions of the race were the first and the last mile. Through the initial third of the race, I kept thinking I couldn't do it. The last mile though, was killer. It was flat terrain, with people lining up around the roads and the fact that the finish line was not easily in sight was not helping. The roads had a few turns and it was hard to estimate the distance remaining. But finally, when the end was in sight, my good friend Chris (who finished the race 5 minutes before me) came back looking for me and egged me on to sprint. God knows where that energy came from. We sprinted like a tiger was breathing down our necks; I couldn't feel my legs! I must've improved my standings by at least 50 places due to that sprint. But it was exhilarating, to say the least. We had hardly trained for the race and the maximum we had run was 7 miles. The last two sessions, we had run 6 miles both times with either one of us having to stop due to exhaustion or nausea. For a first time run, I think we did great . Our only objective was to finish the race, which we did. Of course, I stopped, but thats besides the point. It was inspirational to see older folks race you, amputees running with high spirits and break the barrier of handicap, or just the fact that my body could take it without complaining. There was music playing throughout the race course and at one point (where I just began running after stopping) it was so enthusing that I actually felt a rush of blood and had goosebumps. That was a fantastic moment for me in the race. I ran faster after that. I must also acknowledge the support of complete strangers who stood by at various points on the race course and were trying to boost our morale. And Chris. He was the one without whose presence, I wouldn't have had the motivation to train or run the race. In activities like running, it is important to have a partner ( in my case, both Shailly and Chris) who runs with you and who you have to show up for since you already told them. I am sure it is the same for Chris too.

The results of the race are on the net at the following address:

http://www.leonetiming.com/2008/Goat08.htm

I learned a few things from this race, and this has been a common theme in my life so far. Most battles are mental. Physical barriers are for the weak. We often underestimate our own abilities and shortchange ourselves often. It is hard to put things into perspective, but that is an art we all need to learn. Also, age is no barrier to most things in life. Finally, we msut back ourselves to the hilt and trust our abilities, more than anyone else.