Good morning!
I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend. I am sure (or hope) some of you have some of you have noticed I have not been doing a lot of Coffee & Chat over the past few months. Truthfully, my sporadic chatting has been the result of my absence from running. It can be quite challenging to chat about running, when you are on the sidelines. As I near the end of week one, I am eager get to week 8, but at the same time, trying to rush time is never a wise idea. Instead, I will use the opportunity to improve in other aspects of my fitness and other aspects of wholeness. Because I am not doing any running, I definitely have to careful about caloric intake. While my high intensity interval training is great for calorie burning, running has always helped me with my tendency to eat more sweets than I should.
This morning I was thinking back about all the great races I have done. While I have enjoyed many races, there is one race Kathy and I ran several years ago, that I still consider my favorite. Before I chat about that race, I must back up the time, to give some background.
When Kathy and I started dating, I was not much of a hiking enthusiast, but Kathy and I enjoyed going to the White Mountains for the beauty and the inexpensiveness. Kathy loved to hike, and so I went along with this inexpensive activity. Fast forward to the future and now Kathy and I were conquering various races from South Carolina, to all over the Seacoast. I believe that Kathy may have saw a flyer for the White Mountain Milers Half Marathon and thought it would be a great race for us. I remember her discussing it with Runners Alley owner Jeanine Sylvester and Jeanine surprisingly telling her that it was actually one of the flatter half marathons in New Hampshire.
We signed up for the WMM half and planned to make it a long weekend getaway. At the time I was struggling with my hip, and that made training a bit of a challenge. When the weekend came for the race, I was really concerned about my chances of going the distance. I am not sure if I even told Kathy how worried I actually was.
The morning was cold and that did not exactly lift my spirits or confidence. When the race started, my anxiety disappeared and the joy of running in one of my favorite places, with my favorite person took over! We did not exactly run our best pace, but we enjoyed the scenery of the beautiful White Mountains in a different way than we had before. Kathy ran pretty strong and eventually she pulled away from me around mile 12 or 13 I believe. Kathy has had to overcome hip issues, and I was always proud of how she fought through, so her pulling away, kind of made me proud.
While I struggled the final couple miles, I could not have enjoyed a race anymore. The beauty of the White Mountains and the finish at the North Conway Commons in front the train station was perfect. My body was hurting all over, but it was wonderful. I will always look back at that race as the best! Too me it is about the experience, not the finish time.
Have a great rest of your long weekend and God Bless!
Mike
