When I first started running, I had this irrational fear that I would be the last one to cross the finish line at any race. I've only ever trained with my family ( who are also runners) and I am the slowest one. I think that's why I love Disney Races, Rock n Roll Races, J&A Races and any other race that has thousands upon thousands of runners lining up at the start! I like the fact that I can be "lost" in the crowd. For this reason, I have avoided many smaller races for some time.
I've come to realize that when I run those "Big" races, I am not slow and I probably will never be last. I am average. Since the beginning, I have even run some "smaller" races and have even come one or two runners away from placing in my age group.
Last year was the first year my mom and I ran the April Fools race in Atlantic City. We had such a fun race weekend that we knew for sure that we wanted to come back and do it again the following year.
Last year we decided to start small, so we signed up for the 7k. The race course was completely on the boardwalk and was a pretty easy run ( besides the smell of funnel cakes being made in the morning and the occasional spectator who would decided that he/she would watch while smoking a cigarette. Deep fried foods and cigarette smoke are two things you don't want to be smelling while you run a race). The race shirt and the medal I earned for completing this race was among my favorite at this point.
So when we signed up to run the race again we decided to bump it up a notch and run the 11K. This is the first race I'd be running since the Princess Half Marathon at Disney in February. It was going to be used as just another training run for another race that I was training for this month.....BUT since I have been suffering from terrible IT band and hip pain, I've had to make a few decisions. So with that being said, I've decided that I'm going to bump myself back down to the 7K.
Not only am I going to run the smaller distance, I may not even run it at all. Okay, that's a lie. I will be running some of it. I will be doing my Run-Walk-Run-Walk method but it might turn into a Walk-Walk-Run, Walk-Walk-Run. And ya know what, I don't care! I don't care if people look down upon me, I don't care if people are wondering why I am going so slow, and ya know what I don't even care if I am the last one to finish! And just to be clear, we signed up for this race back in 2013. I didn't want you to think that I signed up for it after I was already injured. That would have been a dumb move! I didn't want to give up a fun girls weekend with my mom and have her have to give up a race she already paid for.
This is probably the only race that I have absolutely no expectations on finish time. I know when I did the half marathon while I was injured my goal was to just finish, but deep down, I did have a time goal that I wanted to beat ( it was adjusted due to my injury, but I beat it). For this race, I have absolutely NO expectations at all. I just want to concentrate on running and being smart about it and not pushing myself. I want to be able to feel good after I cross the finish line ( no matter what the time is) and not have to be wheeled to the medical tent afterwards!
Have you ever had the fear of finishing last in a race? ~M