I ran a half marathon and nothing went to plan
For 12 weeks, I trained to be ready to run my first sub-2hr half marathon. Within 500m out the starting line, I twisted my ankle on uneven ground and crashed into the ground
As though life turned into slow motion, all I could think about as I fell to the ground was ‘Not me, why is this happening to me, it can’t be this way, why am I so unlucky…’
I picked myself back up and hobbled to the side - I was distraught. Do I give up so soon after all that effort, or do I run and see what would happen?
I thought about David Goggins, I thought about how there are others who don’t let a setback stop them, and strangely was able to convince myself to hobble back on the course and start shuffling
Although I was reminded of the sharp pains of the sprained ankle every step on the right foot, I focused on: a) soldiers do this on the daily; b) this race pain will be temporary, endure it for a few hours and there will be glory at the end; and c) just keep moving, don’t stop, run your race, will your body to adjust to compensate for the injury and keep going
I had to let go of my sub-2hr goal and re-calibrate my race objectives on the fly - ultimately I just wanted to finish and prove to myself I made the right choice to finish despite the unexpected
What blew me away about this run is the mentality required and the constant conversation and dialogue I had with myself to push on through
I almost feel like I unlocked and discovered a part of myself I didn’t really know until I stood before a trial and tribulation that required physical and mental exertion
It was the first time I felt spent, leaving it all on the course
It’s almost an addictive feeling now that I’m on the other side - a quiet satisfaction that I did it, I proved it to myself and now I want to continue to prove I can test new limits
It’s sometimes hard to relate to the likes of David Goggins but I do encourage you all to act on goals and sign up for competitions which really do challenge you
You might just discover another you; and you might just add another interesting life event to your collection of stories
