Still Running My Own Race

Six years ago, I ran my first 5K. It was Mother’s Day weekend, and the race was the Rockstar Run. My daughter was there cheering me on the whole way, and when I crossed the finish line in 39:33, I felt like I had accomplished something enormous.

Looking back, I realize that race was about so much more than the distance. At that point in my life, every finish line represented proof that I was capable of more than I had believed. I wasn’t the fastest runner, and I wasn’t competing against anyone else. I was simply trying to become a better version of myself.

Six years later, I find myself back at that same race series, but this time things looked a little different. Instead of running my first 5K, I am running a half marathon — and not just one. I signed up to run back-to-back half marathons.

Saturday was the Rockstar Run, the same race where my running journey had started years before. I finished the half marathon in 2:42:57.8.

The next morning, I was back at the starting line for the Independence Half Marathon. My legs definitely knew they had already run 13.1 miles the day before, but I crossed another finish line, finishing in 2:46:46.98 with a 12:42 pace.

Two half marathons in two days was a long way from that first 5K in 2013.

I won’t pretend it was easy. After Saturday’s race, I spent the evening in an ice bath, trying to give my body the best chance possible to recover before doing it all again the next day.

Sunday after the second race, I spent some time soaking my feet with an electrolyte drink in hand, enjoying the feeling of being done — at least for the moment.

But one thing I have learned through running is that the finish line is never really the end. The race is just the visible part of the journey. The real work happens in the quiet moments afterward, when there is no crowd cheering and no medal waiting.

The Monday after those races was rainy, but I went out anyway. I ran 2.63 miles in 39 minutes. It wasn’t about the distance or the pace. It was about continuing the habit of showing up.

I made a little collage afterward with words that had been sticking with me:

“Look in the mirror. That’s your competition.”

Tuesday, I was back at the gym. Wednesday, I was running again.

That is the part people don’t always see when they look at a race photo. They see the finish line, but they don’t see all the ordinary decisions that make those moments possible.

And those small decisions paid off again on May 25th at the Memorial Day 10K.

I rang the PR bell.

I finished with a new personal record: 1:12:30.

I have a quote that I keep coming back to:

“I run to be the best version of myself.”

Not the fastest.

Not the strongest.

Just better than I was yesterday.

Six years earlier, that meant crossing the finish line of my first 5K.

This time, it meant completing two half marathons in one weekend, recovering, and continuing to move forward.

The goal was never really about being the best runner.

It is about becoming the person I want to be.

And that journey continues.