Over the Holidays and throughout the term I
have become more and more dedicated to running. During the ski break I ran my
very first full 10 km. I found it more mentally tough than physically. In the
beginning I felt comfortable but after a while, kilometre after kilometre I
began to doubt I could continue. However I persevered and finished in a
respectable 1hr and 10 mins.
I continued with twice weekly runs of
around 7km over varying terrain. I tried muddy cross country trails as well as
steep hill climbs and have been progressing quickly.
On top of these runs I have also been doing
weekly 10km runs after school with Melanie. Our time ranged around 1hr 15mins
over a varied route.
The race was rapidly approaching, on the
day I felt rather nervous, of course I wasn’t used to racing only to plodding
along at my own chosen pace changing course, as I liked. The atmosphere was
very foreign. I had to wake up at 5 am to get into town and pick up my runner’s
t-shirt as well as my gift bag and running number. Attached to each runner’s
number is a radio controlled device that is activated as you cross the starting
line and again at the finish line to
record your time. Ms. Myanger, Melanie and I lined up and were soon on our way
along the picturesque city run course.
Below is a map of the course.
http://www.10kmcityrun.ch/xp_wysiwyg_media/Plane/zh_10km-cityrun.jpg
I found the run challenging but tried to
distract myself from any doubting thoughts by playing loud music through my iPod
and watching the cheering crowds and scenery. It was a freezing day but at
least it was clear with no rain. What frustrated me slightly as I was running
the course was the lack of signposts and I was completely shocked when I
reached 8kn as I thought I had only gone 5kms.
As I approached what I took for the finish
line, relief washed over me and I sprinted with the last of my energy. That was
until I realised the finish line was 100m in front and I had to continue. I finished
exhausted in an unbelievable 59 minutes around 15 minutes shorter than I had
ever run 10km before.
I am very proud of my achievement as I am
not a particularly sporty person and so running with such dedication took a lot
of effort. I also suffer from breathing problems that have become progressively
better since running regularly. Since I
have now met one of my CAS goals I know would like to think up a new running challenge
for myself.
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