Day 83 - Inspiration.

Hey there, Day 83! 

So! I spent most of my weekend out at the Great White North Triathlon. Like I said before, my good friends have taken it over and needed some help making the weekend run smoothly. First of all, wow, that race is big. I was so taken back by the mass amounts of work and time that goes in to putting on a triathlon of that size. 500 plus volunteers! On the Saturday, I helped register athletes for the Sunday and then helped set up the bike-run transition. Sunday, race day I was just doing whatever was needed. It was raining but everyone's spirits were high and it all worked out and the sun eventually came out.


I remember watching Mike do Ironman Canada and how emotional it was and how insanely athletic these people were of all ages, and body types. It was so cool and watching this half iron man was equally as cool. The best was watching people cross the finish line ( I watched A LOT) and to see the emotion in their face whether it be, meh, yea just did another one, not even tired or fuck, that was not the time I was looking for, or the coolest, wow, I just did a half iron and I am so freakin proud of myself. Lots of people crossed the finish line with their kids, some sprinted through, some walked and some wanted to keep running. The one that got me was the older gentleman, overweight, blood covering his shirt cause of nipple chaffing, most likely his first triathlon, and tears running down his face after he crossed the finish line. He then walked up to one of his supporters and they hugged extra long, not wanting to let go. That was so wicked. Anyway, I could go on and on about watching triathlons. Kudos to Paul and Daryl from ERC for completing the race and doing AMAZING. AND kudos to Mike and Jacqueline for organizing and putting on the race. Oh and of course all the volunteers. It was fantastic.


So needless to say I came home Saturday and Sunday with intentions of running and didn't as I was exhausted. I spent all day running around at GWN and did a 1 Km kids fun run.?? Hahaha. So today, I figured, better do a run.


Now, I'm all about inspiring and being inspired, hence my wrist tattoo. So I think it was a few things that inspired me this weekend to attempt a run longer than my typical 4 or 5 K. 1. GWN and seeing all the people far older and heavier than me. 2. My friend Chantal doing a 10 K over the weekend. 3. My new shoes. 4. Carlie telling me I need to push myself. 5. Dave Cracknell talking to me about running. He is a triathlon coach/consultant that was helping Mike and Jac out this weekend. He said, "The only bad run is the one that didn't happen"


So I headed out for my run and said, lets try for a 10 K. At about 2 K in my left calf was bugging me, as per usual. I stopped to give it a good stretch and kept going. I made it to the 5K mark, walked for a bit and kept going. I ended up doing 8.6 K and walked probably 1K total, perhaps less. So I figured that was good! I think I can do a 10 K. I just need to convince myself a little more. ; )


 I was telling some people this weekend that I feel like I've  reached a plateau and can't run any further than the 5K and then thought about how after 83 days I am still only running 4-5 K. Why? Well, because I haven't tried to  do a longer run. I just need commit to a longer run before I go instead of doing the same loop. So, here is to trying harder from now on and pushing myself more.


Lots of inspiration this weekend. Thanks to everyone that contributed to inspiring me this weekend. You are probably wondering if I was inspired enough to sign up for GWN next year....Nope. I would drown.