Reaching the Summit

As my BIG race approaches in a little more than two weeks, I am starting to relax. Last week up until a couple of days ago, I was in a head spinning, failure to breathe panic. Gone, it seemed were the well wishers and cheerleaders who always told me " you can totally do it" So I was left on my own to figure out my own mental stuff. Yikes! Exactly what I don't trust: myself. How stupid is that?! Out of all this, the books, the coaches, mentors, the friends, cheerleaders, supporters, me is the one thing I should trust the most. Apparently I'm still working on that concept. As strangely as it sounds, I almost feel I'm in a different place than I was a mere 48 hours ago. Perhaps my panic is my fuel, perhaps the incredibly realistic dreams of me running, my father and other 'fillers' is getting to my psyche. In any case, I'm at a serene calm and I cannot get enough of it. It's as though this Mount Everest of a challenge for me has already passed. As much as I love the serenity and confidence, I cannot help but wonder if this is the 'right' path. I'm still too new at this to really know what works for me in terms of new challenges. I started reading a book called "Finding Your Zone: Ten Core Lessons for Achieving Peak Performance in Sports and Life" Thus far, I'm loving it. While much of it doesn't exactly apply to me, I'm taking out of it what I need to help the mental side of the game. I'm also working on my cadence. I hate cadence, it confuses and scares me. While in running school on Tuesday, I almost died when a coach 'metronomed me' .omg. Never had that happen before. Running next to me holding an i-phone beeping at me at a pace that sounded like the heartbeat of a hummingbird. 180BPM. You mean I have to run in rhythm to all that beeping? Oh hell no. Too fast. Can't breath. Feet are like lightning, no no no. Three words that made it all better "Shorten your stride" Okay. Ohhh!!! Baby steps! I like it!! I did find that I was able to run more, keep my stride with that horrid beeping I could not get out of my head {maybe that was a good thing?} I was amazed. With shorter strides, I WAS able to do more it seemed, for longer and I was in less pain, and could breathe easier. In essence, by simply shorter faster strides, I was putting out less energy. I love it! So now I have a new found boost, confidence and seemingly a new 'way' to run. I'm excited now!