Austin 3M recap

Austin 3M Half Marathon has been a race I wanted to do for a number of years, after kicking off my marathon career there I always wanted to return and race the downhill half I had heard so much about.  So when the opportunity showed up, I got on the plane, and couldn't wait for the race.

My Volée teammates picked me up from the airport, bought my dinner, gave me a place to stay, made me coffee, drove me to a run in the morning, laughed with me, watched me tear up at the inauguration, drove me all over for all my needs, cow belled their knuckles off, shared lunch with me, and got me back to the Airport.   Talk about southern hospitality...the Lone Star Bird have it coming out their ears!  I felt so welcomed, and supported every minute I was there!  Thank you ladies for putting up with my needy race week self, and loving me none the less! You are exactly what Oiselle envisioned when they put together a team of women uplifting one another! 

Race morning showed up, and we had 30 MPH winds with some stronger gusts, but otherwise perfect weather.   3 miles into the race when we turned into the wind, I pushed back, but eased off the gas a bit to follow the race plan. Two miles later, after a couple more bouts with the wind, and being alone, I gave up on the race, and let the wind break me.  I recalled my time goal for this race. Broken.  I had already given up knowing I wanted to be there to run a fast time, and I boohooed my way through 8 miles at a moderate pace. I finished in 1:20:10 in 4th place. I shook my head in irritation with myself. How could I be so near sighted?! Why did I come all this way, and allow all of these people to do so much to help me just to throw in the towel because of the wind?

I started to beat myself up. I jogged a bit to clear my head. While I was jogging I remembered what I wanted to let go of this year.  Negativity- to choose to view life from a more positive perspective, celebrate the great, and GROW FROM THE CHALLENGES.   Being realistic when I wrote that I was really thinking about the celebrating the great part...who knew I would be faced with the second half so quickly! But I choose right then to drop the negative attitude, and take the time to note how I felt, and the number of things I could have done differently to position myself for a more favorable outcome the next time I am faced with unfavorable conditions. To remember this feeling and remind myself of my goal to race with no regrets in the future. 

So instead of writing about my PR's and blazing fast splits, I will tell you what I learned and want to be able to take with me from this next race. 

For me, rigidity leads to discontentment.  I couldnt see the forrest for the trees, until the race was over.  Then I realized I missed an opportunity because of my rigid goals. 

Missing the goal isn't the only thing that happened on the day.  I got to be a part of something much bigger than myself.  Being a part of the Oiselle family is such a supportive and loving experience, and racing to my ability level is a way to show my love back.  I will be thinking of the passion this team has, and use it as fuel in the future.

Thank you Lone Star Birds for reminding me to smile! The love you showed was incredible! 

We all make mistakes, in life, in races, in our job, in many things, but using those mistakes to grow allows us to become stronger, and more brave.  I made mistakes in this race, and will use them to grow as I chase my goals through 2017!