Hey Ya’ll

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in the Lululemon Toronto Waterfront 10km! After missing out on this run last year, I was determined to run this year despite just how busy I have been these last few months. I usually love running, before meditation became a thing, I used running as a moving meditation (I can not sit still & meditate). Once I have my headphones in, music playing & my sneakers are hitting the pavement, I feel at ease. This year I did not train as hard as I normally would, I barely ran & couldn’t find the right motivation to even run at all. On top of it all I had this unrealistic goal of beating my 10k PR: 51 minutes. 

So after barely training & hoping for the best I figured I would accept whatever time I came in with. Plus, I also made the decision to go out for beers the night before which probably was not the smartest idea but I wanted to catch up with friends so in my mind it was worth it (bonus: I was still in bed & asleep at a reasonable time)!

So now it’s 6 am, Saturday morning & I barely slept (I always have pre-run jitters). Thank goodness my parents drove me downtown so I could sit in the back, getting in the zone, adding music to my running playlist. My pre-race jitters of “how am I going to do this” seemed to fade from the time I left the car to the time I was standing & waiting for the race to start. I don’t know if it was the cheering crowds or that fact that I had mentally prepared myself, but I was ready!

The first 3kms seemed to fly by, I was enveloped in the energy & taking in seeing Toronto from a different view. Fast-forward to the 3.5km mark, where I actually questioned why I was doing this. I saw my parents just before the 5 km mark cheering me on & taking photos, I seemed to get a second wind.

By 6 kms, my feet were so sore but all of a sudden out of nowhere I had these two hot guys running on either side of me (talk about motivation) & I tried my best to kept up with them for almost 2 kms, thank you boys. At this point the finish line is so close (well not really but that’s what I kept telling myself).

The weather ended up being fantastic, wasn’t too hot (by noon it was scorching) & running with over eight thousand people made this experience that much better. Once the adrenaline from the race started to fade, I noticed how sore & tight my legs were (gosh, my whole body actually) that I ran to a yoga class once I got home.

I ended up completing the run in 53 minutes.. so close to beating my 10 km PR but I made it out alive & that is all that counts!

At the end of the day, I felt so accomplished for actually following through & completing this race when all I wanted to do was quit leading up to race day. I already plan on running the Lululemon Waterfront 10K again next year & I am in the process of signing up for a race in the fall. I feel like my love for running is back & I cannot wait to keep hitting the pavement!

xo cd

Ps: Thank you to my amazing mum for taking some amazing photos!