Yep – crushed it!
So – as you know, if you’re following along, every September we write a DMP – Definite Major Purpose. It’s what our intention is for the year. As goals are achieved, the DMP is revised, so September of 2018 was my time to revise!
One of the races I enjoy participating in every year is the CCVI Trolley Run. It’s a smooth, four-mile, mostly downhill course through three lovely KC neighborhoods. I first did this race in 2013 with my best buddy, Lori. My time was 1:07:03.
Now Remember!
I’m not 20, and I’m not a size 8, so I felt pretty good about that time. That followed in 2014 with 1:07:48, 2015 with 1:05:56, then 2016 with 1:04:59, and a race in the misty rain in 2017 finishing with a time of 1:13:09. I’m foolish at times, but not foolish enough to risk falling on the pavement in the rain, so, there is that. 2018 was my best time ever of 1:00:22 –that really surprised me!
Remembering how awesome that felt, when I realized I was only 23 seconds away from getting in under an hour, I set my sights on 2019. I assigned my goal to the Green Triangle, and I made it ambitious! It was to finish the Trolley in less that 59 minutes – taking 1:23 off my best time.
Now I’m 6 years older, but maybe only a little better in the races – the gun goes off and I jog for about a minute – then I walk, and maybe jog another time or two during the usual 5K, but I am NOT a runner. My goal is usually to finish and not be last.
Our group is usually between 2 and 12, but in 2019, I was on my own for this one. No one else signed up. I started to be uneasy about that, but then decided not to be. If the green triangle was to happen, it was up to me alone – I couldn’t count on Lori, or my son, Dan to say, “come on – this is flat, let’s jog here.”
So, my husband dropped me off right before my wave was to leave, and I was slow getting around the dedicated walkers, because I was caught in the back, but as I broke through I was able to jog for about 30 seconds longer than usual. I had chosen to keep my jacket on, and I wore long pants – both very unusual for me – not sure what I was thinking! I’m sure that slowed me down a bit.
I did keep up my positive self-talk, and used all the MKE tools at my disposal – after all, I was all I had!
When I got to the finish line, I had left all my energy on the course – I walked to the table to get my results and could not believe my eyes!
56:30!!!
I had taken a giant chunk off last year’s time, and blew right past my goal – -I was so very excited! I realized later that if someone would have gone with me, I may not have made it. I probably would have waited for the other person to say, “let’s jog to that next street light”, and I would not have taken the initiative! YAY, ME!!
What’s your Green Triangle goal? Go get ’em!
