HItting the Wall

I ran a 1/2 marathon a couple of weekends ago. . . no pictures since I ran it all by myself (and looked like a disaster when the race finished after pouring rain and being freezing cold), but for 1 hr and 52 minutes I did a whole lot of thinking. I am pretty sure I was the only person on the whole course who ran without a friend or an i-pod. Thus, the thinking time.

I love running because it does allow you lots of time to think and ponder and just "be"

Emotionally, physically, and spiritually. There is a power that comes in putting mind over matter and doing something physically and mentally challenging. For me it isn't just the building of muscle and lung capacity and heart beats...More so it is knowing that when it happens every day it builds and shapes me into the person that I am. Sometimes my running obsession could be a little bit on the unhealthy side (like having a nervous breakdown if I can't run), but usually I do just fine.

I found this article the other day and it rang true to me.

It is about "Running A Marathon" but it isn't just about running.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Running Your Marathon


Runners often use the term" hitting the wall" to describe the point that they get to when racing where they are not sure that they can take one more step forward.. When your head and your body are in some sort of a disconnect and it just isn't working for you. When you begin to wonder why you even started the race in the first place. Yep, that is what "hitting the wall" is like.



I think that in my life lately I have kind of "hit the wall" and no amount of GU packs or Cliff Shot Blocks or gatorade are going to make a difference. This is something that some electrolyte replacement and a shot of carbs isn't really going to fix.

Understandably we are all at different places on our personal marathon routes and our hitting the wall may come at different times, effect us all in different ways. In that same vein the way that we handle the stress when we hit the wall is different too.

My "hitting the wall" usually comes at about mile 21.

Right now, I wonder if it is possible to be stuck at mile 21 for the rest of my life. (Mile 21 and 22 are always the hardest for me). I think it is because you know you are less than a 10k away, but you still feel like those last 4-6 miles of the race are never going to end.

Even if you have trained and done everything you can think of to be prepared, hitting the wall sometimes just happens (not in every race, thankfully). There is also the belief that I have made it over lots of walls before and crossed the finish line, so based on past experience I am sure that I will be able to again. Just takes a lot of determination.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Just read the article from the link above, and maybe some of you non-marathoners out there who think I am crazy can somehow relate through reading.