{"id":3625,"date":"2023-07-14T18:36:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T01:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassielynne.blog\/?p=3625"},"modified":"2023-07-14T18:46:49","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T01:46:49","slug":"run-when-you-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cassielynne.blog\/run-when-you-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Run when you can, Hike when you must"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\u201cRun when you can, Hike when you must, Move like you mean it\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were roughly a half mile into our 13.1 mile half-marathon when our race buddy shared this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was her motto. She said it helped her keep going on the long races. Her husband was an ultra marathoner; she just did halves for fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yep for fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you say \u201cI could never do that,\u201d she was 65. You totally could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She chatted with us about past races, her experiences and race tips as we jogged down the neighborhood streets towards the trail part of the run. Turns out there is a person called a \u201csweep\u201d that goes behind the last runners and picks up the trail-markers\u2026or sweeps the runners who pass out off the trail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We flew through the first mile and a brief downhill switchback through the woods. Nice and cool, beautiful scenery and a gentle breeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was going to be amazing. We were doing this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the back of my mind I remembered that if we were going down, we would have to go up. I brushed the thought out of my mind and focused instead on the fun of the switchbacks and gentle downhill slope of the soft dirt trail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we reached the end of our second mile, our racer friend moved on passed us and reminded us of her motto as she went up the trail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cup\u201d part of the trail was now a steep grade and I was wondering how I would finish the race. The run had become a hike. My training for a FLAT half-marathon was not doing me as much good as I had hoped. I tried to keep my mind on the scenery and not the amount of miles I had left (three 5k\u2019s, 11 miles, 44 quarter miles, 22 half miles or 4 \u00bd miles to halfway.)<\/p>\n\n\n