Feeling of The Finish Line

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

You know that feeling when you running along and you can hear the buzz of the finish line in the distance? You know that it just out of sight and you can feel the anticipation building in your body.

I imagine that the feeling is a little different for everyone, but for me the pain in my legs goes away, I get a huge smile, a burst of adrenaline and my entire body gets that “pins and needles” tingling. It doesn’t happen at every race, but when it does, I know it has been a great day.

At Timberman last year, the run course was a two loop out and back. At the half way point as I passed by the buzz of the finishing chute, I started to get “that feeling” and had to mentally calm myself down because I still had 6.6 miles to go and didn’t want to drain my adrenaline reserves with so much left in the race.

Yesterday, I did my longest training run so far for my first Ironman. 19 miles of running with only stops/walk breaks at “aid stations” that I set up to top off my fuel belt water reserves. At about mile 13, I started to get that “finish line feeling.”

It was the realization that all the pieces were coming in to place. My training is going smoothly. I am able to run farther than I ever have before with less effort. It was the ultimate “holy crap, I’m actually doing it! I’m going to be an Ironman!”-type of moment. But then I had to swallow it, calm down and knock out another 6 miles on my feet. There is still plenty of work to do between now and September before I can get that feeling again for real.

I’ve been dreaming of this day for at least 10 years and it is finally becoming reality.

I’ll be living the dream on September 12, 2010. Meet me in Sandusky, Ohio.

Category : Running, Training Log, Triathlon