Some girls chase boys, I pass 'em

I have a new favourite set of numbers! 2:10

This past weekend I ran the Ottawa half-marathon and crossed the finish line 5:30 minutes faster than my time last year. I am your new pace bunny! And my cut 330 seconds are the result of many runs and cross-training over the last year. Not only did I reach my goal, but it was the most fun that I’ve ever had running.

Now stay with me for a second – it did pour with rain and the fog was so thick that I couldn’t even see the Parliament Buildings as I crossed back over from Gatineau. Normally, a little bit of misty spit or chill in the air would have kept me and my sneakers at home. Yet something inside of me on Sunday morning encouraged me to get over the uncomfortable conditions, to forget the squishiness of my wet shoes, to ignore the awful sugary taste of blue Gatorade in my mouth, and just keep moving one leg in front of the other.


My photo finish! I will admit that this is like a Where's Waldo, but I'm in there! 
(PS: While the clock says 2:15,  it is adjusted for your individual shoe time.)

I read an article last month in Women’s Health Magazine “Determination: How to get what you want” about the power of grit and how women can use it to be successful. Whether you’re an athlete in training or investor in the making, I found the article to be relevant and motivating. The notion of grit to overcome adversity definitely stayed with me during my run as the weather became nastier and the kilometers seemed to get longer and longer.

At kilometer 17, one spectator caught my eye as she held up a sign that read “Remember: You paid to do this” and I couldn’t help but laugh. Yes… I had paid a $70 race entry fee, spent $82 in gas to get to Ottawa, another $84 on my hotel, and $35 on a pre-race dinner just to run 21.2 kilometers in the pouring rain. But I wasn’t running because I had paid to do it, I was running because I had finally found my grit and this is what brought me to the finish line exhausted and thrilled.