Running has been my life since the end of middle school. I am constantly thinking about my splits for my next workout or preparing for my next race. When I decided to come to Philadelphia, I knew I would have to make a sacrifice. I wanted to still be a part of the Messiah Track & Field team. However, I would have to train alone daily and only compete at a few meets.
I quickly noticed how much freedom I had when I came to Philadelphia. I still trained arduously and went to as many meets as possible. The major difference was having free weekends. : ) My life was no longer consumed by running and the team. I made new friends, explored the city, and even found new running partners.
Last weekend, I ran in the Broad Street Run with 30,000 runners. The course was 10 miles directly down broad street into the Naval Fields. The sides of the streets were covered with people and decorated signs. So many people were cheering for runners that they didn't even know! Around City Hall bands were playing pump-up music. The vivacious crowd boosted my energy and definitely helped me finish! I ran a 1:08:57, 2nd in my age group and 501 out of 26,000 finishers. Not bad for my first race over a 10k.
The entire run I thought about my experiences in Philadelphia. The first week I ran down Broad Street and now 14 weeks later, I am running down this same path again. I have become connected to the city of Philadelphia and the Broad Street Run became a way to celebrate my semester here.
After the 10-miler, I started tapering for MACs, Messiah's Conference Meet. My runs became shorter and I attempted to go to bed earlier. I had planned on running the 10k Thursday night and the 5k Saturday. Less than two hours before my event, I found out that my ride was stuck in traffic. I attempted to race down to the subway and get to the suburban train station for a train. Yet, I did not make it on time. At that moment, I felt like my whole world had crashed. I feel to the ground and started balling. I slowly started to walk back to City Hall's subway station. One man walking by said, "Smile. Things will get better."
I had trained so hard and stayed dedicated while being 2 hours away from the team. My last race of the season had been taken away from me. I stopped at a bench in Center City and asked God what he was trying to tell me?
All I know right now is that God did not want me to be at MACs this weekend. Instead, I had a great last weekend with my roommates. I even saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall for the first time. Maybe it was to show me what I was really sacrificing. Going to the meet would have taken away from my time in Philadelphia. I signed up to be in the city and that's what happened. I had an awful start to my weekend, but now it's Sunday evening and I would consider this weekend one of the my best weekends of the semester.
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