Everyone has a hill: Kerri's race story

By: Kerri Dezutter

In May my friend asked me to join her in September to run Melissa’s 10km race. I was all over it! The race is in the mountains and it’s always beautiful in Banff that time of year. I had 16 weeks to train, which for me was very doable. I’ve run enough races and longer ones so I knew I could do this race.

One of my worries while preparing for this race was to stay injury free because in the past, I’ve been plagued with tendonitis in both of my Achilles. My other worry was not putting in the “proper” training. Getting by with just enough… I’ve gone down this path before and I didn’t want to do it again. The last race I ran was a few years ago and honestly, I seriously under trained for that race and I suffered.

When I started training for this race, I wanted it to be different this time around. So, I created a mantra; “I know I will be disappointed on race day if I’m not ready”. This kept me focused on my training and I’d chosen a training program that only required me to run 3-4 days a week. This allowed the recovery time I needed for my Achilles, but enough training for me to get ready.

Over the course of my training I did some interval training (Interval training is cycling through sets of running at a faster pace followed by a rest period of light jogging /walking and then repeating that cycle). I don’t like intervals. I felt so awkward trying to run “fast”, the very thought of doing sprints seems (without chasing a basketball) so foreign to me. But, I did them because I knew in the race there was going to be a “hill.” This hill is bigger than the ones I can find at home.  I had to be ready for it. Plain and simple, I didn’t want to walk that hill.

 In my training over those weeks I employed a number of techniques to make me successful and keep me going:

Visualization:

See Yourself Doing it = It Happens!!

I did a fair bit of visualization: I had this vision of me on top of this hill looking down into the valley. During my training, when I’d go up a hill small or large, I would think of the race and that view.

Self-Talk:

Think it. Say it. Hear it = Be it!!

On those challenging days, when I was struggling (feeling like cutting out early), I’d talk out loud to myself. Things like “run it out!” or “you got this!”. Basically, I was my own cheerleader. That’s how I got through some tough days.  I ALWAYS felt better when I stuck it out and got it done, whether it was getting home or getting to the top of a hill or completing the number of intervals I intended to do that day.

The positive reinforcement loop of thinking it (“You got this!”), saying it out loud (“You got this”), and hearing my voice say it (“You got this”), resulted not only in my succeeding on an yucky day but my feeling great about getting through and accomplishing it.

The “Hill” Race Day

When the race began and I started running, I knew the hill was waiting for me. I was preparing myself mentally for it. In my head I had vision of running up and up and up. I found myself on the hill but when I got to the junction, I was expecting to go left, but the course had us turning right. I was confused for a minute, thinking “Weren’t we supposed to turn left and continue climbing?”  Turning right meant I was heading for the downhill.  The realization came over me that I did it!

The hardest part of my race was over. I had the biggest grin on my face. There was a wave of relief and I knew I had it. I felt awesome. The best part was I was on my way down and heading to the flat part of the race, suddenly it turned into my Saturday long run. I was relaxing with every step and my kilometres got faster and I felt lighter. It was such a freeing experience.

When I crossed the finish line and saw my time. My heart jumped with joy. I haven’t felt this sense of pride in a really long time. I walked away knowing that my dedication, those little things each day that kept me going, my training paid off. I’d made my time goal and I was injury free!  The best part was, I wasn’t feeling the “should’ve, would’ve, could’ve” because I did.

*Full disclaimer; I wasn’t perfect with my training; I was on holiday for a few weeks in August where I didn’t train. I also had a bike accident and a bout of shingles (adult chicken pocks) which put me out of commission for a week in September. What I did do was visualize myself on top of that hill, AND I used self-talk, positive talk on my off days and I got through, through to the top of the hill, and to the finish line.