"Labor" Day Half Marathon

During Labor Day weekend, I worked at a half marathon to fund raise money for our team trip to Florida, which is actually in 15 days! We're going to Universal Studios!

At the half marathon, my job was to make sure that the runners didn't take a wrong turn over a bridge that would detour them away from the loop of the course. While being eaten alive by mosquitoes, I saw many amazing runners.

About the first 10 runners that past by were in amazing shape and seemed to fly by, that was cool to see, but it was almost greater to see the people who ran the race, even though they weren't in the greatest of shape, or haven't been running for the longest of time. It was great to see these people try to do their best.

But the most amazing thing I saw at the Half Marathon was an almost 9 month pregnant woman, who had to be somewhere in the top 300-400 runners out of the approximately 1,000 people, that were entered in the race.

After seeing her run by, I told myself to never complain about any aches or pains that I get during the season, because she must have been going through hell. I give her a lot of credit for doing what she did!

Also during the race, an Elmhurst Alum from the cross country team, won the half marathon! She was the number one woman runner, and received a cash prize of $250 and a free pair of Mizuno running shoes.

Seeing this made me very excited to try to make this season of running, a season where I work really hard on becoming a smart runner, because some day I'd like to be in her shoes!

Results

Elmhurst Earlybird 4K!

87 degrees with 67% humidity!

Placed 42nd out of 160 runners, 

4th on my team,

17:23

Got my iron tested this week:

Taking Iron vitamins to bring my Iron level of 24 to a healthy level of 50

So excited to be racing again!

Elmhurst Earlybird 4K

So today's race, at our home course, is described by my coach as being "Practice with our uniforms on." and we will be running this "practice" with approximately 106 other women from other colleges in our conference.

This morning I have a little bit of mixed feelings on how I should approach this race. I know I shouldn't approach it like I'm running in the State Championships, and go all out. But as a race where I try to do my best, and run smart.

 In order to "run smart" all I have to do is have a good start and get out there, maintain my pace throughout, move up to the top of the pack, and have a strong finish.

 As long as I can say that I tried my best to achieve these goals, I know that I've had a good race, and will be satisfied with my performance.    

Pre-Race Anxiety

I've been running cross country for four years, and it took me up until my senior year in high school to overcome what I call, pre-race anxiety.

45 minutes before my race, my team and I start warming up, and this is when my anxiety kicks in. I start having very irrational thoughts about my potential performance in the upcoming race. Some of the thoughts range from the starting gun going off, and me freezing in my spot on the line, to feeling too weak to have a quality race.

 I soon began to realize that having these thoughts will hinder my performance, being too focused on what could go wrong, I felt like these things would happen. I realized my anxiety was foolish not after hearing my thoughts, but while comforting my teammates while they felt anxious. I told them, "You have no reason to be nervous, because the outcome of your race depends on the hard work you put into it."

And from that point on, this phrase was something I would say to myself when preparing for my race while our adrenaline is rushing, in the spray painted boxes. As long as I feel I put all I can into my races, I am satisfied with my performance, and with what place I finish in my races.   

"Bun Huggers"

As if running hasn't made me stray from my comfort zone enough, this will be an interesting challenge for me.

Growing up, I always was self conscious of my legs. Even in the hottest days of summer, going out with my friends, I would wear jeans. I felt that my legs were too big, and my friends would question my clothing options, and I would walk around the question with some excuse.

Looking back on this now, I feel completely ridiculous. Instead of shaming myself for having toned legs, I should have embraced them! As I've gotten older, I've learned to be more confident with my body image. I receive so many compliments on how defined my legs are, and how toned my arms are, and through running and circuit training, you really do get some killer abs.

This Friday marks my first race as a college athlete. We're hosting a 4K at our home course, and it will be the first time I get to wear our "super cool uniforms"! These uniforms are nothing like the one's from high school, instead of the really awkward track shorts from the 70's where the slits on the side go a little too high up, we have the great opportunity of wearing "Bun Huggers"! AKA Socially acceptable underwear!

Wish me luck!

Hi My Name is Sarah Melone and I am a Runner.

"Why are you so muscular?" "You're not very feminine." "Why are your arms so big?" These are just a couple things I've heard from my peers, mostly non-runners, and even some of my own teachers, while going through school, and beginning my journey as a cross country and track runner. Running is really a part of who I am, and I would like to inform non-runners about why I am who I am.  

If my brothers didn't force me to join the track team in 5th grade, I would never realize how much I love running. Running to me is everything. It's helped shape me as a person, as well as many other people in my life. Running gives me the ability to forget everything going on in my busy schedule, or any of the problems that I'm dealing with. When I run, the only things on my mind are; my pace, my form, and my focus. Running has also encouraged me to gain a lot of self-discipline, as well as healthy habits, and strong morals and values about who I am as a person, including my personal choice to not drink alcohol or use drugs.    

Along with running cross country and track, and being an advocate for healthy habits; I am a full time student at Elmhurst College, studying to become a Registered Nurse. I've always known I wanted to have a career in the health profession, because as a kid, I loved going to my Mom's hospital with her when she picked up her paychecks. Walking through the big hospital, all of her fellow nurse friends would greet her, and everyone seemed to love their jobs. The nurses also always wore cool scrubs with their favorite cartoon characters on them! Just like in cross country and track, the nurses in my mother's unit worked as a team to achieve one goal, And I knew that was something I wanted to be a part of. 

On this blog I will talk about: healthy habits, having a good body image, as well as my journey as a female runner, and becoming a nurse.