LOVE/hate. Love Running More. This is the New Balance. New Balance could not have put it any better.
Six months ago, I hated running. Six months ago, I had never ever run for more than 15 minutes. Six months ago, I did not think my knees would hold up ... and yet this morning, I found myself staring down my very first 25km race.
The LOVE/hate relationship between running and I began as early as 6, when I started playing competitive soccer and basketball. I simply hated it. Fast-forward through grade school...high school...college - nothing changed. You see, I was more of the 'let's skip the warm-up and drills, and get right to the scrimmage' kinda guy. I loved sports...but I hated running.
A few months ago though, things changed, as I guided Hannah through the gates of her first 5k. A few triathlons, duathlons, an a ton of mileage later, and here I stand - a convert. Yes, I love running.
This morning's New Balance Power Race was very well organized. Extribe did an excellent job. There were aid stations galore, and the route was simply excellent. Kudos to the organizers for putting up possibly the best race of the year!
I have never run 25k ever, so I did not know what to expect. It's a good thing my buddy Drew promised we'd run together. We started off pretty slow, but as the crowd began to thin out, we began to pickup our pace. To pass the time, we were exchanging stories and goofing around with the people around us... before we knew it, we were at the halfway point (at 1:11:45 on my watch). At this point, I knew that even with a positive split, I was on route to make my 2:30 target. Drew, on the other hand, is Mr. Negative Split...which only meant one thing - one of us would have to budge assuming that we were to stick to our plan.
Long quick downhills and a few aid stations later, we found ourselves at the 21k mark (at 1:59). My legs were starting to shutdown at this point, and my knees were starting to feel the pain, but we pushed on. We went on to post a negative split and finished in 2:20 (unofficial - my watch). Mr. Negative Split got the better of me today - Thanks Buddy!
I used to hate running. Sometimes, I still do...but things change.
Here's one of the New Balance Ads - the LOVE/hate campaign - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kviG6cGzpTU
