run like you mean IT!

Racing season has ended, at least for me.  I did two races this season--the ING half-marathon and the Miami Beach 13.1; but only one is official-- the ING.  Why??? because I was a bandit runner :).  For those of you unfamiliar with running terminology; a bandit runner is a runner who runs races without paying or as my girls like to call it--boot leg running.  My results for both races were below my expectations and below what I perceive to be my potential.  That sounds rather harsh doesn't it?  But it's true.  You see throughout my training all my runs were injury free and time wise I was hovering close to the 2hr mark.  I was ecstatic with this.  All I had to do was maintain that streak and I would finish my 3rd ING race in 2hrs or at the latest 2hrs and 10 mins...but Murphy's law states: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong..and go wrong did it go.  Around mile 8 one IT Band started to hurt, and as I continued to run and push through the pain the other IT Band flared up as well.  That was it!  I was around mile marker 10 when I realized my 2hr mark would be missed :(.  Was I disappointed..HELL YES!!!  I had just spent 4 months of my life training for this race.  I had managed to keep my previous injuries (all IT Band or hip related) at bay. I essentially was running my best times during this training period.  My frustration only increased more when I passed a cheering member of the community who enthusiastically told me "not to give up; to dig deep within me and find the strength to finish strong."  I wanted to turn to him and say---REALLY??!?!?!? Has it  not occured to you that my slight limp is not from lack of motivation but perhaps from a physical ailment I am momentarily suffering from.  But instead Lizzy just smiled and said thank you and kept walking.  I didn't lash out first because that would have been extremely rude and due to my upbringing and nature I can't be rude and second because it wasn't his fault that my body decided to turn itself against me on race day, c'est la vie.  I did muster the ability to run the last mile of the race...I wanted to make sure I ran across the finish line and not walk.  For runners there is pride in being able to finish strong as I was so fervently encouraged to do so.  Whether it was my own pride or the endorphins kicking in I ran my last mile in 7 mins and change which for me is flying.  The curious thing is all that pain I had been struggling with for a good portion of the race magically disappeared as I raced towards the finish.  I finished 20 mins after what I had hoped for but I did it flying :) .  Was it worth it? HELL YES!!!!!