Finding Beauty

After a race, my mind is usually scattered with many thoughts on what just happened. When races go beyond expectations, I feel unstoppable, happy and fierce. When races don’t go as planned or as I hoped, I feel a little bruised, disappointed, and hurt. It is easy to dwell on the bad moments of a race but we must also try to embrace the moments that we are proud of. Looking at the positives will help you overcome a “bad” race and help you move towards the next one.

Race Day
Many of my competitors were close friends, which is something that I love because of the strong camaraderie that we all share. As the race pressed, the scenery the first half of the race was breathtaking. It was really green, birds were flying, and the was moon out. I tried to take it all in. During the first half of the race, I was using a lot of positive self-talk; “Sabrina, breathe in and out." "You are strong." I started to run my goal pace of 6:00 to 6:05 pace which felt incredibly easy and pleasant. A friend of mine approached me and we were running side by side. I gave him a fist pump a few times to keep us motivated and strong. As mile 18-19 approached, I felt my stomach squeezing tight and my quads felt achy. I started to feel cramps in my stomach and the agonizing pain kept on getting worse and worse with each step that I took. When mile 21 approached, there were porta-potties and I booked it to the bathroom. After the bathroom stop, my quads felt worse and the achiness became pain. As I kept running, I ran past the Oiselle women squad who were cheering me on at mile 22. They really helped me finish the race because ultimately, my mind and my body was over this race. Thinking back at this, I learned that you have to keep pushing even if it isn’t your day. As I did feel like my bad ass self by hitting my goal pace for the first 17 miles, I know that with positivity and hard work, I will hit my A goal one day, but this past weekend wasn’t the day. It was indeed a good step forward.

Flashback to 2 weeks before Grandmas marathon. I was not sure if I wanted to race a marathon due to stressors that were occurring in my life. I was built up with tension and stress that felt like a pile of bricks sitting on my back. I then met with one of my good friends, Valerie, whom I feel at times is my guardian angel because she is a definition of a woman whom is upfront and the kind of woman who believes in you that you start believing in yourself too. While I was facing some tough patches, she helped me to realize that at times I must toughen up and be positive for myself, my clients and for those who are in my life. I had set a goal to race the marathon and I must finish my goal, even if I fail. She explained that I am still a winner no matter the outcome. That I must try!

A week prior to the marathon, I then started practicing visualization, meditation, learning about essential oils, and drinking herbs (recommended by my mentor). Lily is an acupuncturist who has literally helped me progress in less than a week. I am extremely thankful for her time and grateful since she saw me in such a short notice. Until next season, I am ready to work on myself, face my fears and grind on what God intended me to be! 

<3,

Sabrina 


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Grace (middle), Andrea (right) <3 Looking forward to training with these fierce/ strong women soon!

Pepe, Thankful to have ran with you the first half of the race

Thankful for my fiance for coming out to cheer for me and his athletes <3

Mentor! Love you. <3